Roundup: New Jersey paid to train cops in racism, abuse; another state bans excited delirium; FBI neglects white supremacist and eventual mass shooter to investigate George Floyd protesters
Roundup: New Jersey paid to train cops in racism, abuse; another state bans excited delirium; FBI neglects white supremacist and eventual mass shooter to investigate George Floyd protesters
Here’s your roundup of the latest in the world of policing, criminal justice, and civil liberties. Policing The A.P. goes deep on in-custody police deaths that involved “non-lethal” or “less lethal” force. Republican politicians are demanding that prosecutors be removed from office for prosecuting police who use excessive force.
I read the story from the woman incarcerated in solitary in Texas, and the criminal censorship of her reading material has me enraged. I was one of those kids who didn't fit in well at school, but thanks to my teachers who slipped me adultish books in elementary school (like reading Sherlock Holmes), I survived. But oh, reading will help everyone, and to censor it mainly because of cruelty demonstrates how curdled we are as a nation.
(The Texas censorship is totally bonkers, by the way. Banning an entire issue of Good Housekeeping because it has a ad with a person wearing an adult diaper is beyond satire.)
On traffic calming strategies - it seems that technology should be able to play a major role here, but it appears the industry doesn’t want it to.
If geolocational tech can slow down a rented electric scooter in certain parts of a city, there’s no reason you couldn’t do the same in cars for school zones or high pedestrian-risk areas. No brainer solution.
Just a heads up - you have two different bullet points about Tennessee pre-empting Memphis' policy on pretextual stops, that are basically restatements of the same thing.
Always brilliant work from Mr. Balko. You cannot be truly "pro cop" unless you are clear-eyed and all about truth-telling: Mr. Balko is both. To paraphrase Bob Dylan, it turns out you must be honest to live inside the law, too.
I read the story from the woman incarcerated in solitary in Texas, and the criminal censorship of her reading material has me enraged. I was one of those kids who didn't fit in well at school, but thanks to my teachers who slipped me adultish books in elementary school (like reading Sherlock Holmes), I survived. But oh, reading will help everyone, and to censor it mainly because of cruelty demonstrates how curdled we are as a nation.
I want to shine a little light on this Photo Requests From Solitary project that gets a mention in the excerpt on Texas prison censorship.
https://photorequestsfromsolitary.org/
Just a beautiful project all around.
(The Texas censorship is totally bonkers, by the way. Banning an entire issue of Good Housekeeping because it has a ad with a person wearing an adult diaper is beyond satire.)
It’s just cruelty!
On traffic calming strategies - it seems that technology should be able to play a major role here, but it appears the industry doesn’t want it to.
If geolocational tech can slow down a rented electric scooter in certain parts of a city, there’s no reason you couldn’t do the same in cars for school zones or high pedestrian-risk areas. No brainer solution.
The roundup says that the undercover agent was pulled off the Aldrich investigation but the linked article does not state this.
Just a heads up - you have two different bullet points about Tennessee pre-empting Memphis' policy on pretextual stops, that are basically restatements of the same thing.
Same with the San Bernardino sheriff's office.
Always brilliant work from Mr. Balko. You cannot be truly "pro cop" unless you are clear-eyed and all about truth-telling: Mr. Balko is both. To paraphrase Bob Dylan, it turns out you must be honest to live inside the law, too.
Great as always! Just FYI though, the San Bernardino and Tyre Nichols stories are both duped.
I lean so much from your round-ups. Thank you for this!!