• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

Bryan Strawser

  • About Me
  • Academics & Research
  • Work
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Archives for Crime

Crime

Charles Yancey Blabs Away

by Bryan Strawser · Aug 9, 2004

Charles Yancey, a councilman on Boston’s City Council, warned that Boston was becoming a “police state”:

A city councilor on Sunday warned against turning Boston into a ”police state”, even as law enforcement officials touted the success of a new program that has beefed up police presence on the streets in response to a recent spate of violence.

Fourteen people were arrested Saturday night and Sunday morning as part of Operation Neighborhood Shield, which relies on the help of state police, FBI and other federal agencies for increased patrols across the city. Two guns and 500 rounds of ammunition were also confiscated, police said.

Things seem much simpler to me as I type this from my patio in the face of the rising sun.

Put additional police on the street and arrest the criminals.

Or do nothing and watch the young continue to be killed.

Easy decision? It is in my mind. Apparantly not in his.

Filed Under: Crime, Massachusetts

Toelicking

by Bryan Strawser · Aug 8, 2004

Reports today on CNN indicate that the Netherlands will soon ban toelicking:

Unsolicited toe-licking would be banned in the Netherlands under a law sought by the Dutch Labor party after police were unable to prosecute a would-be Casanova with a taste for female toes because he had committed no crime.

A police spokesman said Friday a man had been detained after women sunning themselves in Rotterdam’s parks and beaches claimed he had snuck up on them and begun to lick their toes.

“The officers had to let him go. Licking a stranger’s toes is rather unusual but there is really nothing criminal about it,” the spokesman said.

Filed Under: Crime

Operation Neighborhood Shield

by Bryan Strawser · Aug 7, 2004

1091855455_5924

The Boston Globe is reporting today that the Boston Police are going to begin taking aggressive measures to curb the sharp increase in violence in South Boston:

In response to escalating violence in Boston, officials said yesterday that State Police and federal agents will be deployed throughout the city in a massive show of force, using the kind of cooperation between law enforcement agencies seen during the Democratic National Convention.

“We’ve had enough; we won’t tolerate bold acts of violence,” Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen M. O’Toole said yesterday in announcing what police are calling Operation Neighborhood Shield.

With officers on motorcycles lined up behind her outside police headquarters, O’Toole said federal agents from the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and the Drug Enforcement Administration will work with Boston police, Massachusetts Bay Transporation Authority police, and State Police to patrol troubled neighborhoods, in uniform and undercover.

She said that federal, state, and city law enforcement will combine undercover and uniformed forces, a more significant level of cooperation than was attained during the antiviolence campaigns of the late 1980s and early ’90s, when the city saw a sharp rise in gang violence and homicides.

Boston’s violent crime rate – particularly in the South Boston, Dorchester, and JP neighborhoods – is skyrocketing. Already this year more homicides have occurred than in all of last year.

Task Forces such as this can work – but they are almost always temporary. At some point, they will go home. It’s going to take a long-lasting strategy in order to drive down this violent crime rate. But this is a good first step.

Filed Under: Crime, Massachusetts

Sentences

by Bryan Strawser · Jul 18, 2004

As a Criminal Justice professional, I have a strong interest in news about crime and sentencing. I’ve always felt that judges should be provided with wide discretion in sentencing. Granted that this often means that the public may not be happy when a judge chooses to be lenient – but it also means that judges get to drop the hammer on someone when circumstances warrant – rather than having to use calculus to come up with a sentencing structure. Specifically, the federal courts and Massachusetts’s Criminal Courts use a sentencing matrix – and this drives me absolutely crazy.

I have a professional interest in this in the areas of identity theft, felony and misdemeanor (petty theft in Massachusetts) theft, and related crimes that I deal with at work. But that’s not my point.

Indiana doesn’t use a sentencing matrix or any crap like that – and thus we get wonderful sentences like this one, reported in yesterday’s Indianapolis Star:

Anthony Keith Brown and two of the police officers he tried to kill stared at each other in a Marion County courtroom Friday.

“You wasn’t laughing that night, was you?” Brown said, after the judge and most of the spectators had left the courtroom.

“I am now,” Officer Andy Lamle replied.

Officer Frank Miller II got in the last word as deputies ushered Brown away to begin serving a 126-year prison sentence:

“Enjoy your cage,” Miller said.

Brown led police on a car chase in December 2002, then unleashed a barrage of bullets at three Indianapolis Police Department officers.

Judge Sheila Carlisle of Marion Superior Court sentenced Brown on Friday for the attempted murders of Miller, Lamle and Officer Linda Jackson, who did not attend the sentencing.

Carlisle said a long prison term was the only way to protect society from the 26-year-old Brown.

“He clearly has a pattern of three things: guns, drugs and disregard for police authority,” Carlisle said in court. “If Mr. Brown is out in our community, or any other community, he’s going to get involved in criminal activity.”

