Police

The Ray Kelly Smackdown Hour

Except this time it was Ray Kelly who was doing the smacking down. He gave it back good to the New York City Council on the subject of stop and frisks and violence among minority youths. From the New York Times: “What I haven’t heard is any solution to the violence problems in these communities — people are upset about…

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Police versus Disciples in Chicago

There’s some good reporting by Frank Main of the Chicago Sun-Times. He goes beyond Police Supt. Garry McCarthy’s bombast (“We’re going to obliterate that gang,” he told police brass in a meeting in June. “Every one of their locations has to get blown up until they cease to exist.”) to talk to actual gang members. I’m generally tempted to dismiss…

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Police

Jeffrey Goldberg on the crime drop in DC

And talking to Washington’s police chief, Cathy Lanier. Bloomberg.com: Lanier outlined some of the changes in the way her department does its job — procedural, technological and investigative changes that I suspect have more to do with the drop in homicides than sociologists might credit. I suspect the same.

Police

Alphabet City Memoirs

When I re-posted those pics of a Baltimore crack house, I found one of the comments so interesting I asked the commenter to turn it into a guest post. Eddie Nadal, retired NYPD, graciously agreed. These are his words: I recently visited the Lower East Side in New York, the same LES where I was born, where my grandma lived…

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Police

Why you’ll never be Batman

By your second week, you’re unhappy that 90% of the crimes you’ve even seen up-close are just pathetic junkies buying crack from another pathetic junkie selling drugs to support his/her own habit. And nothing makes you feel LESS like Batman than scaring sad, homeless crackheads. You tried to chase down a kid when you saw him punch a lady and…

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Fewer Cops = More Crime

That’s the news from Camden. Though I should point out that were it not for the layoffs (almost half the department!), the chief would probably be boasting that homicides are down. But everything else is up, including shootings. Hmmm, maybe there’s a correlation between fewer cops and bad aim?

Police

WWJD? The death penalty and Jesus

Texas just executed its 466th murderer in the last three decades (not surprisingly, the guy being executed was black. Black murderers are much more likely to be executed than are white murderers.) But I’m not here to defend murderers. I’m not even really even against the death penalty. (As long as we can be certain the person is guilty… which…

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Seattle Police Union to Cops: Lay Low

Seattle Timescolumnist Danny Westneat has a worrisome article in the paper: “You are paid to use your discretion and there are many ways to do police work. Recent events should show us that many in the city really don’t want aggressive officers who generate on-view incidents. They want officers who avoid controversy and simply respond when summoned by 911.” ……

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Guardian Angels foil ‘L’ Robbery in Chicago

Even since I felt safer after seeing them on the ‘L’ growing up in Chicago, I’ve always been pro-Guardian Angels. But they’ve never so popular among police, or at least police unions, who don’t like to see other people keeping the city safe… and doing it for free. Their founder, Curtis Sliwa, certainly has some tales to tell, and sometimes…

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