So accurate. Thank you for sharing! You came and spoke to my class at Denver Law a few months ago, and everything you said was so spot on. It was such an informative talk that so many needed to hear. It's amazing how societally accepted retributivism is as a natural, humane way to remind the person of their past, allowing no room for improvement, especially when it fails to deter crime. The enhanced encouragement of law enforcement support mixed with the fearmongering and false hope that somehow more police will fix all these "crimes" makes me slightly ... depressed.
The Boston police are in union negotiations and the Boston Globe also included the “shortage” Copaganda., as well as, the current trope that no one wants to be a cop anymore. This is given as fact despite the very long civil service list of people looking to be police officers in MA. Additionally, the fact that 24 officers decided to become Boston Firefighters last year is also given as evidence that police are unhappy. No one investigated how 24 officers could seemingly transfer to another publicly paid job in Boston despite a very long civil service list of people trying to be FF.*Police in Boston are also hyping weapon arrest in BPS and fearmongering to get police officers back in the BPS. A big part of the union negotiations is the monopoly on construction details for police officers in Boston. So much wrong in “liberal” MA. *I know your emphasis is what’s wrong with the criminal justice system but Another big opportunity cost is the existence/ growth of career FF despite a significant decline in fires. White male welfare.
The reason why NYPD starting pay in particular is relatively low is simple; the union wants it that way. This is part of a cycle of fake budget deals where outrageous retirement benefits, sometimes incurred through backloaded pensions, sometimes through retroactive changes, are paid for by cutting starting pay so it "costs nothing". This of course is immediately followed by howls of outrage over how low starting pay is, and it is reset to a modest but no longer poverty wage level. Moreover, the NYPD has over 2x the officers per capita of the US average for local police. While it is true that the NYPD has a larger daytime proportion of commuters, tourists, etc than other places, the NY suburbs also have higher than average police employment already.
Thank you for this and all you do. Would be curious your thoughts on WaPo story on homicides today. It struck me no historical context ie that homicide much lower compared to prior decades and seems gives impression is biggest problem in big cities. But I don’t know maybe I am being too harsh.
I had enough mental energy to read again today (I'm disabled and struggle with energy), and although I'm late to this part of the newsletter, I'm grateful to be reading it finally! I don't know if you will see this comment, but I thought it was worth saying just in case.. It seemed you referred to those being targeted in issues of abortion access as "all women and girls", and as a trans man, it did admittedly sting a bit to be verbally erased in that regard, despite equally having to worry about these issues on a personal level. I know you mention trans people's fight for our own transition healthcare directly afterward, but the issues of trans people's needs and reproductive access are not necessarily/always separate. I know cis women and girls may be the majority of those affected by abortion laws, but I feel that the trans/nonbinary people surveilled for needing abortion access too deserve inclusion also. We all deserve our needs to be heard in the fight for reproductive autonomy and abortion freedom, especially those of us who are more directly targeted by threats to that autonomy, whether we are cis or trans people. Shifting language to be more precise and inclusive all at once can shape solidarity between cis and trans people, and I think it makes us stronger in the fights for our collective bodily autonomy in the long run. In case you need an example, "all women and girls" could look more like "all people who need access to abortions" (but can be reworded, depending on context, of course.) I hope this makes sense and wasn't taken as bad-faith! I'm brain-foggy, so not very good at explaining things. Sorry for the trouble and take care!
So accurate. Thank you for sharing! You came and spoke to my class at Denver Law a few months ago, and everything you said was so spot on. It was such an informative talk that so many needed to hear. It's amazing how societally accepted retributivism is as a natural, humane way to remind the person of their past, allowing no room for improvement, especially when it fails to deter crime. The enhanced encouragement of law enforcement support mixed with the fearmongering and false hope that somehow more police will fix all these "crimes" makes me slightly ... depressed.
I wish everybody could read this.
The Boston police are in union negotiations and the Boston Globe also included the “shortage” Copaganda., as well as, the current trope that no one wants to be a cop anymore. This is given as fact despite the very long civil service list of people looking to be police officers in MA. Additionally, the fact that 24 officers decided to become Boston Firefighters last year is also given as evidence that police are unhappy. No one investigated how 24 officers could seemingly transfer to another publicly paid job in Boston despite a very long civil service list of people trying to be FF.*Police in Boston are also hyping weapon arrest in BPS and fearmongering to get police officers back in the BPS. A big part of the union negotiations is the monopoly on construction details for police officers in Boston. So much wrong in “liberal” MA. *I know your emphasis is what’s wrong with the criminal justice system but Another big opportunity cost is the existence/ growth of career FF despite a significant decline in fires. White male welfare.
The reason why NYPD starting pay in particular is relatively low is simple; the union wants it that way. This is part of a cycle of fake budget deals where outrageous retirement benefits, sometimes incurred through backloaded pensions, sometimes through retroactive changes, are paid for by cutting starting pay so it "costs nothing". This of course is immediately followed by howls of outrage over how low starting pay is, and it is reset to a modest but no longer poverty wage level. Moreover, the NYPD has over 2x the officers per capita of the US average for local police. While it is true that the NYPD has a larger daytime proportion of commuters, tourists, etc than other places, the NY suburbs also have higher than average police employment already.
Thank you for this and all you do. Would be curious your thoughts on WaPo story on homicides today. It struck me no historical context ie that homicide much lower compared to prior decades and seems gives impression is biggest problem in big cities. But I don’t know maybe I am being too harsh.
Thank
I had enough mental energy to read again today (I'm disabled and struggle with energy), and although I'm late to this part of the newsletter, I'm grateful to be reading it finally! I don't know if you will see this comment, but I thought it was worth saying just in case.. It seemed you referred to those being targeted in issues of abortion access as "all women and girls", and as a trans man, it did admittedly sting a bit to be verbally erased in that regard, despite equally having to worry about these issues on a personal level. I know you mention trans people's fight for our own transition healthcare directly afterward, but the issues of trans people's needs and reproductive access are not necessarily/always separate. I know cis women and girls may be the majority of those affected by abortion laws, but I feel that the trans/nonbinary people surveilled for needing abortion access too deserve inclusion also. We all deserve our needs to be heard in the fight for reproductive autonomy and abortion freedom, especially those of us who are more directly targeted by threats to that autonomy, whether we are cis or trans people. Shifting language to be more precise and inclusive all at once can shape solidarity between cis and trans people, and I think it makes us stronger in the fights for our collective bodily autonomy in the long run. In case you need an example, "all women and girls" could look more like "all people who need access to abortions" (but can be reworded, depending on context, of course.) I hope this makes sense and wasn't taken as bad-faith! I'm brain-foggy, so not very good at explaining things. Sorry for the trouble and take care!