Scroll down to read this post.

 

Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. I keep the website clean from pop-ups and annoying demands. Instead, I depend entirely on my readers to support me. Though this means I am sacrificing some income, it also means that I remain entirely independent from outside pressure. By depending solely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, no one can threaten me with censorship. You don't like what I write, you can simply go elsewhere.

 

You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:

 

1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.

 

2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
 

3. A Paypal Donation:

4. A Paypal subscription:


5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
 
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652

 

You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.


New York cops stop harassing citizens in protest

In a virtual work stoppage, New York cops have ceased issuing citations for traffic offenses, parking, and other low level drug offenses.

Angry union leaders have ordered drastic measures for their members since the Dec. 20 assassination of two NYPD cops in a patrol car, including that two units respond to every call. It has helped contribute to a nose dive in low-level policing, with overall arrests down 66 percent for the week starting Dec. 22 compared with the same period in 2013, stats show. Citations for traffic violations fell by 94 percent, from 10,069 to 587, during that time frame. Summonses for low-level offenses like public drinking and urination also plunged 94 percent — from 4,831 to 300. Even parking violations are way down, dropping by 92 percent, from 14,699 to 1,241. Drug arrests by cops assigned to the NYPD’s Organized Crime Control Bureau — which are part of the overall number — dropped by 84 percent, from 382 to 63.

I see this as a true improvement to the quality of life for the average New Yorker. It isn’t the murders by police that make life hell in New York, but the constant harassment by police for doing the most minor things wrong. In fact, it is these kinds of offenses that probably cause the most friction between citizens and the police.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

7 comments

  • Garry

    When the recession started, enforcement of traffic and parking violations skyrocketed, to bring in more revenues to the City. In March 2009 they towed my car was for being parked too close to a hydrant; I was sure I was parked far enough away, but had no way to prove it. I was so ripped about it that, instead of taking a cab to the impound lot, I walked 3 miles in the cold through sketchy neighborhoods so I could let off some steam before I got there, lest my violations multiply.

    It cost me about $700 to get my car back. The whole time I was at the impound lot, a new car was towed in about every 30 seconds. My fellow “criminals” told me that for years similar violations were typically handled with written warnings, but the recession required new sources of revenue, and none of them had ever seen the impound lot so full and active.

    I can only hope that this is the beginning of the end of harassment.

  • “I can only hope that this is the beginning of the end of harassment.”

    Don’t bet on it. The cops haven’t stopped because they want to help you, the citizen. They’ve gone on strike against the mayor. When things cool down they will gladly resume abusing and harassing you, because that’s what life is like in a fascist state. The mayor has been given more power than he deserves and he thus uses the police to wield it. The police have more power than they deserve and thus use it for their own benefit.

    The worst part of all this is that the citizens of New York have heartily voted for this abuse.

    These are just a few of the many reasons I left New York as soon as I could.

  • Cotour

    All more or less true, but New York City is still thee center of the universe. Go figure.

  • Jwing

    COPS (Community Oriented Policing) works and so does the “Broken Window Theory” of going after the petty offenses that allow thugs to control and intimidate entire neighborhoods. It’s no different than dealing with bullies in the schoolyard.
    It’s easy to go after the police, but please remember that the average patrol officer is not setting public policy. This Mayor has openly sided with the anti-police protestors, Sharpton, Holder and Obama.
    I grew up in New York City in the 70’s and remember how Giuliani instituted the COPS and anti-pan handling policy in the 1980’s. They worked.
    Is New York City corrupt……..Yes!
    Is the average NYPD officer corrupt….Hell No!
    The typical copper is not looking to fill quotas and coffers. How do I know this? I have family members serving currently in the NYPD in Brooklyn in the Counter Terrorism Division, and my brothers don’ t deserve to be assasinated for doing their job of maintaining civility and the law in the Big Apple.

  • D K Rögnvald Williams

    Incidents of police being attacked are being reported anecdotally all over the nation. I assume there are data on such attacks being kept somewhere.

  • Jwing

    Errata:
    Mayor Rudy Giuliani instituted COPS in the 90’s.

  • I am sure you realize that the last thing I want is for cops “to be assasinated for doing their job.” The lies that have been told about police work in the last year have been disgusting, and very clearly sparked the rioting and the murders of those two innocent New York police officers.

    Nonetheless, the police have helped sew the seeds of this battle with their rising effort nationwide to militarize their work. I’ve posted enough stories illustrating this abuse, including illegal SWAT team home invasions — some of which ended in the terrible deaths of innocent citizens — as well as numerous abusive police arrests and traffic stops.

    It is very important for the good cops to stand up to the bad cops. The good cops have to demand that this militarization stop. They have to demand that abusive cops be disciplined, or fired.

    If they don’t, then these terrible abuses will only get worse, and the cops will only be seen as an enemy by more citizens, both black and white. And this is something neither of us want.

Readers: the rules for commenting!

 

No registration is required. I welcome all opinions, even those that strongly criticize my commentary.

 

However, name-calling and obscenities will not be tolerated. First time offenders who are new to the site will be warned. Second time offenders or first time offenders who have been here awhile will be suspended for a week. After that, I will ban you. Period.

 

Note also that first time commenters as well as any comment with more than one link will be placed in moderation for my approval. Be patient, I will get to it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *