John Barnes contributed to The Weekly Standard in 1997 and 1998. His articles for the magazine addressed topics including policing and law enforcement hiring practices as well as social issues.
On the night of February 23, 1997, Dallas paramedics were summoned to the apartment that Dionne Pickens shared with her son, 2-year-old Devonta, her daughter, 8-year-old Deandrea, and her boyfriend of two months, 25-year-old Abdullah Youself Blackmon. Little Devonta Pickens was unconscious.…
WHEN WILLIAM HAYDEN SCORED just 78.9 on e 1994 Nassau County, N.Y., police exam -- score that placed him more than 8,000 names down the list and well out of contention to be hired -- he knew something was fishy. A former New York City police officer and a fire marshal on Long Island, Hayden had…