BaldBlog

Cops Say Citizen Oversight Won't Work Part 3

2010-02-28T10:51:00.010-05:00

Police Say Citizens Don’t Understand The Intricacies Of Police Work

Some pro-cop thinkers believe that cops are “scientists” and such scientific work should be left to the experts, like brain surgeons and NASA guys. Let’s get it straight. Forensics, and specialties like blood spatter and fingerprinting, require a bachelor of science degree, and those people are called as experts in murder cases, but they are not cops. In fact, the degree doesn’t guarantee them to be scientists any more than they are guaranteed to be bachelors. It is just a formal name differentiating them from those who hold a bachelor of arts degree. The cop uniform, badge, gun, and all accouterments does not a scientist make. Let’s forgo the moniker “scientist”, and get over it.

So, with that said---- what are they, actually? Entry requirements for the Academy include being a legal citizen with a high school diploma or equivalent, standard physical capabilities, no criminal record and an IQ of 104 or less. (That’s right, it is less.)

Lately, the criminal record requirements have been watered down from demanding no record at all to allowing a few minor indiscretions. A little drug use, maybe a stolen car, (just for a joy ride), even a domestic beating or two can be overlooked. Not exactly fertile ground in which to grow intricate thinkers.

Cops are under the constant influence of the idiotic police policy manual as well as the hangover from the police academy training. This toxic mix of delusion will never produce intricacy in any form. Look at what active cops are famous for doing--

· Screaming “freeze”

· Pointing a gun

· Screaming “freeze” WHILE pointing a gun, (multitasking)

· Lying both in and out of court

· Beating people while delivering a fusillade of verbal insults

· Lecturing an arrestee after he is cuffed

· Holding grudges and carrying out retribution, even against fellow cops

· Intimidating people with unconstitutional threats and actions like, but not restricted to, beating a head in with a flashlight, applying a taser specifically to the rectum and genitals

It is not exactly brimming with finesse, to be sure. But let’s assume this is all intricate police work. What part of it do we “non 104s” not understand? The screaming? The beating? The tasing? Oh, wait….maybe it’s the lying. Whatever it is, we non-104s can’t seem to get the intricacy, but police can.

Citizen: “But…but…but …Ossifer, whah am Ih bein’ ‘rested? Ih didn’t doo nuttin’.”

Cop: “Shut up and obey me. I am cruel, but fair. I am always right. You deserve what I give you. You will learn that someday, and you will thank me. You have the right to respect my every word and move, and thank me summore.”

While the standard issue cop would see nothing wrong with the above,

it is a scenario the Citizen Review Board will bring to a halt and fast. That attitude can and will be eliminated because cops can be replaced, and with each replacement, the PD gets one step closer to being what the taxpayer pays for and expects. Hiring and firing is all it takes. Call it “sculpting”.

That phony superhero garbage from the academy that says “always win” has got to go. With it, the citizen will always come last, but with a CRB, the rule for the job of police employee would be: “Nobody is always right, but when you are, it’s because you did what the citizen expects of you.” Cop behavior, in the reality of the citizen, has nothing to do with arbitrary policy manuals we the people had no hand in writing. With citizen oversight, it is only about what the citizens want to see play out on their streets and within their PD, and that’s all that matters if the citizens are paying the cops to work for them.

A CRB Will Make It As Intricate As The Citizen Needs

When cops say citizens don’t understand the intricacies of police work, it is clear those intricacies were created by police departments only to elevate and protect them from citizens. “Keep your friends close, and your enemies stupid” is the current cop philosophy, with all cops being the friends, and all else the enemies. When the citizen creates the intricacies of police work, police work won’t be all that intricate anymore, and will fulfill the citizen’s wishes for what their PD should be through principles and rules of transparency and accountability. Simple can replace intricate if the CRB demands it, but we cannot make demands if we don’t have a CRB. When it is simple, it is understood, and understanding simplifies honesty, and honesty is what the citizens want in their cops. Candidates who disagree need not apply.

Urgent Request

I ask any and all cops in the USA---what are the intricacies? Post them! Anybody in law enforcement out there, email an intricacy that you have to deal with everyday that the average citizen cannot understand. All of us 104’s and up would like to know what you have going for you that we cannot grasp. Send an intricacy, any intricacy. Don’t overestimate the citizen’s ability to not understand.

Why It Won't Work Part 2

Why It Won't Work Part 1

NYC--A Cop Exonerated Is Not A Cop Without Guilt

2010-02-23T15:11:00.006-05:00

Michael Mineo lost his case against Richard Kern, the cop pictured at left.The jury deliberated for under 3 days before deciding that Mineo’s case did not defeat that of the defense. The cop defense brought out the points that Michael Mineo was a member of a street gang and smoked pot regularly. They also accentuated the facts that Richard Kern and his two fellows, Andrew Morales and Alex Cruz, accused of covering the wrongdoings of Kern, were brought up in catholic schools, were outstanding family men, and were generally good-doobees.

That caused the jury to find reasonable doubt in Mineo’s story and they decided against him. A civil suit is still pending, and will not be affected by the outcome of this trial, but even with a victory at the civil level, Richard Kern will have his life go on without change, except to say he “won”. He has been in at least two other lawsuits, one of which was dismissed, and the other settled for $50K.

Tell me, did Michael Mineo injure his own anus, resulting in an internal infection and requiring a 2-3 day stay in hospital? (Cops said Mineo had a pre-existing condition.) Did Michael Mineo secretly plant his rectum’s DNA on Richard Kern’s nightstick to make the cop look guilty of sodomy? (Cops say it isn’t explainable.) And what explains the hole in the anal area of the boxer shorts? Did Michael Mineo put it there before going out in expectation of an encounter with the police baton? (Cops say it must have been there before.) With that, the jury found reasonable doubt in Michael Mineo’s case.

There is a cloud hanging over the heads of otherwise well-meaning citizens when they enter the jury box to hear a case. Is it cop retribution? Simple gullibility in court? Could it be that cops never lie, or a belief that if citizens don’t lie for cops, the cops won’t lie for a citizen when needed? Something in jury instructions? Or is it the total failure of the citizen’s lawyer to choose from the jury pool to his client’s advantage? All wrong-headed, but all very possible.

When these cases continue to favor the police, (Louima, Bell, and others), they don’t just undermine the confidence in the police department, they don’t just undermine the confidence in the judicial system, they undermine the citizen’s confidence in fellow citizens. Cops meanwhile, further divide us from our sense of justice and the desire for equal freedom in our country. This fallout must be brought to a stop with a citizen-controlled, decision-making body with singular authority to hire and fire.

Richard Kern said he wants to

“get back on the street and do what I love to do: protect the people of Brooklyn.”

He doesn’t get any wrongdoing. It is one thing for a judge to not find wrongdoing in a legal sense, but this guy thinks there was actually nothing wrong with shoving a nightstick into Michael Mineo sufficient to cause anal injury and collect identifiable DNA on it. Does he expect to reap applause from passersby when patrolling the streets of Brooklyn from now on? “Horray Kern! You really showed that guy!” Oh, please….

