The article “Florida Man Awarded $37,500 After Cops Mistake Glazed Doughnut Crumbs For Meth,” by Laurel Wamsley for NPR, discusses about how roadside test kits aren't all that foolproof. Daniel Rushing was driving a church friend off at her job at a nearby 7/11 when he got pulled over for speeding. When asked if they could check the car Mr. Rushing said fine, “As long as I don't get a ticket.” After an extensive search by four police officers, they found white crystals in the backseat which they believed to be meth. The officers used a field testing kit, and the test claimed the substance to be meth. Mr. Rushing went to jail for more than 10 hours before being released on bail. Further lab tests help to prove that the substance was in fact just glazed donut crumbs. But this isn't the only time field lab tests weren’t accurate. Karlos Cache, a handyman, was arrested on possession of drugs when field lab testing kits said drywall dust was meth. The problem is, officers rely heavily on these field lab testing kits when they aren't all that reliable. The kits are very inexpensive and cost 18 dollars for a pack of ten.
Infact a 2016 investigation done by the New York Times and ProPublica found that tens of thousands of people are innocently convicted. The report writes "Some tests ... use a single tube of a chemical...which turns blue when it is exposed to cocaine. But also turns blue when it is exposed to more than 80 other compounds, including methadone, certain acne medications and several common household cleaners.” But meth isn't the only drug field kits are mistrusting. State law enforcement lab in Florida found that “half of all seized ‘illegal’ drugs weren't illegal drugs at all.” This lack of validity costed the law enforcement $37,500. Mr. Rushing said “I thought it was the right thing to do.”
This article was extremely relevant when looking at how accurate arrests are. I think a major reason for the invalid tests are due to lack of funding. This is because when law enforcement offices are buying these tests, they often go for the cheaper often. But this often prefers cost than accuracy. By doing so, this could cost the police department fees in legal battles when these tests falsely claim something as a drug. Its an important discussion for our law enforcement to think about what they're buying, as well as its overall effectiveness when helping to keep people safe.
Overall I thought this article was excellently written. It had plenty of quotes and links to back up the investigation claims and police reports. However, I wish they gave more visuals to help the reader understand how these tests can be mixed up. For example, a picture of the test reacting to meth as well as one of the other compounds it also reacts to.
Wamsley, Laurel. “Florida Man Awarded $37,500 After Cops Mistake Glazed Doughnut Crumbs For Meth.” NPR, NPR, 16 Oct. 2017, www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/16/558147669/florida-man-awarded-37-500-after-cops-mistake-glazed-doughnut-crumbs-for-meth.
Wamsley, Laurel. “Florida Man Awarded $37,500 After Cops Mistake Glazed Doughnut Crumbs For Meth.” NPR, NPR, 16 Oct. 2017, www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/16/558147669/florida-man-awarded-37-500-after-cops-mistake-glazed-doughnut-crumbs-for-meth.
8 comments:
Hana Eddib 10/19/17
Forensics current event 5
Wamsley, Laurel. “Florida Man Awarded $37,500 After Cops Mistake Glazed Doughnut Crumbs For Meth.” NPR, NPR, 16 Oct. 2017, www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/16/558147669//florida-man-awarded-37-500-after-cops-mistake-glazed-doughnut-crumbs-for-meth.
Ryan’s current event was very well-written. It was intriguing to hear about this case. I appreciated that Ryan told the details of the case using quotes from the article, as it helped to understand the case better and gain a first person perspective as to what happened. It was also great that he pointed out that the kits were only $18 because it helped support the case of their unreliability. He included how the kits react to all kinds of chemicals not just drugs. I also appreciated his insight as to why these tests are often used rather than more advanced ones. If it is really due to lack of funding, then we must find a way to fix that.
While Ryan did do an excellent job with his review, there were two aspects that he could improve on. I wish he could’ve elaborated on why the $37,500 was given to Mr. Rushing. Was it because it was the office’s policy or because he asked for it as compensation? I also wish he could’ve further explained what it is about the glaze on a donut that resembles meth.
Overall I think Ryan did an excellent job with his current event. I was very intrigued to hear about this case because I had no idea donuts could be cause for arrest, if mistaken for drugs. This is very applicable to me because I do enjoy eating them and now I have to be careful not to leave any crumbs anywhere.
Wamsley, Laurel. “Florida Man Awarded $37,500 After Cops Mistake Glazed Doughnut Crumbs For Meth.” NPR, NPR, 16 Oct. 2017, www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/16/558147669//florida-man-awarded-37-500-after-cops-mistake-glazed-doughnut-crumbs-for-meth.
