Corona has turned the world upside down in less than half of a year. How will things be next year? The shut-down of almost all travel has led to much local introspection. With many activities on hold, we see like under a magnifying glass how our society really ticks. This gave the George Floyd death such momentum. In a series of investigations I will ask today how the US polices its communities. It has long been a topic, but it has come back with unprecedented urgency. Never before have I seen this nation look at its problems in this unflinching manner.
"In recognizing the humanity in our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute." (Thurgood Marshall, inscription on the steps of the Western Police Station in West Baltimore)
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The ultimate militarization of police: June 1 on 16th Street in DC |
In the late 1980s, when there was much talk about "community policing", I had lived only a short time in America when I looked down from the conference room an architecture office in downtown Baltimore because I heard a women screaming. She was, it turned out, berating a tow truck driver who had just hitched her car to his truck. When she kept insisting to get her car back he called "Baltimore's finest" who after some back and forth escalated the situation by laying hand on the woman, putting....
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[Klaus] Philipsen FAIA
Archplan Inc. Philipsen Architects
Baltimore MD
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