His buddy, Andrew Morales, is no more in touch than he is:

“Morales, one of the officers acquitted of hindering prosecution, thanked his family for supporting him during the trial."It was very hard sitting there listening to all the lies," Morales said.””

This, coming from a person in a profession that relies heavily on lying to do daily business. Hmmm…

Out of touch. Out of contact with reality. Thinking police are above the law.

This happened because of Academy training, (“You are always right, so you must always win”), police union support, (“We are behind you, Brother, no matter what, so don’t worry”), and previous jury decisions, (“Cop lawyers will do everything to convince those fools to convict their own again. You are as good as exonerated.”). That is the cop’s explanation. What’s ours?

Will NYC Kelly’s Cops Finally Meet Hire And Fire?

2010-02-20T13:15:00.005-05:00

In a change of policy that is truly shocking on the surface, the Police Commissioner in New York City in has decided to allow the civilian review board to charge and prosecute some cases of police misconduct, those where the cop was deemed to have committed misconduct. Read It Here.

“Deemed To Have Committed”

Magic words, aren’t they? While encouraged by the announced change, this is another “throw ‘em a bone” move by Commissioner Raymond Kelly. So, let’s see here…. the citizens won’t just investigate, they won’t just recommend, they will prosecute as well. OK, as long as that means carrying out the discipline, up to and including termination if the board deems it necessary to protect the public from the misconduct the cop perpetrated against a citizen. But “deemed to have committed”? Deemed by whom? Commissioner Kelly? Another non-citizen body? Let’s leave the deeming to the citizens. Only then will Kelly’s promise be worth his expelled breath.

Mayor Domenic Sarno of Springfield MA blew this same smoke, so did Baltimore Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld III. Second-hand smoke is offensive, but we’re up to third-hand now, and the air is definitely getting funky.

Neither Sarno or Bealefeld have gotten anywhere with the smoke trick. Why should Kelly?

Why?

The whole reason for a review board is to shield the public from the effects of the lies and delusions cops suffer from every day, (cops are always right, cops own us, cops are the law, etc). Case in point, the Atlanta woman who was arrested for asking why she was being told to move along. Cop answer? “Because I said so.” Read About It. And Here's More.

This crap isn’t just in Atlanta, it is everywhere there is a cop working the streets. Cops get away with anything they are allowed to get away with, just like a young child with absentee parents. The Atlanta review board is no better than the NYC board because they do not have hire & fire, and it shows in daily cop antics, as displayed by Brandy Dolson of the Atlanta PD. With H&F, a cop would save the smart mouth for friends and relatives, or lose employment. The decision to get courteous and stay there would be easy and swift.

With Commissioner Kelly implying power to the review board for the purpose of determining the outcome of police misconduct is a good promise, but the real proof will be when a guilty cop is totally adjudicated by the civilian board from start to finish, found guilty of misconduct, and fired. Not to make him a sacrificial lamb, but to prove to the people of NYC that a civilian board’s decisions are real and will stick.

Commissioner Kelly, go big or go home. Don’t throw a bone to the citizens, give them the solution they deserve, and start today with cases you have on the books today. Hire and Fire in a Civilian Review Board is the answer, and you need to step up.

Cops Say Citizen Oversight Won't Work Part 2

2010-02-17T15:46:00.009-05:00

Why Cops Say It Won't Work Part 1
Why Cops Say It Won't Work Part 3

A Citizen Review Board With Teeth Violate Police Policy
Cops love their policy. It comforts them when challenged. It protects them in time of need. Or malfeasance. Or misconduct. Or dishonesty. But what the hell is it?

It is a manifesto of sorts. Self-conceived, self-declared, self-applied, and self-insured. To put it another way, it is a personally created quasi-reality that puts cops in the position of “winner”, and citizen “loser”. Show me a police policy where the arrestee is right and I will show you a typo. What is mystifying about the declared policy is how it can say one thing, and be interpreted as the opposite.

What Are The Cop Policies, Really?
Police policy, as we have come to know it, has featured cop-heavy advantages and citizen-light rights, all wrapped in language that serves to prove the lofty intentions and goals of the department. They read very well, if you can go through hundreds of pages, and they say everything the citizen would like to believe their tax-funded police department is about. Problem is, cops can assert that every move they make is within those policies. They always claim they are right, even when policy says doing it is wrong. Then cops arrest citizens for the very crimes they commit themselves. It is a one-sided force majeure.

But every cop, every Chief, every police union will swear that we citizens cannot understand policy, so cannot make any decisions about whether policy was followed during any cop activity. But magically, other cops can, and with unerring perfection. It’s all in the interpretation.

Let’s use their philosophical foundation as an example, from two cities:

Lawrence, Kansas --- “The officer is committed to the welfare of the public through the rule of law and professional service, places high value on objectivity and integrity, and maintains the highest standard in providing service.”

Madison, Wisconsin --- “Law Enforcement Code Of Ethics-- As a law enforcement officer, my fundamental duty is to serve mankind; to safeguard lives and property, to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence and disorder, and to respect the Constitutional rights of all persons to liberty, equality, and justice.”

Madison and many other cities adapted their ethics policy from the International Association of Chiefs of Police Law Enforcement Code of Ethics, 1957.

With these attributes stated, a phony sense of righteousness takes hold as soon as the cop is sworn in, right up there with mom and apple pie. This sort of statement always begins the policy manual, and functions as an extension and reinforcement of the Academy’s message that cops are always right, must always win, and with the added layer of belief that cops always stand for justice, and they have been trained to insure the delivery of it. So, for a cop to be convinced that he is serving mankind and protecting the weak is to believe being wrong is a physical and mental impossibility for him, and losing is for citizens.

Now What?
With that psychology in place and a recruit’s ego at full speed, the rest comes automatically. If a cop stops an innocent motorist on a pretext, (a lie), it is all in the name of public safety, the very thing the code of ethics requires him to uphold. If evidence is gathered on a ruse, (lie), instead of a search warrant which leads to a legitimate arrest, the end justified the means and the Constitution can take a hike. Public safety takes precedence. If one cop gets into a possible legal bind, other cops must rescue him (alter evidence, falsify a report), because they may need the favor returned some day, and a unified front is the most effective crime fighting method. And if a cop mistakes a bottle of Mountain Dew for a weapon, and beats an 18-year-old viola player’s face in, it was all done in the name of “officer safety”, while they are keeping the citizens of the city free of crime. Jordan Miles of Pittsburgh would appreciate that. I am sure he feels “free” of crime with a beat-in face. But the cop is fulfilling the stated philosophical foundation of his profession, because his can’t be wrong. That leaves those non-cops out there, (citizens), to be wrong. It is all in the interpretation.

Clarity Is Needed
This moves us to the problem with Police Policy. So, what is it again? It is not the law as written and passed by the state legislature, it is not the word of the people who instructed their PD to carry it out, and it is not part of any federal or state Constitution. It is just a manifesto, conceived by cops who want a getouttajailfree card. While the reading of the manual makes the PD sound like the distillation of every positive character trait ever possessed, the execution of the police policy confirms the real foundation of cop training: “There are only two kinds of people, cops and assholes.”

