Peter Moskos: Crime, Policing, and Cop in the Hood
KEY MOMENTS
0:00 – Intro: Peter Moskos on Back from the Brink
0:41 – A middle ground on crime and policing
2:05 – Greek Americans and Astoria, Queens
4:07 – Finishing his father Charles Moskos's book
6:37 – Family roots and recording family stories
9:06 – Interviewing old cops and the New York accent
11:26 – Why people become cops
13:03 – Peter's 20 months as a Baltimore cop
15:00 – Cops just want to be portrayed honestly
18:22 – A 10-year project in cops' own voices
20:05 – Fear City and the 1975 police layoffs
23:14 – David Dinkins and Safe Streets, Safe City
24:18 – Ed Koch, Crown Heights, and Dinkins' legacy
25:54 – Which "old New York" do people miss?
28:10 – How squeegee men were cleared from New York
31:10 – Three-card monte and squeegee men return
33:15 – Repeat offenders and political will
35:31 – A barking-dog dispute that ended in murder
38:32 – Arrests went up under Dinkins, not Giuliani
39:28 – Cops, business owners, and drug corners
42:43 – Quality of life is more than murder odds
44:36 – Guardian Angels, Bernhard Goetz, and Brian Watkins
47:06 – Progressive politicians and Corona, Queens
49:21 – Immigrants want public safety too
51:28 – Transit cop photos and Martha Cooper
54:37 – The woman set on fire on the subway
56:41 – How the subway murder could have been prevented
58:59 – Congestion pricing and faster traffic
1:02:20 – Wrap-up
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Former Baltimore cop and author Peter Moskos joins Lou to talk about finding a middle ground on crime and policing, the NYPD and the 1990s crime drop, Fear City, and why a city's safety shouldn't be judged on murder alone.
We also get into Greek Americans in Astoria, finishing his father's book, interviewing old cops (and the death of the New York accent, which comes back to haunt Lou after a few beers), the 1975 police layoffs, how Mayor Dinkins, not Rudy Giuliani, cleared out the squeegee men, repeat offenders, a barking-dog dispute that ended in murder, the Guardian Angels and Bernhard Goetz, immigrants who want public safety too, the woman set on fire on the subway, and congestion pricing.