Tag: Crime

QPP 48: Jeff Asher on Gun Arrests

This is an interesting podcast from Professor Peter Moskos’s website. Moskos and Asher and then Brandon Del Pozo (all PhDs) discuss the increase in firearm arrests from police stops. It is cool just to listen to Moskos and Asher discuss different thoughts, concepts, and ideas and then Del Pozo add in his perspective as he joins in at the end of the podcast.

Here are a couple of my thoughts as I listened to the podcast:
What methods were used to get the guns off of the streets? Self-initiated Field Activity (SIFA), Vehicle and Traffic Law stops by officers, was it searches incidental to arrest, and was citizen contact made because police were alerted by type of a shot detection equipment?

What kind of guns are being used?  Were Legal or illegal guns being recovered? Is the gun issue a supply issue or a demand issue? Was the gun a Newly purchased gun?  What was the length of time from purchase to use?

Asher noted several times that there was limited data from police departments regarding crimes. Jeff also noted that it would be difficult to get specific data about the guns recovered. I think if some of the police departments devised a program of prisoner debriefings for all gun arrests where a specific script is followed (at least to cover the data that is needed) it might be possible to develop a more fuller picture of the gun crime problem.

This podcast can be access HERE

Racially Charged: America’s Misdemeanor Problem LIVESTREAM Harvard • Brave New Films (BNF) – YouTube

This version of the video is in 2 basic parts. The first part of the video is the movie “Racially Charged: America’s Misdemeanor Problem” which is about 40 minutes. The second part is a group of experts that discuss the problem with the present criminal justice system. The main cause of the problems are of course driven by misdemeanor arrest and the police. America would be Nirvana if there were no police and no arrests. The experts never have to live with the consequences of their suggestions. I will comment more on the expert’s commentary but for now make your own assessment of the movie and the experts. It is interesting that ALL the experts had the SAME POINT of VIEW. It would have been nice to give someone with an opposing point of view to add some depth to the discussion.

The movie is Very interesting about all the aspects of misdemeanor enforcement, arrest, trial, conviction, and incarceration.

Racially Charged: America’s Misdemeanor Problem exposes how our country’s history of racial injustice evolved into an enormous abuse of criminal justice powe…
— See the video HERE

The website for “Racially Charged: America’s Misdemeanor Problem” is HERE

Is it time to decriminalize prostitution? – Big Think

Today, prostitution is illegal in the majority of the United States, but the New York State Senate has two bills looking to decriminalize prostitution throughout the state. One bill would decriminalize selling sex while maintaining punitive measures on buying or promoting sex. The other would decriminalize the entire sex trade.
— Read on bigthink.com/politics-current-affairs/decriminalization-of-prostitution

Police solve just 2% of all major crimes

When police arrest a suspect who is then convicted of the crime, it is a rare exception rather than the rule in the US.
— Read on theconversation.com/police-solve-just-2-of-all-major-crimes-143878

Commentary: How can the Criminal Justice System be this massive trap of Mass Incarceration when only 2% of the crimes that carry the longest prison sentence end in conviction. I’m not sure how plea deals are calculated seeing that 90% of all court cases end in a plea deal. Some of the thoughts here are that criminals are prolific and they eventually get caught, so the arrest of one criminal may stop 20-30 future crimes. Some criminals commit very few crimes and stop either forever or for long periods of time.

NOTABLE: Publications from the links in the article

How Effective Are Police? The Problem of Clearance Rates and Criminal Accountability
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3566383

Most violent and property crimes in the U.S. go unsolved
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/03/01/most-violent-and-property-crimes-in-the-u-s-go-unsolved/

Alternatives to Arrest for Young People
https://www.nlc.org/resource/alternatives-to-arrest-for-young-people/