An effective CRB will dissolve this policy façade in short order. When the manual is understood and practiced in the literal terms with which it was written, all is well. When the seeds of perfection from the Academy and the oath cops take are dismantled and replaced, we will start to get somewhere.

How? When the literal terms are violated, that cop is off-duty and his case is reviewed by the CRB, and discipline is handed out. It won’t take many episodes like that for the manual to be revised by the PD. With each revision, it will look more like what the citizens want their PD to be, and that is the only goal. Good for the people, good for honest cops whose hearts and minds are responding to an honest calling. All it takes to achieve this is a willing public. Form a Citizen Review Board, and we can put some perfume on this stinker.

Why Cops Say It Won't Work Part 1
Why Cops Say It Won't Work Part 3

Cops Say Citizen Oversight Won't Work Part 1

2010-02-11T14:30:00.006-05:00

Police departments are taught and encouraged to lie about anything to make their lives more pro-cop. After the Academy training is over, one of the first things a green cop learns at his first precinct is that gray cops will teach him all he “really” needs to know. There is absolutely no attempt at honesty in that tradition. When a cop speaks a true fact, it is just a coincidence.

With that said, the following will point out some of the reasons why cops think a Civilian Review Board will never work. Remember, a cop will lie about anything he can get his thoughts around. Lying is a tool of his trade, and here is the first on the list---

A CRB Isn’t Needed Because Oversight Already Exists In The PD

Oh, Brother. This excuse is Sarah Palin stupid. What oversight entity is being sited? Internal Affairs? A panel of stooges hand-picked by the department who don’t want the job and rarely show up to do it? The police Chief himself, because he is all the deciding power any city needs? Maybe a group of peers, other cops, who will objectively decide the guilt of one of their own.

Interestingly, entities like this don’t find a cop guilty of much of anything, or if guilty, there is no actual discipline. A cop is put on desk duty with pay, is asked to stay home with pay, or better yet, is given a 10 day suspension that is carried out at the rate of one day per month for 10 months. Cops are also big fans of a finding of “no wrongdoing”. That’s the one pulled out in just about every cop misconduct case that goes to court.

Such cases take years of time and tons of money on the part of the victim, (citizen), while the cop involved spends the time doing the same job he did before, the one that got him into trouble in the first place, and continues to collect the paycheck the citizen signs. What a racket. But the PD’s oversight is sufficient, right?

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

Cops say it is much more than sufficient. They say cops watch each other constantly, and desire oversight more than citizens do to protect their reputation and that of their department. So, citizens can just trundle off to the kiddie table at Thanksgiving and try not to embarrass the adults. Yeah sure, and Jack Bauer really does save the world in 24 hours.

Reality Strikes

When a citizen is accused of drunk driving, immediate steps are taken to accuse, arrest, breathalyze, and collect evidence on that citizen, (a blood draw, a roadside body search, an impound and search of the car), all of which is “used against you in a court of law”, as Miranda says. Months of financial burden and time-consuming litigation follow, often resulting in the loss of employment.

When a cop is found drunk while driving, the cop is given a ride home with a fellow cop and a “friendly” tow truck company is called to take his car home, safely depositing it in the driveway. Weeks or months later, a quick review of the facts by IA or the Chief do not reveal any need for further investigation. No expense or court time follows, and the paycheck continues uninterrupted.

Citizen: arrest, impound, breathalyzer, license suspension, lawyers, court dates, employment loss, one disruptive and costly punishment after another.

Cop: free ride home.

Internal Affairs calls this sufficient oversight. If the decision-making is left to the Chief, he may water down the offense until he can hand out a punishment that has no real meaning. Either way, nothing happens.

Some PD Chiefs claim they can’t fire or even suspend a cop because the department is short-handed. Better criminals working for the citizen than nobody at all, right?

Cops who are cut breaks after a DUI----(links taken from the BaldArchives)

Joe Zepeda, Westchester NY

Christine Phinney, Charleston SC

Jeffrey Peirce, Dennis MA

Meanwhile the jail nearby contains citizens who were over-charged and lied about by the same cops who’s crimes are overlooked and kept out of court. On occasion, a cop will be charged with a crime that has already been decided in favor of the cop, to make it look like the PD oversight is doing the job citizens want to see. They go through all the motions, and collect all their paychecks, and it is all a sham.

Want another one? OK. It’s about advocating harm to someone, but not actually doing anything…..

Citizen does it, instant and deep doo-doo.....

Cop does same thing, and well, it was just a joke, so chill out.....

Thanks for the above two links, Packratt.

A Citizen Oversight Panel will do something that cops cannot bring themselves to do. The panel with power to hire and fire will find cops responsible and accountable for their actions, and the constant lie factor cops use will cease its effectiveness. We will sculpt our departments, morally, physically, educationally, offensively, defensively, and with the character we want to see cops exhibit daily. We’ll get our money’s worth.

But a side-effect comes along with this in a “trickle up” effect, again good news for the citizen. Cops rely heavily on a security blanket they call their “policy”. What the hell is that, and how will a Citizen Review Board effect it? Part 2 coming.

Cops Say Oversight Won't Work Part 2

Cops Say Oversight Won't Work Part 3

Springfield Mayor Sarno Wimps Out On Review Board Promise

2010-02-03T16:12:00.002-05:00

Springfield Massachusetts must be breathing a sigh of disgust with today's anti-climactic announcement from the Mayor’s office that there is now a new civilian review board to oversee police antics against the citizenry. This board can only recommend discipline to Police Commissioner William Fitchit, but take no action on their own.

Yes, they can subpoena people and evidence to assist in their recommendations, but what good is it if Commissioner Fitchet can ignore what the board concludes? We have all been here before and for far too long. As it has played out across the nation for years, the board makes a recommendation on behalf of the citizens to stop an errant cop from repeatedly biting the hand that feeds him, the Commissioner pats them on the head and thanks them dismissively, and everything stays the same. All the Jeffrey Ashers in Cop-land go out tomorrow to beat more Melvin Jones’s with the very flashlights We The People bought them. Mayor Sarno, unless you have a Chapter Two on this subject to reveal quickly, shame on you for letting us all down.

It is called TEETH, Mayor. The citizen will hire and fire the police. How much clearer do you need it? Jeffrey Asher has been on the force for years through many occasions of misconduct and he is still there. That means the “hire and fire” guy in the PD was asleep at the switch. Get rid of Jeffrey Asher yourself if you can’t bring a citizen review board into the department to do it. Call Donald Trump to teach you the words, “You’re Fired”. Do something definitive. But please, stop stringing along the citizens of Springfield.

Baltimore Police Are Blowing Commissioner Fitchet's Smoke At Us

2010-02-02T15:03:00.006-05:00

The Baltimore Police Department must have been in contact with Police Commissioner William Fitchet of Springfield MA with this one.

Commissioner Fitchet recently suggested that a citizen overview panel with the power to discipline cops is exactly what his city needs because he is too busy fighting crime to punish his cops himself. Springfield Mayor Sarno called for such a panel. Commissioner Fitchet then defended his cop Jeffrey Asher after the beating of Melvin Jones III, who suffered severe injuries while other cops watched. Now, which one does Fitchet really mean? Is he for or against? Maybe both? Neither? Smoke?

