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Category: Police

  • Police Officers and Free Speech

    Deputy Probation Officer Joe Miller signed a letter in support of California’s Proposition 19 (marijuana legalization). A disclaimer made it clear that he did not represent the viewpoint of the Mohave County Probation Department.

    Officer Miller was fired. Maybe you think a police officer should never have an opinion on anything. I can understand saying a police officer should not advocate breaking the law. But that is something else. All people, police included, should be able to express their personal opinion about public referendums without fear of retribution.

    One can only wonder… actually, no: one doesn’t have to wonder at all. Nothing would would have happened to Officer Miller if he had signed a letter in support of less restrictive gun laws. Or even gay marriage, pro or con. But he thinks drugs laws should be (gasp) changed.

    Whether or not you agree with Miller’s (or my) position, stand up for workers’ rights and free speech. Sign a petition in his support.

    So what it is with drugs? Yes, drug use is a crime. But it’s justa crime. There are lots of crimes. Why is law enforcement so obsessed with drugs? I didn’t get it before I was a cop; I didn’t get it when I was cop; and, Heavens to Betsy, I still don’t get it!

  • The Happy Scene on Egyptian Steinway

    The Happy Scene on Egyptian Steinway

    Mubarak is out! Here’s the happy scene on my local Arab drag: Steinway Street, in Astoria, Queens, New York.

    Three of the five news vans:


    A happy crowd (small, because I only got there at 4pm):


    My friend, Ali El Sayed, making delicious food as always, equally happy:

    (You can see the “1919 Trevor Ethnic map of New York City” I posted about earlier in the background.)

  • You gotta be kidding me

    Dog-burning case will be tried again

    Jurors deliberated for more than 20 hours over three days, but couldn’t agree on a verdict. One juror wasn’t convinced of the brothers’ guilt in the attack, leading to a mistrial.

    It was the longest animal-cruelty trial ever held in the city.

    You tried, you didn’t win. Guilty or not, it’s time to move on. Like I’ve said before: this is not a good use of scarce prosecutorial or judicial resources.

  • Weed Menace Grows in New York City–NYPD Responds

    Your Attention Please: Marijuana has now been found in all five boroughs. Luckily, in response to this plague, the NYPD has cracked down and arrested more people than ever for the crime of possessing marijuana. In 2010, 50,383 were arrested (86 percent of these are black or Latino). Noble drug warriors estimate that a continued focus on locking up low-level drug users will eradicate the evil weed by 2014. Currently, thanks to massive police presence, a entire 6-block area in East New York has been declared “marijuana free.”

    The number of marijuana arrests last year was greater than the number of marijuana arrests during entire 19-year period from 1978 to 1996.

    Of course that makes sense, since marijuana didn’t hit The Bronx until 1995. And the first “bud” wasn’t confirmed on Staten Island until 2002.

    But seriously, I know marijuana is illegal. And I know that some low-level drug offenders are more serious criminals. If you’re arresting some violent drug dealer and all you can get him on is smoking a joint, fine. But most of these arrests are for nothing more than small-scale marijuana possession, a non-arrestable offense in New York State! Not only are many of these arrests wrong, they’re expensive, counter-productive, and only happen because officers face crazy pressure to produce numbers for Compstat.

    Meanwhile, back in NYPD recruiting, they’re scratching their heads trying to figure out why it’s so hard to find young New York-raised black and Latino men with a clean record. You reap what you sow.

  • Smoker-free worker

    Ahhh, I hear the immortal if overused words of Martin Niemöller… then they started drug testing at work. But I did not complain, because I was not a drug user. Actually, just for the record, I’ve complained every time I’ve taken (and passed) a drug test.

    Well it seems that now there are more places that are drug-testing for cigarettes. That’s right. It’s not that you can’t smoke at work. It’s that you can’t work and be a smoker.

    That ain’t right. My work and my home life (even when I work from home) are separate. I don’t want my boss telling me what I can and can’t do when I’m not getting paid.

    More worrisome is the precedent. This is exactly what people warned about when drug tests were first allowed, thanks to Ronald Reagan’s getting tough on drugs. We’re the only country that tests people for what they do outside of workplace.

    First they test for illegal drugs. Then they test for legal drugs. If we don’t draw the line, they’ll test for fatty foods, kinky sex, and political conformity. It’s not right.

    People are up in arms with real and perceived government abuse of power. Where are the right-wing protesters when big corporations usurp the same power?

  • Guardian Angels foil ‘L’ Robbery in Chicago

    Even since I felt safer after seeing them on the ‘L’ growing up in Chicago, I’ve always been pro-Guardian Angels. But they’ve never so popular among police, or at least police unions, who don’t like to see other people keeping the city safe… and doing it for free. Their founder, Curtis Sliwa, certainly has some tales to tell, and sometimes those tales have been told a little tall. But interestingly, after all these years, I’ve never heard about a scandal among the rand-and-file Guardian Angels. That’s impressive discipline.

    Here’s a story of Angels in action, from today’s Sun-Times.

  • Police Bust Giraffe-Fighting Ring

    Well, of course it’s from The Onion.

    Since the late 1980s, giraffes have become a status symbol in many American cities, but increasingly, the grazing land mammals are dropped off at shelters when they become too difficult to care for, usually because their owners live in … homes without high vaulted ceilings.
    …
    “I always knew that Curtis had giraffes, because I’d see their heads popping up above the roof of his house,” neighbor Ryan Erck said. “But I never knew he was breeding fighter giraffes.”

  • I Miss Baltimore Crab Cakes

    I was at a good fish store on 9th Avenue in Manhattan yesterday and bought a pound of good fresh Maryland crab meat (non-lump, $16). So for breakfast today I made crab cakes. They were good. Delicious. Fried in butter. But still not even closeto as good as you can get at Faidley’s or almost any other place in Baltimore. What isthe secret?

    I think it’s time soon to head south and get my fix.

  • NYPD Flashback

    NYPD Flashback


    From a larger series by Jen Carlson at the Gothamist.

    Here’s how it looks today:


    Though I’m not certain if The Two-Five is still at the same location. Anybody know if they’ve moved? It would be a shame if they tore down those two solid old buildings.

    [thanks to Alan I.]

  • “Name something that gets passed around…”

    What first comes to mind?

    This is worth 2 minutes of your life. Watch to the end; there are two punch lines.

    (Thanks to Drug WarRant)