When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
In the absence of a mainstream media that would take notice of and report on such serious problems as exist within the Fort Wayne Police Department, I submit that my publication of this blog fairly meets any such duty I may have in this regard.
I realize that the strong wording of this particular post may offend the sensibilities of many readers, including some who’s opinions I have come to rely on for their sage advice. But I have put a lot of time and effort into the ideas put forth here, and the truth is no one will fully understand them until I have made my final post on Dec 31. I would suggest that readers allow some time to fully absorb this before leaving a comment.
Due to the length of this post, readers may wish to focus first upon my last three paragraphs which explain my new strategy. If you want to understand why I have chosen this strategy, then you'll have to read the entire text.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety
and happiness.
This country’s declaration of independence posited that any government should exist only if it serves the people that it governs. And it proclaimed the natural right of the people to remove a government which does not abide by this simple principle. Applying the standards of our forefathers to the Fort Wayne Police Department of today provides for an interesting comparison.
For the past two decades large numbers of people have openly bought, sold, and used crack cocaine and other illegal narcotics on a regular basis in my neighborhood. Until very recently, the intensity of the activities was such that any reasonable person would conclude that the police department was either complicit in or at least overly complacent about these activities.
The drug sellers carried guns to defend their turf, and the buyers frequently committed other crimes to support their habit. Many of these people would trespass, litter, shoot their guns, and otherwise harass the good people who live here. It was common practice for them to hide their drugs and weapons on other people’s property, thus placing those people in grave danger both physically and legally.
The Fort Wayne Police Department is the government agency charged with protecting the people against such hazards as exist in my neighborhood. Although I certainly recognize that there are many factors which limit their ability to take action, the least that could be expected of them is to help foster genuine communication between their department and the citizens they claim to serve. Unfortunately, my observations of and experience with them prove that this is not the case.
I could endlessly about how FWPD has neglected their duty to help me keep people from selling drugs from my front yard, but by this point that is actually a minor issue. On many occasions I have witnessed people purchasing and carrying illegal weapons, hiding their weapons on my property, and shooting these weapons at each other throughout the neighborhood. In the past, I always took great pains to observe these situations and convey what information I had to the policee. In most cases, they did not even appear to listen to what I had said, let alone act upon it. Aside from the fact that they taxed me to pay their salaries, it was almost as if the police department did not even exist.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes…
I have listened to the thoughts of many police officers. I understand their frustration with people who expect the drug house to be closed down the day after they give the tip. From past experience, the police know better than the general public what will and what will not pass in court. It takes time to build a case, and during that time it often appears to the public as though the police are doing nothing at all. But if the police succumb to unrealistic expectations, they are necessarily forced into doing sloppy work. Such cases do not lead to convictions and are therefore a waste of time.
I also realize that there are many different segments of society that each place their own competing demands upon the police. I am certainly sympathetic to the fact that these multiple demands are sometimes in direct conflict with each other, and I am certain that it is not an easy task to balance them. But I suffer a similar problem here at the hands of the police.
What is most frustrating about FWPD is the fact that they are unwilling to give any unified direction on what they expect from me as a resident here. If I call too often, some see me as a chronic complainer. If I don’t call enough, others think I am enabling the problem. If I give too much information I am overburdening them, but not enough information means I am handicapping them. Some like it when the calling party comes out to speak with them, others seem to prefer not to be encumbered by this. My questions in this regard have always been frank, and they have repeatedly been deflected. A government which utterly refuses to engage it's citizens is indeed a matter of the utmost importance.
…and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
Some people may view the harsh tone of my words as evidence that I am overreacting to the situation. But what they fail to consider is that, prior to the publication of this blog, I already took all the steps which could reasonably be expected of a person before resorting to extreme measures. For ten years, with each instance of offensive behavior I was faced with, I did no more and no less than any rational person would do.
When I saw people standing on my property selling drugs, I asked them to leave. When they refused to leave, I called the police. When the patrol officers told me this was a complicated matter, and that I needed to speak with their supervisors in order to affect it, I began calling and talking with people as high up as vice & narcotics detectives and members of the Command Staff. When these people made it clear that they had purposely designed a system which discourages citizens from asking for their help, I adamantly told them that I expect them to uphold the law and to earn the money that the citizens are paying them. And when the FWPD and the mainstream media tried to keep the public from hearing about such problems, I publicized the issue through my own blog.
