Police

Man kills burglars

A man in Texas killed two men who had burglarized his neighbor’s property. A grand jury decided not to indict the killer. In general, I don’t have much sympathy who criminals who get killed in the act of committing a serious crime. But this case pushes the limit because the guy wasn’t protecting his life or his property, he called…

Continue Reading

Police

Bright light! Bright light!

Bright lights don’t reduce crime. Goodlighting might. Too often people reflexively think that the brighter the street light, the safer the streets. I don’t buy it. Lighting sets the tone. Street lighting is no different. If you light the streets well at night (not just bright, but well), people will go out and, without even knowing it, help keep things…

Continue Reading

Police

Lead free equals crime free?

There’s a piece in the New York Times Sunday magazine with an interesting link between lead and crime. Jessica Wolpaw Reyes wrote a paper linking the crime drop in the 1990s to getting the lead out of gasoline in the 1970s. This is hardly conclusive, but it is interesting. There’s still a lot of lead in Baltimore, mostly in the…

Continue Reading