Police


  • 3 Million for grief counseling?That money would hire a lot of cops, build some jail cells, but instead the taxpayers are funding a grief counseling center. I don't believe that 'grief' is the primary motivation for street crimes and violence. Also noteworthy is all of the noise about Obama-ist religion. Is there nothing this new religion can't do?
  • A crime czar proposal?This is just downright stupid. I don't believe that there is a connection to crime and not having enough senior managers. Would you rather add 3 or 4 cops to the beat or another paper-pusher to an office building?
  • A Federal Concealed Carry BanThis is a very well reasoned piece surrounding the issues, motivations, and outcomes that such a ban would bring. I can't fault any of the logic.
  • Accidental Discharge?Nope, It's a 'Negligent' discharge. I am surprised this generated an arrest, but you have to wonder what do you expect to have happen when you pull the trigger?
  • Armed StudentsSnowflakes in hell has some analysis of the 20/20 piece "If I only had a gun"
  • Baltimore County Tasers
  • Banning guns for drunk copsI fail to see how a police officer is more responsible while drunk (and presumably off duty) than a private citizen.
  • Beware of fraudSororities say they were duped by man posing as self-defense instructor
  • Booze ControlThe UK wants to ban alcohol promotions, because some of the drunks cause problems. So now it is the drinking that is causing all the crime? I guess punishing criminals hasn't caught on over there yet.
  • Broken Windows theory of policingI remain unconvinced that "disorder" is a cause of crime. It seems to me that the increased police presence and attention to particular high crime areas are probably the main factors in the reduction in calls to the police.
  • Cops arrest guy with really exotic gunI don't think this guy is the sharpest knife it the drawer, but I don't think I'd bother sending him to jail. I am just glad that the media is warning of the dangers of the sub-millimeter handgun. Kendrick, of Asheboro, N.C., had a loaded .9-millimeter handgun on the dashboard of his 1998 Dodge pick-up, police said.
  • Criminals Murder Other CriminalsAccording to the study 47% of homicides (in San Francisco) are gang related. How is gun control going to keep criminals from murdering other criminals? Won't they switch to knives, bats, and cars? Some of the statistics are surprising: the average homicide suspect has 12 arrests.
  • Criminals murder other criminalsThe article doesn't explain how the police chief is going to go about accomplishing this, and I am sure the devil is in the details: "It's going to take a whole lot of people to help us do that," said Demings, who pledged to work closely with the public, prosecutors and legislators for stricter gun control."
  • D.C. Police Use E-Mail, Text Message Alerts to Combat CrimeSo they can issue an SMS description of the criminal hours after the crime and citizens can call in. This sounds good until you think about the short length of SMS messages. That grant money could have been better spent. Source:D.C. Police Use E-Mail, Text Message Alerts to Combat Crime
  • DEKALB COUNTY: Crime up but so are felony arrestsI think if you increase the number of crimes you will generally increase the number of arrests. This is basically non-news. The typical "don't take action" line would make more sense if the police were arresting purportionally more criminals. Is the reason they aren't getting even more arrests because of a lack of citizens calling the police when they see a crime?
  • Fake CopsApparently there have been a number of people impersonating police officers.
  • Fake Guns and Police ShootingsThe media periodically goes through some hysteria about either toy guns that look real or real guns that look like toys. The concern is that a police officer will mistake the toy for a real gun and shoot a child, or in the case of a real gun painted to look like a toy the
  • Fearmongering.Gun sales do not have a correlation to "intentional mayhem" or "bio-chemical assaults." I understand you need to pimp your product, but try linking it to a real threat.
  • Firearms in the workplaceThe receptionist at the office has a stalker ex-boyfriend. The receptionist says that he has made threats against her life, and that he has a criminal record for violent offenses. She is afraid of him and has gotten a restraining order.
  • Gun buybacks are an incentive for criminalsSo people turn in roughly a 1000 guns and get roughly $1000 in gift cards for each one. Why is this supposed to be a good thing? Most of the guns collected belonged to people who never used them, deputies say.