I have tried to be patient, and the fact that I faced this problem for so long before discussing it publicly shows that I really did give FWPD a fair chance to handle it in their own way. And since I began my public relations campaign to affect them, I have tried to stand down whenever I felt circumstances permitted. But it has been proven repeatedly that this only causes them to revert to their former unenthusiastic ways. I submit that the amount of time and effort I have put into this fight, as well as the risks I take by publicly rebuking both the criminals and the police, are evidence themselves of the fact that anything less than extreme action is ineffective.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.
For the first several years here, I put no pressure at all on the police department. Based upon the intensity with which they patrolled the area, I naturally just assumed they were doing their job. I also realized that a high crime area like this necessitated the police acting a bit more heavy handed than they do in most places. That is why I never complained about all the times that I was detained, questioned or accosted by them.
Each time I did interact with an officer on the street, though, I made it known that I was willing to cooperate with them to attack the problems here. I assumed it would only be a matter of time before word got out among them and they began to take advantage of the help I was offering. But as the drug dealers began to act more overtly, and each new officer I met still treated me like the new kid on the block, I became more frustrated. So I began to work my way up the ladder, always to no avail.
As the drug activities moved from my front yard to my front porch, I eventually summarized the situation in a letter and sent it to Chief York. At that point, I presumed, it would be impossible for FWPD to continue claiming they were unaware of the problems here. Unfortunately, it was Chief York’s cowardly refusal to reply to this letter which left me with no choice other than to take my cause directly to the drug dealers, which itself resulted in several molotov cocktails being thrown at my home.
If my neighborhood was located in a lawless frontier, I would simply walk out with my shotgun and make certain that people kept their problems away from my home. Instead, I am forced to beg for help from a department that has no intention of fulfilling it’s obligations. Viewed in it's entirity, my experience with the Fort Wayne Police Department leads me to conclude that their complete absence from the neighborhood would be a better alternative to their present habit of engaging in selective enforcement of the law.
The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
In a most offensive manner, after failing to take care of the serious criminal problems which exist throughout this city, refusing to accept the cooperation of citizens who wish to address these issues, and disallowing those people from taking care of the problems themselves, Chief York then blames the public for these same problems, while simultaneously denying that such problems even exist.
Chief York appears to choose which criminals to target based upon who will make the most money, bring the best publicity, or cause the least burden to his department rather than upon who's arrest will bring the most peace to the neighborhoods he claims to protect.
The good relations which often begin to develop naturally between the citizens and the lower ranking officers are purposely hindered by those officers of higher rank.
Much of the information that FWPD should make freely accessible to the public is restricted, and that which is shared is often falsified to some degree.
FWPD, along with the Allen County Prosecutor’s Office, often make deals with criminals while appearing to give little consideration to how such deals affect their victims.
In a most curious case of immaculate inception, we are to believe that the attachment of federal agents to the jurisdiction of the Fort Wayne Police Department was neither requested by the local government nor demanded by the federal government. Since either explanation would potentially imply some amount of fault upon FWPD, they simply tell us this collaboration occurred spontaneously, with no primary motivation from either party.
The fact that FWPD can charge high fines to the good citizens of this city for the misdeeds of their officers, while still claiming that those officers did no wrong, and further insult the people by refusing to give a full and proper explanation of such events, proves further that their actions are not in line with the people’s interests.
The actions of FWPD suggest that if they are simultaneously confronted by a criminal problem and also challenged by a citizen who is frustrated by this problem they will gladly attack whichever of these two they feel to be the weaker party.
It is obvious that the self-worth of this department is based upon power, rather than justice, and in that respect they are no better than those they label as criminals.
My claim is that the Fort Wayne Police Department serves itself, rather than the general public, and in consideration of this fact they are due no recognition of legitimacy.
Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.
To the many individual officers whom I hold in high regard and consider as my natural allies in the battle against crime, I would begin here by pointing out that I have taken great risks by choosing to publicly stand beside you. I’m sure you realize that in this neighborhood, that is the type of behavior which could easily get a man killed. But I simply did not feel comfortable hiding behind my walls while you fought my battle for me. My decision to identify myself as the person who had called the police was done for your benefit as much as mine, because I knew it would allow you to appear as the defender rather than the aggressor, thus strengthening your position.
