Police

Your consitutional rights

I have advocated that all drug defendants demand jury trials. It’s a constitutional right. It would end the war on drugs. That is kind of sort happening on a small scale. Here’s the story in the Sun. Our system of justice is broken.

Police

Crime or no Crime?

Peter Hermann of the Baltimore Sun has an interesting article about discharges… that is, shots fired but nobody hit. No harm, no foul.

Police

Back on Leonard Lopate Monday

Apparently I’m going to be on the radio again Monday. But this time I can actually listen to what I say. It’s a rerun.

Police

Mass cops protest

Why not have road construction flagmen be cops? Yes, it’s a bit of a scam. But police have to make overtime some way. And better to pay a cop than pay a union private construction employee. Without this overtime, I wonder if arrests will increase. Read about it in the Boston Herald.

Police

Wrongfully Convicted Cop Freed

From John Kass and the Chicago Tribune: What bothers the Mettes—and just about every other cop—is that there were no protests on Mike’s behalf. Liberal university professors didn’t write angry op-ed pieces demanding justice. The crowd that fights wrongful convictions wasn’t interested, either, perhaps because Mike wasn’t some violent gangbanger with a rap sheet as long as his leg. He…

Continue Reading

Police

Mexico’s war on drugs

When we last visited Mexico, tens of thousands were protesting violence resulting from drug prohibition. Now Mexican President Felipe Calderón has proposed decriminalized possession of small quantities of cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamine to those who agree to undergo drug treatment. This is similar to a bill he proposed two years ago. But that bill died after intense pressure (ie:…

Continue Reading

Police

Drugs in Afghanistan

Seems like the brother of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai is a heroin kingpin operating under U.S.-tolerated immunity. I’m shocked. Shocked.

Police

60-day supply of weed

In Washington state, it’s officially 24 ounces and 15 plants. That’s a lot of marijuana. In Holland, by the way, you’re only allowed to have 6 plants. And a “coffee shop,” the place that legally sellsmarijuana, is only supposed to hold 16 ounces at any given times (but for practical reasons, that limit is often ignored). Here’s the article in…

Continue Reading

Police

Lieutenant in Taser incident commits suicide

I just heard on the radio that Lieutenant Pigott, the lieutenant who, one week ago, ordered the man on the awning in Brooklyn to be Tased, shot himself. That’s very sad. The lieutenant, I believe in good faith, made a bad decision that violated departmental rules. Allpolice officers violate departmental rules. I know I did. And not always in good…

Continue Reading

Police

Five stabbed in my neighborhood is news

But six shot in Harlem isn’t. Interesting. New York Post Daily News And a paragraph in the New York Times. And I swear, I have an alibi! And I don’t have a car.