Friday CJ Funnies: NSFW Edition!

I've been feeling surly lately. Maybe it's the crappy weather we've been having that foiled our plans to go up north this weekend. Or maybe it's the shamelessly racist and sexist coverage of Michelle Obama (a.k.a. Barack's "Baby Mama" a.k.a. the "Angry Black Woman") over on Fox News that's got me so grumpy. Or maybe it's pent-up angst over the decision to move the upcoming season of Project Runway from NY to LA. Who knows? Whatever the cause, no fluffy piece of CJ humor was going to tickle my funny bone today. Not even the wicked wit of my beloved Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert could satisfy me. Instead, I craved comedy that's as surly as I feel, and only one person can provide it: Chris Rock.*

Below is a link to one of my favorite bits from the Chris Rock Show: "How not to get your ass kicked by the police". Be warned: it is entirely NSFW, which is why I linked to the video instead of embedding it. It contains strong language (multiple f-bombs!), simulated beatings, and drug references...but it's also viciously funny in typical Rock fashion.

Watch the clip on YouTube here.

*Of course, Dave Chappelle offers equally surly comedy. Perhaps next week's Friday CJ Funny post will be courtesy of Mr. Chappelle...

NPR Series on LA Street Gangs

NPR recently featured a four-part series on Los Angeles street gangs that ought to be of interest to those of you who study gangs and/or law enforcement. From NPR's website:

Crime in America has been on the decline, but gang violence is increasing. Los Angeles has the most gang members per capita than any city in the world. This series zeroes in on the changing nature of Los Angeles gangs and the innovative tactics law enforcement is using to combat them.

Part 1 explores the FBI's crackdown on gang activity in MacArthur Park (Insert your own "MacArthur's park is melting in the dark" joke here.)

Part 2 looks at the incredibly complex organizational structure of gangs, including the tremendous influence and power wielded by so-called "shot callers" even while they are incarcerated.

Part 3 covers law enforcement's increasing reliance on federal charges (and, by extension, parole-free federal prison sentences) in the fight against gangs.

Part 4 examines the longevity one particularly pervasive and persistent gang -- The 18th Street gang.

While I'm on the subject of gangs, National Geographic Channel also has some good videos and information about prison gangs. The documentary Prison Nation offers an excellent overview of the contemporary U.S. prison system, including the extraordinarily high organizational level at which prison gangs operate. It is definitely worthy of consideration for use in corrections and/or gangs classes. (Bonus: the film features commentary by criminologist Joan Petersilia!) For a shorter video on prison gangs, check out "Gangs vs. Guards," a 3-minute clip about Pelican Bay, a supermax prison that houses the most dangerous, violent gang-bangers in California.

Athletes and the Law: Boating while Black

On Saturday, May 3rd, Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson was arrested after officers from the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) say that he failed a sobriety test, failed to comply with officers' directives, and was eventually pepper-sprayed. Recently, witnesses have come forward to say that Benson was not intoxicated and did not resist, calling into question the officers' versions of events. What is interesting here is that Lake Travis, where Benson was boating with some friends (and his mom!), is well-known as a "party cove" where boaters congregate to engage in heavy drinking and alcohol-fueled idiocy. In fact, there have been 22 fatalities on the lake in the past 3 years alone, leading to an increased presence from the LCRA. However, the Lake is located immediately adjacent to a wealthy, predominantly white suburb of Austin, Texas (Benson attended the University of Texas in Austin). In addition, Benson's 31.5-foot boat (valued at less than $200,000) is actually small (in both size and value) in comparison to numerous other boats typically found on the lake. Did the LCRA target Benson because: (1) he got into some trouble when he was at UT, and is thus well-known to them (Benson was arrested twice while at UT - once for marijuana, and once for trespassing); or (2) he was a black man partying with some white women on a boat that looked out of place on Lake Travis?

