March 31, 2008
Halton Police Use YouTube
The Halton Regional Police (Canada) put up a video on YouTube offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the Ray Venerus homicide case (he was killed on February 21, 2007). I have say, that was a really smart and creative move, Halton Police. I'd love to hear how it goes. For more information, there's an article here.
You can view the YouTube video here.
March 11, 2008
Cop in the Hood
Peter Moskos, an Assistant Professor of Law & Police Science at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice has written a book called Cop in the Hood: My Year Policing Baltimore's Eastern District .
From George Pelecanos, writer and producer for The Wire: Cop in the Hood is a thoughtful, highly entertaining record of a police officer's year spent patrolling one of the country's toughest urban districts, delivered by Moskos, who wore the uniform. For those who are interested in crime and how things work, and for readers seeking a reasoned look at the war on drugs and its implications, this is the handbook.
I went down to Baltimore to interview the Chief of Police while I was doing research for my book, and I have to say, in many ways it looked like being a cop in Baltimore was a tougher job than being a cop in New York. (I'm sorry if this contributes to Baltimore's bad image, something Moskos addresses on his blog.)
For more about this book and Moskos, click here for his blog. There's a chapter from his book, and some very interesting daily commentary about current events relating to crime.