The NYPD Took This Dog Into Custody Because His Owner Filmed the Police

[Belsnickel]

Look, the issue with any analysis of policies with regards to law enforcement is that they are very hard to assess. I'm working on my master's and was just in a class where we went into program assessment. The professor's favorite area is in the criminal justice realm (specifically reentry, drug courts, things of that nature, but we ventured far and wide) and we looked at a number of different programs from around the country where there was published literature on the assessments done.

The big issue is that none of these assessments can ever meet the sort of rigor needed to claim causal implications. It's just not possible to do so. As a result there are a lot of conflicting data and analyses out there on the effectiveness of these programs. Depending on what agenda you are serving or pushing will determine what you conclude.

All that being said, I am somewhat of a community policing advocate. I just think there are some adjustments needed to it. It's also a bit of a weird sight given the vests so many departments use now--though I am happy they have them because I know it saves their backs. Like, not from stabbings or shootings, I am talking from the weight distribution of the gear.