A jury convicted Brown on May 12 of three counts of attempted murder, dealing cocaine and other crimes.

Brown repeatedly fired a rifle at the police officers during the Dec. 21, 2002, shootout.

“This defendant is an animal and deserves to be locked up for the rest of his life,” Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said after the hearing.

After leading police on a car chase, Brown fired at least 34 shots from a MAK 90 assault rifle at the officers near Sherman Drive and 32nd Street.

The Massachusetts Criminal Code takes up about three inches on my shelf in my office. The Indiana Code takes up about 1/2 of an inch.

Which system is more effective? There’s no question.

Filed Under: Crime

The Bl(A)ck Tea Society, one

by Bryan Strawser · Jul 17, 2004

The Bl(A)ck Tea Society, one of the leftist groups planning on protests during the Democratic National Convention next week in Boston has this little ditty on their website:

Scenario III: “Liberation/De-arrest”

This is an extremely high-risk procedure. If done correctly, it works. If done incorrectly, it is likely to result in serious repercussions. You must be able to quickly assess the situation and decide on whether or not to attempt a de-arrest. Things to take into consideration are the weight of the consequences. Is your comrade being arrested carrying something that will trigger ridiculous charges? Is it worth the risk? Is your comrade of a foreign nationality or here illegally? What are your chances?

If you decide to proceed, the general scenario of an arrest has various stages. The police stop, physically restrain the person, and eventually place the person in handcuffs and take him/her away. Any de-arrest must be done before the handcuffs are put on. Basic martial arts knowledge is helpful, or at least a basic knowledge of various holds and how to get out of them (specifically if the person being arrested is going to try to get out of a hold).

When de-arresting, everything must happen quickly. Whether freeing yourself from a hold or assisting someone else to get out of a hold, follow through in the same direction you are facing. You do not have time to physically turn around.

The basic idea of an assisted de-arrest is a hit and run. This scenario is specifically when the person being arrested is on the ground with one cop on his/her back. Two people are required to complete this de-arrest in addition to the person being arrested. The first person needs to knock the cop off balance and off of your comrade’s back. The first person should cross his/her arms over his/her chest and hit from the side. The second person needs to pick your comrade up off the ground and get him/her running. This is a one shot deal. Regardless of whether or not you are successful, you do not get a second chance. ONCE A DE-ARREST HAS OCCURED OR BEEN ATTEMPTED, THE PEOPLE INVOLVED ARE DONE FOR THE DAY! ALTER YOUR APPEARENCE AND GO HOME! YOU MAY NOT BE SEEN IN PUBLIC AGAIN!

Liberation can be successful, but carries the risk of massive consequences. Liberation is most effective when all points involved are ready and react without hesitation. It is easier to do this if you attend a training or practice doing it. As always, be safe, and be aware of your surroundings.

Yup, that’s what these folks endorse.

De-Arresting.

Also known as assaulting and attacking police officers.

I could post some of the other dribble on their website, but it’s simply not worth the space on this weblog.

Filed Under: Crime

300,000 Hoosiers have Gun Permits

by Bryan Strawser · Jul 11, 2004

Today’s Indianapolis Star has an article about the number of carry-permits that lawful gunowners have in Indiana presently (300,000):

In May, when pizza deliveryman Ronald B. Honeycutt was confronted by a gun-toting robber, he drew his own 9 mm and pulled the trigger, pumping more than 10 bullets into the Indianapolis man, killing him.

Two months before, when a neighbor came after Daniel L. Floyd with an ax handle, the Johnson County man fired his 9 mm handgun, sending one bullet into the neighbor’s neck and two into his torso. The man died.

Like 300,000 other Hoosiers, the two men had permits to carry handguns in public. In neither case were charges filed.

Unlike the communist state that I presently reside in, Indiana has a pretty good legal and legislative system where the laws are simple, easily enforced, carry stiff penalties, and respect the rights of the people.

I was one of those who at age 18 applied for a gun permit and received it a few weeks later. Then again, I was also an employee of the Sheriff’s Department But during my eighteen months working in law enforcement, I only once saw a permit revoked – and never saw a permit abused.

Massachusetts is a whole other story.

Filed Under: Crime

Jordan Disrupts Major Al-Qaeda Plot

by Bryan Strawser · Apr 26, 2004

CNN is reporting that a major al Qaeda plot has been disrupted in Jordan:

Jordanian authorities said Monday they have broken up an alleged al Qaeda plot that would have unleashed a deadly cloud of chemicals in the heart of Jordan’s capital, Amman.

The plot would have been more deadly than anything al Qaeda has done before, including the September 11 attacks, according to the Jordanian government.

Among the alleged targets were the U.S. Embassy, the Jordanian prime minister’s office and the headquarters of Jordanian intelligence.

The threat is real – and growing.

Filed Under: Crime, Military, Politics

« Previous Page
Next Page »

Copyright © 2025 · No Sidebar Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in