It was you who told me that you could not do the job that needed to be done here unless I called to report what I observed, and I dutifully followed your suggestion. On several occasions, my calls have directly resulted in your confiscation of illegal narcotics. While this is certainly not as satisfying as an arrest, it at least gave you ammunition to defend yourself against those who would claim that you are simply harassing people here who are doing nothing wrong. Additionally, as far back as 2003 I have offered to allow your department to use my home for undercover surveillance, an offer which was never even responded to. There is simply no way that you can blame me for not doing enough to reach out to your department. The fault for the disconnect that exists lies somewhere inside your own department.
While it is true that an appreciation for my personal involvement here has been expressed on many occasions by several officers, it is also apparent that your superiors resented my actions because it broke away at their weak excuse for not doing their job. The fact that the initial willingness of so many officers to engage me has quickly dissipated shows clearly what decision was made by the higher ranking officers when the situation was brought before them. It also shows that the lower ranks willingly chose to follow the bad decision which was made by their superiors. And in an area as critical as public safety, “just following orders” is not a justifiable excuse for improper behavior.
As a specific example of this, I will refer to June of 2006, when a group of officers were investigating a pernicious and habitual drug house near my home. These officers spoke with me about their frustrations at not being able to shut down this house, and they listened to my frustration over having to live near it. The officers asked if I would allow them to place cameras on my property to monitor the activities at the drug house. Even though I realized doing so could pose a serious threat to my personal safety, I answered in the affirmative. The officers told me they would speak with their supervisor about the matter and that they would get back in touch with me. The fact that I never heard back from any of them speaks to their own lack of character, as well as that of their Captain.
I realize that some within your department have tried to position me as the troublemaker, the one who is too unpredictable to deal with. While it is true that I have acted belligerently on a few occasions to certain officers, it is also true that I have reflected upon these events and offered my apologies many times. But it must be understood that my missteps pale in comparison to those of the department. I have suffered abusive behavior from many officers, and I was always willing to take my lumps without complaint as part of the process of building relationships with the good officers here.
Then, in October of 2006, a member of your own command staff refused to take information from me which could have been helpful to the investigation of the attack upon my home. Instead, she chose to tell me that I should simply learn to accommodate the drug dealers who were attempting to take over my property. I tried to handle my inquiry into this matter discreetly, but was told by your department that it would not be investigated unless I filed a formal complaint. This complaint was then summarily dismissed without investigation of the matter.
Any agency charged with such precarious duties as is the Fort Wayne Police Department will necessarily draw some complaints from the public. Since both parties involved in such disputes are subject to the natural tendencies of human emotion, thus hindering their ability to objectively interpret the matter, such matters are usually better handled in a more deliberative fashion by an internal affairs division within the department.
While many of you may assume that the lax oversight which exists at FWPD is a benefit to you, this is an extremely myopic view. A non-functioning internal affairs division leaves people with no choice other than to take their frustrations out on every individual officer they encounter. I once heard a police officer say that they sometimes feel like it is “them against the world.” I believe your department’s own lack of self-discipline in this regard is the type of thing which adds to this sentiment.
For at least the past two decades, your department has allowed this neighborhood to serve as an incubator for violent criminal activity which is frequently manifested in areas throughout this city. And for most of that time, your department has refused to genuinely engage me as I tried desperately to arrest the development of this problem. It appears to me that my particular experience here is no exception to your department’s general pattern of behavior either, and that is something that each and every one of you must take some responsibility for.
While it is true that policy decisions usually flow from the top down, there is much that lower ranking officers can do to affect it also. The first and simplest action that should be taken is to simply voice your opposition. If you feel that the policies being handed to you are not in the best interest of promoting public safety, then you should speak up. Although it is the general tendency of managers to deny that they are subject to pressures from below, the reality proves to be otherwise. They’ll probably just say you don’t know what you’re talking about. And if they do reconsider and take your approach, they’ll lie and say it was their idea all along. So you probably won’t get any credit, only the satisfaction of knowing that you fulfilled your duty.
