Black and White and Thin Blue Lines
117 episodes - English - Latest episode: 1 day ago - ★★★★★ - 23 ratings"We refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.” Black and White and Thin Blue Lines is an original podcast created by two former police officers, Serge Antonin and Clarke Ahlers, who are inspired by the hopeful words of the Reverend Martin Luther King. Serge Antonin is African American. Clarke Ahlers is Caucasian. The podcast is a discussion about current issues in criminal justice and law enforcement, especially where these issues intersect the topic of race.
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Episodes
The Judge Jonathan Newell Matter
September 22, 2021 10:00 - 45 minutes - 31.3 MBOn September 11, 2021, FBI agents attempted to arrest Maryland Circuit Court Judge Jonathan Newell. The agents entered his residence in Caroline County, Maryland and found the judge dead from a single gunshot wound. The death has been determined to be a suicide. Serge and Clarke discuss this unusual case and the allegation of child exploitation. This is an interesting, and perhaps provocative, episode.
Part 2 of Evaluating the Use of Force Policy of the Metropolitan Police Department
September 15, 2021 10:00 - 38 minutes - 26.4 MBIn this episode Serge Antonin and Clarke Ahlers attempt to figure out what a police officer in the District of Columbia may do to accomplish the handcuffing and disarming of a felony suspect in custody. As the listener will hear, the police and procedure of the Metropolitan Police Department is almost unintelligible. Please see the show notes for the actual Body Worn Camera video and the Attachments that officers are supposed to follow in a use of force situation.
Evaluating the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Use of Force Policy
September 08, 2021 10:00 - 37 minutes - 25.7 MBOn August 8, 2021, three officers (later joined by others) attempted to arrest a man in the 1500 block of U Street in the Anacostia neighborhood. The man was suspected of distributing drugs and was believed to possess a handgun. As two officers held the man's arms and attempted to handcuff him, another officer punched the man in the face/head approximately 8 times. The incident was captured on video, quickly uploaded, and became the source of community outcry. The officers were suspended and...
Shot in the Line of Duty -- Our First Survivor Story
August 21, 2021 15:00 - 56 minutes - 38.7 MBSerge and Clarke interview our first guest, Police Officer "J.B." JB, who is still working as a police officer, describes the evening that he and a partner were shot by a drug suspect that JB was chasing. JB describes his reaction in the seconds after the shots were fired, the effect that the crime had on himself and his family, the prosecution of the offender, and JB's continued commitment to the citizens he is sworn to protect. Police Commissioners take heed: these are the kind of outstan...
Rapid Response to Active Shooters
August 11, 2021 10:00 - 39 minutes - 27.3 MBFirst recorded in March of 2021, Serge and Clarke evaluate evolving police tactics of response to "active shooters." The lexicon, history, and tactics are evaluated from the 1966 Texas Tower in Austin to the 2021 Boulder, Colorado grocery store mass shooting. For those familiar with Howard County, Maryland, Serge and Clarke also discuss the 2014 Columbia Mall active shooter situation. Clarke says: "one of our best."
Defunding the Police: A 1935 idea is partially realized in 2021.
July 28, 2021 10:00 - 42 minutes - 29.5 MBSerge and Clarke discuss the original idea of W.E.B. Du Bois that is now the slogan of the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. Serge argues for more money for police agencies, while Clarke -- who disagrees with the basic idea of "defunding the police" -- argues that police departments need to use capitalist models to evaluate, plan and ultimately spend less money in the fight against crime.
Gun Violence Claims Innocent Bystanders
July 14, 2021 10:00 - 35 minutes - 24.1 MBAn increasingly complicated problem in America is the wounding and killing of unintended victims. There are so many shootings in so many locations, including highways, that the daily news reports children and adults being harmed who weren't even intended to be harmed by the trigger pullers. Serge and Clarke talk about this phenomenon, especially in the context of some stop and frisk policies being labeled as racist.
Ocean City, Maryland Police Enforce Vaping Laws the Old Fashioned Way -- With Force
June 30, 2021 10:00 - 37 minutes - 26 MBVideos of Ocean City, Maryland Police Officers kicking, tackling, and even using a taser on young African American males to enforce the prohibition against vaping on the Boardwalk prompt this week's discussion. Serge and Clarke explain the Ocean City ordinances and comment upon the enforcement strategies which have resulted in a public relations debacle for the resort town. Also, updates on Derek Chauvin's sentence, the trial date in the Cassie Johnson case, and MSP continues to discrimina...