There has been much research over the past decade into the phenomenon of DWB - driving while black. Recent concern over the stop-and-frisk tactics of the NYPD have even led some to posit that WWB (walking while black) is an actionable offense in some areas. Now it appears that several witnesses are arguing that Benson was the victim of BWB - boating while black. Although it is difficult to untangle everything that went on during the arrest due to the location (i.e. fewer overall potential witnesses when the situation occurs on a boat in the middle of a lake), many people are suspicious of the fact that the LCRA is refusing to release the audio tape of the arrest. It would seem that if they feel that they acted appropriately, the LCRA should not have a problem releasing that tape. If, however, their reasons for the initial stop were suspect, and they did in fact treat Benson inappropriately, then clearly the audio tape coming to light would work against them. Benson seems ready to mount a vigorous defense (particularly since his status with the Bears is uncertain due to poor performance on the field) to clear his good name, so we may eventually uncover the whole truth.

Beyond the Call of Duty

I choked up watching this video from CNN.com this morning.

The video features a report about Jiang Xiaojuan, a Chinese police officer who also is the nursing mother of a 6-month old son. Called into emergency duty after the earthquake in Sichuan Province, she soon became aware that among the displaced multitude were several starving infants. Some of the babies were orphans; others had mothers too injured to breastfeed them or whose milk supply had ceased after the trauma of the quake and a prolonged lack of food. So, she decided to breastfeed these infants -- at one point as many as nine of them -- and provide them with nourishment without which they might have died.

This story resonated with me on several levels. First, as a mother who breastfed both of my children, I was moved thinking about the powerful bond that has been forged between this woman and the infants she fed. Honestly, it gives me chills just thinking about it. Second, as a criminologist I was intrigued to hear Xaiojuan remark that by feeding these babies she was merely fulfilling her duty as a police officer:

"I am breast-feeding, so I can feed babies. I didn't think of it much," she said. "It is a mother's reaction, and a basic duty as a police officer to help."

While she may feel this way, I wonder how many officers (male or female) would agree with her. Myself, I think what she did is pretty extraordinary, and definitely qualifies as going beyond the call of duty. What is more, her heroism (heroine-ism?) certainly ought to silence any remaining critics who would question women's participation in law enforcement. I'd like to see a male police officer breastfeed nine infants!!

P.S. Here is the print version of the story from CNN.com, and a here is a similar report from Reuters. Although the Reuters headline refers to Xaiojuan as a "wet nurse" rather than as a police officer. For some reason, that bugs me.

Home, Home on the Range

When I graduated from high school in the mid-90s, life in my home town in northern Minnesota was, for the most part, stereotypically idyllic. While there is not much crime in most rural areas anyway, my small town had almost none. I went to college wanting to to do police work in this way of life. The cops I knew never arrested anyone – they simply drove around town “BS-ing” with the locals and talking about where the fish were biting or who shot the biggest deer this season.

The year after I left, the taconite mine that literally built the town in the 50s unexpectedly and immediately shut down. Some of my classmates who had stuck around to live the lives their fathers had were shell-shocked when only a few months after signing 30-year mortgages they found out that their well-paying job had just been pulled out from underneath them. Many people speculated that the town would not make it. Taxes had been essentially paid by the mining company, and so there would be no money to fix roads and pay for teachers and cops (my parents still pay less than $200 PER YEAR for property taxes). As a result of the closure, many people left the town. Surprisingly, though, many people stayed. Many of the residents were retirees and could survive because of the low cost of living.

Something even more surprising has happened in the last few years: the price of precious metals has increased so much that now other mining companies are talking about coming back to the Iron Range. One company has spent the last 3 years fixing up the facilities abandoned by the original mine. There are multi-million dollar building projects going on and hundreds of new jobs are forecasted. In fact, everyone is talking about this being the biggest economic boom for northeastern Minnesota in a generation. Seems like all good things for my childhood community.

The question I want to pose here, is, what are the social (and criminological) implications of such a rapid change? The area went from boom to bust and now back to an apparent boom in the matter of only a few years. Sounds like classic anomie to me. There is a very good article in the Duluth News-Tribune this morning written by an economist at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth about some of these issues. Tony Barrett writes:

Face it, we’re in for several years of upheaval. Positive upheaval, for the most part, but upheaval nonetheless. Change does not come easily for anyone and the communities on the Range will be no different.

