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  • Draw Mohammed Day (II)

    Draw Mohammed Day (II)

    I suppose today is just as good as any day to link to my post from 2010: Draw Mohammed Day. This is the cartoon that started it all (though this was Norway, I think, and not France). But click through for more.

    Meanwhile it’s worth posting this article from the Onion in 2012: “No One Murdered Because Of This Image”

    WASHINGTON—Following the publication of the image above, in which the most cherished figures from multiple religious faiths were depicted engaging in a lascivious sex act of considerable depravity, no one was murdered, beaten, or had their lives threatened, sources reported Thursday. The image of the Hebrew prophet Moses high-fiving Jesus Christ as both are having their erect penises vigorously masturbated by Ganesha, all while the Hindu deity anally penetrates Buddha with his fist, reportedly went online at 6:45 p.m. EDT, after which not a single bomb threat was made against the organization responsible, nor did the person who created the cartoon go home fearing for his life in any way. Though some members of the Jewish, Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist faiths were reportedly offended by the image, sources confirmed that upon seeing it, they simply shook their heads, rolled their eyes, and continued on with their day.

  • George Kelling on Broken Windows

    In the LA Times:

    Q: Do people confuse and conflate broken windows with “zero-tolerance policing” or “stop, question and frisk” practices?

    A: Yes. The other day I read that a Delaware police chief said his department was going to do broken windows with steroids. I find that pretty scary because that smacks of zealotry.

    Broken windows is a tactic, an essential part of community policing that works with the community to identify problems and set priorities. It doesn’t matter what problems police are up against, they need partners to resolve them, whether it’s squeegee men or homeless in the subway. Broken windows is a tactic within community policing strategy.

  • Broken Windows in question

    This article in the Times is worth reading. Of note: the most discretionary arrest in NYC, Dis Con, down 91 percent. Meanwhile the courts are close to empty.

    “This proves to us is what we all knew as defenders: You can end broken-windows policing without ending public safety,” said Justine M. Luongo, the deputy attorney-in-charge of criminal practice for the Legal Aid Society.

    I love how it took the police union and police (in)action for police officers to prove what Legal Aid lawyers have been saying along. But are they correct?

    Stupid arrests are not part of Broken Windows. And they have been part of NYC policing. And by “stupid” I mean giving tickets or summonses to non-criminals using a park at night, riding the subway, riding a bike on a bike path/sidewalk, and walking through a park at night to get home (p 207 of Cop in the Hood). Now I don’t think those BS things were the majority of arrests and summonses, but they did happen. And they happened because pressure from compstat and community meetings got passed down through the chain of command. And there didn’t seem to be any way to stop these abuses from happening. Until now!

    Any time discretionary arrests go down 90 percent without crime going up, it’s noteworthy. First it was stop and frisk going down and now it is arrests. Maybe this is good. There have always been too many arrests in American policing because policing in American has for too long been defined by making arrests. And that’s a shame (see p 144 of Cop in the Hood). You don’t need to arrest people to use Broken Windows. Indeed, you shouldn’t need to. That’s been the disconnect here in NYC. This takes a major shift in police mentality. One that is hopefully happening right now. The optimist in me likes to think of this as a clean slate, where a police department and can get its priorities in order and police officers can be left to use discretion and do their job. The realist in me knows better.

  • Stop lying! (and free Doug Williams)

    “You’re a fool if you go into a lie detector test thinking that telling the truth is good enough.”

    – Peter Moskos, John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

    I’ve written about this before. Here I am saying much of the same… but this time it’s on NPR.

    What I find crazy is that the defenders of the test, the American Polygraph Association, is thrilled simply to find a study that says the test is “better than chance.” Well, I should hope so!

    But tell that to the 20 percent of applicants who get rejected while telling the truth.

  • It’s a Dirty Job…

    I’ve always been a big fan of Mike Rowe and his TV show, “Dirty Jobs” (now on a different channel and called, “Somebody’s Gotta Do It”).

    Here Rowe talks about recent police events. As always, he approaches issues with a certain degree of kindness and empathy. Also, he’s nobody’s fool. (I suspect he would make a very good police officer.) Read the full version. But here’s a part:

    Within moments, everyone was talking about Garner and Brown, and the conversation got very political very quickly. A liberal guest said, ‘Look, I wasn’t there, but it seems pretty clear that both men would still be alive had they been white.’ A conservative guest replied, ‘I wasn’t there either, but it seems pretty clear that both men would still be alive if they hadn’t resisted arrest.’

    This annoyed the liberal, who asked the conservative why Republicans wanted a ‘police state.’ This annoyed the conservative, who asked the liberal why Democrats wanted ‘total anarchy.’ Things continued to escalate, and within moments, fingers were pointing, veins were bulging, and logical fallacies were filling the air. Ho! ho! ho!

    For once, I kept my mouth shut and listened as a roomful of decent people tore each others throats out. It was remarkable, because no one disagreed on the big points. No one disagreed that black lives mattered just as much as white lives. No one disputed that racial bias in law enforcement should be exposed and eliminated. In fact, no one disagreed about the basic facts surrounding each case. The breakdown happened over relevance and context.

    The one thing I’ll add is that I do think there’s great disagreement about the basic facts. Either Michael Brown was fighting to get Officer Wilson’s gun and then charged the cop or Brown had his hands up in surrender and was executed in cold blood. Either Eric Garner was murdered by a cop using a chokehold while Garner was trying to surrender or Garner resisting arrest and died after after physical struggle.