Ryan chose a very interesting and funny article to do a review on and he did a good job in writing it. I like how he included information on other times when people had been wrongly convicted due to the unreliability of the test kits. I like that he included his opinion on why these cheaper kits are used instead of better more accurate ones. I also like how he added what he thinks can happen when the police use these bad kits it can lead to legal fees in the future which is something that I didn’t consider in the past. It would have been nice if Ryan explained what caused the officers to believe that the donut crumbs were meth considered there are a lot of differences in the two things. I wish that he could have talked about whether or not the department will get better kits or continue with their current ones. Overall Ryan did a good job in his review and I particularly liked the article as it was unusual and interesting.
Andy Goldbaum 10/19/17 CE Comment Forensics Ippolito
Wamsley, Laurel. “Florida Man Awarded $37,500 After Cops Mistake Glazed Doughnut Crumbs For Meth.” NPR, © 2017 NPR, 16 Oct. 2017, www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/16/558147669/florida-man-awarded-37-500-after-cops-mistake-glazed-doughnut-crumbs-for-meth.
Ryan Staunton’s review of “Florida Man Awarded $37,500 After Cops Mistake Glazed Doughnut Crumbs For Meth”, by Laurel Wamsley of NPR, is written with nearly perfect grammar in a manner that is easy to follow. For example, Staunton’s summary paragraph follows the exact order of the article’s storyline, and his lack of grammatical errors makes it easy to understand when he is transitioning from point to point about the article. Another aspect that was well-presented was Staunton’s use of relevant quotes to support his summary. While the article contained many quotes, two of the four that Staunton picked out helped support the the main ideas of the text. For example, when Staunton backs up the idea about the kits being unreliable, he supports his point by pointing out the findings in the study that state how unlikely it is that what is being tested as positive is actually the drug in question due to the number of substances that turns the chemical in the kit blue. Another well-presented aspect of the article was his critique due to how he clearly explained why the article was well-written as well as its shortcomings rather than just simply stating that it was “excellently written”.
One aspect of Staunton’s review that can be improved is his second paragraph because he doesn’t address the significance of the article to either his personal life or humanity. While he successfully inferred that the reason for the invalid kits is lack of funding, he merely used this to state that without funds the trend from the article will keep repeating. A better alternative would have been to describe how this connects to the flaws in our law-enforcement system as a whole (ie our high incarceration rate for drug-related crimes) and possibly connect to what we learned in the textbook about the variation of crime lab services. Secondly, the summary could have been more concise because many parts of it were unnecessary details rather than the main ideas of the article. For example, Staunton didn’t need to give the quote from Rushing about hoping to not get a ticket because this doesn’t relate to the kits or his unfair arrest. Even though quotes from the text can help support points, Staunton didn’t have to include both the study and the quote stating that half of the drugs seized aren’t really drugs, as one of these would be efficient supporting evidence.
From our learning in the textbook, I already knew as prior knowledge that services in police labs across the country vary greatly due to the lack of coordination in developing forensic laboratories in the United States; however, I was shocked that the services in a major city like Orlando were not more state-of-the-art because most major cities have the better services.
Nanda Fraser
Forensics
I read Ryan’s review of the article entitled, “Florida Man Awarded $37,500 After Cops Mistake Glazed Doughnut Crumbs For Meth” by Laurel Wamsley, and I thought it was overall a very good critique. I thought that Ryan did a very good job of summarizing the article, and his topic was made very clear. I also enjoyed the use of quotes, which helped strengthen his summary. I also liked how Ryan included his own opinion on the article at the end of his summary.
Although I overall enjoyed Ryan’s critique, there are certain things that could have been improved. I think that Ryan could have included more of his opinion on the article as opposed to just talking about the facts of the article. I also think that correcting a few grammatical errors would make his critique much clearer and easier to follow.
I really enjoyed Ryan’s critique overall, and I was not aware of this case. I chose to review Ryan’s critique as I wanted to learn about this case in more detail.
Wamsley, Laurel. “Florida Man Awarded $37,500 After Cops Mistake Glazed Doughnut Crumbs For Meth.” NPR, © 2017 NPR, 16 Oct. 2017, www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/16/558147669/florida-man-awarded-37-500-after-cops-mistake-glazed-doughnut-crumbs-for-meth.
Isabella Dibbini
Mr. Ippolito
Current Event Comment
26 October 2017
Wamsley, Laurel. “Florida Man Awarded $37,500 After Cops Mistake Glazed Doughnut Crumbs For Meth.” NPR, NPR, 16 Oct. 2017, www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/16/558147669//florida-man-awarded-37-500-after-cops-mistake-glazed-doughnut-crumbs-for-meth.