Are we prepared for such changes and should we expect an increase in crime as a result? How will the life-long Rangers get along with those who come from elsewhere? What can we do NOW to prepare for the changes? There is very little analysis of rural crime issues in the literature, though it seems to me that this is a case study of how rapid social change can affect rural areas.

Thoughts on Philly Police Video?

Some of you may have seen the recent video of more than a dozen (white) Philadelphia police officers using extreme, and most likely excessive, force against three (Black) shooting suspects:



This situation is being described by many as an instance of police brutality. To help understand why, here is some important contextual information:

According to the Ground Report,

The grim event took place in the Huntington Park section of one of the United States' biggest cities (by population). Recently, in the close-by Port Richmond part of town, 12-year law enforcement veteran Sergeant Stephen Liczbinski, 39 years of age, was gunned down, making him the third Philly law enforcement member killed while on duty in the last two years...

According to police officers on the scene, the three men are all suspects in a drug-dealing ring and possibly in the killing of the police officer and they were observed firing guns from their car, shots which resulted in the injury of at least three citizens on a street corner. There was a fourth suspect but he ran away from the scene on foot, according to observers.

And, from the Philadelphia Inquirer:

The video shows as many as 15 officers, all of them white, rushing the vehicle of the three black suspects, yanking them from the car, and kicking and beating them after they were prone....

The news of sanctions against seven more officers came just hours after police captured Eric DeShawn Floyd, 33, the last of three men suspected in Saturday's slaying of Police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski - and shortly before the beginning of last evening's viewing for the 12-year police veteran in Northeast Philadelphia....

Among other developments yesterday, D. Scott Perrine, the attorney for Dawayne Dyches, one of the three men beaten and arrested Monday night, said police had pursued Dyches because they believed he was Floyd....

Police have said the three men - Dyches, 24, of the 2000 block of North Marshall Street in North Philadelphia; Brian Hall, 23, of the 1900 block of North Marshall Street; and Pete Hopkins, 19, of the 2000 block of East Firth Street in Kensington - were arrested after they drove from Fourth and Annsbury Streets, the scene of the shooting in North Philadelphia's Feltonville section, shortly after 10 p.m. Monday.

Police say a fourth man had arrived with the three suspects and fled on foot after firing into a crowd. Police said that 15 spent 9mm casings had been found at the scene, but that no weapon had been recovered from the vehicle, which was stopped about two miles away in the 3700 block of North Second Street.

At that point, the video shows officers charging to the suspects' vehicle with guns drawn. In the next minute, the officers pull the three from the car, beating them after they have been forced to the street. The beatings take up about one minute of the video.

So, Philadelphia officers' emotions were understandably running high after the tragic death of Sgt. Liczbinski, and the three men shown being beaten in the video -- who allegedly had fired shots from their moving vehicle, injuring several people -- were believed to be connected to Sgt. Liczbinski's slaying. Add to this the racial implications of yet another instance of white police officers using extreme force against Black suspects, and it is easy to see why this situation has garnered so much media attention.

Not being a policing or use of force expert, I'm curious to hear from Scoob, Cranks, or the NY Kid -- have you been following this case? What are criminologists who study use of force saying about this incident?

Friday CJ Funnies: Guttenberg Fans, Unite!

For today's Friday CJ Funny, allow me to share a clip from the pinnacle of police-centered comedies, Police Academy. Just try and tell me that your weekend is not looking a little brighter now that you've gotten a glimpse of The Gute in all his 80s glory!

Paging Officer Palloo

Please excuse me while I hijack the blog for a moment to talk about my kids:

So, this afternoon the girls were playing together contentedly while I was straightening up the house. I looked over at them and saw A (who is 3 and a half) chattering away into M's toy cell phone. Amused at her animated conversation, I asked her who she was talking to.

"The police," she answered.

I laughed. "The police? Why are you talking to the police?"

"Because I'm a policeman," she said.

"You are?! Well, that's exciting," I told her.

