Peter Moskos
@moskos.bsky.social
Author of Back from the Brink. https://t.co/mABbQyS1jf
Professor. Writer. New Yorker. Here for the pigeons and also discourse on policing and criminal justice.
Professor. Writer. New Yorker. Here for the pigeons and also discourse on policing and criminal justice.
Pigeon Pic of the Day
December 23, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Pigeon Pic of the Day
Why yes, for those who prefer to listen, my book "Back from the Brink" *is* available on audio. And yes, it does make a great Christmas present for yourself and your loved ones. And all for the low low price of $21.49! Or buy a ten pack for just $214.90 and give them out like candy. amzn.to/3MONwfW
Back from the Brink: Inside the NYPD and New York City's Extraordinary 1990s Crime Drop
amzn.to
December 22, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Why yes, for those who prefer to listen, my book "Back from the Brink" *is* available on audio. And yes, it does make a great Christmas present for yourself and your loved ones. And all for the low low price of $21.49! Or buy a ten pack for just $214.90 and give them out like candy. amzn.to/3MONwfW
If you like ambient sound or any sound, check this out: mynoise.net
It's a great website. (It's so great it's in the acknowledgement of my book "Back from the Brink." I honestly don't think I could have focused enough to write it without "Japanese Garden")
It's a great website. (It's so great it's in the acknowledgement of my book "Back from the Brink." I honestly don't think I could have focused enough to write it without "Japanese Garden")
Background Noises • Ambient Sounds • Relaxing Music | myNoise ®
myNoise sets the standard for online background noise machines and interactive soundscapes.
mynoise.net
December 17, 2025 at 5:37 AM
If you like ambient sound or any sound, check this out: mynoise.net
It's a great website. (It's so great it's in the acknowledgement of my book "Back from the Brink." I honestly don't think I could have focused enough to write it without "Japanese Garden")
It's a great website. (It's so great it's in the acknowledgement of my book "Back from the Brink." I honestly don't think I could have focused enough to write it without "Japanese Garden")
Reposted by Peter Moskos
Almost half of the non-European population of New Zealand is Maori. There's no way to pretend that this kind of racial thinking in that context is anything but exterminationist.
what do we bet there's been more naziness since this?
. . . & yep, there it is
. . . & yep, there it is
December 12, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Almost half of the non-European population of New Zealand is Maori. There's no way to pretend that this kind of racial thinking in that context is anything but exterminationist.
Great book review of "Back from the Brink" (my book) by Richard Day in "A City that Works":
"A dark, funny and insightful oral history covering the inner workings of the department. It’s also deeply inspiring. It’s hard to recommend highly enough." citythatworks.substack.com/p/book-revie...
"A dark, funny and insightful oral history covering the inner workings of the department. It’s also deeply inspiring. It’s hard to recommend highly enough." citythatworks.substack.com/p/book-revie...
Book review: Back from the Brink
More lessons from New York
citythatworks.substack.com
December 12, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Great book review of "Back from the Brink" (my book) by Richard Day in "A City that Works":
"A dark, funny and insightful oral history covering the inner workings of the department. It’s also deeply inspiring. It’s hard to recommend highly enough." citythatworks.substack.com/p/book-revie...
"A dark, funny and insightful oral history covering the inner workings of the department. It’s also deeply inspiring. It’s hard to recommend highly enough." citythatworks.substack.com/p/book-revie...
Reposted by Peter Moskos
I wrote for @theguardian.com on Trump using the National Guard shooting to demonize Afghans refugees — and how the US has yet to reckon with the blowback caused by its foreign invasions and war on terror | www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
December 3, 2025 at 6:40 PM
I wrote for @theguardian.com on Trump using the National Guard shooting to demonize Afghans refugees — and how the US has yet to reckon with the blowback caused by its foreign invasions and war on terror | www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Cool. Look who is tops on the "Urban Optimist Holiday Gift Guide"? My book! Back from the Brink. It does indeed make a great stocking stuffer.
Buy it right now, before you forget!
amzn.to/48wt2j5
p.s. It's good for pessimists, too!
www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/the...
Buy it right now, before you forget!
amzn.to/48wt2j5
p.s. It's good for pessimists, too!
www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/the...
December 2, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Cool. Look who is tops on the "Urban Optimist Holiday Gift Guide"? My book! Back from the Brink. It does indeed make a great stocking stuffer.
Buy it right now, before you forget!
amzn.to/48wt2j5
p.s. It's good for pessimists, too!
www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/the...
Buy it right now, before you forget!
amzn.to/48wt2j5
p.s. It's good for pessimists, too!
www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/the...
Reposted by Peter Moskos
Chicago has the worst mayor in the US. He had a brief respite cosplaying as a resistance hero while Bovino was here; now he is back to his usual insanity. Why would you limit the number of people SPENDING MONEY ON SMALL BUSINESSES? @mayorofchicago.bsky.social
chicago.suntimes.com/business/202...
chicago.suntimes.com/business/202...
