David J. Krajicek
The Crime Report
Alabama, NY, United States
Contact David
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
| Recent: |
|
| Past: |
|
Past articles by David:
Inside the Minds of Men Who Murder
In his new book, TCR contributing editor David Krajicek explores the written and recorded leavings of mass killers. In this excerpt, he describes some of their common characteristics, including a “pseudocommando mindset” and “heroic revenge fantasy.” → Read More
Black and White in Alabama: The Scarred Legacy of a 1975 Police Shooting
The death of Bernard Whitehurst Jr. at the hands of a white Montgomery policeman 43 years ago raised unsettling questions of police bias and official coverup, foreshadowing the #Black LivesMatter movement. A new book re-examines the case, prodded by a son’s quest for restitution and justice. → Read More
FBI Director to Cops: Don’t Listen to ‘Armchair Critics’
Speaking at a convention of police chiefs in Orlando, Christopher Wray cited the opiate crisis, mass violence, terrorism and cyber threats as law enforcement priorities. And the leader of an agency that has faced oppressive attacks from Donald Trump pointedly said that law enforcers must "tune out the noise" emanating from critics. → Read More
Long View of Ex-Prisoners Finds 83% Recidivism Rate
A vast new study of recidivism by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics finds that 44 percent of the 400,000 men and women released from state prisons in the U.S. in 2005 were arrested again during their first year of freedom. Sixty-eight percent were arrested within three years, 79 percent within six years, and 83 percent within nine years. → Read More
Across the Globe, Police to Keep Vigilant Gaze on Revelers
From New York to Las Vegas, Manchester to Melbourne, cities that have been subjected to recent mass violence will be on particularly high alert as throngs of revelers gather to celebrate the arrival of 2018. An Australian police chief might have been speaking for his counterparts around the world when he said, "We will basically lock down the center of the city." → Read More
Right-wing ‘Guerilla Journalist’ Foiled in Inept Roy Moore Sting
A clumsy sting by right-wing "guerilla journalist" James O'Keefe who recruited a woman to pose as a long-ago adolescent lover of Judge Roy Moore was easily sniffed out by the Washington Post. One conservative commentator carped "it really would serve the movement if his funders would consider financing someone more effective." → Read More
FBI Reports Violent Crime Surge, But What Does It Mean?
The FBI says overall reports of violent crime increased by 8.6 percent in 2016, and homicides were up 4.1 percent. One analyst called the increases "ominous," following similar upticks in 2015. Others point out that crime in the U.S. is still at modern historical lows. "What’s going on?" asked another expert. "No one really knows." → Read More
‘The Nearly Perfect Recidivism Machine’
Texas criminologist William Kelly’s new book calls for a top-to-bottom transformation of a justice system that recycles thousands of Americans without offering them a way to change the behavior that sent them behind bars. He explains his recipe for “disruptive innovation” in a conversation with TCR. → Read More
The Tiger Woods Version of Justice
The pro golfer didn’t have to post bail after his arrest this week on a DUI charge, but individuals who aren’t rich or celebrities would most likely have been shown to a jail cell. Such unequal treatment is a notorious feature of American justice that needs reform, says a report released today by the Prison Policy Initiative. → Read More
Do All Violent Offenders Need Long Prison Terms?
Fordham law professor John Pfaff tells TCR that the country needs to re-examine the way "politics and punishment interact" --especially when it comes to local prosecutors' aggressively punitive approach to people convicted of violence. → Read More
Why Prosecutors Are the ‘Heart’ of Our Prison Population Boom
Fordham law professor John Pfaff argues in a new book that traditional explanations for America’s mass incarceration crisis distract from the central challenge of rethinking how we punish violent offenders. In a chat with TCR contributing editor David Krajicek, he offers some solutions. → Read More
MI Lawsuit Targets License Suspensions Over Traffic Debts
The class-action suit filed by a Washington, D.C.-based civil rights group accuses the state of suspending driving privileges for people too poor to pay traffic violation fines and fees. → Read More
Prisons Are Packed With 200,000 Dead-End Lifers: Study
A new analysis by The Sentencing Project finds a record number of lifers in U.S. prisons. The author, who has been tracking sentencing trends for a decade, tells TCR’s David J. Krajicek, “As a society, we cannot challenge mass incarceration without including reforms to sentences on the deep end of the punishment spectrum.” → Read More
No More ‘Playing God’: AL Blocks Judges in Applying Death Penalty
Alabama became the last state this week to abolish judicial overrides—a practice that has been used by judges to impose death sentences even when juries decided otherwise (and defended by Jeff Sessions, then the state’s AG.) Next problem: jury unanimity. → Read More
At ‘Critical Moment’ Under Trump, Report Gives Hard Facts on Incarceration
The Prison Policy Initiative’s annual report on U.S. prison populations offers a reality check on the administration’s fear-loaded rhetoric on rising violent crime. The number of incarcerated persons in the U.S. remains unchanged at 2.3 million–a figure the authors say should make the feds think about how to encourage states to reduce that number instead of filling more prison cells. → Read More
6 Times Atrocious Crimes (Mostly Against White People) Produced Disastrous Laws
Politicized crime laws enacted in response to atrocities are almost always expensive failures. → Read More
What You Won't Hear at the GOP Convention: Crime Was Far More Prevalent Under Reagan Than Obama
Trumpâs law-and-order scaremongering is working, but itâs based on complete lies. → Read More
What's the Best Way to Weed Out Potential Killer Cops?
Scientists are scouring data to identify bad-seed cops. Maybe the simpler route would be to ask the chiefs. → Read More
A Life (Without Parole) Story
How much punishment does an offender deserve? The Crime Report’s David J. Krajicek takes a deep look at America’s ‘lifers’--the neglected leftovers of mass incarceration. → Read More
Aaron Johnson's Story as a Lifer in Alabama Prison Is Exhibit A in Why We Need to Change America's Prison Nightmare
We have to rethink the cruelty of our incarceration system. → Read More