Podcast Show Notes
The Moab Police and the Gabby Petito / Brian Laundrie Incident 8/12/21
The body of Gabrielle (“Gabby”) Petito has been recovered and ruled a homicide. Fifteen days before the likely date of her death, Moab (Utah) Police responded to a reported assault. Their handling of the assault has been widely criticized by domestic violence experts and law enforcement sources. In this episode, Serge Antonin and Clarke Ahlers,…
Read MoreThe Judge Jonathan Newell Matter
On September 11, 2021, FBI agents attempted to arrest Maryland Circuit Court Judge Jonathan Newell. The agents entered his residence in Caroline County, Maryland and found the judge dead from a single gunshot wound. The death has been determined to be a suicide. Serge and Clarke discuss this unusual case and the allegation of child…
Read MorePart 2 of Evaluating the Use of Force Policy of the Metropolitan Police Department
In this episode Serge Antonin and Clarke Ahlers attempt to figure out what a police officer in the District of Columbia may do to accomplish the handcuffing and disarming of a felony suspect in custody. As the listener will hear, the police and procedure of the Metropolitan Police Department is almost unintelligible. Please see the…
Read MoreEvaluating the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Use of Force Policy.
On August 8, 2021, three officers (later joined by others) attempted to arrest a man in the 1500 block of U Street in the Anacostia neighborhood. The man was suspected of distributing drugs and was believed to possess a handgun. As two officers held the man’s arms and attempted to handcuff him, another officer punched…
Read MoreShot in the Line of Duty—Our First Survivor Story
Serge and Clarke interview our first guest, Police Officer “J.B.” JB, who is still working as a police officer, describes the evening that he and a partner were shot by a drug suspect that JB was chasing. JB describes his reaction in the seconds after the shots were fired, the effect that the crime had…
Read MoreRapid Response to Active Shooters
First recorded in March of 2021, Serge and Clarke evaluate evolving police tactics of response to “active shooters.” The lexicon, history, and tactics are evaluated from the 1966 Texas Tower in Austin to the 2021 Boulder, Colorado grocery store mass shooting. For those familiar with Howard County, Maryland, Serge and Clarke also discuss the 2014…
Read MoreDefunding the Police: A 1935 idea is partially realized in 2021
Serge and Clarke discuss the original idea of W.E.B. Du Bois that is now the slogan of the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. Serge argues for more money for police agencies, while Clarke — who disagrees with the basic idea of “defunding the police” — argues that police departments need to use…
Read MoreGun Violence Claims Innocent Bystanders
An increasingly complicated problem in America is the wounding and killing of unintended victims. There are so many shootings in so many locations, including highways, that the daily news reports children and adults being harmed who weren’t even intended to be harmed by the trigger pullers. Serge and Clarke talk about this phenomenon, especially in…
Read MoreOcean City, Maryland Police Enforce Vaping Laws the Old Fashioned Way—With Force
Videos of Ocean City, Maryland Police Officers kicking, tackling, and even using a taser on young African American males to enforce the prohibition against vaping on the Boardwalk prompt this week’s discussion. Serge and Clarke explain the Ocean City ordinances and comment upon the enforcement strategies which have resulted in a public relations debacle for…
Read MoreFells Point Tax Revolt Leads Baltimore Police to “Flood the Zone.”
Thirty-seven Baltimore businesses threatened a taxpayer revolt unless the city provided sufficient police protection to the Fells Points community. Counter-protestors threatened to boycott these same businesses unless they paid taxes. The politics of police protection in Baltimore is the topic of this podcast. “We’ve reached our breaking point”: 37 Fells Point businesses threaten not to…
Read MoreProject EXILE makes for strange bedfellows in Baltimore
The acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland holds a press conference to announce an expanded Project EXILE in Baltimore. He shares the stage with State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby. Serge Antonin and Clarke Ahlers consider the confusing messages being sent by Marilyn Mosby who told her constituents that the most serious problem facing…
Read MorePolice Body-Worn Cameras in the George Floyd, Daunte Wright & Ma’Khia Bryant cases.
In this episode, Serge Antonin and Clarke Ahlers discuss the recent phenomenon of body-worn cameras and the impact the cameras had in the prosecution of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd, the anticipated prosecution of Kim Potter for the shooting death of Daunte Wright, and the probability that the shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant…
Read MorePolice Officer Cassie Johnson, Charleston W.V.
Serge and Clarke discuss the tragic circumstance of a young, dedicated law enforcement officer killed after responding to a call for service involving an illegally parked car in the town of Charleston, West Virginia. References:
Read MoreBlack in Blue; MSP discriminates against its own.
Black and White and Thin Blue Lines’ co-hosts, Serge Antonin and Clarke Ahlers, discuss the intersection of Maryland law enforcement and race in a discussion about the recent complaint from African-American state troopers that they are under-represented on the Maryland State Police, singled out for discipline, and treated more harshly than white troopers in administrative…
Read MorePicking a Jury in the Derek Chauvin Murder Trial
In this podcast, your hosts Serge and Clarke discuss the process of picking a jury in the Minnesota trial involving George Floyd’s accused killer, former police officer Derek Chauvin. The hosts discuss whether press reports and discussion with others would render them ineligible to be on the jury, and discuss the process of picking a…
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