  • Gun purchase glitch examined.I would like to see somebody go after these guys. This is yet another example of the police over stepping their authority, ignoring the law, and doing as they see fit. If anyone is able to jump through the legal hoops for buying a firearm then the police have no business denying a purchase.
  • Guns in Restaurants and BarsRustmeister has a clever business card to be dropped off at restaurants in Tennessee sporting the "No Guns" signs. I think this is a great idea. Going one step further: make several designs with or without links to firearms organizations.
  • Information vs. Data"James" commented on my previous post Police Use Text Message Alerts to Combat Crime so I thought I would expand a little on my "money better spent" remark.
  • International Crime DatabaseWhat is being proposed would be a tough job to get done. The EU doesn't all speak the same language and I am sure that their police forces are not structured in the same way. Data sharing sounds good, but it would also allow neighboring countries to data mine the crime data of neighboring countries.
  • Just because you can use force doesn't mean that you should.
  • Of Arms and the Law: On stopping schoolground killersGood analysis on the changes in thinking regarding "active shooters" versus "hostage takers" and the dangers of gun free zones.
  • Officer shot with own Taser gun not injuredThat would kind of be the whole point to using a Taser - not injuring people. The interesting bit about this article is that the weapon in question stops being referred to as a "Taser gun" after the first paragraph and is simply called a gun thereafter.
  • Open carry at political protests
  • Pirate Politics"So we've got to look very carefully at what we can do to tackle the problem in the way the problem is manifested, and also what lies behind the problem."
  • Police testing non-crime guns
  • Presence AttackNeighborhood watch groups such as this one utilize the lowest level of force: presence. It probably does deter vandals and burglars in the neighborhood in question. It doesn't do much for other types of crime, but at least people are taking some responsibility for their neighborhoods.
  • Questioning the effectiveness of SWAT raids.This is a very good article that illustrates why SWAT raids are such a poor general-purpose, law enforcement tactic.
  • Real Community PolicingI was having a discussion the other day with Mostly Genius regarding the controversial statements made by Brian Stratton, the Mayor of Schenectady, New York, and that led to a more general discussion of how to fix a lot of the problems regarding law enforcement in the US today.
  • Real Time Crime ReportingInteresting article about mapping the incidents of crime. There is no technical or economic reason why you can't real-time map 911 Calls. If the getting the exact street address is an issue then just reduce the granularity.
  • Resotrative JusticeI am not sure that criminals can clean up enough litter or paint over enough graffitti to repair the damage caused by their crimes. Additionally if this is just a fiscal measure, at what point do you begin outsourcing jobs to criminals as pool of sub minimum wage workers?
  • Running away and related concepts
  • San Francisco Police Department Can't Stop HomicidesIt begs the question that if a police department doesn't think it has an effect on crime prevention what exactly are they getting paid for?
  • Solutions to gun and knife crime"Talk to young people" is a cop-out. If the young people are free to pick their role models from the criminal classes you will always have this problem. When did kids stop looking up to their parents? When their parents stopped spending time with their kids.
  • Stand-your-ground LawsI can't even believe that there is a question about this being a good thing. Thankfully we have Helmke to obfuscate with extreme stupidity: "The real question is do we respect the criminal justice system or do we go back to a vigilante, every-man-for- himself situation?'' asked Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
  • Stupidity vs. Gun Rights
  • The Mugger's WalletI don't know that the "fake wallet" strategy is really all the new or innovative, but I do find the comments interesting. It seems that most of the people are operating on some internally generated fantasy of what a mugging might look like.
  • Use of ForceThe use of force chart is useful for private citizens to understand how the police (and the courts) tend to view a particular tool or technique. I make a lot of references to the use of force and forgot I hadn't posted this graphic.
  • Who benefits from a high crime rate?The politicians benefit. As the crime rate goes up the politicians get more of a mandate from the people to pass more laws, levy more taxes, and spend more money. The passage of a new law is equated as being "tough on crime" come election time, regardless of if a new has any effect on crime at all.

Mindset • Tactics • Skill • Equipment • Police & Crime • News & Commentary