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1/n Remember how for years cops used to ticket the shit out of cyclists in the spot where a cyclist was killed, until we finally shamed them into stopping? This is of a piece with that.
Common Street Thieves: The NYPD is Building Fortresses of Solitude https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2020/06/15/common-street-thieves-the-nypd-is-building-fortresses-of-solitude/
Common Street Thieves: The NYPD is Building Fortresses of Solitude https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2020/06/15/common-street-thieves-the-nypd-is-building-fortresses-of-solitude/
2/n Erecting giant arrays of floodlights trained on low-income housing projects burning 24/7? Same thing. "Vertical sweeps" of those same projects to arrest anyone found in the stairwell who wasn't carrying proof of residence? NY's Finest.
3/n When there was a shooting outside our law office building by aggressive rival ticket-sellers to the Statute of Liberty fighting a turf war, cops put up hazard tape and wouldn't let us remove bikes locked up within the crime scene for days. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/28/nyregion/manhattan-statue-of-liberty-ticket-sellers.html
4/n What do all these have on common? Totally ineffective post-hoc horse-has-left-the-barn police tactics that take a much heavier toll on the public than can be justified by the effect on the crime or disorder used to justify them (if any).
5/n Many decribed suspicious, readily-identifiable groups who appeared responsible for highly-organized looting activity in the wake of the @GeorgeFloyd killing. We also hear reports @NYPDNews didn't focus on these groups. Why would that be?
6/n Two explanations come to mind: First, its difficult and dangerous to "run into the burning building." From what I have seen, very few cops will confront criminals unless they have overwhelming numbers in place. Second it plays into "social fabric is disintegrating" narrative.
7/n I don't have all the answers on how to do smarter policing that prevents crime rather than just blowing up civil liberties after they happen. But it is fucking obvious that @NYPDNews brass doesn't even see this approach as a problem. There's got to be a better way.
