I’m going to start posting future posts over here at https://qualitypolicing.com/. (No point in keeping two blogs sites, especially when the posts are infrequent.)
Category: policing
Fewer people shot and killed by police
I think this is the first time anybody has been able to compare police use-of-lethal force, apples-to-apples, over 50 years, with honest, reliable, and accurate data! It would be better to have total number of people shot by cops, simply to have a larger n (a bigger sample, for statistical reasons), but the problem is those numbers don’t reliably exist…
The correlation between more police enforcement and fewer shooting incidents in NYC
In early 2021 I pointed out, which was a considered a radial concept by many at the time, that violence had indeed gone way up since the unrest following the murder of George Floyd. I wanted to update the data in that post about the relationship between enforcement (or lack thereof) and violence. So I did. Breaking it down by…
NY arrests, pre-trial release, and rearrests
Far be it for me to say if these changes are because of changes in law, police, bail reform, or prosecution,but things have changed in NY. And blaming “bail reform” may be simplistic. But crime AND recidivism have gotten worse, and “changes in law, policing, bail reform, discovery reform, the diaphragm law, raise the age, Less is More Act, and…
The Rebirth of 42nd Street
The first excerpt from my book has been published by the (very) good people at Vital City. Check it out: https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/peter-moskos-oral-history-times-square
Arrests down 25% in 2020?
I’m going to start with a bunch of caveats. A) This is crude data analysis. B) It it based on incomplete Uniform Crime Report data dependent on reliable data reported (not a given). C) I may have simply done this wrong. It’s 2AM. D) This is important: arrests are NOT good for their own sake, but most policing is discretionary.…
The beginning of Compstat
A new podcast episode talks about the origin stories of NYPD’s compstat with, William Gorta, one of the “founding fathers.” https://qualitypolicing.com/qpp-51-william-gorta-part-1-2/
A list of police-centered and police-related crime reduction studies
My blog has moved, for a current list of academic research and studies that focus on police-centered and police-related crime reductions, please go: https://qualitypolicing.com/a-list-of-police-centered-and-police-related-crime-reduction-studies/ For more ways to reduce violence, see the collection of essays at my Violence Reduction Project.
Baltimore Stops Policing
I thought not clearing drug corners after the 2015 riots was a big deal. It was. Murders nearly doubled. But “little” things like this are big deals. And very few will notice the cause and effect after the fact. That’s the shame. There’s no accountability for what are purely political decision. “Cops are pulling back!” they’ll say. And it’s true.…
Memories of a Baltimore Crack House
One of the nice things about being a police officer is you can explore places that normal people fear to tread (or would get arrested if found). Back in 2001, I wanted a good view to conduct surveillance of a drug corner. So I entered this vacant building. This block has since been torn down. #1) 1900 Block of E…