"Yeah," came her matter-of-fact reply. "I'm Policey Palloo."

LOL! I have absolutely no idea where that came from, but I decided that from now on, when I need to discuss a hypothetical policing situation in class or on an exam, I will enlist the services of Officer Policey Palloo. Isn't that the greatest name for a fictional police officer ever?

"Undone by its Own Metaphor": The Failure of America's War on Drugs

About two weeks ago, NPR's Talk of the Nation took up the issue of America's War on Drugs. Featured in this discussion was Ben Wallace-Wells, a contributing editor for Rolling Stone who recently authored a damning account of U.S. drug policy entitled "How America Lost the War on Drugs".

I don't typically consider Rolling Stone to be a source of hard-hitting investigative journalism, but listening to Mr. Wallace-Wells' interview I was impressed and intrigued by the extent of his knowledge about the War on Drugs. When I finally sat down to read his article (linked above), I found it to be a fascinating and fairly comprehensive analysis of contemporary American drug policy. I know some of you may balk at this, but I would totally consider assigning this article in class, so impressive is its scope. (It's very lengthy; divided into twelve chapters, it took me over an hour to read.)

What I appreciated most about this article is that it recognizes, and sharply criticizes, the utter disconnect between contemporary American drug policy, on the one hand, and the findings of empirical drug policy evaluation research on the other:

Thanks to new research, U.S. policy-makers knew with increasing certainty what would work and what wouldn't. The tragedy of the War on Drugs is that this knowledge hasn't been heeded. We continue to treat marijuana as a major threat to public health, even though we know it isn't. We continue to lock up generations of teenage drug dealers, even though we know imprisonment does little to reduce the amount of drugs sold on the street. And we continue to spend billions to fight drugs abroad, even though we know that military efforts are an ineffective way to cut the supply of narcotics in America or raise the price.

This article also examines many criminal justice policies and initiatives that developed as a consequence of the War on Drugs: The Boston Gun Project and Operation Ceasefire, community policing efforts in Boston, High Point, NC, and elsewhere, drug courts, mandatory minimums, and so on. It also offers a cogent political analysis, deftly illustrating how thoroughly efforts to appear "tough on crime"-- by Republicans and Democrats alike -- have influenced and shaped contemporary drug policy, even while academic research has been largely ignored:

The federal budget that [former Clinton-era drug czar Lee] Brown's office submitted in 1994 remains a kind of fetish object for certain liberals in the field, the moment when their own ideas came close to making it into law. The budget sought to cut overseas interdiction, beef up community policing, funnel low-level drug criminals into treatment programs instead of prison, and devote $355 million to treating hardcore addicts, the drug users responsible for much of the illegal-drug market and most of the crime associated with it. White House political handlers, wary of appearing soft on crime, were skeptical of even this limited commitment, but Brown persuaded the president to offer his support, and the plan stayed. Still, the politics of the issue were difficult. Convincing Congress to dramatically alter the direction of America's drug war required a brilliant sales job. "And Lee Brown," says Bergman, his former legislative liaison, "was not an effective salesman."

...But in the early days of the Bush administration, police departments were in no hurry to experiment with an approach that focused on drug-related murders and mostly ignored users who weren't committing violence. [Criminologist and pioneer of the Boston Gun Project David] Kennedy's efforts proved to be yet another missed opportunity in the War on Drugs - an experience that made clear how difficult it is for science to influence the nation's drug policy.

Indeed, from an academic perspective, this is perhaps the most dispiriting observation of this article: that U.S. drug policy has been, and continues to be, woefully uninformed by criminological and governmental research and instead is shaped largely by political concerns:

But despite their evident success, the most forward-looking programs remain buried at the fringes of drug policy, featured not in the president's budgets but in academic journals and water-cooler talk in cities like High Point....Thirty-five years after Richard Nixon launched the War on Drugs, the most promising ­programs continue to be shunted aside by Washington's unswerving emphasis on law and order.

