Posts Tagged ‘David Simon’
Was Leon Swain Jr. Too Good At Playing The Criminal?
In the past few weeks, City Desk and everyone else praised Taxicab Commission Chairperson Leon Swain Jr. for his starring role as a police informant. The audio evidence is pretty clear that Swain is one talented actor. David Simon needs to put Swain in his next series.
Swain performed on hours and hours of F.B.I- produced tapes for roughly two years. But is there a case to be made that maybe Swain overacted, that he was too good in the role?
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“By a Baltimore Sun Staff Writer”
Nice story today in the Baltimore Sun about the U of Maryland's plan to put a parking lot and maintenance sheds where there are now 15 acres of woods. Don't bother calling up the writer to give a compliment. They're on a byline strike today. The one-day protest is against Sun owners the Tribune Co., which recently laid off about one-third of their newsroom, mostly editors and bureau chiefs. Tribune's filed for Chapter 11 protection. Union rep Brent Jones tells the Washington Biz Journal injury's insulted because “[t]hese decisions were made without any discussions on alternative cost-saving methods.”
D.C. Council Introduces Bill To Expand Office Of Police Complaints Oversight
Earlier this month, three D.C. Councilmembers---Mendelson, Cheh, and Bowser--- introduced legislation that would significantly beef up the oversight powers of the Office of Police Complaints. The bill would expand the authority of the Police Complaints Board to monitor complaints filed with D.C. Police and Housing Authority cops. The bill would remedy the on-going problem of the D.C. cops investigating their own without much if any kind of outside oversight. The OPC was so elated with this bill, the agency wrote a press release.
This is big news. The D.C. Police have always shielded its investigations into misconduct from FOIA laws, claiming these investigations as work product. I addressed the issue years ago in a piece about four Sixth District cops with a stack of citizen complaints. This bill may finally shine some daylight on police-led investigations of excessive force.
The bill states that the board "shall have unfettered access to all information and supporting documentation of the covered law enforcement agencies..."
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Simon Says Name The Cops Involved In Shootings. We Agree.
On Sunday, David Simon published an op-ed in the Post railing against the Baltimore Police Department's recent refusal to release the names of cops involved in shootings. (He also pissed on the press---MSM and "citizen bloggers"---for not challenging the department on its no-names policy.
Simon writes:
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David Simon Is Making a Miniseries About the Lincoln Assassination
In it, we'll learn that John Wilkes Booth was concocted by a Baltimore Sun reporter angling for a Pulitzer.
In all seriousness, it does sound pretty awesome. I'm hoping this gets used for the promotional poster.
