Podcast Show Notes
The Inside Skinny on a Jury Trial in Manatee County, Florida.
Join Serge and Clarke as they share Nathan Steelman’s experience sitting as a juror in the judgment of a woman charged with domestic violence in Florida. You have heard the expression “I’d rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6.” (Clarke disagrees: he would rather be carried by six than judged by 12). But…
Read MoreThe Tragic Death of NYPD Police Officer Jonathan Diller
Serge and Clarke comment on the murder of Ofc. Diller and update the listeners on renewed efforts on the Columbia Project. Worth a listen.
Read MoreStand Your Ground Doesn’t Legalize Illegal Deadly Force
Serge and Clarke celebrate Easter. We have friends who have a blessed Ramadan. We have friends who we will wish Happy Passover in several weeks. We have re-uploaded an episode. We will be back next week with a brand-new episode. In rural New York, a 65-year-old man fired two shots from his porch killing a…
Read MoreIf Only There Was a Way for Civilians to Experience “Shoot Don’t Shoot.”
Law Enforcement firearms training has historically emphasized reaction time and marksmanship. But the decision to shoot or not shoot is the most fundamental choice the police officer faces in highly stressful situations. For the most part, civilians (who sit in judgment of the police) have not had large-scale access to simulator training. In this week’s…
Read MoreSeize the Day But Don’t Necessarily Take the Bonus
At the request of a listener, Serge and Clarke offer their advice to young people without law enforcement experience who wish to apply to become police officers. People: this is solid advice from two men who have been there.
Read MoreSeven Seconds and One Shot Into a Burglary Investigation and Melvin Jay is Dead.
February 1, 2024 — Prince George’s County, Maryland. Prince George’s County Police Officer Braxton Shelton is dispatched to a burglary in progress at an apartment in Suitland. He arrives within a minute of the dispatch, finds the apartment door ajar, and enters by himself. Seven seconds later Shelton fires one shot killing Melvin Jay, who…
Read MoreWhat’s Worse Than a Criminal With a Handgun? A Criminal with a Glock and Glock Switch.
What is worse than a plethora of undereducated, jobless, and unfocused young men with semi-automatic handguns shooting at each other in cities across America? Answer: A group of undereducated, jobless, and unfocused young men with machine-guns shooting at each other in cities across America. Welcome to the $50 “Glock switch.” This small, inexpensive, and easily…
Read MoreThe CSI Checklist Phone App is the Preeminent Tool for Criminal Investigators
There IS something new under the sun! Tom Mauriello, the mastermind of FORENSIQ, has organized decades of law enforcement expertise in a CSI phone app that is exceptional, affordable, and practical. Any criminal justice stakeholder can access an investigative blueprint for every type of investigation from arson to mass casualty event. In this episode of…
Read MoreOur 100th Episode — Serge, Clarke, and our Listeners Reach a Milestone
The Black and White and Thin Blue Lines podcast began in Spring of 2021 as the effort of Serge Antonin and Clarke Ahlers. The podcast concerns itself with issues of criminal justice, particularly at the intersection of race in America. Since then, Serge and Clarke have learned the technology of podcasting, produced and edited 100…
Read MoreMaryland Fights Crime by Taxing Law-Abiding Citizens and More
The Maryland General Assembly proposes an excise tax on the sale of guns and ammunition, the Howard County Council debates a ceasefire in Gaza, and several state senators propose to eliminate good time credits for a very small number of convicted felons. Is our government fiddling while our community burns? Serge and Clarke add their…
Read MoreA NY City Cop Gets a Complaint When He Doesn’t Write a Ticket
Dateline Harlem: Friday night January 26, 2024, about 6:30 P.M. A NY City police officer stops city councilman Yosef Salaam for unlawfully tinted windows on a BMW sedan. The officer was polite and professional and sent Mr. Salaam on his way after Salaam, the driver, identified himself as a city councilman. Professional courtesy? Presumably so.…
Read MoreTeach Your Children Well
In 1968, Graham Nash, later of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, wrote a song about the difficult relationship he had with his father who was sent to jail for receiving stolen goods. The song “Teach Your Children” has beautiful lyrics including this stanza: “Teach your children well, Their father’s hell did slowly go by, Feed…
Read MoreCop Flash Bangs Are Bad For Babies . . . or maybe not.
On the afternoon of January 10, 2024, more than 20 police officers in tactical gear carrying long arms and deploying flash bangs served a search warrant in Elyria, Ohio. Sure … the usual stuff. You know. The guy the police were looking for hadn’t lived at the residence the cops trashed for more than a…
Read MoreA Man in Las Vegas Tries to Kill the Judge Who Sentences Him for a Crime of Violence
Serge often observes that America is declining into anarchy. Clarke is sometimes pessimistic. Serge and Clarke bring their inclinations to the story of a young man who jumped the bench in a Las Vegas courtroom and beat up the judge who was sentencing him to prison for beating up a person with a baseball bat.…
Read MoreMaryland Police Claim Constitutional Protection for Juveniles Makes Their Job Harder
Almost six decades after the United States Supreme Court’s landmark Miranda decision, police administrators in Maryland are claiming that a 2022 Maryland law that requires police to adhere to Miranda during juvenile arrests is making their job more difficult. In a now familiar whine, our state and local governments blame their inability to fight crime…
Read MoreThe Baltimore Police Commissioner Orders Every Officer to Empathy Instruction.
Police Commissioner Worley has implemented 8 hours of empathy instruction for every Baltimore Police Officer. In this episode, Serge and Clarke discuss the instructions. Serge begins with the valid premise that it is a good idea for victims of trauma — like most police officers and many Baltimoreans–to learn to understand. On his part, Clarke…
Read MoreMayor v ATF: Who cares who wins we just want to see a lot of hits!
This week, the Mayor of Baltimore filed suit in federal court against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It turns out that ATF sends gun trace information to the Police Commissioner but does not send the same information to the Mayor. Rather than figure a workaround, the Mayor — represented by Everytown Law…
Read MoreThe Dust Settles on Sexual Assault Forensic Examinations.
For three decades, the United States Congress has passed laws to fund forensic examinations in sexual assault cases. But it doesn’t seem to matter. The country is awash in untested rape kits while repetitive sex offenders continue to violate. In fact, Maryland leads the nation in rape kit backlogs at the forensic lab. But at…
Read MoreIs the federal government finally satisfied with the Derek Chauvin sentence?
After Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd, the federal government permitted anarchists to loot and burn communities across the country. The State of Minnesota successfully prosecuted Chauvin and he was sentenced to 22 years in prison. However, the federal government was not satisfied. A federal grand jury was convened. Chauvin was federally indicted. Chauvin pled guilty…
Read MoreNot All Prosecutors Think Alike; Some Thoughts on the Marilyn Mosby Case
The United States Attorney for the District of Maryland successfully indicted and convicted former Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby of two counts of perjury. In this weeks episode, Jack Mitchell — a former police officer who worked for Ms. Mosby as an Assistant State’s Attorney — joins Serge and Clarke to discuss Mosby’s perjury…
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