Whatever the logic, Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld III (above and left), is now trying the same tactic in his city. Read it here.

Public Lying, 101
How do you delude the public?

First, promise them something you know they want. (The Baltimore Police Dept will release the names of officers involved in shootings.)

Next, call what you are doing the result of an epiphany. (Bealefeld consulted with various members of the community, and saw the light.)

Then, explain why you didn’t do this long ago. (“Our concern throughout this entire time has been the personal safety considerations of officers and their families, but we have an obligation as a public safety agency to balance transparency and we feel 48 hours would give us ample time to put things in place for the officer while being transparent enough for the public”.)

Smell the smoke? Is Bealefeld doing the Fitchet Shuffle in Baltimore? Sounds like it. First say yes, and then say no. The Commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department plans to give his cops a 48 hour window before identifying them to put safeguards in place after one or more cops shoots somebody. Interestingly, absolutely no description of what the safeguards are or why they are needed is ever explained. Only that they would be put in place in 48 hours. After that, the names would be released. It is getting smokier in here.

The Reality Of The Promise
Interestingly, this moment of clarity on Commissioner Bealefeld’s part comes just when Baltimore’s Mayor Sheila Dixon is on the way out and newly-elected Stephanie C Rawlings-Blake is coming in. Is the Commissioner trying to pull a fast one on the new kid in town? What a guy. There is no shortage of smoke now.

Stephanie C Rawlings-Blake and her aides revealed “frustration” about not knowing of the policy change before. Maybe that is because the decision has nothing to do with solving citizen complaints against cops in Baltimore and more to do with keeping the pot stirred and the smoke blowing.

Cops say they have citizen support for continued secretion of police names, but none of those in agreement with the current, “no name” policy have the ability to explain the protections the Commissioner would put in place in that 48 hour window, or why we are all better off leaving individual cop identity a secret. Does anybody know what this protection would be? Something like the Witness Protection Program? Maybe the cop should hide in a cheap motel on the outskirts of town until the heat is off? Possibly, they could all wear ski masks. Suspicion is, there’s no action to put in place during that 48 hours except for cops to formulate and agree upon the lie they will trot out to the news and the citizens. Just more smoke.

Ego is what cops breathe every day. Arrogance is what cops eat for dinner, and they are what they eat. The whole idea of withholding the name of a cop for any reason is an outgrowth of arrogance, especially when the citizen makes the payments on that cop’s whole existence.

By bringing this issue to the table, Commissioner Bealefeld is pulling two, worn-out liar’s tricks on us all: the distraction and the delay. Ask any magician or sleight-of-hand performer as to their effectiveness. And to make it worse, he is doing it to the new Mayor on her first week on the job. He has no intention of changing anything, if his comments are any indication.

Mayor, get some movement on a citizen Review Board, with the power to hire and fire, in gear and working. While you are at it, get on the Commissioner’s back today, and make the citizen’s right to know the names of who is shooting them a law, possibly through the use of a citizen oversight panel.

And Baltimore Police Commissioner Bealefeld, shame on you. Shame of you for trying the same old tricks, and for believing the citizen will fall for them. You are wearing a curly wool coat.

Springfield Commissioner Fitchet Plays Both Sides At Once

2010-01-31T15:12:00.006-05:00

Police Commissioner William Fitchet, (over there, to the left,) is playing both sides. Trying to please everybody all the time, it seems. Didn’t Abe Lincoln disprove that theory? Anyway, he defends the cop who beat Melvin Jones’ head into an inhuman shape during a traffic stop, but he says he wants citizens to handle discipline with an oversight board because he would rather spend his time fighting crime and running the department. He finds discipline of cops to be “tedious”.

Fitchet admits he tried to prevent the public from knowing any details of the Melvin Jones beating, but was forced to come forward after the citizen video surfaced. He said he acted on advice from department lawyers when he held back with the facts. With that in mind, how seriously can we take his words when he claims he wants citizen-powered police discipline?

This is typical cop smoke and mirrors at best. We all know cops can’t take orders, and they thrive on lies to accomplish what they need. They pride themselves in their cleverness when devising a ruse. Lying quickly becomes habitual for them. If view of these facts, Commissioner Fitchet’s words sound suspicious. Even worse, the Commissioner expressed concern about public confidence being shaken because of the Jones cover-up.

Please Commissioner, Jeffrey Asher has been abusing citizens for years, and he is just one cop on the force. Has nothing prior given you a sense that the public was less than happy with you? Your department is regularly bombarded with complaints about Asher and others, and protests abound. And now, suddenly, you want citizens to be in charge of cop discipline? Sounds good if you mean it, but from here, it just sounds suspicious.

Prove me wrong Commissioner. Get behind Mayor Sarno right away and push the citizen oversight panel, with teeth, into reality. Don't hold out much hope for Jeffrey Asher when the panel is complete, but Jeffrey can’t responsibly operate a flashlight, as Melvin Jones’ head proves, let alone a gun, TASER, car, etc. We are all better off without him. How about this? Stop defending Jeffrey Asher and fire him now, before a discipline panel has to do it. Consider it an act of good faith on your part.

Police Departments Own Their Citizens. They Are The Law, Right?

2010-01-30T13:32:00.005-05:00

Well, I hope not, and I hope you agree with me.

I will turn your face to alabaster,
When you find your servant is your master

--Sting, Wrapped Around Your Finger, 1983 (The Police)

Great song, great band, but it is just a song to the citizens, despite the ironic name of the group. Not so to a cop. Cops live in stark fear of this lyric becoming a reality for them. A cop is riddled with the haunting thoughts of how they violate citizens’ rights with every workday. They know there will be a day when their misguided belief of who and what they are become intolerable to citizens, who finally reclaim their rightful ownership of police departments. We know that cops joined the force for all the wrong reasons, and as Sting suggests in his lyrics, that guilt will turn into reality.

The form in which this epiphany must take is the Citizen Review Board. Cops are really common citizens who have been given a particular job, and no more, but have tried to parlay that job into something it never included: automatic superiority. And they parlay it with the only tool they have to work with, ego.

Nobody has corrected their mistakes, at least yet, and the citizens are suffering for it. Melvin Jones III, of Springfield Massachusetts, Michael Mineo, of Brooklyn NY, Daija M of the Bronx, NYC, are all good and recent examples of the way an out-of-control ego hurts us all. Worse, these three common citizens prove that you could be next.

Why has the servant been working as our master for so long? Society’s absentee-management style is why, and it has now come back to bite us all. Cops do what they want, fueled by ego and misdirection, and the only reason a citizen does nothing is because they are not yet a victim. Time will deliver that reality to their doorstep eventually, unless society makes the titles of servant and master a bit more clear to their police departments.

So what do we do? If you really like the way servant cops own you, do nothing. Cops will take it from there and in the long run, make every move, every thought you have, into a “violation”. You will be ticketed, jailed, fined, or put on a “list” forever. But if changing that outcome sounds better, we MUST take control back with a Citizen Review Board. Call the mayor, and the City Council. Make it clear to all incoming politicians that an oversight panel is a requirement to get or keep the jobs they seek.

