From the Holland tunnel in NYC. The picture from the story in the New York Times.
Category: Police
-
Most unusual cop car
-
James Q. Wilson
James Q. Wilson passed away yesterday. From The Chronicle of Higher Education:
James Q. Wilson’s Practical Humanity
James Q. Wilson made me a cop, even though I never met the man. I think I heard him give a conference talk once. Many say that Wilson, who died Friday after a battle with leukemia, was a kind and nurturing soul. Indeed, I hope he was. But to me his compassionate nature was exemplified by his commitment to broader society. More so than any other academic, and over the course of many decades, Wilson influenced intelligent American public discourse inside and outside academia.I cannot be the only one who finds it difficult to comprehend the intellectual world as I know it without Wilson’s ideas. I knew him primarily through his contributions to policing, but his legacy spans political science, criminology, sociology, philosophy, and economics. Most impressively, that intellectual breadth did not limit his contributions to each field. Quite the contrary. Wilson was able to use the methods and nomenclature of various fields without succumbing to the intellectual blinders that so compartmentalize academic research. Compared to you and me, Wilson, who taught at Harvard, the University of California at Los Angeles, and Pepperdine University, simply had more tools in his toolbox. And boy did he know how to use them.
While many, myself included, may disagree with some of Wilson’s more politically conservative leanings, one cannot question the intellectually honesty from which they came. Undoubtedly a few will be quick, too quick, to dismiss or embrace Wilson as some conservative warrior in the Great American Culture Wars. The label doesn’t stick.
Click through for the rest.
Here’s the NYT obit. And a better obit in the LA Times, in which George Kelling says, “[Jim and I] gave police a rationale to pay attention to the problems bothering citizens.”
-
On Deadline. On Writing. On Editors. On Getting Paid.
In line with my last post, I got an email around noon yesterday from my favorite editor at the Chronicle of Higher Education. We worked together on my flogging piece.
He asked if I could write 1,000 words on James Q. Wilson. Quickly. For $500. Why, yes, I replied, I think I can. I’ve always been pretty good with the op-ed length. And $500 is pretty good pay for 1,000 words. On this blog, 1,000 words pays me $0.
So I went into my all-too-rare “on deadline” mode. It’s just like those newspaper reporters you see in old movies. Writing a book, I average about 100 words a day. So I rather like writing on deadline. It helps me get shit done. So I turned off the internets and got cranking. Six hours and three drafts later, just before few friends rang my doorbell, I had 1,000 decent words. I ripped the paper out of my warm humming typewriter and yelled “Copy!” (Actually, I just sent an email.)
I got a reply pretty quickly saying it wasn’t crap (every writer’s fear). Actually, in the editor’s words: “I think this reads really nicely and has a refreshingly different spin than most of the ink that will be spilled on Wilson this week.” I’m happy with that. So I was able to go to bed happy that my time and effort were not wasted.
This morning I had a little coffee and my draft came back to me, magically improved. Wilson’s bio had been filled in. Umpteen parenthetical phrases magically got pared down to three. Syntax improved. The opening line was better.
I do love me a good editor. Nothing better than going to bed, and while I was dreaming of microphones dispensing samples of tasty Asian beef broth (what can I say? That was my dream), it was like little elves–very literate and skilled elves–were hard at work, fixing my work. Just like those little scrubbing bubbles on the TV ad. And then, at the end, everything is all shiny and I get all the credit. Strange world, the writing world is. (So thanks again, Alex, all the other fine editors I’ve worked with.)
Today we clarified a few minor edits. For instance, my editor flagging “Wilson’s co-authors spanned the political spectrum.” We decided it would be better (ie: more true) to refer to the “authors in volumes Wilson edited.”
I said that “somewhat intellectually dishonest” should be put back in a parenthetical phrase since I’m taking a step back from a more authoritarian author’s voice to make what is, honestly, a snide little comment.