Ryan wrote a great review of the article “Florida Man Awarded $37,500 After Cops Mistake Glazed Doughnut Crumbs for Meth,” By Laurel Wamsley. His summary was very detailed and discussed all of the main points from the article. Ryan did a great job of explaining his points, with direct quotes from his article. For example, he states “"Some tests ... use a single tube of a chemical...which turns blue when it is exposed to cocaine. But also turns blue when it is exposed to more than 80 other compounds, including methadone, certain acne medications and several common household cleaners,” and further goes on to explain the importance of this quote. Overall, Ryan’s review was very well written and incorporates many details and quotes to support his main ideas he addressed throughout the summary.
Although this review is very well written, there are a few things that can be improved. If Ryan made more connections between the article and its affects on society it would be more interesting. Also, although Ryan incorporated few quotes from the article, he could have included more textual evidence to make his arguments more compelling.
By reading Ryan’s review, I learned how this issue is relevant in today’s society. He goes into great detail which makes his readers want to continue reading his review. By reading this, I expanded my knowledge on forensics. Overall, his review was very well written and shows a great understanding of this article.
Justin McCarthy
Forensics 12H
Mr. Ippolito
Current Event 6 Comment: Ryan Staunton- The Donut Gate
Due October 30th 2017
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/16/558147669/florida-man-awarded-37-500-after-cops-mistake-glazed-doughnut-crumbs-for-meth
Wamsley, Laurel. “Florida Man Awarded $37,500 After Cops Mistake Glazed Doughnut Crumbs For Meth.” NPR, NPR, 16 Oct. 2017, www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/16/558147669/florida-man-awarded-37-500-after-cops-mistake-glazed-doughnut-crumbs-for-meth.
From all the articles and the current events that have been posted in Forensics- while all of them have been excellent work, none matched the current event that Ryan found on NPR News a week ago. The overall theme that I took away from reading your, article, Ryan, was that your current event by itself was very well written and you also managed to add humor into the article- balancing it out with the serious because the reality is a man got arrested for “doing” meth because he ate a Krispy Kremes donut. Puting the jokes aside, I thought that your article was very well written and there were three factors I liked in particular. The first factor which I enjoyed about your work, Ryan, is that you did a very good job at explaining how this innocent man who was eating a donut was pulled over by a cop. “Daniel Rushing was driving a church friend off at her job at a nearby 7/11 when he got pulled over for speeding. When asked if they could check the car” (Ryan Staunton). I thought Ryan did a very good job at explaining how Daniel Rushing was pulled over and how the cops thought that he had substance in his car which evidently they believed was meth. A Second factor which I also enjoyed about Ryan’s article was that when this man was arrested for “methane possession”, Ryan did a very good job at citing quotes and explains the stakes regarding the events. Like when he cites Laurel Wembley as she states that when the cops did the chemical test the “tests ... use a single tube of a chemical...which turns blue when it is exposed to cocaine. But also turns blue when it is exposed to more than 80 other compounds, including methadone, certain acne medications and several common household cleaners” (Laurel Wembley). By emphasizing the testing for methane, Ryan did a great job at explaining how exactly did the Florida Cops mistake donut icing for drugs because the fact alone that donuts can now be mistaken for meth is disturbing. A third thing that I enjoyed in your article, Ryan, was that you made your current event both funny and serious. I thought this was great because not a lot of people have the ability to balance out humor and the seriousness that occurred in this article perfectly.
While Ryan’s article was very good and it was almost perfect, I believe that everyone has room for improvement. One factor which I thought Ryan could improve on is shortening and cutting his quotes down to better fix his flow of his writing. By cutting and shortening your quotes, Ryan, I believe that your writing has the ability to flow better and this way your transitions between quotes can improve not only for Forensics but for your life after you graduate High School. A second factor which Ryan can work on is perhaps going a little bit deeper in the perspectives of the both victim and the police. I believe by doing this, Ryan, I believe you can draw a better picture for the reader to understand both the thoughts of the police and the victim. This way you can make the reader understand what transpired and what the justifications were behind the arrest.
The overall impact which this article had me which Ryan wrote has had a compelling effect on my life. It has made me aware that while technology is a great asset to answer crimes, sometimes cops need to rely on common sense. I say this more often than not because when cops start arresting people for eating donuts and mistake it for meth, then our local authority in this country needs to get improved significantly because we should not be wasting our resources on arresting people for eating donuts and mistakenly accuse victims for doing meth. I decided to do Alex article because I heard about this story before on my Facebook Page, and while at first I thought it was a joke, after I read the article it was more disturbing than actual joke because the cops actually thought this man was doing meth. Overall however aside from the joke, Ryan, I thought you did a very good job at writing this article and it is evident that you made it touch us as the reader. I was very impressed by your work and I look forward to reading more of your current events in the future.
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