Police

Race and justifiable police homicides (I): Over time

Back in 2008 I posted about what I called the “Al Sharpton effect”: cops shooting white people doesn’t generally make the news. That post has gotten a lot of hits recently (roughly 2,000 page views a day, when normally my whole blog gets about 700). So I’ve re-crunched these numbers, both to make them more current and to look at…

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Police

NYPD Aims Better in 2012

It’s being reportedthat fatal NYPD police-involved shootings were way up in 2012. They are, but it’s a non-story. Indeed, fatal police-involved shootings increased from 9 to 16, but better aim and luck were probably the reasons why. Police-involved shootings were only up by 2, to 30. (And this even though the average distance from which officers shot was further away…

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Police

Father calls cops who shoot son

The chase was well called out by the pursuing officer, I have to say. The shooting, in my humble opinion, justified. It’s too bad police had to down two police cars because of this idiot. Should the police have chased? No. They rarely should. And particularly not when you know the identity of the suspect and where he lives! (And…

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Police

Can you say “Contagion Shooting”?

They then opened fire. The authorities would not estimate how many rounds were discharged. Mr. Gainer, the sergeant-at-arms, said he believed that five to seven officers had fired. Possible Clues in Fatal Chase, but No Motive — Miriam Carey Was in Car When Police Fired, Official Says

Police

Women shot by LAPD in Dorner manhunt get $4 million payout

Back in February, when Christopher Dorner was busy killing cops, two unarmed hispanic women delivering newspapers in a blue Toyota Tacoma were shot at 100 times because the cops were afraid it was a Dorner, black man, driving a gray Nissan Titan. Now I’m not normally one to criticize police… And indeed, I wasn’t there… And yet… The cops just…

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Police

Speaking of Tragedies…

I don’t think I ever posted about the tragic shooting of a police recruit while in training. Sometimes if you have nothing nice to say, it’s best to say nothing at all. But it was just brought to my attention that the BPD is now on their seventh head of E&T [academy director] in the last 19 months. You think…

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Police

PTSD in the BPD

An article by Peter Hermann in the Sun on an important but little talked about subject, the effect on police of police-involved shootings: Union leaders say city police do a good job of providing counseling to officers in the immediate aftermath of a shooting, but fall short in recognizing long-term psychological effects. Psychiatrists and police officials interviewed all caution that…

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Police

Good guys win one in subway shootout

Denis Hamill writes in the Daily News: For all the criticism the cops are taking these days for the out of control stop-and-frisks, for the questionable shooting of Ramarley Graham in the Bronx, let’s take a deep breath and not lose track of the vital, life-risking work these guys do every day in this big scary city. And kudos to…

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Police

Round up the Usual Outrage

An officer, who heard over his radio that a drug suspect was armed with a gun, kicks down the door of his apartment, finds the suspect hiding in the bathroom (probably trying to flush weed down the toilet), thinks the suspect is going for his gun, and shoots and kills the suspect. The problem is that the suspect, according to…

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