Call friends and neighbors, and set up an email based network between them. Bookmark websites of all local politicians and make it clear to them who you are and what you expect for your tax money. Above all else, remember that the citizen invented the police department, we pay for it and it belongs to us first. When we get that past the ego problems and clean up the police forces we have now, we can start to work on what the police academy teaches their recruits, and let attrition take its course. It is a big, long term job, but it only gets worse without control.

Mayor Sarno Steps Toward Meaningful Citizen Control Of Springfield Police

2010-01-28T13:31:00.011-05:00

Springfield Massachusetts CRB Update

Mayor Domenic Sarno, pictured at left, (no, not the blurry guy with the hat), may just be making progress here. So far, he is following up on his promise to get a new police oversight board up and running in the coming weeks.

His response is due to an outcry of citizen frustration. A Springfield, Massachusetts cop, known to Melvin Jones III and many other victims as Jeffrey Asher, is still on the payroll, and still thinks he is not guilty of anything, like bashing in Mr Jones' skull, partially disabling one eye and providing a long-lasting headache due to the broken bones in adjacent areas to said eye.

Keep it up Mayor Sarno, and make it permanent! The citizens and all future Melvin Jones's will thank you. Better yet Mayor, make a national statement by showing other cities and towns exactly how it is done. Make your plan a role model for others to follow. While cities and towns are all different in their needs, all cops are alike in their problems. Your work could become textbook information in police academies from coast to coast. Let's get that ball rolling.

Folks, call the Mayor, email the Mayor, fax the Mayor, 413-787-6000, (City Hall), as well as the Springfield Massachusetts Police Department 413-787-6322, spd@springfieldpolice.net and encourage the efforts of Mayor Sarno. This issue is the People's Business, if there ever was such a thing. It is what will happen next, to you or a family member, and what you need to be a part of to control. Make the contact with Mayor Sarno as well as the Springfield police union, and put on the pressure. Melvin Jones felt the pressure on his skull. Let's exert some of our own with our voices.

NYPD Anal Assault Trial Underway

2010-01-26T15:04:00.007-05:00

The Story

That’s right, Michael Mineo was anally raped in a subway station by a cop, specifically Richard Kern, seen here with his lawyer. Mineo’s boxer shorts had a hole ripped in the back, the nightstick has his anal DNA on it, and he was admitted to the hospital with anal injuries, but cop Kern has pleaded not guilty. OK, let’s just sit back and watch this load from lawyer and cop alike spill into the record books. I can’t wait.

Maybe probing Mineo with a nightstick was within police policy. Maybe Mineo requested it. Maybe he is just trying to shake down the citizens of NY for multiple millions of dollars. Or, there might be truth to Kern’s statement that he was checking for drugs. In any case, it will be another exercise in absurdity from the police department and their lawyers, I am sure.

This kind of event happens for one reason only: No oversight. How could the friendly beatcop in our little villages whom everybody knew and trusted in and around their homes be transformed into a thoughtless, ego-filled sex criminal? No oversight.

Get the CRB, one that will save the citizenry millions of dollars in court costs like this one. We must revamp the Academy, to catch defectives before they even get into a PD. And let’s remember that cops work for us, for our satisfaction and our approval. We are not getting our money’s worth now. Ask Michael Mineo, at left.

Springfield Citizens Are Sick Of Jeffrey Asher

2010-01-25T16:05:00.003-05:00

How much does it take before we all learn that the wrong personality type is attracted to the job of police department employee? Springfield Massachusetts is getting there. Mayor Sarno, step in and settle this today.

Police Mentality Trickles Down Into Our Schools

2010-01-25T15:14:00.005-05:00

I have railed against the stupidity the police academy calls training for quite a while now, but here is an angle I have never covered----the Trickle-Down Effect.

There are people among us who want to be a somebody. Authority, respect, and a fear of their presence is what they crave. Problem is, they’ve got nothing to back it up. Talent, charisma, strength, agility, insight, brain-power, nothing. Even worse, this particular person has a lifestyle that can only go it half-way, a part timer, shall we say. What to do? What DO you do? Police Academy? Naww…they can’t hack Police Academy. How about a school teacher? Well, no, they can’t get a teaching certificate either, so now what?

This mentally-misled person’s dream has come true. Team up with the NYPD and become an SSO! The best of police thoughts combined with the best fantasies of emotionally failed citizens with time on their hands. It’s the School Safety Officers!

School, (we want the kids to go to school), Safety, (who can argue with safety?), and Officer, (one of those titles given to people instead of a raise, like Associate at WalMart.) The SSOs are our friends, right? They fill in for Mom and Dad while the kid is at school, looking after them, keeping them safe, as their title implies. Well, not quite.

These people, hired by the police department and paid by citizens who have no input, are full of smart-mouthed attitude and arrogance to spare. Consider what a SSO looks like to the average school kid: They are dressed in a knockoff NYPD uniform, without the heavy hardware but with a heavy dose of tough-guy face, fueled by a brainless thirst for dominance. SSOs possess the authority to stop, frisk, question, search and arrest students. They strut, glare and threaten their way through the work day. And they don’t hold back on the physical abuse either.

Ask Daija. A 13-year old from the Bronx, she was body slammed to the ground with an SSO sitting on her back. She was handcuffed and dragged inside the school building and then bound to a desk until her mother came to collect her. She never agressed against anybody. She told the SSO that she chose to stay put outside the school and wait for a ride from her mother after being threatened by two strangers there, but that didn’t satisfy the SSO. Here are Daija’s words.

It is clear to anybody with a public school education, the education Dajia was there to get, that the presence and methodology of the SSO misguides kids into a life of either becoming another idiot in a cop uniform, or another criminal who ends up in jail. The attitude the School Safety Officers are eager to apply and the absence of any goodwill or maturity in them leaves impressionable kids with only the two options. And neither the school or the parent have any say in it. Great choice, huh?

How The SSO Gets That Way

The Academy’s message to police recruits boils down to this: “Always win”. That summation, plus some tips and tricks on how to overpower people, is all cops pass onto the SSO recruits. Daija chose to let her mother be the decider of her fate, and the SSO saw no “win” in that for them. So, what to do? Impose violence. That is a “win”, isn’t it? Peace through superior firepower? Ummm…..

She is not alone. Daija is part of a class action suit looking to curtail the authority of these fools, endowed by the police department, and without concern for the school’s authority. In fact, the school has no say whatsoever over the SSOs. Here is an account of the story from Gotham.

Here’s the problem: SSOs only know what cops tell them to do, and cops only know what the Academy tells them to do. Blind leading the blind. All they know is robotic obedience and that just doesn’t make it with school kids. EVERY decent parent knows that it takes a bit more finesse than anything a cop can imagine. The educational world is being polluted by the destructive, single-dimensioned cop mentality.

NYPost story

There is no better example in recent news to show us why a Civilian Review Board is necessary ASAP. We already have this---

· Cops don’t want to come when we call them, (mugging, rape, or home invasion victims, call the police and wait until the perps make a clean getaway and/or the victim bleeds to death while waiting.)

· Cops want to show up in places where they manipulate the law to limit citizens’ rights, like highway checkpoints or pretext stops.