And I changed “practitioners who liked Wilson and Kelling got their hands dirty” to “practitioners who liked Broken Windows got their hand dirty.” Why? Because Kelling actually didget his hands dirty. And by listing his name in that context, it makes it sound like he didn’t. More accurately we could have said something like, “practitioners who liked Broken Windows, including co-author Kelling, got their hands dirty.” But that didn’t flow as well. And besides, this piece isn’t about Kelling (a very good man). It’s about Wilson.
Such edits may seem minor. But they’re important. And parsing and manipulating phrases for meaning and clarity is the part of writing and editing I actually love. (It’s creating the damn words on a blank screen that drives me bonkers!)
And then it’s done. I’m pleased to write a piece about James Q. Wilson. He was a monumental figure in criminal justice. And besides, $500 for a day’s work (plus a few hours) ain’t bad. Mitt Romney makes $500 every 12 minutes and 7 seconds.
-
“Up With Chris Hayes” book sales bump?
You might wonder (I certainly do): Does being on national TV for half an hour and having your book plugged in front of hundreds of thousands of viewers actually help book sales?
Not really. Now my sales did triple for that week. Yes they did… but we’re still only talking an additional 25 copies sold. Nationwide. For both my books.
These are absolute numbers (and no, the scale isn’t “thousands”), and it probably represents about half the number of total sales.At this feverish pace Floggingwould sell about 500 copies a year. Keep it up and in about 22 years I’ll have earned back my decent ($22,000) advance and would start getting royalties. Bookmark 2034 for a big party.
The good news is that Cop in the Hood is still selling pretty well, especially considering it’s been out for a few years. This is due to professors (very smart professors, I might add) assigning the book in their classes. (#3Cheers4Indoctrination)
My meager advance ($3,150, if one subtracts the indexing fee) from the estimable Princeton University Press was paid off pretty quickly. So now I get about a buck for each copy sold. It comes out to about $1,000 a year. This money is my favorite kind: free money. But no, books do not let me quit my day job (luckily I like my day job) or live the high life (I can always buy a few six-packs of the High Life).
Give or take (off the top of my head), I think I’ve earned about $15,000 from Cop in the Hood. Nice for an academic book. Not so nice if you consider it took, on and off, from start to finish, nine years to research and write. Of course during that time I did work as a cop, get a PhD, and then the nice job I have now. So I can’t complain. And as a professor, publishing serves purposes other than money, such as getting tenure, promotion, and respect in the field.
What I would like to do is tip my cap to writers who actually manage, against all odds, to earn a learning. As full-time job, it’s tough, low-paid work without health insurance. (On the plus side, you can wear your bathrobe all day.)
As to my day job, the taxpayers of New York State pay me (an eighth-year tenured professor) $74,133 a year. That will go up just a bit with my recent promotion to associate professor. I tell you this not to gloat (I’d have to make a lot more if I wanted to gloat) or to thank the taxpayers (though I do), but because I believe it’s good to be open about income. I’ve explained this rational before. Knowledge is power. And workers need more of both.
Besides, if releasing your tax returns is good enough for Mitt, it’s good enough for me! If I can read my tax returns correctly (my wife does those, around here), we paid an income tax rate (federal, state, and local) of 20 percent (gross income) or 25 percent (taxable income).
In 2010, Mitt Romney was unemployed, but he did manage to make my annual salary each and every 30 hours of the year. His tax rate was 14 percent. Now that’s the American way.
I’d prefer him to pay more rather than me pay less.
-
“We have to be enraged at this point”
So says, again and again, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing.
I’m rarely shocked by murders. Nine-month-old shot and killed by a “stray” bullet? 12-year-old girl killed in similar (but separate) circumstances? 6-year-old critically injured after being shot by a 15-year-old with an AK47 in an attempted carjacking? (OK, that last one did make me do a bit of a double take).
Horribly, it’s just the same-old same-old. The rest of American A) doesn’t care and/or B) can’t figure out what to do.
But a 14-year-old (who was on the high-school swim team and in ROTC) killing his momfor not letting him hang out with losers? I’m actually shocked. From the same Detroit News:
Tamiko Robinson, 36, who was fatally shot — relatives say by her teenage son — as she was sleeping about 3 a.m. Monday.
