I'm pleased to share a new blog with LEAP supporters. Walter McKay's blog is titled Police Accountability and Reform. It's been around for a while, but recently he started posting on it more regularly. He lives in Mexico and so much of his writing focuses on the violence of the drug cartels in that country. He keeps a close tab on the latest developments, especially in terms of the daily killings, the weaponry used, the police corruption, the methods of intimidation, etc.I was first introduced to McKay's work sometime around 2004 when I watched a documentary called Through a Blue Lens. This movie is certainly one of most powerful films I have ever watched about the horrors of drug abuse. It was produced by a group of Vancouver police officers who were part of a non-profit society called Odd Squad Productions. McKay was one of the founding members of this group. And I didn't know it at the time - I wasn't even a police officer back then - but we would eventually end up working together as members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.
After twelve years in policing, McKay left the Vancouver Police Department to pursue his interests in criminal justice reform. He received an M.A. from Simon Fraser University and then began his PhD studies with a focus on police ethics. He now lives in Mexico City where he is project director for the Instituto para la Seguridad y la Democracia (INSYDE), a non-profit organization focused on police reform.
I'm reasonably certain that Walt is qualified to talk about the War on Drugs. Please take a moment to visit his blog and say hello.
Cool, I'll be adding Walter's blog to my RSS feed list. Thanks for pointing it out.
ReplyDeleteFor anyone interested in keeping up on police abuse, prosecutorial misconduct, and all sorts of other civil rights infringements, Radley Balko's work is indispensible. You can see him contributing often on Reason, and he also runs a personal blog at www.theagitator.com . Highly recommended.
Agree about the Agitator. Great things, not told by the MSM, are on there. One of the best.
ReplyDeleteI was on the same panel as Radley at Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh in 2009. I like the Agitator too although I don't read it as often as I should... I've never really gotten the hang of the RSS readers and so my daily blog reading consists of me typing the addresses manually or selecting them from my bookmarks.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I remember when Radley posted a couple times about going to Netroots. I hadn't realized you were there as well David.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the RSS feed thing goes, everyone likes to digest the web in his or her own fashion, which is one reason why it's so great. Personally I'm partial to Google Reader -- very easy to find and add feeds, accessible and always updated no matter what computer I'm using, cool features for sharing interesting posts with friends, etc. I think it's the best online RSS reader out there.
Oh and David, I meant to mention to you that I'm gaining a new appreciation for you and your Canadian brethren; I've torn through 5 seasons of Trailer Park Boys in about a month and a half. That show rocks.
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