Tag: Crime

The Biggest Police Corruption Scandal of the NYPD | The Set

This is a 10 episode series. The focus is on the NYPD during the Mollen Commission. The time is the early 1990’s where drug use/sales was rampant and crime was at an all time high. There are about 20+ different persons involved in the scandal that are discussed or interviewed for the podcast. Zak Levitt does a fantastic job describing the corruption in the NYPD in the early 1990’s. It is difficult keeping track of all the persons involved, not Levitt’s fault. The 1990’s NYPD corruption is similar to a criminal organization, it was complicated to describe and unbelievable.

A few impressions: It is difficult to understand how the corruption took a foothold and allowed to sustain itself. It does raise the question of how easy is it for police to fall into corrupt practices. Are large police departments (the NYPD being the largest) more susceptible to corruption? Are mid-sized (100 to 500 officers) and smaller (under 100) just as susceptible to corruption? Episode 10 discusses the fallout from the corruption and police officers that lied under oath in criminal court cases. It is a great example of “Noble Cause” police corruption. The consequences of police officers lying under oath was that all the cases the officers testified in were dismissed. Many of the defendants were guilty even though the officers lied. However, because the officers lied the cases were dismissed and the criminals were released back on the streets. Instead of lying to help the administration of justice, the officers ended up losing all of their cases.

The podcast is available everywhere. Here are two links for the podcast:
Audacy and Spotify

Hot spot policing in England and Wales, year ending March 2023

Following 2 successful pilots, the Home Office (HO) announced in April 2021 that 18 police forces with the highest levels of serious violence (SV) would receive funding to deliver enhanced hot spot policing. The aim of this programme, called Grip, was to deter SV through visible patrol activity in hot spots while also adopting strategic problem-oriented policing (POP) to address the root causes of violence within those locations. In September 2021, 2 further police forces were awarded bespoke funding to conduct hot spot policing, as they had the next highest volumes of SV. The 20 forces had a single-year Grant Agreement for the year ending 31 March 2022 and then a multi-year agreement for the next 3 years (though see below), to deliver the hot spot policing programme. Following consultation with leading hot spot policing scholars, we believe this is the first attempt to implement a national hot spot strategy and evaluate it robustly.
— Read on www.gov.uk/government/publications/hot-spot-policing-in-england-and-wales-year-ending-march-2023/hot-spot-policing-in-england-and-wales-year-ending-march-2023-evaluation-of-grip-and-bespoke-funded-hot-spot-policing

Youth in Adult Courts, Jails, and Prisons – The Sentencing Project

Overview

At the turn of the 21st century, it was estimated that 250,000 children every year were charged as adults in the United States. By 2019, that number had dropped 80% to 53,000. This drop is to be celebrated and is the result of legislative changes in 44 states and the District of Columbia, as well as federal funding incentives. However, there is still much work to be done.

The children that remain exposed to the adult criminal legal system are overwhelmingly youth of color. The vast majority serve short sentences in adult jail or prison and return home by their 21st birthdays, the age at which services can be extended to in the youth justice system in the vast majority of states; indicating that many youth could be served, more appropriately, by the youth justice system.
— Read on www.sentencingproject.org/reports/youth-in-adult-courts-jails-and-prisons/

The path to public safety requires economic opportunity: Trends and solutions in urban, suburban, and rural communities

With crime and the economy being top concerns for families and businesses, the paper closes with ways in which state, regional, and local leaders can join forces in ways that make a tangible difference
— Read on www.brookings.edu/articles/the-path-to-public-safety-requires-economic-opportunity/