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  • No New News

    I’m about to read the Village Voice’s one-sided new “scoop” about Adrian Schoolcraft. I’m going to predict it says 1) there was pressure to reduce crime stats, 2) the NYPD makes a surprisingly good faith effort to get to the bottom of the issue, and 3) keep in mind (this won’t in the article) everything Schoolcraft has done has been motivated by his desire to sue the NYPD for a lot of money.

    I’ll be happy to be surprised and admit I was wrong….

    Here’s what I’ve written about Schoolcraft in the past.

    Update: Well, not to brag, but I told you so. I’d like to emphasize #2, which of course the Voice holds against the NYPD. Damned if you do. Damned if you don’t.

    I wrote about juking the statsin February, 2010. And I mentioned this problem back as early as April 2009, when I even got on my soap box and warned young officers: don’t do it.

    A year later I wrote this, after Schoolcraft went public:

    All [Schoolcraft] seems to show is something we all should already know. In the NYPD, everybody is under intense pressure to produce good “stats” (arrests and citations) and reduce bad stats (crime numbers).

    Schoolcraft isn’t the first to point this out. He’s just the only one, in my humble opinion, who has tried to martyr himself and turn number fudging into a tidy personal $50 million profit. He and his father have tried twice beforeto sue police departments for money. Maybe the third time is the charm.

    [Update: it was]

    (Update with working links to all the posts on Schoolcraft.)

  • The more things change… March 10, 1830

    When I was a cop, we got a memo stating the mayor’s young daughter thought we had a dirty parking lot. The best response (from Gotti, naturally) implied something that would definitely be illegal, even withconsent. Reminds me of this:

    The Superintendents will take the greatest care that nothing is permitted, either by noise at relief hours, or by any irregularity or want of cleanliness in the Station house, or neighbourhood of it, which may justly give cause of complaint or annoyance of the inhabitants of the vicinity.

    Source: Metropolitan Police. Instructions Orders &c. &c.1836. London: W. Clowes & Sons.

  • Prohibition Corrupts Cops

    Funny how a few illegal searches for drugs might cost your job and next thing you know, you, the “good guy,” is in prison. Why did you do it, Sarge? Was it worth it? Did you really think you going to win the drug war? From the Times:

    Mr. Eiseman, who lost his job as a result of his guilty plea, had supervised the Impact Response Team, made up mostly of recent Police Academy graduates like Officer Carsey, in Upper Manhattan. The unit patrols high-crime neighborhoods.

    Mr. Eiseman, 39, and Officer Carsey, prosecutors said, said they had smelled marijuana coming from an illegally parked van. In seeking a search warrant for the driver’s home, both testified that the man had admitted to having contraband in his apartment, where drugs and a gun were later found. But the two had actually learned of the contraband when they found pictures on the man’s phone, prosecutors said. The case against the driver was eventually dismissed.

  • Trouble in the Eastern

    Off-duty officer accused of some pretty bad stuff. From the Sun:

    Law enforcement sources say the .22-caliber rifle believed to have been used in the shooting was found inside his personal vehicle. Two boys, ages 12 and 13, have been charged with involuntary manslaughter; the officer has not been charged with any crime.

    So much bad going on here. I got no special insight. But if you do, let me know.

  • The more things change… March 8, 1830

    In issuing to the Police Force the new badge to be worn when the men are on Duty, the Superintendents will fully explain that the object in view is to prevent the constant complaints that would be made by the public on seeing those of the Police Force who are not on Duty walking or talking together, which they will not be able to do without that unpleasant consequence; the badge will be worn on the left arm, just above the cuff.

    Source: Metropolitan Police. Instructions Orders &c. &c.1836. London: W. Clowes & Sons.

  • NYPD’s Muslim surveillance

    I haven’t said anything about the NYPD’s surveillance of Muslims because, well, I have nothing to say. If it’s legal and good, I’m for it. If it’s illegal and bad, I’m against it. If it’s illegal and good, well then it better be damn good!

    But I have no clue. So I’ve kept my mouth shut.

    But what if it’s legal and bad? That’s a possibility raised by an FBI agent, writes Al Baker in the New York Times.

  • Six Things Rich People Need to Stop Saying

    #6. “Well, $500,000 a Year Might Sound Like a Lot, but I’m Hardly Rich.”

    #5. “Hey, I Worked Hard to Get What I Have!”

    #4. “If I Can Do It, So Can You!”

    #3. “You’re Just Jealous Because I Made It and You Didn’t!”

    #2. “You Shouldn’t Be Punishing the Very People Who Make This Country Work!”

    #1. “Stop Asking for Handouts! I Never Got Help from Anybody!”

    For the long and thoughtful explanations of each, go to cracked.com.

    [thanks to somebody for liking this on facebook]

  • Happy Pulaski Day!

    Pulaski Day was our favorite day off from school, growing up in Illinois. Even then we knew it was special.

    From the Chicago Sun-Times:

    But why is Casimir Pulaski honored here rather than any other Polish war hero from the Revolutionary War? Because Pulaski is easier to pronounce than Kosciuszko.

    There you have it. Here in New York, Pulaski and Kosciuszko are just a couple of bridges between Queens and Brookyln. And we get Jewish holidays off.

  • Most unusual cop car

    Most unusual cop car

    From the Holland tunnel in NYC. The picture from the story in the New York Times.

  • James Q. Wilson

    James Q. Wilson passed away yesterday. From The Chronicle of Higher Education:

    James Q. Wilson’s Practical Humanity
    James Q. Wilson made me a cop, even though I never met the man. I think I heard him give a conference talk once. Many say that Wilson, who died Friday after a battle with leukemia, was a kind and nurturing soul. Indeed, I hope he was. But to me his compassionate nature was exemplified by his commitment to broader society. More so than any other academic, and over the course of many decades, Wilson influenced intelligent American public discourse inside and outside academia.

    I cannot be the only one who finds it difficult to comprehend the intellectual world as I know it without Wilson’s ideas. I knew him primarily through his contributions to policing, but his legacy spans political science, criminology, sociology, philosophy, and economics. Most impressively, that intellectual breadth did not limit his contributions to each field. Quite the contrary. Wilson was able to use the methods and nomenclature of various fields without succumbing to the intellectual blinders that so compartmentalize academic research. Compared to you and me, Wilson, who taught at Harvard, the University of California at Los Angeles, and Pepperdine University, simply had more tools in his toolbox. And boy did he know how to use them.

    While many, myself included, may disagree with some of Wilson’s more politically conservative leanings, one cannot question the intellectually honesty from which they came. Undoubtedly a few will be quick, too quick, to dismiss or embrace Wilson as some conservative warrior in the Great American Culture Wars. The label doesn’t stick.

    Click through for the rest.

    Here’s the NYT obit. And a better obit in the LA Times, in which George Kelling says, “[Jim and I] gave police a rationale to pay attention to the problems bothering citizens.”