Nov 3, 2022·edited Nov 3, 2022Liked by Alec Karakatsanis
What an EXCELLENT analysis of what appears to me (who’s conducted and published rigorous scientific research) very lazy, sloppy and biased work by these two Harvard Professors.
I’m also disappointed in the student editors who had an opportunity to apply and use their creative minds, critical thinking skills and their academic freedom to actually fact check and rigorously apply high journalistic standards before just blithely publishing the Professors work.
I do hope you sent those two Professors a copy of your article because they REALLY need some honest reality based feedback.
Thank you for this analysis. I wanted to add to one small point- on the use by police forces of PR and communications to propagate their inaccurate and false info. The Better Government Association in Chicago did an analysis of funds spent on PR by the city of Chicago - more than double that of peer cities.
"A dramatic increase in police PR staff took place during Emanuel’s second term, following the murder of Laquan McDonald by Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke. The 2016 budget, which was prepared in 2015 while the Emanuel administration was fighting a public records request and subsequent lawsuit that eventually forced the release of the shooting footage, increased the police department’s public relations team from six full-time employees to 25. Additional staff in the 2017, 2018 and 2019 budgets more than doubled CPD’s communications staff to a peak of 52 full-time employees in Emanuel’s last year in office."
´Here’s what they say’ ??? So that is the best some elite Harvard Professors can offer - A Pontius Pilatus. I just hope their journal article is not cited as evidence we need more police and surveillance and arrests. Thank you Alec for Calling it out - and for all the fantastic work you and your
That is deeply concerning.I d like to share on twitter but was nt able to.Do you have a twitter handle so I can follow and share.Thankyou for your rational and compassionate review on this.We need more people like you in the world, Ida 😊
Alec, I would love to know if you have seen this article below and what you think of it. I hate seeing things like this from Pew, even though it's more opinion than fact they call them 'experts.' Maybe they are experts. Whether or not they are I think by doing that it plants something in people's minds to make it more believable. Just my 'opinion.' From what I've read by some other scholars, mass incarceration has had a minimal effect on lowering crime (crime really needs to be defined though). Increased incarceration (also needs to be defined-prison, jails, both?) comes at other costs in dollars, collateral (families & children), and the advancement of poverty and systemic racism. As a criminal justice advocate, the monetary and mental health costs to the single-parent families and children left behind is abhorrent. The for-profit private companies exploit to no end (but that is another story). Thanks for all of your hard work. Kristina
Weighing Imprisonment and Crime: 9 experts explore the relationship between prisons and crime rates.
I hope those authors read this! I'm disappointed that this came out of Harvard. Many people probably don't even question it's validity. For some it adds fuel to their fire; a sort of confirmation bias. Shame on these 'scholars.' I'm so glad for watchdogs like you Alec. It's amazing how they get away with this. It makes me wonder who paid for this study and if it had to be approved by an IRB. It sounds like it contained more rhetoric than actual real data. It reinforces my belief that works about certain topics should be taken with a grain of salt. Just like my margaritas!
What an EXCELLENT analysis of what appears to me (who’s conducted and published rigorous scientific research) very lazy, sloppy and biased work by these two Harvard Professors.
I’m also disappointed in the student editors who had an opportunity to apply and use their creative minds, critical thinking skills and their academic freedom to actually fact check and rigorously apply high journalistic standards before just blithely publishing the Professors work.
I do hope you sent those two Professors a copy of your article because they REALLY need some honest reality based feedback.
Well done Alec, I do so love reading your work!
Thank you for this analysis. I wanted to add to one small point- on the use by police forces of PR and communications to propagate their inaccurate and false info. The Better Government Association in Chicago did an analysis of funds spent on PR by the city of Chicago - more than double that of peer cities.
"A dramatic increase in police PR staff took place during Emanuel’s second term, following the murder of Laquan McDonald by Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke. The 2016 budget, which was prepared in 2015 while the Emanuel administration was fighting a public records request and subsequent lawsuit that eventually forced the release of the shooting footage, increased the police department’s public relations team from six full-time employees to 25. Additional staff in the 2017, 2018 and 2019 budgets more than doubled CPD’s communications staff to a peak of 52 full-time employees in Emanuel’s last year in office."
Report at https://www.bettergov.org/news/analysis-chicago-outspends-and-outstaffs-nyc-la-on-communications-and-public-relations/
´Here’s what they say’ ??? So that is the best some elite Harvard Professors can offer - A Pontius Pilatus. I just hope their journal article is not cited as evidence we need more police and surveillance and arrests. Thank you Alec for Calling it out - and for all the fantastic work you and your
Organization does every day.
Horrifying...I guess they're preparing for great reset protest.
Thanks for all your work. Subscribing.
Can you name the profs so we can write to Harvard?
They are in the linked article: Christopher Lewis and Adaner Usmani
That is deeply concerning.I d like to share on twitter but was nt able to.Do you have a twitter handle so I can follow and share.Thankyou for your rational and compassionate review on this.We need more people like you in the world, Ida 😊
https://twitter.com/equalityAlec/status/1588210962867314689
Alec, I would love to know if you have seen this article below and what you think of it. I hate seeing things like this from Pew, even though it's more opinion than fact they call them 'experts.' Maybe they are experts. Whether or not they are I think by doing that it plants something in people's minds to make it more believable. Just my 'opinion.' From what I've read by some other scholars, mass incarceration has had a minimal effect on lowering crime (crime really needs to be defined though). Increased incarceration (also needs to be defined-prison, jails, both?) comes at other costs in dollars, collateral (families & children), and the advancement of poverty and systemic racism. As a criminal justice advocate, the monetary and mental health costs to the single-parent families and children left behind is abhorrent. The for-profit private companies exploit to no end (but that is another story). Thanks for all of your hard work. Kristina
Weighing Imprisonment and Crime: 9 experts explore the relationship between prisons and crime rates.
https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2014/09/weighing-imprisonment-and-crime
Hmm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_number_of_police_officers
I hope those authors read this! I'm disappointed that this came out of Harvard. Many people probably don't even question it's validity. For some it adds fuel to their fire; a sort of confirmation bias. Shame on these 'scholars.' I'm so glad for watchdogs like you Alec. It's amazing how they get away with this. It makes me wonder who paid for this study and if it had to be approved by an IRB. It sounds like it contained more rhetoric than actual real data. It reinforces my belief that works about certain topics should be taken with a grain of salt. Just like my margaritas!
Agreed, and we should know their home mailing addresses as well.