    And the other one thing I’ll add is that I’m often in situations where everybody wants to talk to me about recent events. I’ve been forced to say, “Can we please talk about something else?” Maybe I can just hand out Rowe’s article and get another drink.

    And the final one thing I have to say is that it’s actually not often that I or you will be in room with divergent views. Holiday parties are one of the few events that bring together people of different political persuasions.

    Happy New Year!

  • What’s your C.O.P. score?

    You know, “Crimes prevented Over rePlacement.” (Or maybe just “C-POR.”) Like WAR, wins above replacement, but for cops.

    The idea is to break crime down by beat/post and looking at it over time (a long time, like years). Wouldn’t it be nice to know if there actually was less crime on your post while you were policing. Of course would give incentive to under report crime. Still, it would be nice to know. And it’s not like we have anything better.

  • Policing protests

    There’s never a guarantee in policing that a tactic will always work, but if the goal is to let people protest, not have people hurt, and end things peacefully, two cities serve as useful case studies.

    In Hong Kong, protesters blocked major roadways for months (OMG, traffic was blocked!). Rather than cracking down and perhaps igniting a major revolt, the government waited it out. Police torn down the last camps a few weeks ago. In the end: “The Hong Kong government gave no substantial concessions, and the protest movement increasingly succumbed to exhaustion and internal fractures.” This is actually somewhat similar to how the NYPD dealt with Occupy in 2011.

    Had the law-and-order police come in and busted heads, who knows? We might have democracy in Hong Kong (and angry people in America). But my point isn’t whether the protests are for a good cause or not, my point is there’s a right way to handle protests if you don’t want people to get hurt (or hand political capital over to the protesters).

    Meanwhile in Nashville, Tennessee, the chief turned over a highway to Ferguson protesters and served hot chocolate. Of course a lot of people got pissed off at such treatment when he could have used tear gas and arrests. (And the freeway! What about the free flow of vehicle traffic?!)

    In the end nobody got hurt and everybody went home. Chief Anderson wrote a nice letter in response to one complainer. Worth reading. Good on ‘im! Chief Anderson seems to understand that protesters are not an existential threat to American values as much as heavy handed policing of protesters.

    Happy 2015!

  • Choose your own adventure! The sick prisoner. (page 9)

    You’re back on the way to booking when the prisoner starts to act like he’s sick. Again! He moans and says he’s not well.

    What do you do?

    Ignore him. Good God. You just came from the hospital! Now he must be faking it. If you keep driving, turn to page 8.

    You took this job to help people. Sure he might be faking it, but what if he really needs help? If you stop immediately to check on his well being, turn to page 26.

    Don’t ask any questions. Maybe he fine 30 minutes ago. But right now this man is in need of aid! Best to see a real doctor. If you change course, put on the lights and siren, and head straight to the hospital, turn to page 4.

  • Choose your own adventure! The sick prisoner. (page 4)

    Boy, with those lights and sirens on, nobody still gets out of your way. And though you want to get really fast for this medical emergency, you know General Orders prohibit any speed in excess of 10 miles over the speed limit. A few cars even pass you. But soon enough, you arrive at the hospital, safe and sound.

    You rush the prisoner into the hospital, where the triage nurse doesn’t seem as concerned about his condition as you are. Actually, the prisoner doesn’t seem so sick now, either.

    But better safe than sorry. You go to the waiting room and handcuff your prisoner to a chair. Your sergeant is pissed off when you request a second officer to escort the prisoner to the bathroom, per General Orders. Many hours pass. General Orders say you shouldn’t be on hospital detail for more than two yours. But you inform your sergeant, she tells you to go fuck yourself.

    Why isn’t there a doctor in Central Booking?

    Mike shows up and you ask if he’s going to take over the detail. He laughs and says, “on view, on you.” But at least he brings you a cup of coffee. He even asks your prisoner how he’s feeling and sounds sincere. But you don’t think he is.

    You wish you had brought something to read.

    An hour later, a guy comes in with a gunshot wound. He gets rushed right in. You know his admittance means at least another hour-plus wait for you. It was on your post, you’re told. It probably would have happened regardless, you figure.

    After five hours of waiting, a nurse finally enters through the magic automatic doors and calls the name of your prisoner. Behind the doors, your prisoner is inspected briefly by a nurse practitioner, who asks a few question. He doesn’t seem too after prisoner can’t be more specific than saying his stomach “don’t feel good.” You don’t appreciate the disrespectful way the nurse looks at him, and you. He says the prisoner if fine. After another 30 minutes, you have the paperwork, the doctor’s note you need, and head back to booking.

    Sure, in hindsight it was a waste of time. But hindsight is 20/20. You never know for sure. Better safe than sorry.

    Turns to page 9.

  • Choose your own adventure! The sick prisoner. (page 26)

    You’re a good officer. You stop the car and go to check on your prisoner.

    As soon as you open the rear door, the prisoners jumps out and runs away!

    Somehow he must have managed to get himself free from your handcuffs! Maybe next time you should double lock them. Or make them tighter. But then prisoners always complaint he handcuffs are too tight.

    It doesn’t seem like a big deal. And a few hours later he’s caught. No harm, no foul!

    But when you get back to the station, you’re told the commanding officer wants to see you. He says to hand over your badge and gun. You’re on modified duty and suspended for 30 days.

    The episode makes the papers and prompts harsh criticism from police officials and the mayor. The police chief himself says publicly, like he needed to say anything, “You are totally off the streets!”

    People make jokes behind your back.

    Your career is ruined.

    THE END

    (start over?)