From Citilab. As a taxpaying city resident, I don’t like having to foot the bill for bad behavior. (I also don’t think cities should be so quick to settle.) My solution is give whatever money the city is now paying out to the police department budget. Raise the police budget by that much. And we’re talking millions. And then tell…
Category: Police
Hey, I’m quoted in the Economist!
And I managed not to swear. But it might be behind a paywall. If so, here is the good parts version: Even undercounting, America easily outguns other rich countries: in the year to March 2013 police in England and Wales fired weapons three times and killed no one. Such comparisons should be read in context. America’s police operate in a…
Police killing whites and blacks
A lot of people really believe that cops are out there gunning for blacks. People who know more about police officers find this absurd. Of course black lives do indeed matter. But other things being equal (like committing a violent crime), are cops more likely to shoot and kill blacks because they are black? That’s an empirical question worth trying…
Just a few racist comments
Very recently I received two absurdly racist comments to a post. (A popular post from a google search, ie: not a regular copinthehood reader). My question is this: Why are RACIST COMMENTS TO THIS BLOG ALWAYS WRITTEN WITH THE CAPLOCKS KEY ON!?!?!? I’ve been writing this blog for seven years now. And, as Blogger tells me, I have written 2,048…
How many people do police kill?
We don’t know how many people are killed by police. That’s an outrage. But seriously, think about it: police kill more people than America executes. We spend a lot of time and money when it comes to executions. And we don’t even count those killed by police. And this isn’t even a pro- or anti-police issue. Either way we just…
Fighting Liberal Lies
I try and fight them lies on both sides. And finally one ace reporter, William Freivogel of St. Louis Public Radio, sets the record straight regarding ProPublica’s lie that that black teens are “21 times” more likely than white teens to be killed by police. This is the first light of day my lengthy bitching on the matter has received.…
Right-Wing Lies (X): Obama has never honored cops
This is the tenth (or so) in my occasional series of “Right-Wing Lies.” Now I know there are some left-wing lies, too. (It’s not true that 1 in 5 college women are raped, for instance. Nor is it true that black teens are 21 times more likely to be shot and killed by police than white teens.) But among my…
The Courts
Did I mention I met Sgt. Plantinga last time I was in San Francisco? Good guy. He bought me lunch. Here’s the last (for now) from Plantinga’s 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman: You won’t feel sorry for many defendants. You figure they probably committed a dozen crimes before they finally got caught for this one.…
Court Attire
Yet another from Plantinga’s 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman. My friend Dan gave me aline about people showing up for court “in their best sweatpants.” That always stuck with me. Many defendants dress casually, even for felony trials. The collared shirt is a rarity. Most wear what they might don to watch Saturday morning cartoons,…
On Youth
More from Plantinga’s 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman. Cynicism in law enforcement is wide-spread and to some degree, self-perpetuating. But sometimes you strive for optimism. You try to picture many of the juvenile criminals you deal with years later, as adults, having turned it around. One day you’d run into them and they’d be healthy…