[Ads-l] Humble

Dan Goncharoff thegonch at GMAIL.COM
Sun May 3 01:28:21 UTC 2015


In this interview about policing in Baltimore,
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/04/29/david-simon-on-baltimore-s-anguish

I noticed this use of the word humble:

"And the city willingly and legally gave itself over to that, beginning
with the drug-free zones and with the misuse of what are known on the
street in the previous generation as ‘humbles.’ A humble is a cheap,
inconsequential arrest that nonetheless gives the guy a night or two in
jail before he sees a court commissioner. You can arrest people on “failure
to obey,” it’s a humble. Loitering is a humble. These things were used by
police officers going back to the ‘60s in Baltimore. It’s the ultimate
recourse for a cop who doesn't like somebody who's looking at him the wrong
way. And yet, back in the day, there was, I think, more of a code to it."

I didn't see it in the archives.

I also wonder if different cities/police forces have different terms or
slang for an inconsequential arrest.

DanG

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