knock

Protests in Minneapolis over the death of a 22-year-old man during a police raid have reignited debate over the role of so-called “no-knock warrants.” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey imposed a moratorium on the practice, in which police obtain permission to enter a premises unannounced, and often accompanied by heavily armed SWAT teams. As a former police officer, I took part in no-knock raids. Often they offered little return – my team ended up empty-handed, with no real criminal evidence. I now teach criminal justice and police ethics and have observed that the use of no-knock warrants has increasingly become a concern for those demanding criminal justice reform. Obtaining a ‘no-knock’ can be a low bar No-knock warrants are an exception to the “knock and announce” rule, a common law polic...

Ever said something like, “I’ve never gotten a speeding ticket” – and then quickly, for luck, rapped your knuckles on a wooden table or doorframe? Americans accompany this action by saying, “Knock on wood.” In Great Britain, it’s “Touch wood.” They knock on wood in Turkey, too. As a teacher of folklore – the study of “the expressive culture of everyday life,” as my favorite short definition puts it – I’m often asked why people knock on wood. The answer is complicated The common explanation for knocking on wood claims the ritual is a holdover from Europe’s pagan days, an appeal to tree-dwelling spirits to ward off bad luck or an expression of gratitude for good fortune. According to Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, “traditionally, certain trees, such as the oak, ash, hazel, hawth...

Tag: knock

After A Minneapolis Death A Relic Of The ‘War On Drugs’ No-Knock Warrants, Face Renewed Criticism

Why we knock on wood