I would love to hear others' thoughts on this article, given that I am not a drug researcher. What do you make of the author's conclusions? How can his research be used to inform discussions about the extent to which academic research matters to policy-makers? What does that mean for us as criminologists? I am left with many questions...not the least of which is: would I lose all credibility if I assigned a Rolling Stone article for my students?

More on Homicides in Detroit

Yesterday the Detroit Free Press published another article about homicides in Detroit, this time analyzing the city's consistently high number of murders relative to other large cities:

New York has a population of 8.2 million and had 494 homicides in 2007.

Detroit's population is much smaller at 919,000, but there were 404 homicides last year, according to preliminary figures.

And while the city's unofficial homicide total for 2007 is a decline from 418 in 2006, the number remains near where it has been for nearly a decade.

The causes of Detroit's murder problem -- according to the Detroit police chief, criminologist Alfred Blumstein, and other experts -- include insufficient police manpower and resources, the infestation of drugs and weapons, a struggling economy, a violent lifestyle adopted by many young people in the city, and citizens' (victims and/or witnesses) unwillingness to cooperate with police.

Thoughts from our policing/gun violence experts?

Detroit Homicide Investigations in Sorry State

Recently, the Detroit Free Press reported that the success of homicide investigations in Detroit is at an all time low:

According to the most recent statistics, Detroit police arrested a suspect in one of every three homicide cases in 2005, a stark decline from previous years and far below other major U.S. cities and the nation's average.

Also well below the average is Detroit's 1-in-3 ratio for clearing homicides -- that is, in charging or identifying the killer.

Experts cite the apparent end of police dragnets, the illegal practice of rounding up large groups of potential witnesses and suspects for questioning, for much of the drop in arrests.

But the experts also blame a homicide section decimated by budget cuts, more drug-related slayings in which witnesses are less likely to talk and slipshod handling of evidence and investigative files in several high-profile cases.

This article caught my eye for a couple of reasons. First, being a native metro-Detroiter, I am always saddened by the (often, but not always, deservedly) bad press the city receives. This story is no exception. Combined with Detroit's history of sitting at or near the top of the most-murders-per-capita list, news of dwindling homicide clearance rates is a one-two punch of bad news for the city, and for the DPD in particular.

Second, having spent many, many hours (along with Scooby and others) coding homicide files at the DPD headquarters, I was struck by the article's description of the DPD homicide unit's decline, both in number of officers and in prestige:

Once acknowledged among America's investigative elite, Detroit homicide cops were invited to help solve the notorious Atlanta child killings of the late 1970s and early '80s, and were portrayed as shrewd sleuths in Hollywood films and books by Elmore Leonard.

But in recent years, the downsized unit has suffered humiliating setbacks, many self-inflicted. It has lost or mislaid reports and files, been implicated in bogus confessions and has seen the demise of the discredited dragnets.

Finally, I have mentioned before my obsession with The First 48, a program upon which the DPD homicide unit regularly is featured. I am continually chagrined by the decrepit conditions of the Detroit facilities compared with those in Miami, Memphis, Dallas, etc. As Scoob and I unwittingly learned firsthand, for years the DPD homicide unit lacked basic amenities like an interrogation room in which to question suspects. Although, as the article notes, the DPD recently "yielded to years of accusations that it coerced confessions by agreeing to record the interrogation of murder suspects at its new high-tech facility in the former Second Precinct station."

Here's hoping that the new, improved facility will help boost homicide clearance rates in the coming year. While we wait for the 2008 statistics to reveal whether or not that's the case, I'll be keeping an eye on things when the new season of The First 48 premieres January 10th.

Year-in-Review: Memorable Quotes Edition

From the Associated Press:

It was the plea heard round the world.

"Don't tase me, bro" - shouted by a Florida college student as officers removed him from a speech by Sen. John Kerry - tops this year's list of most memorable quotes, compiled by the editor of the Yale Book of Quotations.

Because the number one most memorable quote of 2007 stems from an incident involving (questionably appropriate) police use of force, I thought it was worth mentioning here. Says Professor Fred Shapiro of Yale Law School, who compiles the annual list of memorable quotes: "It's not Shakespeare, but there is a kind of folk eloquence in that. It wouldn't be a quote if he didn't say 'bro'...That had just the right rhythm to make it memorable."

