Police and Prisons Archive

For much of human history, various forms of punishment have been used in response to offenses against established law. Although the use of incarcerating an individual has been used throughout time, its use as a …

If Texas is so concerned about this issue and the large amounts of prisoners waiting for “beds” in various rehabs and halfway houses, why are there only 5 {for men and 2 for women} SAFPF …

Behavior control with tazers The use of tazers as weapons for behavioral control is becoming alarming, as well as increasingly controversial because of the number of deaths associated with their usage. One must suggest that …

Today’s prisons are a vast improvement over what prisons were even a few decades ago.  Historically speaking, it’s easy to see how the prisons of times past needed to be improved.  Debtors prisons, for example, kept …

The “rules of war”, are an oft referred to, but poorly understood thing. Being a veteran, I will lay out a few simple things that were pounded into our soldierly heads during basic and advanced …

It would seem the worst of the worst go to prison, but such is not the case. Statistically, the United States locks up not only poor people, but a great many drug offenders. In 2005 there …

With Human Rights becoming more and more of an issue worldwide, especially in much of the developed world, there is a thin line on whether searches of any equipment are lawful, and there are huge …

Prisons have many goals in society, among them are to punish one for their crimes and rehabilitate said criminal so that they may at some point rejoin society as a functional and successful member. When …

Being arrested by the police for some, may be a life-altering experience.  Some people will go through life never having an encounter with the Police and if they do it is brief.  In some cases …

It was late afternoon on Friday and I was headed into town to begin my weekend cruising. At nineteen years old, cruising in a small Indiana town was just the thing to do. I came …

there is a travisty that is happening in the united states that i think that we should all be aware of. and that is the men and women that are in the armed forces that …

I think I will attack this one backwards and hopefully make some sense of the issue. Our American system of justice is the product of a number of traditions for Europe. The jury decides ala …

What it’s Like to Get Arrested Turn around and put your hands behind you back!  An all too familiar sound for some people, but for others it really doesn’t happen that often if ever.  Every …

Prisons are becoming more and more overcrowded as the years pass. There are many reasons for that, which won’t be discussed in the article to follow. However, the fact is over two million Americans were in …

This comment is in response to the article, “Problems of harassment in law enforcement: Why you should report bad cops,” written by Bill, a law enforcement officer. I recently had the unfortunate opportunity to go …

So-called “criminal profiling” also has its roots in the history of western criminal law. Before modern forensic science, sociologists lined up on both sides of the question: What makes a criminal? Is it society? Poverty? …

The rules of war? I have always thought that when we went to war it was to defend our country from the cruel acts that had been put upon us.! Oh now it is different …

The media sometimes highlights the release of people who have sat in jail for as long as 40 years, when new evidence surfaces to exonerate them. It is estimated that between 2.3-5 percent of prisoners …

The police should always be permitted to handcuff a suspect, because they’re a suspect to a crime.  An officer never knows who this person may be or what they’re capable of.  The bottom line is …

All unsolved murders are important. All the victims have families. Families need closure. The public has a right to know who it’s enemies are and more importantly, WHERE they are if they are not behind …

Rehabilitate or Punish: How Should Society Treat Criminals? Society has always been at odds with how to treat criminals. Centuries ago, various countries employed torture. Prior to the eighteenth century, England was renowned for using …

The world seems to believe that rape is all about a sexual violation of another person. I suppose that I used to believe that as well. One day in April of 1982, my perspective got …

People who are in prison are often looked down upon by those who have never been incarcerated.  They are treated as second-class citizens, even after serving their time and reintegrating into a community.  Thieves, rapists, …

The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) published a report that found doctors had sterilized close to 150 female prisoners at a California prison from the years 2006 to 2010 without obtaining approval from state authorities. …

December 20, 2010-Update Lewis/Winn Smile for the camera: The shades of Benton County. REMEMBER WHEN sunglasses protected you only from the suns glare? These days they can protect a citizen in other ways. Consider the …

This is an article from a previous blog entry I wrote several weeks ago on another website. I’ve edited portions to make it sound better, but the point is clear. I learned a few days …

We hear stories every other day about horrific crimes being committed in the blazing heat. Stealing at night, abducting children from lonely areashave become dated. The “in” thing to do is the wrong thing with …

I can totally relate to this question. You see I have been a prisoner in a jail and am still a prisoner to the legal system. WHen I was 17 YRs. old I began to …

I am not entirely sure what the debate is but I’ll jump into the swimming hole. Civilians in war are one thing and one thing only; in the way. Nothing makes a Grunt cringe more …

Recently the St. Petersburg Times (the #1 newspaper in the Tampa Bay Area) broke a story about how a former inmate is suing Prison Health Services Inc. (PHS) for the terrible neglect she suffered while …