Last night I read a great article in the New Yorkerabout the new sort-of-legal-at-the-state-and-local-level but still very-federally-illegal California medicinal-marijuana industry. I’m very curious to see how this system evolves and is regulated. It just might work. And it may be a good model for other states. At the very least, it’s starting to make California dependent on the tax dollars…
Congress Struggles To Come Up With Cool Name For Anti-Drug Initiative
I’m skeptical of any law with a personal name. Initiative with cool sounding names, especially if it’s an acronym, are also trouble. For instance, ix-nay, I would say, to Initiative Hammer of Poseidon. Sure, Poseidon had a trident and Thor had the hammer, but it’s worth a little mythological inaccuracy to get a name like IHOP. And never do I…
Incisive and intelligent account of police work “in the hood”
Here’s an excellent review from Professor Arnold Ages published in the Jewish Post & Opinion. This is what the industry calls “a sleeper book.” There is no doubt that it will soon be auctioned off as a film script. Peter Moskos, a professor at the City University of New York, researched his Harvard Ph.D. dissertation in a most unusual way:…
A Street Corner Analysis of D.C. Crime
“The corner boys, as they are sometimes called, are part of what is perhaps the most visibly anonymous demographic in the country. Young and black, feared and marginalized, they are the ones most likely to be viewed as a suspect in a crime and most likely to become the faceless victim of one. Nevertheless, if you want to know what’s…
Tasers Tourture
I’m no big fan of Tasers. Here’s the latest trouble with Tasers. From the Chicago Tribune. WINNFIELD, LA. — At 1:28 p.m. on Jan. 17, Baron “Scooter” Pikes was a healthy 21-year-old. By 2:07 p.m., he was dead. What happened in the 39 minutes in between — during which Pikes was handcuffed by police and shocked nine times with a…
Life on the Streets?
There’s an article in Baltimore’s City Paper about my book. It’s a bit harsh and kind of snarky (right down to the ? in the headline), but I’ve got thick skin. It’s quite insightful when he’s not slagging me off personally. And he did very well with the material from the phone interview (really). He likes my book, so perhaps…
The Leonard Lopate Show
I love doing radio interviews. I can wear shorts and be sweaty from biking to the studio. I can cough and drink water and pick my nose (I said I can, not that I did). It’s so much easier to relax when you’re not wearing makeup, not worried about how you look, and have a cough button. You can listen…
The Things They Carry
Sunday’s New York Timeshad a nice little story by Niko Koppel about pictures and other mementos that police officer keep in their hats. The hat-wearing regulation isn’t as strictly enforced in Baltimore as it is in New York City. But I like wearing hats. Young police officers officers will quickly hear that hats, especially when you’re on foot, are a…
Shoot Don’t Shoot
My former firearms instructor sent me this link. It’s a fun little game. Shoot the guys with the gun, not the guys with wallets and cell phones. You won’t do it perfectly (and neither do cops). You face around 100 people, my guess is half are black, half are white, half are armed, half are unarmed. All in all, it…
“Objective, incisive and intelligent “
Arnold Ages of the Jewish Post & Opinioncalls Cop in the Hood: [An] objective, incisive and intelligent account of police work. Moskos’s graphic descriptions of the drug culture in Baltimore’s Eastern District are the most detailed and analytical to be found anywhere. What distinguishes Moskos’s book…is the author’s plea for greater flexibility in addressing the rampant drug crisis. I love…