Fells Point Tax Revolt Leads Baltimore Police to "Flood the Zone."
June 16, 2021 10:00 - 38 minutes - 26.3 MBThirty-seven Baltimore businesses threatened a taxpayer revolt unless the city provided sufficient police protection to the Fells Points community. Counter-protestors threatened to boycott these same businesses unless they paid taxes. The politics of police protection in Baltimore is the topic of this podcast.
Project EXILE makes for strange bedfellows in Baltimore
June 02, 2021 10:00 - 36 minutes - 25.2 MBThe acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland holds a press conference to announce an expanded Project EXILE in Baltimore. He shares the stage with State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby. Serge Antonin and Clarke Ahlers consider the confusing messages being sent by Marilyn Mosby who told her constituents that the most serious problem facing African Americans in Baltimore is the systemically racist criminal justice system.
Can the police order you -- or Caron Nazario -- out of the car?
May 19, 2021 09:00 - 36 minutes - 24.9 MBSerge Antonin and Clarke Ahlers discuss the December 5th, 2020 traffic stop of Virginia National Guard Second Lieutenant Caron Nazario in Windsor, Virginia. The CCN, Fox and MSNBC television "experts" missed a critical opportunity to explain the law of traffic stops to a nationwide audience. Serge and Clarke discuss the law and police tactics. Can the police order you -- or Caron Nazario -- out of a car during a traffic stop? Find out.
Police Body Worn Cameras in the George Floyd, Daunte Wright & Ma'Khia Bryant cases.
May 05, 2021 10:00 - 39 minutes - 27.1 MBIn this episode Serge Antonin and Clarke Ahlers discuss the recent phenomenon of body worn cameras and the impact the cameras had in the prosecution of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd, the anticipated prosecution of Kim Potter for the shooting death of Daunte Wright, and the probability that the shooting of Ma'Khia Bryant by Police Officer Nicholas Reardon will be ruled legally justified and within policy.
Police Officer Cassie Johnson, Charleston, WV. Killed in the line of Duty.
April 21, 2021 15:00 - 31 minutes - 21.6 MBSerge and Clarke discuss the tragic circumstance of a young, dedicated law enforcement officer killed after responding to a call for service involving an illegally parked car in the town of Charleston, West Virginia.
Police Officer Cassie Johnson, Charleston, WV. Killed in the line of Duty.
April 21, 2021 15:00 - 31 minutes - 21.6 MBSerge and Clarke discuss the tragic circumstance of a young, dedicated law enforcement officer killed after responding to a call for service involving an illegally parked car in the town of Charleston, West Virginia.
Black in Blue; MSP discriminates against its own.
April 17, 2021 12:00 - 32 minutes - 22.3 MBBlack and White and Thin Blue Lines’ co-hosts, Serge Antonin and Clarke Ahlers, discuss the intersection of Maryland law enforcement and race in a discussion about the recent complaint from African-American state troopers that they are under-represented on the Maryland State Police, singled out for discipline, and treated more harshly than white troopers in administrative disciplinary decisions. This complaint was the subject of an NBC Washington investigative report by Tracee Wilkins, the...
Picking a Jury in the Derek Chauvin murder trial.
April 13, 2021 16:00 - 32 minutes - 22.1 MBIn this podcast, your hosts Serge and Clarke discuss the process of picking a jury in the Minnesota trial involving George Floyd's accused killer, former police officer Derek Chauvin. The hosts discuss whether press reports and discussion with others would render them ineligible to be on the jury, and discuss the process of picking a jury in a criminal case.
Black and White and Thin Blue Lines - Podcast Trailer
March 16, 2021 22:00 - 1 minute - 1.03 MB“We refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.” Black and White and Thin Blue Lines is an original podcast created by two former police officers, Serge Antonin and Clarke Ahlers, who are inspired by the hopeful words of the Reverend Martin Luther King. Serge Antonin is African American. Clarke Ahlers is Caucasian.