Wednesday, June 3, 2020
NYC has way too many cops
Doug Henwood
https://lbo-news.com/2020/06/02/nyc-has-way-too-many-cops/
As do many other cities, but since I’m a New Yorker, I’m leading with the hometown news.
US cities vary widely in the number of cops they have relative to their population, as the graph below (drawn from data assembled by Governing magazine). Among big cities, DC, Chicago, New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia top the list, with over 40 officers per 10,000 people. These are well above the national average of just under 28 per 10,000. Cities toward the bottom of the list have 20 or fewer.
If New York had an average number of cops, and not one of the highest ratios to population of any city in the country, we’d have 23,645 officers, not 36,228. If we had San Diego’s ratio, we’d have just 11,422, half as many as that average (which falls between Miami and Kansas City).
So, if New York wanted to be just average, we could fire 12,500 cops. If we wanted to be like San Diego, minus the nice weather and the US Navy, we could fire almost 25,000. We don’t have to be harsh about it. We could give them nice new jobs doing useful things instead of beating and shooting people, or a generous severance package if they prefer.
Even 11,422 is probably too many cops. But that’s another conversation.
Police Defend Use Of Non-Lethal Rubber Tires On Protesters
https://www.theonion.com/police-defend-use-of-non-lethal-rubber-tires-on-protest-1843884282
NEW YORK—Responding to criticisms of law enforcement injuring demonstrators, NYPD chief Terence Monahan publicly defended his squad’s controversial use of non-lethal rubber tires Wednesday as a means of de-escalating ongoing protests against police brutality.
“What you have to understand is that these tires were not designed to kill people; instead, they have a special treaded rubber coating specifically developed to soften their impact,” said Monahan, adding that the tires wielded by his officers were the exact same model as those used by children for swings and those featured on every car across America.
“This is a purposefully restrained crowd-control tactic to stun people and stop them in their tracks, not cause fatal harm. They are only deployed when an officer feels like they are in imminent danger. Sure, in some cases, poorly aimed tires have caused internal bleeding, fractured bones, or left bruises shaped like tread marks over various body parts, but overall, this bouncy, flexible alternative is far preferable to being run over with hard metal wheels. Believe me, if these were intended to cause serious harm, you would know it.”
Monahan later refused to address claims by manufacturers that rubber tires are only less lethal when aimed at the ground rather than directly at protesters.
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