Family members say Robinson’s 14-year-old son, who is in custody, shot his mother because he was mad she wouldn’t let him hang out with friends.
“He just wanted to hang with the thugs,” said Robinson’s brother….
“He said his mother won’t let him have friends; he said his mother won’t let him bring his girlfriends over; his mother won’t let him stay out until 11 o’clock at night,” Roberts said. “He’s 14 years old.”
Meanwhile, investigators are trying to determine how two people died after their burning bodies were found early Monday on Detroit’s west side.
Oy.
Here’s a Fox TV clip where the victim’s brother says what happened.
Mayor Bing said: “What we are living with today is totally unacceptable.”
What is the answer?
Update: Meanwhile I see we areenraged. When innocent white boys get killed. National front page headlines. And please don’t ask why I had to play the race card. Why do we care so much more when the victims are white? We either care about innocent shooting victims or we don’t.
A lot of people (and a lot of cops) say, “well the black community doesn’t care about black-on-black crime.” Well they do. You just never hear them talk. I mean, have you ever heard of Mayor Bing? I hadn’t.
I would mention guns. But what’s the point in talking about America’s gun culture and the lack of gun control? That battle is lost.
Relax. Your paranoid political fantasies notwithstanding, no one’s going to take your guns away!
Barring some seismic realignment in this country, the gun control debate is all but settled–and your side won. The occasional horrific civilian massacre is just the price the rest of us have to pay.
Over and over again, apparently.
-
Criminal Officers plead guilty
From the New York Times:
Mr. Ortiz and Mr. Trischitta helped transport three M-16 rifles, one shotgun and 16 handguns from New Jersey to New York. Many had been defaced to remove or alter the serial number.
In another scheme, the officers — along with Mr. Mahoney, Mr. Melnik and others — helped transport what they believed to be stolen goods, including slot machines, counterfeit merchandise and thousands of cartons of cigarettes, across state lines. According to court documents, the goods carried a street value of about $1 million.
-
Right-Wing Lies (VI) – Dutch Euthanasia
“The problem is if they just start lying.” That’s how Erik Mouthaan (Holland’s RTL News) puts it. Or, put less eloquently, this is what I’d say to Rick Santorum, who recently lied about the Netherlands, which seems to be a popular pastime (see, for instance) among US prohibitionists and conservatives. Said Santorum:
People wear differ bracelets if you are elderly. And the bracelet is “do not euthanize me.” Because they have voluntary euthanize in the Netherlands. But half the people who are euthanized every year–and it’s 10% of all deaths–and half those people are euthanized involuntarily at hospitals because they are older or sick. And so elderly people in the Netherlands don’t go to the hospital. They go to another country because there are afraid because of budget purposes, that they will not come out of that hospital.
Mr. Santorum, have you no shame?
What isthe Dutch policy on euthanasia? Here’s a good, and factually correct, summary. Basically euthanasia has been decriminalized–meaning it’s technically illegal but the government will not prosecute–if certain conditions are met. These condition include your ability to make such a choice. You also have to be in unbearable pain without prospect of improvement. A doctor has to sign off on these condition (or risk criminal liability). And so does a second doctor.
And Dutch people are not afraid to go to the hospital (nor do they have to worry about the bill, if they do).
In 2009 there were 2,636 people (just under 2% of all deaths) in the Netherlands who wanted to (and did) end their lives. 80% of these patients died at home.
There is nobody in the Netherlands involuntarily euthanized in the Netherlands. They have a word for that in Dutch, “moord”. It means murder. Even in Holland, homicide is still a crime.
Update:I’d love it for a Santorum fan to comment. Could you please tell me which is the following is most true? Seriously.
1) You don’t believe me. That is to say, Santorum was telling the truth. Dutch hospitals really do kill sick old people who have to wear bracelets if they want to stay alive.
2) You think Santorum simply made an honest mistake. He thought it was true it was true at the time. The fact the he is so incredibly ignorant than he could believe such a thing a true? No big deal.