You can read the full article here and see the list of the top ten most memorable quotes here.

My pick for quote of the year doesn't make the list, though a variant of it does. "I don't recall," uttered ad infinitum by former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his role in the U.S. Attorney firings, comes in at a solid #5. However, I prefer this somewhat more serpentine, substantially more absurd, and infinitely more humorous version of Mr. Gonzales' mantra: "I don't recall remembering." Priceless!



What's your choice for quote of the year?

P.S. God, I miss The Daily Show.

We Want Our Students To Learn From Us, But...

...I don't think this is what anybody hopes for in terms of students' retention of our course material:

"Confessed serial killer had law enforcement degree"

In his early 30s, fresh off his release from prison on rape charges, Timothy Krajcir enrolled in college to study psychology and the criminal justice system.

Like other students, Krajcir was seeking self-enlightenment, a detective said.

But over the next six years, Krajcir murdered at least six women in two states, covering up his crimes in part by using what he learned at Southern Illinois University, authorities said.

Authorities say Krajcir is a rare specimen -- smart enough to elude police during his crime spree, and apparently private enough to keep his deeds secret in the ensuing years. He eventually graduated from Southern Illinois with a degree in law enforcement...

"If he was studying criminal justice and law enforcement, he definitely would know what police were looking for and how to avoid detection," Smith said.

Obviously this case is an anomaly; needless to say, the vast majority of criminal justice students do not go on to use the knowledge they've gained in class to avoid detection in their careers as serial rapist-murderers. And, though I understand why the media have seized upon this story (headlines doesn't get much more tantalizing than "confessed serial killer had law enforcement degree"), I have to admit to being somewhat annoyed. It doesn't take a criminal justice degree to become reasonably familiar with police homicide investigations. A marathon viewing session of The First 48 would accomplish the same thing. (Not that I'm obsessed with that show or anything.)

Polygamy, Policing, & Partner Violence

One of the topics on today's Talk of the Nation was polygamy. A few interesting issues were raised.

First, one guest (a polygamist woman) described the advantages for women of being in a polygamous marriage. In her view, the primary benefit women derive from plural marriage revolves around having multiple people to shoulder the burden of home responsibility, whether it be assisting you in homemaking or having someone to watch your children while you pursue an education or employment outside of the home. This may sound far fetched, but actually recalls a recent New York Times article in which career women expressed that what they really need is -- you guessed it -- a wife at home. Does it sound less unorthodox when the NYT says it?

Second, the discussants questioned whether policing and prosecution of polygamists is effective, or even worthwhile. In cases that involve underage girls, the answer is obviously yes...but what about when all parties are legal, consenting adults? Is polygamy among willing adults a victimless crime? This actually recalls for me the similar discussions surrounding the arrest of Senator Larry Craig: is cruising for anonymous sex in public restrooms an offense worth the money and resources invested in a sting, such as the one in the Minneapolis airport? In both instances, one could ask: aren't scarce law enforcement dollars best spent elsewhere? Or, is the threat involved in either behavior worth the effort spent policing them?

Third, the issue of intimate partner violence in polygamous families was raised, which is really what piqued my interest. Though I suspect that IPV in plural marriages just might be the darkest dark figure of crime, I also think that it is a topic well worth investigating. After all, twenty years ago IPV in gay and lesbian relationships was shrouded in secrecy and consequently barely studied, but today scholarship on same-sex IPV is relatively common. Perhaps researchers will be able to make similar inroads in studying IPV in plural marriages. Though the polygamist advocate featured on TOTN suggested that, in her experience at least, patriarchal domination is NOT a fundamental element of plural marriage, one imagines that it must be for some women. I had so many questions: Do polygamist batterers abuse all of their wives? Or only some? Do the sister wives know? If so, do they offer support to one another, or turn a blind eye? Given the tremendous vulnerability polygamous victims of IPV must experience, answering these and other questions seems an important task.