· Cops want to ignore all the mistakes they personally make while exaggerating the importance of everything citizens do, especially “disorderly conduct”.

· Cops lie in court to send innocent people to jail and justify their paychecks.

Evidently, none of that is enough to get a civilian review board established, and the above is just what they do to adults. Now, they are hiring underlings and sending them to our schools to mistreat kids. At what point do we take control of a tax-funded organization called the police department and tell it what we want it to do?

Any citizen’s police oversight worth a nickel would stop the SSO idea in its tracks. An SSO would never pass muster in America if parents who take raising their kids seriously were to vote on it. Cops can’t be trusted to do the right thing without guidance any more than our kids can. Both need daily instruction from those who brought them here. We the people. Where is the citizen control over police?

Bonus!

Want to become a School Safety Officer? Download this application and fill it out.

You gotta read the bullet points to get the full appreciation for this façade. Best of luck!! :-)

Springfield Police Union's Twisted Thinking And Mayor Sarno

2010-01-19T14:23:00.005-05:00

I don’t blame any union for defending a member, we join unions to get protection, but we have to draw a line somewhere. The Springfield, Massachusetts police union is trying to defend their guy, Jeffrey Asher, for giving an arrestee a flashlight shampoo, by saying the cop was defending himself against resistance. This is to insult the intelligence of anyone reading the story. Even a surface understanding of words should make it clear that no one has to defend against resistance, but against a defined and obvious offense. Read it here.

So, did Melvin Jones, above left, the arrestee, launch an offense? Even the professional fabricators at the Springfield Police Union couldn’t come up with one, except to rely on their guy’s stated excuse. Jeffrey Asher, above right, (the one with his face still intact,) claimed Melvin Jones attempted to take a gun from another cop at the scene, which in Jeffrey’s lawbook, opened the door widely to any sort of retaliation he could conjure.

That was before the tell-tale video surfaced. Cops knew of it, but suppressed it because it did not back Jeffrey’s story. The totally innocent Jeffrey Asher, just wanting to do his job and return home at the end of his shift, was forced to defend himself against Melvin Jones’ devastating resistance by crushing the man’s skull with his flashlight after the suspect didn’t want to go to jail for drug possession.

The video shows Mr Jones being overpowered by back-up cops and then beaten. There was no gun-grab. Also, the duration of the beating lasted well beyond the arrestee’s ability to sustain his alleged resistance, given his injuries. The video defeats any attempt to claim that force was stopped as soon as the resistance stopped. The encounter was just a old-fashioned ass-whoopin’.

Union President Joseph Gentile bolstered his defense of Jeffrey Asher by saying that nobody cares when a cop gets hurt, nine incidents of which were documented last year. Nobody calls or inquires in any way about them, he said. Well, boo-hoo-hoo. Cops are paid to do dangerous work. That’s why citizens hired them.

“Appropriate force” is what Joseph Gentile called the action Jeffrey Asher took on Melvin Jones. Could we have a list of actions a citizen could take that would warrant the application of that amount and style of force? Multiple broken facial bones and partial blindness in one eye. Can anybody outside of the PD call that appropriate? OK, I know one---Tony Soprano. Melvin Jones was not armed. His attempt to take a cop’s gun is not backed up by the video. After being outnumbered, 6-1, his short-lived resistance did not pose any threat.

He was down on the ground by the time the flashlight was employed. In that situation, how many strikes would be appropriate to quell his resistance? Is 6 too many? Is 2 enough? Or does the Academy instruct students to beat the arrestee until their lunch hour? Well, Jeffrey Asher hit Melvin Jones 18 times with the flashlight. And his reasoning for the beating? To “disorient” him, he said. Well, he disoriented the eyeball so much that it cannot function anymore, and he disoriented the bones in his face into a pattern not found in nature.

Oh, Melvin Jones was then arrogantly charged with assault & battery on a cop. There was no such assault in the video, as seen here--

The Mayor To The Rescue

Mayor Domenic Sarno promises a new CRB with teeth. We will probably watch that idea get beaten with flashlights too when the police union gets hold of it. Local leaders as well as citizens are behind Sarno’s idea, including Reverend Talbert Swann.

The Reverend has the basics right. Transparency from the PD and decision-making by the CRB are the combination for true police control.

Springfield Police Commissioner William Fitchet will not cooperate with any new policies suggested by the Mayor, even though his cops have proven they cannot tell the difference between a diabetes-triggered seizure and disobeying police orders, an error which cost the city $180K. Douglas Greer, Principal at Robert M Hughes Charter Academy, was labeled “unresponsive” by cops while he was suffering a seizure, and promptly beaten. All in a day’s work, right?

BTW, Jeffrey Asher was suspended for 6 months in the late 90’s for kicking a man while he was held down by other cops. A $180K settlement against the PD resulted. Jeffrey Asher has been busy over the years. Seven other problems in the Springfield Police Department all feature Jeffrey’s name. But, cop apologists are quick to remind us that police are human too and can make mistakes. OK, sure, sure……..We can overlook it. Melvin Jones will do that with only one eye, however. Jeffrey Asher put the other one out of service.

Mayor Sarno, do you have the maracas necessary to put the police union where they belong in your city? Believe it, they will not allow any progress toward a functional CRB as long as they exist as a functioning union. Cops cannot stand competition, and they hate a level playing field even more. Jesse Ventura got it right when he said “Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat.” It is the cop credo, permanently etched in the granite that makes up their heads.

Mayor Sarno, in the next few weeks, show us progress in your promise to make a CRB with teeth. You know what those teeth are, too. A citizen’s board that has total access to all police records, including dash cam video. A panel that can hire and fire without approval from the police union or the Commissioner. Citizens that can make department-changing decisions. Mayor, do it right this time, and put the future of the Springfield Police Department in the hands of those who will benefit from its improvements, the taxpaying citizens.

NYC Police Admit They Downplay Cop Drunks

2010-01-19T09:06:00.002-05:00

As if the last post here wasn't enough, here is the proof that cops cover or diffuse their own mistakes when it comes to police driving drunk. Meanwhile, the same cops will righteously arrest and abuse the citizens for the same thing. Read it here. Can anybody spell CRB?

NYC Police Misconduct At All-Time High in 2009

2010-01-17T10:56:00.003-05:00

Story

Do we need a functioning, effective Civilian Review Board? Naaaahh........ We need to be understanding when cops abuse us and into hero worship when they don't. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Lancaster Police Rookie Beats Teenager At Drinking Party

2010-01-15T13:52:00.007-05:00

A new Lancaster NY police department employee decides he can beat the stew out of someone using the “I am a cop” theory. Here is a recent and obvious example of how the perfect storm of police misconduct occurs.

Full Story

First, a misguided young mind, barely old enough to know who and what he is, and more importantly, who and what he isn’t, realizes he can’t hack it in life on his own, and asks himself,

“What am I gonna do? I have to make a living, but I have no skills. I could break the law for a living but I might end up in jail, and, not having social skills either, I wouldn’t be able to hack jail. What will become of me?”

Then the light dawns.

