Alan Suderman of the Washington City Paper has a good article about police department discipline and some recent happenings in DC. Here’s the main story. And an extra. I don’t know why, but I always get a kick about being quoted using naughty words. In truth, I don’t actually think Iswear that much. And yet the blue just seem to…
Flogging Gains Steam
There’s a bill to bring back corporal punishment(seemingly in lieu of incarceration) in Montana. It ain’t gonna happen, but still… Speaking of which, did I mention — gosh, no, I didn’t think I did — that In Defense of Flogging is out in paperback? Already? Where does time go? You might be thinking, “So light. So tidy. So cheap. Such…
Earl Weaver, RIP
“In five years, who’s going to be in the Hall in Fame?!” You, Earl, you gonna be in the Hall of Fame. “Little did I know 15 years ago, how deeply attached I’d become to this city. I came here in 1968 when urban areas were being demolished by riots and fires … but, after the turmoil subsided, it didn’t…
Stop and Frisk
A federal judge ruled that some of the ways the NYPD conducts their “Trespass Affidavit Program” are unconstitutional. The NYT reports, “The judge ordered the police ‘to cease performing trespass stops’ outside the private buildings in the program unless officers have reasonable suspicion, a legal standard that requires officers to be acting on more than just a hunch.” So the…
Ah, the good ol’ days
Some of my old police friends my recognize these stories from Slate.com, which are taken from Ray Fisman and Tim Sullivan’s soon-to-be bestselling The Org: The Underlying Logic of the Office. Tim knows my story well, since his help and editorial vision made Cop in the Hood the rip-roaring success it is.
Bang Bang, My Baby Shot Me Down
More murders in Chicago. Fewer in NYC. Clearly something is going on. But generally you’ll hear nothing but crickets (or winter winds) blow through the ivory towers. It’s a real shame. These days, most academics will (almost reluctantly) concede that effective policing may play a roll in reducing homicide. And yet still very few academics would dare consider the hypothesis…
Bang Bang, That Awful Sound
Chicago’s 2012 murder total was 532. NYC’s total number for 2012 was 417. Even in absolute numbers this is significantly lower than Chicago! Amazing. The comparable homicide rates for NYC and Chicago are 5 and 20 per 100,000. Homicides in New York City declined 19 percent from 2011 (just to remember: in 1990 2,245 people were killed in NYC). To…
Bang Bang, I Hit the Ground
Remember that fear mongering from last year? “Which one?” you might say. The one about more police officer getting killed? Forty officers were shot and killed in 2008. In 2011 that number increased to 67! Even the New York Times go in the act: “72 officers were killed by perpetrators in 2011, a 25 percent increase from the previous year…
Bang Bang, He Shot Me Down
Eleven people were shot in Chicagoearly New Year’s Day. Nine were shot New Year’s morning in New York City. Happy New Year. Meanwhile, best I can tell, nobody was shot in Baltimore! The Baltimore Sun gives a crude but useful breakdown of basic homicide demographics for the 217 killings in Charm City in 2012. Of note: A low Baltimore clearance…
Understanding the NRA World View: The Media is the Problem.
I listened to the NRA press conference with interest. It was strangely moderate, by NRA standards. Your opinion of what was said probably comes down to whether you want to live in a more armed or less armed society. I prefer less. That said, I’m happy to have students with guns in my school. I feel safer (actually, I don’t…