Searching For Signs Of Intelligent Life: October 24-25, 2006

When I was filling out the complaint form, I looked up FWPD’s web-site to make sure I had Officer Marshall’s title correct. It was then that I first discovered their on-line community forum. I spent several hours that evening perusing it. I had not intended to leave a message at that time, as I was quite certain that anything I had to say would have never passed through their censors to be printed.

What I was looking for though was just a general idea of what types of problems other people were discussing and how FWPD responded to them. It did not take long before I noticed a familiar pattern. The easy questions were answered while the more complicated ones were met with “Call me sometime and we can discuss this.” Such messages were almost always posted by FWPD Officer Michael Joyner.

Most of you who follow my blog realize by now that I am using pseudonyms for almost all of the characters in this story. However, I have made a few exceptions already when I felt it was necessary. For example, as the head of FWPD, I think it is necessary to refer to Chief York specifically, rather than just saying “A very high ranking officer.” The reasons for this I believe are too obvious to even require explanation.

Some of you probably also realize that when I refer to Officer Michael Joyner, I am using his real name as well. There are two main reasons why I felt compelled to do this. First of all, in his former role as public communications officer, Mr. Joyner’s words represent official FWPD policy. And this makes his statements significantly different than the words of any other officer, with the exception of Chief York himself. It really wouldn’t make sense to say “The man who officially speaks for FWPD,” while pretending that I was protecting his anonymity.

Some of you also probably already realize that when I refer to Officer Michael Joyner, I am using his real name as well. There are two main reasons why I felt compelled to do this. First of all, in his former role as public communications officer, Mr. Joyner’s words represent official FWPD policy. And this makes his statements significantly different than the words of any other officer, with the exception of Chief York himself. It really wouldn’t make sense to say “The man who officially speaks for FWPD,” while pretending that I was protecting his anonymity.

The second reason I chose to drop Mr. Joyner’s cover is because he is a political actor. While his run for the Democratic nomination for Allen County Sheriff in 2006 was outside the scope of FWPD, it does show that he is one who yearns to hold a position where he can exercise some authority. Mr. Joyner obviously thinks he is fit to be the chief law enforcement officer in this county. I think, therefore, that his actions as a FWPD officer should be examined to see if they warrant such power being placed in his hands.

At nine o’clock in the morning, on October 24, 2006, I called Officer Joyner and requested the opportunity to speak with him. I gave the briefest explanation possible for my particular situation. I expressed that I was very impressed by the way he handled the questions on his web-site, and that I thought that my situation definitely would be better talked about privately rather than on-line. At that time, I did not mention the fact that I had filed a complaint because I thought it best to save that for our discussion rather than just dropping it in a recorded message.

The next day, Officer Joyner returned my call. I was not home at the time but he left a message indicating that he would like to meet with me to discuss my problem. This made me feel really good. If any of you are familiar with Michael Joyner, you will probably agree that he appears to be fairly intelligent and is a good communicator. Maybe I had finally found the right person within FWPD. I was beginning to think that Officer Joyner might be the intelligent agent among the top brass at FWPD that I had tied for so long to reach.

I returned Officer Joyner’s call and left another message. This time I gave him a complete rundown of my schedule for the next day, so he would have an easier time reaching me. Based upon what I had known of him up to this point, I never would have filed my complaint if I had instead been allowed to set down and discuss the situation with him. And I was certainly prepared to rescind my complaint immediately once I got the chance to explain things to him. Unfortunately, Officer Joyner never returned that phone call.

I expect what happened was that Officer Joyner had gotten word of my complaint against Officer Marshall. At that point, FWPD probably viewed me as belligerent, and not truly seeking the peaceful solution that I had indicated. I think that this is truly a sad commentary on both FWPD and Officer Joyner. After all, I had only filed the complaint because Internal Affairs told me I had no other options.

It sure would have made a lot more sense if I.A. had referred me to Officer Joyner instead, in hopes that the problem could be amicably resolved. Instead, I was only given two options - either file a complaint, or simply accept the fact that a member of the FWPD Command Staff expected me to turn my home over to his drug dealers. And of course, once I filed the complaint I was automatically branded as a troublemaker.

I realize that it is very likely that the decision to sever communication with me was not made by Officer Joyner himself, but he accepted it. And I think his position is high enough to equate acceptance of a bad decision with making a bad decision. In my telephone message I made it clear that I did not want to cause trouble, but that I desperately needed help with this major problem.

I can only assume that the fact that he wasn’t able to convince the other numbskulls at FWPD of this points to some type of character flaw of his. I was very impressed with Officer Joyner’s performance as a candidate for Sheriff in 2006, and being a good communicator was his strongest suite. But he failed this test miserably when it came to an issue that affected my personal safety. He willfully chose to tow the party line, rather than fulfilling his oath to serve and to protect, and for this reason alone I will never again even consider voting for Michael Joyner for any office.

I called Officer Joyner that day thinking that he was am intelligent person. Surely there exists at least one person within FWPD that is smart enough to realize that genuinely engaging citizens would make more sense than to either lie to or just ignore them. At first, Officer Joyner seemed to me like he was that smart. But evidently I was wrong. Apparantly an extreme lack of intelligence must be requisite for attaining a high position within FWPD.

On a side note, on Tuesday the 24th, I also went to the Fort Wayne Newspaper office and spoke with Frank Gray. He met me in the front lobby and we sat at a small table for about five minutes to talk. I handed him a copy of my complaint, which he apparently just threw in the trash can. I suppose he didn’t want to get his readers too excited by letting them know that their police department was colluding with drug dealers. After all, I’m sure that Chief York told him he had the situation under control. That is, if Frank even had the courage to question anyone at FWPD about this matter.

UPCOMING POSTS
Monday: Taking Notes
Wednesday: The Police Crack Down In Crack-Town