“I know! I’ll become a police man and join a police department. I can break the law, get unearned consessions everywhere I go, drive my car too fast, intimidate people, have a license to kill, wear a uniform, (girls love that), and beat people up whenever I feel like it. And best yet, get paid! Where do I sign??”

Well, it isn’t too hard to find a police academy. The academy welcomes new recruits with open arms, and tells them everything they want to hear. The academy confirms the graduate can lie and cheat, even in court, steal the possessions and rights of others, and be adored for it. They can be assured they will always be believed. (Oh, and get paid too.) Hey, they will even get a title, “Officer”. Right up there with doctors, astronauts, and some Nobel Prize winners. The word “hero” may be rightfully bantered about in their presence. It is better than a TARP bailout.

What happens to these misguided individuals? Meet Andrew Gill, 23 mature years old, and, you guessed it, a cop. He’s still on job probation, with only a few weeks’ experience so far, but hey, close enough to strut one’s stuff. Located in Lancaster NY, Andrew went to a party on New Years Eve that was attended by some people who drank alcohol without the benefit of 21 years of previous life. Seeing the potential for applying an advantage, Andrew, with his Academy experience still fresh in his mind, stated to a fellow party goer:

“I’m a cop. I can kick your ass and get away with it!”

Brilliant. He is a credit to his daddy, who is also a cop, a lieutenant to be exact, and a role model to three-year-olds everywhere. This is what the Academy does to recruits. Take a confused and underdeveloped mind off the street and give it an attitude, a gun, a TASER and a false sense of importance, put a uniform on it, and send it out there to make a living as a hero. That’s just great.

After verbally introducing his superiority to the victim during a drinking game, and observing the victim retreat without offering a retort, Andrew Gill followed him to the other side of the room where, again calling on his extensive vocabulary as provided by the Academy, stated, “I’ll kill you!”. A beating commenced. The victim, knowing that Andrew Gill was in fact a cop, offered no physical defense, and the condition of his face proves it. Andrew Gill meanwhile, remained unscathed.

While some events like this happen daily throughout the cop community, many of which are domestic violence, the real problem here is rarely addressed. Personality types that make the worst cop material are the ones most often attracted to the PD jobs. Further, police academies don’t know the good from the bad, they only know the willing and the anxious. In fact, PDs themselves are lowering standards for hiring new cops to create a more diverse looking department.

This really is the perfect combination of cop recruitment, training, and deployment, assuming we want to see a disaster movie come to life. First, unemployment is high, and cities and towns are being inundated with young, substandard mentalities looking for a job. Second, the Academy is the fertile farmland for bad police, and their crop cycle is only a few weeks in length. Third, PDs hire and equip academy graduates with deadly weapons and misunderstood authority. Disaster ensues. This serves no one well.

A Civilian Review Board needs to look at the training methods if they ever want to sculpt a working police department. When a machine produces bent, broken, and defective parts, it is the machine’s fault. We must address the academy’s training manual before we blame the cops who have been duped into a job that never was their calling. Don’t expect the police department to review the Academy training methods. The citizen must do it.

Cop-Proof CRB Part 6 Ride-Alongs

2010-01-06T15:22:00.005-05:00

Police departments are quick and happy to charge citizens with being under-educated with respect to the details of police work in an effort to discourage the formation of citizen-run oversight panels. Once again donning their curly wool coats, police in Oakland, BART, Memphis, Antioch, Portland, Jacksonville, Mount Pleasant, and many more, constantly invite citizens for a ride-along, assuming most will fold rather than call. If you are a taxpayer who doesn’t like your PD, CALL! If you want to be part of a working, successful Citizen Review Board, get your board together and take that ride along. But when you do, insist upon the following and settle for nothing less-------

Police Department Ride-Alongs

· Determine all automotive enhancements added to the body, engine, etc

· Identify all communication devices in the car

· Identify additional weaponry not carried as part of the uniform

· Route designation and timing

· Observe a complete police call from arrest to court

Introduce and Explain To the Member

A ride-along is the essential cornerstone of all early Citizen Review work, both for the individual Members themselves and the review board as a whole. Members must see firsthand, what a cop on duty does on a given shift.

A good ride-along needs to start with a tour of the exterior of the police vehicle, with special attention given to anything not normally found on a civilian’s vehicle of comparable make, model and year. Armor added to the body, strengthened glass, special tires, added equipment such as roll bars and the like, larger engines capable of greater speeds, all should be noted.

The interior should be observed with even more care. Computers, satellite devices, all audio and video equipment as well as any other communicative additions need to be viewed and understood by the Member as to their scope and use. Members need to ask as many questions as possible before and during the ride-along, and all answers from the police employee on duty must be totally honest and forthcoming especially with regard to recording devices. Copious notes should be taken, and a small, personal audio tape recorder should accompany the Member on the ride.

What weaponry is carried in the vehicle that is not a normal part of the employee uniform? Is this weaponry part of the everyday use of the patrol car? How is it accounted for and how often? Was there training in the application and maintenance of each weapon? Must the use of these weapons be reported to the PD before use or after use or not at all?

Nuts and Bolts During the Ride

Inquiry should be made about route choices and timing. Member must determine if a cop makes up a route as he goes along or if it is pre-defined. If the PD assigns it according to citizen’s request total time spent on that area must be noted, and if not, observation must be made as to how many streets are covered, and how often on a one shift. Member should document how many radio messages are sent and received, and exactly what they mean. If a received message causes a change in the patrol route, record why. Member must keep track of sent messages, and why they were sent. In short, every move the police employee makes needs to be explained to the satisfaction of the Member. And Member---take notes.

Follow-up To Conclusion

A successfully completed ride-along must include one police call resulting in an arrest, with follow-thru to a holding cell or jail and paperwork. If the use of force, personal or weapon related, occurs, all dash cam tapes will be retained by the Member, (more on audio and video recordings later). Any documentation of weapon use will be observed by the Member and must be copied upon their request.

The arrestee’s first court appearance and police testimony must be witnessed by the Member, with special attention given to the physical condition of the defendant. Printed or tape recorded proof of if, when, and how the arrestee was questioned, how his rights were explained, and if his rights as he chose to exercise them were carried out must be documented and supplied, without redaction, to the Member. It must be emphasized that the ride along must extend to the very end of the citizen’s experience with their law enforcement employee for the Member to get the whole picture.

Perspective

A ride along is not the time for criticism or judgment by the Member. It is a fact-finding and information collecting experience only. Members must be especially attuned to that fact and refrain from any display of conclusions or opinions. Police cars equipped with an internally aimed dash cam should have the cam running throughout the ride, with tapes becoming the property of the CRB. After the completed ride along by each Member, all notes, personal recordings and dash-cam tapes must be collected upon exiting the police car, retained by the Member and archived by the Citizen Review Board for later review and training with new Members.

These and other measures need to be established right up front to make a true review board work and worth having. Without a solid foundation from which to build, a Citizen Review Board will never be cop-proof, and will certainly fail. A CRB is about taxpayer control over the police department, insuring that the PD and every police employee in it will do all and only what the citizens expect in return for their money. Next is Member homework.

