AltWeeklies Wire
One-of-a-Kind Short List of the 30 Most Troubled Mentally Ill in Houstonnew
Jimmy Bailey is one of Houston's 30 craziest people, according to the Houston Police Department; in February, the department's mental health unit put together a list of mentally ill people based on how many times the cops have responded to a call concerning a person and how many times a person has been hospitalized.
Houston Press |
Paul Knight |
01-05-2010 |
Commentary
LAPD Audit: New Chief Releases a Report Showing Broad Mismanagementnew
The city may not be as safe as the 1950s like Bill Bratton often boasted, but apparently the bookkeeping by the Los Angeles Police Department is “stuck” in that decade, and a new and embarrassing audit is roiling City Hall—by explaining how bad things really are.
L.A. Weekly |
Patrick Range McDonald and Christine Pelisek |
12-18-2009 |
Economy
Cops' Recent Blowup with their Chief Surprised Many, and It Shouldn't Havenew
In her 3 1/2 years as Portland police chief, Rosie Sizer has been called many things. She once joked in a City Club speech she’d been called the B-word too many times to count. But she has also been praised as a transformative leader, a gifted communicator, a role model to women and a champion for minority rights.
Willamette Week |
James Pitkin |
12-09-2009 |
Crime & Justice
A U.S. Citizen Testifies Before Congress About Being Racially Profilednew
Julio Mora testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in April, the star witness during a hearing held on Immigration and Customs Enforcement's 287(g) agreements with local police entities. He and his dad were detained for three hours during a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office immigration raid.
Phoenix New Times |
Stephen Lemons |
12-08-2009 |
Civil Liberties
The Gates Case Isn't About Racenew
The weeks-long hubbub over the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. by the Cambridge Police Department has centered on race, understandably. But the racial façade of the story has obscured two other bottom-line truths that should govern the "Gates-gate" conversation.
Boston Phoenix |
Harvey Silverglate |
08-06-2009 |
Civil Liberties
Law Enforcement Officials Find Booze and Bullets Can Be a Deadly Combinationnew

While it seems like only common sense to remain sober while carrying a loaded weapon, most LA-area police departments don't have policies mandating such behavior.
Pasadena Weekly |
Andre Coleman |
06-08-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Pasadena Board Considers Having Cops Patrol Middle Schoolsnew
The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education will debate again whether to place Pasadena police officers on two of its three middle school campuses.
Pasadena Weekly |
Andre Coleman |
02-09-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Death Threats Be Damned, an Undercover Cop Isn't Running Anymorenew

At 47, his house gone from an arsonist's match, his family badly shaken by their 3 a.m. escape, undercover cop Jay Dobyns is watching his back against outlaws sworn to kill him.
Tucson Weekly |
Leo W, Banks |
02-05-2009 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Like a Virgin? How Cops Pose as Kids to Catch Internet Pervsnew
Internet sex crimes, I was told, are like crack was in the '80s: unknown and ready to explode. So the first thing I ask Lieutenant Greg Jenkins, head of the Albemarle PD Investigative Division, is, why is all this internet sex stuff such a big deal?
C-Ville Weekly |
J. Tobias Beard |
11-19-2008 |
Crime & Justice
The Orlando Police Beatnew
Nov. 4, 3:38 a.m.: Three hours after this incident, people were going to start voting for the next president of the United States, which means that you were still up tossing and turning and hoping that rednecks in Pennsylvania wouldn't screw this up for the rest of us.
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman |
11-14-2008 |
Commentary
Revisiting the Rethuglican National Conventionnew
Minnesota is known as the Gopher State, but for one terrifying, riot-gear-and-grenade-filled week it was a police state.
Boston Phoenix |
Anne Elizabeth Moore |
10-02-2008 |
Politics
The Orlando Police Beatnew
As I've trudged through the monotony of home invasions and copper wire thefts, I've become convinced that this column is missing one important ingredient on its way to superstardom: my opinion.
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman |
10-01-2008 |
Crime & Justice
The Orlando Police Beatnew
Aug. 29; 1:01 p.m.: A 42-year-old battered an Old Navy rent-a-cop who busted him shoplifting. Officer Baker concludes his report with the following bit of redundancy: "The arrestee was arrested."
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman |
09-12-2008 |
Commentary
The Photoshop™ Copnew
Ken Kokotek mocked his superiors on the Internet. Now he's paying for it.
Creative Loafing (Tampa) |
Alex Pickett |
08-27-2008 |
Policy Issues
Police Vets of the 1968 DNC Get Their Say in 'Battleground Chicago'new

First published in 2004 but reissued in paperback last May, in time for this summer’s round-number anniversary, Frank Kusch's Battleground Chicago tells the story of the infamous "police riot" at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. But here's a first: it's told from the cops' point of view.
Chicago Reader |
Barry Wightman |
08-26-2008 |
Nonfiction