Christkindlmarket crowd limit creates uncertainty for vendors
Under a new city restriction, the Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza will now be limited to 1,553 visitors at a time — less than half the 3,494 people allowed under the COVID-19 capacity rules set in 20...
chicago.suntimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 3:57 AM
Chicago has the worst mayor in the US. He had a brief respite cosplaying as a resistance hero while Bovino was here; now he is back to his usual insanity. Why would you limit the number of people SPENDING MONEY ON SMALL BUSINESSES? @mayorofchicago.bsky.social
chicago.suntimes.com/business/202...
chicago.suntimes.com/business/202...
Reposted by Peter Moskos
Wow Peter, this was a gift! Whenever I would tell people that Tony was responsible for the 1st reduction they would look at me sideways and then he came back and did it again and I was like
a woman with a surprised look on her face
ALT: a woman with a surprised look on her face
media.tenor.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Wow Peter, this was a gift! Whenever I would tell people that Tony was responsible for the 1st reduction they would look at me sideways and then he came back and did it again and I was like
My newly rediscovered 2017 phone call with Baltimore Police legend Tony Barksdale. On how to police down violence and save lives. That was all he cared about. And he succeeded. Rest in peace. qualitypolicing.com/qpp-63-tony-...
QPP 63: Tony Barksdale – Quality Policing
qualitypolicing.com
November 27, 2025 at 6:42 AM
My newly rediscovered 2017 phone call with Baltimore Police legend Tony Barksdale. On how to police down violence and save lives. That was all he cared about. And he succeeded. Rest in peace. qualitypolicing.com/qpp-63-tony-...
Miss baseball? Watch this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPfL...
Hot mics and hidden angles from the ALCS, a breakdown
YouTube video by Jomboy Media
www.youtube.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Miss baseball? Watch this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPfL...
Bill Bratton came in to speak to my master's program today. Three legends and me. John Miller, Bill Bratton, Chauncey Parker. This was a good class.
November 19, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Bill Bratton came in to speak to my master's program today. Three legends and me. John Miller, Bill Bratton, Chauncey Parker. This was a good class.
"Rates of imprisonment have grown dramatically in the last 40 years." What a fabulously hilarious progressive spin on their own data/chart which shows NY incarceration rates in massive decline over the past 30 years! www.prisonpolicy.org/profiles/NY....
November 16, 2025 at 11:17 PM
"Rates of imprisonment have grown dramatically in the last 40 years." What a fabulously hilarious progressive spin on their own data/chart which shows NY incarceration rates in massive decline over the past 30 years! www.prisonpolicy.org/profiles/NY....
For those who insist poverty is the driving force behind crime and violence, please answer me this:
From 1990 to 2000, NYC saw a 20.5% increase in people living in poverty (a 10% increase in rate). 283,994 more people!
How did murders simultaneously drop by two-thirds in 1990s NYC?
From 1990 to 2000, NYC saw a 20.5% increase in people living in poverty (a 10% increase in rate). 283,994 more people!
How did murders simultaneously drop by two-thirds in 1990s NYC?
November 16, 2025 at 8:32 PM
For those who insist poverty is the driving force behind crime and violence, please answer me this:
From 1990 to 2000, NYC saw a 20.5% increase in people living in poverty (a 10% increase in rate). 283,994 more people!
How did murders simultaneously drop by two-thirds in 1990s NYC?
From 1990 to 2000, NYC saw a 20.5% increase in people living in poverty (a 10% increase in rate). 283,994 more people!
How did murders simultaneously drop by two-thirds in 1990s NYC?
Reposted by Peter Moskos
A slogan has ONE FUCKING JOB.
Epic fail.
Also Abolish Prisons. Goddam pratfall.
Oh, and every time someone arrives on a thread to explain to me that it doesn't mean defund the entire agency, or abolish all incarceration, two others chime in to say yes, it does mean that. So more failure.
Epic fail.
Also Abolish Prisons. Goddam pratfall.
Oh, and every time someone arrives on a thread to explain to me that it doesn't mean defund the entire agency, or abolish all incarceration, two others chime in to say yes, it does mean that. So more failure.
November 15, 2025 at 9:57 PM
A slogan has ONE FUCKING JOB.
Epic fail.
Also Abolish Prisons. Goddam pratfall.
Oh, and every time someone arrives on a thread to explain to me that it doesn't mean defund the entire agency, or abolish all incarceration, two others chime in to say yes, it does mean that. So more failure.
Epic fail.
Also Abolish Prisons. Goddam pratfall.
Oh, and every time someone arrives on a thread to explain to me that it doesn't mean defund the entire agency, or abolish all incarceration, two others chime in to say yes, it does mean that. So more failure.
Reposted by Peter Moskos
ACAB and Defund The Police -- the two most destructive messaging efforts from sloganeers who don't actually want to fix a fucking thing and will, at every opportunity, alienate the entire electorate from actual police reform for the sheer pleasure of their own self-regarding purities.
