How Are We Feeling About Policing These Days? Peter Moskos Files A Report

The Unspeakeasy With Meghan Daum

Meghan Daum

Society & Culture

4.7 • 855 Ratings

🗓️ 27 February 2023

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Peter Moskos is a criminologist and sociologist who teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. He is also a former Baltimore City Cop, which was the subject of his award-winning 2008 book, Cop In The Hood. Peter was one of the very first guests on The Unspeakable, back in August of 2020, when he talked about the unrest following the death of George Floyd and the mainstreaming of police abolition messaging. A lot has happened since then and Meghan invited him back to reflect on the last two and a half years and talk about what progress, if any, has been made when it comes to police conduct, media coverage of policing, and, most of all, public perceptions of police brutality and the number of Americans killed by cops every year.

Peter stayed overtime for some still-very-serious but also fun conversation about how he feels about his life these days, what he does and does not miss about the 1980s and 90s, and his relatively new hobby playing the autoharp. Most of all, he talked about the book he's been writing on the history of policing in New York City from the 1970s onward. To hear that portion, become a paying subscriber at meghdaum.substack.com.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi there, it's Megan. Before we start this week's episode, I want to say a few words about the last
0:08.7	episode of this podcast, which featured a conversation with journalist Rob Wypond, talking about
0:14.3	his new book about involuntary psychiatric treatments, especially in inpatient settings, but also
0:20.2	within the mental health arena more broadly.
0:22.8	That episode got a lot of criticism. Perhaps more than any episode of this podcast to date,
0:28.6	which is really saying something, much of that criticism was warranted. And while I do think
0:35.0	Rob's book is worth reading. And while I did push back on several of his arguments, I want to acknowledge that I was not skeptical enough in the interview. And that's pretty unlike me. And as a result, caused a level of frustration that is not the norm for this podcast. That said, my approach is always to let guests speak for themselves.
0:56.8	And in that spirit, I'm not going to address anything specific from that conversation,
1:01.7	but rather refer you to the very long list of sourcing and end notes from Rob's book.
1:08.7	And also for many, if not all of the points he made here at his website,
1:13.6	rob ypond.com. There you can access an actual PDF of his sourcing and it could keep you
1:21.2	busy for a while. Want to be clear, this is neither an apology nor a retraction. I'm leaving
1:26.9	the episode up because I think it remains
1:29.3	valuable in many ways. But to the extent that I was overly credulous, not to mention relying
1:36.5	on hyperbolic language in the show title, I do apologize. Several of you have offered suggestions
1:43.0	for guests who can offer a different perspective on
1:46.2	issues around mental health, and I am working on getting those guests.
1:50.6	For what it's worth, our next Zoom hangout for founding members will be Sunday, March 5th
1:56.2	at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, and I'm sure we will talk about all of this there.
2:02.8	And now, here's this week's episode. Welcome to the unspeakable podcast. I'm your host, Megan Dome. My guest is Peter Moskis.
2:11.9	He's a criminologist and sociologist, who is also a former Baltimore City cop. And I'm going to tell you more about him in a
2:18.5	second. But just real quick, I want to mention something that I don't mention enough. I know I talk a lot
	...

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