This piece by Tim Kreider is pretty fabulous. It includes John Waters’ great line: “NYC is full of normal people who think they’re crazy; Baltimore is full of crazy people who think they’re normal.” And “Bananas & hardware for sale at the bar” actually only narrows things down to a half-dozen locations. I still use the hair clippers I bought…
Year: 2015
“If what the FOP reported is wrong… prove it.”
That’s from the Sun. The FOP riot report is good. Well done. And based on everything I’ve heard from police officers, true. It’s proofread and a surprisingly well put together package (the whole “issue” and “recommendation” and “references” thing). Keep in mind this is coming from a local FOP chapter that misspelled my name on my membership card… It’s actually…
The next boss
The next Baltimore police commissioner really needs to be home-grown. Why not Lt. Col. Melvin Russell?
Batts is out!
I just heard the news.
“Conservator of the peace”
“Conservator of the peace,” you say. I was skeptical about how/if Mayor Rawlings-Blake could legally declare a curfew in Baltimore. Turns out she can: Circuit Judge Paul Alpert determined that a curfew was within Rawlings-Blake’s powers as a “conservator of the peace.” The powers of that title are not clearly defined in the city charter or state law, but City…
“Stay Out of Downtown For Now”
Remember when Batts and the mayor said nobody ever told the cops to “stand down” during the riots? Well people who were there know they were lying. Well here is at least one order telling officer not to engage.
summertime reading / to explain legal issues / haikus for police
Cops are famous for having short attention spans. Who wants to read a whole book? Or article? Or legal bulletin? And since twitter is perhaps the worst place in the world to give legal lessons or any nuance, I thought I’d give it a try. Given the limitations of 140 characters, naturally I used haikus: don't be so certain if…
What if the messenger actually is a bit to blame?
The BBC has a story about Michael Wood and his reporting of police wrong doing. I still don’t doubt the truth of what he says he say and participated in. That’s important. As to his character or motives, nobody outside of policing really gives a damn what they are or if Wood was a good police officer or not. Wood…
Homicides down in Baltimore (but still up)
You know how all them criminal justice “experts” say it’s inevitable that homicides go up in the summer? Well for at least the second year in a row, homicides in Baltimore are down, June compared to May. After the riot, homicides more than doubled. Pre-April 27, 2015: 0.58 homicides a day. April 28 – May 31, 2015: 1.44 homicides a…
Legal Robbery
Meanwhile, civil forfeiture continues. You know, where government agents just come and take your money. Why? Because they can. Charles Clarke was questioned because the U.S. Airlines ticketing agent told police that his checked luggage had a strong odor of marijuana. When his money was confiscated, Clarke had no guns, drugs, or any contraband on him or in his luggage.…