Eat a dick.
Eat a dick.
Okay but ACAB includes David Simon.
Hard, fast rule from a veteran police reporter: Excepting anyone engaged in infiltrating a criminal conspiracy in an undercover capacity, any law officer who hides his identity from the public is a shitheel is doing vile shit and is, in fact, actively destroying the credibility of law enforcement.
November 6, 2025 at 3:02 AM
ACAB and Defund The Police -- the two most destructive messaging efforts from sloganeers who don't actually want to fix a fucking thing and will, at every opportunity, alienate the entire electorate from actual police reform for the sheer pleasure of their own self-regarding purities.
Eat a dick.
Eat a dick.
On "bail reform." Does it "work"?
There's an edited 16 minute version, too. qualitypolicing.com/qpp-62-bail-...
QPP 62: Bail Reform – Quality Policing
qualitypolicing.com
November 14, 2025 at 5:43 PM
On "bail reform." Does it "work"?
Your occasional reminder that in NYC the vast majority of criminal cases are not prosecuted. In the Bronx just 22% of felony and 12% of misdemeanor arrests result in a conviction. (Outside NYC, in the rest of the state, the figures are 67% and 52%, respectively.) qualitypolicing.com/same-city-di...
November 14, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Your occasional reminder that in NYC the vast majority of criminal cases are not prosecuted. In the Bronx just 22% of felony and 12% of misdemeanor arrests result in a conviction. (Outside NYC, in the rest of the state, the figures are 67% and 52%, respectively.) qualitypolicing.com/same-city-di...
Reposted by Peter Moskos
Yes, your honor, we received and sold stolen goods, but if there was no market for such we wouldn't have done so. Our customers are to blame.
We live in a golden age of shamelessness and grift.
We live in a golden age of shamelessness and grift.
"Sure, our plagiarism machine ingests enormous amounts of copyrighted material without anyone's permission, but it's the users of the machine who are the 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 criminals, your honor." 🙄🙄
Just unbelievable levels of chutzpah.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Just unbelievable levels of chutzpah.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
November 14, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Yes, your honor, we received and sold stolen goods, but if there was no market for such we wouldn't have done so. Our customers are to blame.
We live in a golden age of shamelessness and grift.
We live in a golden age of shamelessness and grift.
Reposted by Peter Moskos
weird how vance keeps saying this!
November 14, 2025 at 4:10 AM
weird how vance keeps saying this!
I discuss NY Bail Reform with the authors of 5 reports on bail reform. If you care about bail reform (or think it works perfectly or it's all bad) it behooves you to listen to this Quality Policing Podcast episode. It's a deep hour-long dive. qualitypolicing.com/qpp-62-bail-...
QPP 62: Bail Reform – Quality Policing
qualitypolicing.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:29 AM
I discuss NY Bail Reform with the authors of 5 reports on bail reform. If you care about bail reform (or think it works perfectly or it's all bad) it behooves you to listen to this Quality Policing Podcast episode. It's a deep hour-long dive. qualitypolicing.com/qpp-62-bail-...
Reposted by Peter Moskos
“There were no political or religious motivations. They were rich people who went there for fun and personal satisfaction. We are talking about people who love guns who perhaps go to shooting ranges or on safari in Africa.” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 AM
“There were no political or religious motivations. They were rich people who went there for fun and personal satisfaction. We are talking about people who love guns who perhaps go to shooting ranges or on safari in Africa.” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
[Excuse me while I hit my head against a wall.]
This is wild, just how LITTLE the NYPD shoots.
There’s a lot to criticize abt the NYPD, but this seems laudable.
It also seems aligned w another fact I don’t fully understand, that while ~80% of all homicides in the US are caused by a gun, in NYC it’s basically ~50%.
There’s a lot to criticize abt the NYPD, but this seems laudable.
It also seems aligned w another fact I don’t fully understand, that while ~80% of all homicides in the US are caused by a gun, in NYC it’s basically ~50%.
Updated chart:
November 11, 2025 at 4:12 AM
[Excuse me while I hit my head against a wall.]
Reposted by Peter Moskos
I guess you can't sell the parking meters twice
Chicago residents and businesses would pay $1.25 for every package they have delivered — whether from Amazon or another business — under a proposed ground delivery tax that could generate as much as $220 million a year.
Ald. Villegas proposes $1.25-a-package ground delivery tax on Chicago consumers
chicago.suntimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:14 PM
I guess you can't sell the parking meters twice
Reposted by Peter Moskos
I legit can’t figure out the play on these FAA flight cancellations. Who’s the White House trying to pressure. And who do they think people are gonna get mad at when Thanksgiving goes down the drain?
November 6, 2025 at 11:12 AM
I legit can’t figure out the play on these FAA flight cancellations. Who’s the White House trying to pressure. And who do they think people are gonna get mad at when Thanksgiving goes down the drain?