But we have not fixed the financial system. Rather, we have poured money into the banks, without restrictions, without conditions, and without a vision of the kind of banking system we want and need. We have, in a phrase, confused ends with means. A banking system is supposed to serve society, not the other way around.

Joseph E. Stiglitz - Vanity Affair

Harvard researchers say they’ve uncovered a big problem among the nation’s 700,000 police officers: a serious lack of sleep.

In what’s believed to be the first study of its kind, the researchers queried nearly 5,000 municipal and state police officers in the U.S. and Canada about their sleep habits and symptoms of possible sleep disorders. Then they assessed their on-duty performance for two years.

Forty percent had sleep disorders, and the vast majority of these were undiagnosed before.

As you stand in endless lines this holiday season, here’s a comforting thought: all those security measures accomplish nothing, at enormous cost.

via Charles C. Mann – Vanity Affair

It may seem onerous to prepare yourself and your family to respond to violence, but not doing so is also a form of preparation. Failing to prepare is, generally speaking, preparing very well to do the wrong thing. Although most of us are good at recognizing danger, our instincts often lead us to behave in ways that increase our chances of being injured or killed once a threat emerges.

After an OIS:

 

• What 12 questions should an officer answer at the scene?
• Besides wound treatment, what critical benefits does he or she gain from prompt transport to a medical facility?
• What does an agency gain by encouraging an officer to have independent legal counsel before a detailed statement is taken?
• What question do cops most want answered when the smoke clears?

 

These are just a few of the procedural issues addressed late last month at the annual IACP conference in Chicago during a fast-paced, 2-hour presentation called “Chief, I’ve Been in a Shooting: What Happens Next?”