3) You believe Santorum knew he was lying. But again, no big deal. They’re all lying bastards, but at least Santorum is yourlying bastard.
Cause I can’t figure out it. But that’s probably because I went to college (but that’s a whole ‘nuther issue).
-
I [heart] European Socialism
Over at the Montclair SocioBlog (“the best blogI bet you don’t read”), Professor Jay Livingston commentson Charles Murray’s new book (no, I haven’t read it either) and Murray’s problem of “The Europe Syndrome.” A lot of Republican politicians have noticed this problem over the pond as well. As Murray says [I’ve added a few comments]:
There’s a lot to like about day-to-day life in the advanced welfare states of western Europe. [I’ll say!]
They are great places to visit. [You got that right!]
But the view of life that has taken root in those same countries is problematic. [Oh, when I lived there I didn’t realize they were all zombies, and many are kinda pale.]
It seems to go something like this: The purpose of life is to while away the time between birth and death as pleasantly as possible [Why while away time pleasantly when you could work two shit jobs for 70 hours/week?],
and the purpose of government is to make it as easy as possible to while away the time as pleasantly as possible – The Europe Syndrome. [Astute observation. Best we let the government do so only for the rich, as they have more financial means to rise above their own ennui. (Like how I just “happened” to throw in a French word there? Pretty swa-vay, no? Pretty effing European, if I do say so myself. Man, if I actually spoke French, I’d be dangerous.)]
Europe’s short workweeks and frequent vacations are one symptom of the syndrome. [Gosh, are there others? Has he even considered decent healthcare, education, and low-crime societies?]
The idea of work as a means of self-actualization has faded. [Such things happen if you have a dead-end job.]
The view of work as a necessary evil, interfering with the higher good of leisure, dominates. [Yup. Let me tell you, I’ve heard many actual real Europeans say, mind you this is in their well-spoken second (sometimes even third) language, so maybe I’m not getting it right, “I do not live to work; I work to live.]…
The decline of fertility to far below replacement is another symptom. [Greeks would be happy to know Murray considers them European, if they weren’t so busy “self-actualizing” without the burdens of workweeks and vacations at all!]
Children are seen as a burden that the state must help shoulder, and even then they’re a lot of trouble that distract from things that are more fun. [Oh. My. God. Wait till I tell my European nephews. Can they handle the truth? The oldest is only 11?]
The secularization of Europe is yet another symptom. Europeans have broadly come to believe that humans are a collection of activated chemicals that, after a period of time, deactivate. [A bit clinical, but yeah, that’s one way to put it.]
It that’s the case, saying that the purpose of life is to pass the time as pleasantly as possible is a reasonable position. Indeed, taking any other position is ultimately irrational.[Gosh. I never realized a shorter workweek and paid vacations were a threat to my “self-actualization” and even non-chemical eternal salvation.]
But Charles, what’s the answer!? Thankfully, Murray provide that in the very next paragraph:
The alternative to the European Syndrome is to say that your life can have transcendent meaning if it is spent doing important things – raising a family, supporting yourself, being a good friend and good neighbor, learning what you can do well and then doing it as well as you possibly can. [I thought the Europeans did that, since they have more time to do so?]
Providing the best framework for doing those things is what the American project is all about.
Yeah, if only all those paid vacations and leisure time weren’t getting in the way. Or, as the eminent Dr. Livingston puts it, I presume:
No wonder the Republicans constantly warn us against the temptations of “European-style socialism.” It’s not really necessary since most Americans don’t know about legally mandated vacation time or maternity and paternity leave, government support for all families with children, job protection, and other policies. Nevertheless, the conservative helmsmen stuff our ears with wax and lash themselves to the mast lest the siren song of European pleasure lead us off our American course.
I think the decline started with gay marriage. Or was it desegregation? Or maybe giving voting rights to women and non-property owners? Vive la différence!
-
In Praise of the Beat Cop
In the current issue of New York’s Transportation Alternative’s Reclaimmagazine.
[And dig the picture of me, from 12 years ago:]
[photo by Amy Eckert]