A very candid camera
Police who berate citizens in public should mind their manners: The whole world may soon be watching. A video clip of Baltimore Officer Salvatore Rivieri bullying a renegade skateboarder at the Inner Harbor - posted recently on YouTube - was proof positive of the benefits of citizen videographers. Amateur cameramen are providing a public service, whether their cell phones record a crime in real time or reveal police misconduct. The video footage of Los Angeles police beating motorist Rodney King spotlighted police brutality in a way no written citizen complaint could.
Nothing so serious occurred between Officer Rivieri and the young skateboarder, but he lost his temper and grabbed the boy, his outburst reinforcing every stereotype of the discourteous, manhandling cop. There's no excuse for such behavior, and Officer Rivieri's three minutes of fame cost him - he's been suspended pending a police investigation.
Missing links
Baltimore social service workers should find a ready ally in public health nurses who are treating families they supervise. But the case of 2-year-old Bryanna Harris shows that the two agencies don't usually consult on their mutual clients or even communicate. That's a missed opportunity to help protect vulnerable children. The two agencies have realized this, belatedly, after Byranna's mother was charged in her death last month.
What has since been learned is that a visiting nurse from the city's Health Department was following the toddler's progress at the same time that she and her mother were under the watch of the Department of Social Services. The nurse was in contact with the family about 30 times. But apparently following a shameful historical pattern, there was no coordination with DSS caseworkers. It's unclear what else the nurse might have done to raise a red flag in this case, but an announced program of more case coordination between the visiting nurses and DSS, including monthly meetings, should help other children about whom the two agencies share common concerns.
Contract misconduct
A Justice Department rule would force companies that detect federal contract fraud worth more than $5 million to notify the government. This makes us wonder: Is the nation so financially healthy that a $4.9 million fraud would be too piddling to worry about? But there's an even greater concern. The proposal, which is nearing approval, exempts "contracts to be performed outside the United States." That's a shocking loophole, given the extent of contracting problems in reports out of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sen. Byron L. Dorgan of North Dakota has said that his Democratic Policy Committee found more than $1 billion in "waste, fraud and abuse" by contractors in Iraq - and this was in October 2006. The Justice Department calls the overseas exemption a mistake. We heartily concur, and can only wonder how such a glaring error made it to the final stages of approval.