Cop-Proof Citizen Review Board Part 5

2009-12-27T15:57:00.003-05:00

Seeking Members

Requirements for a Citizen Review Board member as covered here are---

• Be a resident of a few years, and of voting age
• Know the city, streets, neighborhoods, businesses, etc
• Understand the current PD is not what we originally created
• Know that cops will be what you let them be, good or bad
• Demand the PD you want, not the one you are given
• Bring varietal backgrounds and concerns to the table
• Be prepared to hire, fire, and get your hands dirty
• Do it for free

The successful and necessary Citizen Review Board is one that sculpts a police department according to what the people of the city both want and expect in return for their tax money. Any citizen oversight panel is not an attempt to please the police union or even the PD itself. The following guidelines are meant to help review board members define and execute their own plan in the name of the townspeople. A police department that shares their views on what a cop should be, their city’s needs, and how the PD can deliver those needs, is the only acceptable end result. And remember the mantra: “Do it for free”.

Residency, Record and Relationship
Members must be residents of the town they serve and dedicated to the law enforcement needs of their town. Members must be of voting age and residents of their city long enough to know the general layout of the streets, neighborhoods, business districts, residential areas, roads, bridges and back alleys. Basically, a visual understanding of the differing parts of town.

Members cannot have a personal axe to grind with the police department. No arrest record, no trouble involving police encounters with themselves or family. Also, there cannot be any employment on the part of members or family in any local, state or federal law enforcement agencies. That keeps us all on the same page. The honesty we expect is the honesty we exhibit. No agendas brought, no agendas tolerated.

Dedication
Members must accurately understand the depth of authority they are giving police, and the potential of that authority when abused. Members understand that if cops abuse anybody, they will abuse everybody but their own. This realization is what clarifies and necessitates the oversight control a Civilian Review Board represents.

Members need not care about money paid to them for their service, because they won’t get any. Expecting a paycheck is the biggest roadblock to success any review board will ever encounter, and getting a paycheck is the weakest link in the review board’s chain of strength. Police union opposition to any oversight will always quote the payroll when the budget is short, and compare it to the other needs facing the city. It is an old and frequently used trick. However, when the oversight payroll is $0, there is no argument.

Members, come to the meetings! The best organized citizen effort will fail if they do not have the backing of the public, and the best way to have the public turn on a board is if they never meet, or worse, if there is a meeting and no members show up. When a member becomes an active voice in the CRB, show up and use it. Find members that will meet once or twice a week. If your PD is not to your liking, there will be plenty of things to do and subjects to discuss twice a week, believe me.

Members must stay in touch with each other. All members must have access to a computer with a dedicated email box for citizen review business and internet connection. A phone would be good, too.

Diversification
A collection of citizens from a variety of professions, incomes and ages will best serve the community. Opposition to this viewpoint will claim cops have a unique and specialized ownership of the knowledge in police work that others could never understand. Not so. Police are intended to be whatever we the people want them to be. A cop who claims any superiority to the citizen is not cop material. He doesn’t get the job description.

Any citizen who believes their portion of the community is not represented should provide representation with their personal input. All members need to invite as many citizens as qualify to meetings. Advertise your meetings and results in local free papers.

Have The Stomach For It
There is always a downside to things and a Citizen Review Board will be no different.
Be prepared. The personality types that need to be retrained after a lifetime of misdirection will not be easy to work with. The public who wants a CRB does so because their PDs have terribly and violently betrayed them, and that PD will not go quietly. Strength in your mind and soul will be challenged, because assumed authority hates to be challenged. Within their power lies their fatal flaw, however. Be ready to exploit that flaw. Prepare to ask tough questions and demand complete, honest answers from beat cops as well as the Chief. Prepare to suspend or fire if only a small doubt remains. Prepare for the worst, because at first, it will be the worst. The police department is currently a mess, one that is many years deep, and the initial cleanup won’t be pretty.

These guidelines will get members to the table, in a seat, and their minds on the same page. Next comes individual training.

Mayor Sarno Wants Citizen Complaint Board To Fail

2009-12-24T12:59:00.004-05:00

Story--

A Great Way To Insure Failure

Chairman H. Edgar Alejandro, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, what are you doing? The complaint Review Board in Springfield MA is a joke. A board with no power is a board with no purpose.

As Journalist Peter Goonan of Masslive.com said:

“The meeting was called to solicit public comment on how to improve board operations and to receive additional recommendations to be submitted to the mayor.

The board reviews citizen complaints of excessive force and decisions of the Police Department’s internal investigations unit on those complaints. But suspension, firing and other disciplinary decisions lie with Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet.”

This is no way to get a message through to a group of people who’s only purpose in knowing you is to ignore you. Cops have a serious listening disorder when it comes to citizens, and our patience will never cure it. So much for “submitting recommendations”.

Mayor Sarno, you must empower the review board with the ability to actually make decisions, not just advise and suggest. Without that empowerment, their results will be minimal, support from the citizens, the life-blood of any oversight panel, will be luke-warm at best, and respect for the board amongst police will be non-existent. Continuing on that path is a waste of money and office-endowed authority.

Citizens need to be encouraged to take part in a process that will give them the police department they want, and creating an oversight panel that can do nothing to improve the PD is the perfect opposite. Worse yet, every cop in every city or town knows that. They must be brought into line with civilian authority. Mayor Sarno, make THAT happen, and Chairman Alejandro, gather public support and leverage it with the Mayor to get some teeth.

Bulletin: Police Are Also Lawmakers

2009-12-24T11:41:00.001-05:00

Read The Story

OK, some cops have bigger and more metallic ones than others. But this is insane. The Bloomington IL police department has notified citizens that there will be another “no refusal weekend” somewhere between now and New Year’s weekend, but they coyly refuse to say exactly when.

“No Refusal” means that if you refuse a breathalyzer test at a sobriety checkpoint or anywhere else, you will be subjected to a roadside blood withdrawal for lab analysis to determine contents. These blood tests can reveal all kinds of things that have nothing to do with DUI, and would both enrage and encourage defense lawyers. Oddly, there is a judge involved here who is willing to crank out search warrants as fast as he can sign them to expedite this destruction of the 4th Amendment. How many “rights”, are we willing to allow cops to invent before we put the brakes on?

Yes, the Bloomington PD squawks over and over that they just want to get people to their destinations safely, implying they mean no harm, but anybody with an ounce of intelligence can figure this out. Bloomington police believe, they really do believe, they can say and do anything they want. There is virtually no law to back up their belief, and nothing in state law to let them “no-refuse” citizens. Sure, Bloomington had great success with it back on July 4th weekend, but it was just as wrong then as it is now, successful or not.

How loudly and from what distance from the ear does the title “Citizen Review Board” have to be shouted? This is a great lesson for citizens to learn from: Cops tried it once on July 4th and nobody slapped them down for it, so now, here it comes again, but ratcheted up a bit. It will come back again, and again, you can be sure. Each time it does, it will be more insidious, stronger, and virulent.

Folks, this systematic creeping-in of assumed authority and righteousness is a method also used by termites, roaches and crabgrass. See it for what it is! Stand up to the Cop Culture thinking and Academy teaching, and start demanding a police department in Bloomington that represents the citizen.