Police Video, Graffiti, Banned Books, Happy Parents

Police Video Policies Guest: Rachel Levinson-Waldman, JD, Senior Counsel in the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program “No tapes, no peace” was the chant taken up by protesters in Charlotte at the end of last week. For several days after the fatal shooting of Keith Lamont Scott by a Charlotte police officer, the department declined to released body cam or dashboard video of the incident. When the videos were finally released on Saturday night, they still left many questions about the shooting unanswered. That left us wondering why some police departments seem to release video footage quickly, while others like Charlotte resist then release, and some – like Chicago police in the shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald – release video only when a judge orders it. Why Kids Tag with Graffiti Guest: Lynne Vieraitis, PhD, Heads the Criminology Program at the University of Texas, Dallas Graffiti is an expensive and perplexing problem for cities. Billions of dollars go into scrubbing it clean every year, only to see more spray-painted “tags,” as they’re called, pop up. The taggers rarely get caught and strategies to make them stop are hard to come by. In Denver, there are designated areas where people have permission to do graffiti. It remains to be seen whether that actually stops people from tagging other walls, overpasses and buses. From the Vaults: Banned Books Week Guest: Richard Hacken, Senior Librarian at BYU’s Harold B. Lee Library Book lovers might know the answer to this riddle: what does the classic “The Grapes of Wrath” have in common with the tragic novel, “The Fault in Our Stars?” Or with the romantic tale of “Romeo and Juliet?” All three of those titles have been the subject of calls for them to be banned from libraries or schools. Since this is the annual “Banned Books Week,” we’re dedicating our regular installment of “From the Vaults” to the history and complexity of book banning. The Apple Seed Guest: Sam Payne, Host of BYUradio’s “The Apple Seed” Sam Payne joins us in