Proposed Ban On Police Pursuits; Chris Reed: Orange County News; The Strange Tale Of Elmer Mccurdy; The Museum Of Hoaxes
Proposed Ban On Police Pursuits
Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton is proposing a ban on the majority of police pursuits. A proposed new policy would require greater supervision of chases in progress and would ban the use of minor infractions to justify a pursuit. Host Larry Mantle discusses the policy and the related issue of police immunity in high-speed chases that result in injury or death to bystanders with Los Angeles City Council Member Jack Weiss, and John Taylor, veteran consumer lawyer who is pushing to hold police officers liable in high-speed pursuit crashes.
Chris Reed: Orange County News
Host Larry Mantle discusses the latest in Orange County news with Chris Reed, the Opinion pages editor for the Orange County Register.
The Strange Tale Of Elmer Mccurdy
Elmer McCurdy died an outlaw, shot dead in 1911 after a string of botched robberies. He became a celebrity in death, a symbol of the free spirit of self-determination in a new age of consumerism. McCurdy was mummified and forgotten, turning up in freak shows and finally in the Laff in the Dark ghost tunnel in Long Beach, California, in 1976. Forensic experts at the Los Angeles Coroner’s office identified his body, and McCurdy became famous all over again. Author Mark Svenvold retraced McCurdy’s footsteps, piecing together the life of an outlaw in the wrong age. Svenvold joins host Larry Mantle to talk about his book, Elmer McCurdy: the Misadventures in Life and Afterlife of an American Outlaw.
The Museum Of Hoaxes
Have you ever been duped by a hoax? How about the BMW crop circle, the Nigerian banking e-mails, or spaghetti growing on trees? Author Alex Boese joins host Larry Mantle to discuss his new book, The Museum of Hoaxes: A Collection of Pranks, Stunts, Deceptions, and Other Wonderful Stories Contrived for the Public from the Middle Ages to the New Millennium. Boese will talk about the woman who claimed she gave birth to kittens, a chess automaton, and winged men on the moon.