Black and White and Thin Blue Lines

Send a text The body of Gabrielle ("Gabby") Petito has been recovered and ruled a homicide. Fifteen days before the likely date of her death, Moab (Utah) Police responded to a reported assault. Their handling of the assault has been widely criticized by domestic violence experts and law enforcement sources. In this episode, Serge Antonin and Clarke Ahlers, dissect the police response. Se...

Send a text On 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 prov...

Send a text In 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 t...

Send a text On 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 wa...

Send a text Serge 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...

Send a text First 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 s...

Send a text Serge 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 mone...

Send a text An 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 fri...

Send a text Videos 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,...

Send a text Thirty-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. 

Send a text The 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...

Send a text Serge 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 C...

Send a text In 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 rule...

Send a text Serge 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.  

Send a text Black 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...

Send a text In 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. 

Send a text “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.