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Brooklyn Bureau: NYPD Towers May Defuse Cop, Community Friction
Some Brooklynites who live and work near the borough’s two police watchtowers say the observation posts are affecting more than the incidence of crime.
NY Prisoners Counted Differently, But Still Not Voting
Now that they'll be counted in their hometowns rather than where they're incarcerated, state inmates could shift district lines. One thing neither they nor parollees can do, however, is vote.
Mixed Evidence of Methadone Crackdown
An advocacy group's survey says police harassment of methadone patients is common. Statistics suggest methadone-related arrests are rare.
From Tix-Fix to Pepper-Spray, NYPD Discipline in Spotlight
Indictments in the Bronx, scuffles on Wall Street, cops charged with planting drugs and running guns. The NYPD is getting a lot of bad press these days. But calls for stricter outside monitoring face familiar obstacles, both practical and political.
With Rising Crime and Fewer Cops, Civilians Eye Street Patrols
As a depleted police force struggles to battle a 20 percent spike in crime over the last year, the communities of Washington Heights and Inwood are adopting their own crime prevention initiatives to make their neighborhoods safer.
Leaving Prison, Free ... and Homeless
It's hard for many New Yorkers to find an apartment they can afford. Those getting out of jail or prison face even steeper obstacles—especially those who need not just a place to sleep, but some help adjusting to life on the outside.
In Debate Over New Jail, City Says An Aim Is To Prevent Violence
Hoping to reduce fights, prevent suicide and help inmates avoid returning to jail, New York is changing the way it evaluates new prisoners—and building a new jail. Advocates are split on whether that will solve the problem.
A Years-Long Struggle For Prison Moms
Some women who give birth behind bars find new motivation to stay straight. Others continue to wrestle with drugs and the challenges of parenthood.
Love In A Time Of Incarceration
In 1999, an officer and an inmate at Manhattan's Bayview Correctional Facility fell in love and started having sex, with consequences that reverberate today.
Altering A Prison's Sexual Chemistry
For at least 35 years, New York State legal advocates, prison officials and unions have wrestled over how to protect female inmates from sexual abuse when male officers guard them.
The Enforcement Of New York's Prison Sex Law
DOCS says that misunderstandings about pat-frisks might explain some of the sexual misconduct allegations its inmates have made against guards. Some evidence suggests, however, that the problems in New York’s female prisons are deeper than that.
For White Marijuana Users, Odds Of Arrest Low
While police crackdown on drug deals in mostly minority neighborhoods, the drug trade among whites in New York City operates with relative impunity.
The Murder That Changed New York City
Johnny Hincapie has done 20 years for his role in one of New York City's most infamous killings. Was he even there?
Bronx Death Stirs Fears Of Homeless Attacks
Police think Billy Murphy died in an accident. But if the homeless man's friends are right in suspecting foul play, it'd be one of an increasing number of attacks on the homeless nationwide.
DOJ: 4 NYS Prisons Among Nation's Most Sexually Abusive
New York State has four of the 11 prisons and jails found in a sample to have the highest rates of staff-inmate sexual misconduct.
Staten Island Assaults: A Tangled 'Why'
For two years a federal agent has worked behind the scenes to quell racial tensions in the borough. In a recent spate of attacks, hate seems only one of a mixture of motives.
Violent Crime Wave: Is It The Heat? Is It A Wave?
The murder rate went up this summer. What's behind the increase in violence?
Bed-Stuy Sounds Off At Town Hall Meeting, Paterson Signs Bill
About 150 residents gathered Wednesday evening to vent their frustrations with the police, in the aftermath of the stop-and-frisk scandal that recently surfaced in their precinct. Gov. Paterson signed into law a bill that would prevent police from retaining some of the information collected during their stops.
Afraid of Crime Now? Join The Kids
There are plenty of neighborhoods in New York City where the presence of guns, as well as their deadly consequences, are routine. And it's a reality that no single demographic in New York City knows quite as intimately as youth.
NYPD Sued Over Stop-And-Frisk List
Criminal Justice
In New York, the criminal justice system’s goal is to protect citizens by preventing and stopping crime. However, more recently officers’ intentions have been questioned. Many feel that officers make arrests for small crimes, like riding a bicycle on the sidewalk, in order to meet quotas, and that the actual criminals are roaming around free. This question in general attests to our nation’s difficulty balancing capitalist intentions with moral code.
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Opponents Of Over-Policing Target 'Vague Laws' - Leah Robinson
When you bump someone on the subway, is it a mistake or a misdemeanor? One advocacy group wants New York State to clarify vague laws that it says grant police too much power.
City Limits' Sex Abuse Investigation Now Available As Podcast - Kelly Virella
You can now listen to a discussion of our May investigation into the sexual abuse of female prisoners by New York State prison employees, thanks to local radio stations who have interviewed us about it.
Ex-IMF Chief Bailed Out. Thousands Aren't. - Jarrett Murphy
Dominique Strauss-Kahn is off Rikers Island. Most of the inmates he left behind haven't been convicted of anything. They're awaiting trial. And most are waiting behind bars because they can't afford to be free.
CONVERSATIONS/OPINONS
Report From Lockdown High: Fear Vs. Facts On School Safety
An excerpt from a new book arguing that “punitive, zero tolerance strategies”—from metal detectors to clothing bans—aren't as effective as their popularity suggests.
MULTIMEDIA
Crime to Scale
Here's one way to compare crime among America's largest cities. Supplemental data from City Limits' January/February issue on urban policy in the presidential campaign.
Doing Time
In 2008, 12,000 people were incarcerated in New York State on drug charges. Over the past 40 years the share of state prison cells occupied by drug convicts soared, then steadily declined. (From City Limits' summer 2009 investigation of the drug war in New York City).
