Policy director @Innocence. Former public defender, leadership in gov’t, tech & philanthropy. Boards of @BrightpointIL & @nonviolencechi
Dec 6, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
I’ve said it before, solving crimes - particularly violence - is arguably the most important task of policing. If used right (rapidly, consistently, and with due process), technology is the game changer. 1/3
Unfortunately, the trend line is moving in the wrong direction. @Crimealytics in The NY Times has a prescription that makes sense: enough officers to respond, make more officers detectives, more civilianization, dedicate more analytic resources. 2/3
Some observations from 23 years of working on police misconduct (since LAPD Rampart):
1. Beatings after someone runs from police or shootings at point where runner could get away is a thing. /1
Weird how many guys get to a fence and just before hopping over they “slow, turn and reach for their waistband” for a gun that isn’t there. /2
Aug 5, 2022 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
The federal indictments of the officers in Louisville for lying in a search warrant application and the following investigation in death of Breonna Taylor has reminded me of two stories that influenced my work as, what cops like to call me, a “reformer.” I’m sharing one here. 1/
In mid-90s I was a young public defender working in an LA County branch court and contemplating whether to pursue a spot in US Attorney’s office. An admission by a veteran prosecutor helped shape my choice. 2/
Sep 4, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
The use of spit hoods is medieval, however, the health ramification is that the person is already highly agitated. These - and I’ve viewed plenty of jailhouse videos - add to the terror of experiencing psychosis. Add cops not paying attention to physical distress compounds harm.
One of biggest faults of policing is that policing attracts “linear thinkers” who are comfortable with hierarchy and binary choices. Thus, hearing in training that subjects “often” fake being calmed down invites priming, so when person goes into distress, “he’s faking” is mindset
Jun 6, 2020 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
A few thoughts about the recurring crisis in policing. I’ve been speaking publicly about police misconduct since Jonathan Ferrell was killed in 2013 by a Charlotte officer. His car had broken down and he knocked on a white person’s door for help. 1/
The impact of Michael Brown and Eric Garner were supposed to change the system of policing. Now we add two more names of dead unarmed black people - George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. How did we get right back here? 2/
Nov 24, 2017 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
No, implying Kaep would have taken a knee during WWII is ludicrous. I guess racial history is just too hard for some, so its thread time.
