May 17 of last year the NYPD issued an obscure order concerning “aided reports” — that’s when a cop responds to a 911 call for a sick person waiting for an ambulance (a “bus,” as they say here) — requiring the officer to enter the person’s information into their phone. This looks all technical and boring. When you put the…
Interesting study by some prominent (and good) sociologists about the drop-off in 911 calls after there was publicity about a man severely beaten by off-duty Milwaukee cops in 2004. Calls dropped by about 17 percent for about a year. But that’s just a segue to this, which comes from a community listserve in Durham, NC. A friend of mine who…
Take this fightat North Avenue Beach in Chicago. Seems like mostly a bunch of stupid frat bro’s, one wearing an SAE tank top. (“These people” also have problems.) Why does does this have to do with the Ferguson (or “Viral Video”) Effect? Well, if you’re looking for an example of how fear or negative publicity can impact policing and create…
This doesn’t happen enough(the prosecution, not the BS calls to 911): In all, the authorities said, more than 30 calls were made over a month, none for actual emergencies. On Friday, prosecutors in Queens said that they had all been traced to one man. He told the fire marshal investigating the case that he made the calls. “My uncle is…
The BBC: When the researchers [in San Francisco] sat by the call handlers and noted down what was happening – they found 30% of calls coming in from mobiles were accidental butt-dials, also known as pocket-dials. As well as being time-consuming taking the call, the impact of butt-dials doesn’t stop there. Each one requires further attention – after all, the…
When 311 is introduced for non-emergency calls, there’s always talk about how the new 311 system will ease pressure on the 911 system. That never happens (but “hope springs eternal…”). I can’t actually find the 911 numbers, but I know there are more 911 calls now than in 2003, when 311 was introduced here in NYC. (I know because 911…
So many controversial police incidents, where police are accused of being prejudiced or racist — and here I’m thinking of the grandfather “kidnapping” his black granddaughter in the previous post, or police shooting the guy in Walmart, or the black guy in Minneapolis being hassled while waiting for his daughter, or just “swatting” in general. These incidents often happen because…
A reduction in 911 calls in unheard of. The number of people calling for police goes up and up (because the system would have one believe there is an unlimited supply of cops). Right now about half your police department is dedicated to being ready to answer your call for service. And being ready (“in service”) too often means sitting…
Check out this lengthy piece (and well worth reading the whole thing) by David Simon about murders, stats, the BPD, the state’s attorney’s office, and the need for main-stream media. (And thanks to an anonymous comment for cluing me in.) The Stat: In 2011, the Baltimore Police Department charged 70 defendants with murder or manslaughter. Yet in 2010, the department charged…
There’s a much delayed and controversial report listing the flaws of New York’s “new and improved” 911 phone system. There are many flaws I won’t get into here, but I would like to point out just the cost. The project has cost $2 billion. The entire annual budget of the NYPD is about $4.5 billion (NYPD and NYFD is about…