Police

Drug corner in action

Here’s a nice action video of a drug corner shot by a police officer friend of mine back in October 2001. Basically this corner is a three-man (or boy) shop. The guy in the green shirt is the money man and the biggest man of this not-so-impressive. The kid in the white t-shirt (let’s call him “Little Man”) is kind…

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Police

KGA Radio is on the Air

This video isn’t exactly action packed. In fact, nothing happens. Really. It’s just a one minute drive through the streets of East Baltimore. But that’s one minute more than you’ve probably seen. And notice the sleepy-voiced dispatcher over the police radio. If he didn’t sound sleepy, It would get your attention. He was skilled. The last thing you want as…

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Police

State raids mayor’s home

Is Baltimore’s Mayor Sheila Dixon a crook? I guess we’ll find out. Please note that in this case, Officer Pete’s Fourth Rule (below) does not apply.

Police

Don’t eat the paint

Why is there so much violence in Baltimore? Maybe it’s the lead. Or you could say, “It’s the lead, stupid!” There’s a lot of lead paint in Baltimore, especially in poor neighborhoods. Greg Toppo reports in USA Today. In the academy, a friend and I used to joke that one of our dim classmates had licked the windowsill one too…

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Police

No Parking = No Drugs?

In a comment, Timothy turned me on to an article by Liz Kay in the Sun, “No parking, Less Drugs.” Leaving aside the grammatical question (it should be “fewer drugs,” right?), what about the concept? They banned parking on part of the business strip of Pennsylvania Avenue to get rid of drug dealers. Apparently, it has gotten a little better.…

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Police

Overdose deaths

In 2007, 235 Baltimore residents overdosed. The story in the Sunis here. Interestingly (and surprisingly), 74 of those were from methadone. I don’t quite understand the point of methadone. If it’s addictive and you can die from it, why not just give junkies heroin?

Police

Getting away with murder in B’more

The Baltimore City Paper tells the story. Well, one guy did get 5 years. Here’s their first story. Here’s the concept: The Murder Ink column in the print edition of City Paper tracks homicides in Baltimore, giving details on each murder in the city. But what becomes of those homicide cases after we’ve reported the murder? Recently, we started looking…

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Police

Man bites dog?

One of the stranger headlines appears in today’s Sun: City infant was not hit by bullet, police say.

Police

Community Policing query

Dear Prof. Moskos First off, let me say that I enjoyed your book. As someone who has recently moved to Baltimore and now finds themselves living on the edge of the Eastern I found it a fascinating read. Your discussion of 911 helped to explain the very big difference in reaction between the community meetings. Commanders (not a direct quote)…

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Police

You can ask my man right here with the broken neck

911 is a joke. We should all know that by now. If patrol officers didn’t have to always be ready to answer the next bullshit call, they could do a lot more to prevent crime. I’ve written about this. I’ve always argued that while rapid response doesn’t make sense for police, it does for ambos and fire trucks. David Kohn…

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