The dilemma here is really not as complicated as some may think. If your captain tells you to do one thing, but the Chief tells you otherwise, your instincts should tell you to follow the higher ranking orders. But many of you seem to have forgotten that you have sworn an oath which supersedes the authority of even Chief York. So when one of your supervisors issues an order which is contrary to your promise to serve and to protect the people, and you choose not to challenge that supervisor, then you are knowingly and willingly breaking your oath. When this happens, you are no longer a police officer. You’re just another person with a gun, like a lot of common criminals.
For those officers who feel I am unfairly holding them responsible for policy decisions which they claim to have little or no control over, I would ask you to consider this. A house that is completely owned and operated by dedicated drug dealers seems to pose little threat to your conscience. These are the instances which bring a smile to your faces as you watch the bulldozer come to knock them down. But I know the frustration that many of you feel when dealing with mixed houses , mixed meaning that not everyone who lives there is in the same class when it comes to drug activity.
It is difficult not to wonder about the wisdom of the decisions which led up to an old lady or children standing in the street and crying. You know that it really is possible that grandma was unaware of or unable to stop what was going on. She really may be an innocent victim who must now suffer the added plight of losing her home. I know many of you have these thoughts, but I also know the way that you reconcile them with your own role in the matter.
A drug house is a drug house, and it’s not your duty to separate the good from the bad inside it. If an innocent person living there is harmed because they are too ignorant to know what is going on or too cowardly to do anything about it, then their lot is deserved. At least that is what you tell yourselves to justify the fact that your war against the drug dealers often harms innocent victims as well. I will not argue here whether your logic is sound. I will simply state that it is the same logic being applied when I declare that because the house at 1300 Creighton Avenue is corrupt, then all those who choose to remain inside it are corrupt also.
An FWPD detective once told me “What these guys (drug dealers) want here is chaos. They want to create a situation where the law abiding citizens are unwilling or afraid to cooperate with the police.” It must be recognized that this also seems to be the goal of those who run your department. By interfering with my ability to protect my property and defend myself, while refusing to do the job they have promised to do, the Fort Wayne Police Department has effectively chosen to wage war against me. My personal affinity towards many individual officers is really irrelevant if they are unable or unwilling to work to correct the problems which exist within their department. My public declaration is that any individual who chooses to support FWPD’s umbrella of repression and deception against me also chooses to declare themselves as my enemy.
My Goals
My ultimate goal is to see the Fort Wayne Police Department begin to behave like a professional police force. This must start with an honest engagement of the citizenry rather than the manipulative propaganda which they currently substitute for it. Unfortunately, my fourteen years of experience with the department leads me to believe that this will not occur anytime soon.
My secondary goal would be to see the department disbanded entirely. I could take the money I save from not being taxed so heavily to invest in weapons and other items for the self-defense of my person and my property. Unfortunately, history proves that tyrants rarely cede power unless confronted by overwhelming force. And, say that I suffer from a lack of commitment if you will, but since I do not plan to take up arms or otherwise apply physical force in my battle against FWPD, I do not expect to see the department being closed anytime soon.
My final goal would be to see the department stop making public statements entirely. Many people hear Chief York talk about how hard he is working to control crime in this city and they give him the benefit of the doubt on the matter. And most people look at the activity logs which FWPD freely publishes and assumes this vast amount of information indicates the department truly is an open and honest one. But when you live in a neighborhood like mine, you begin to see just how much information is manipulated, completely fabricated, or withheld entirely.
I want everyone to see the same misconduct by FWPD that I see on a regular basis here. The rest of the city only sees this occasionally, such as with the permanent refusal to publicly disclose the details of the Lemus-Rodriguez shooting, and such things quickly fade from people’s memory. But I am quite certain that if the general public came to understand just how dishonest and unprofessional their police department is, and was reminded of this on a regular basis as I am, then they would be jarred into action. I want Chief York to employ the same unsavory methods that he uses here on everyone else. Only then will there possibly be enough public clamor to actually force the necessary changes to take place.
My Strategy
Up to this point, my blog has served as an invitation to dialogue. From the very beginning, I have admitted that my understanding of the situation is probably far from correct. But it is far more plausible than what is put forth by FWPD. I have always invited critical comments, and the history of this blog proves that I have been fair, open and responsive to all who would confer with me. It is a fact that my nearly seven month engagement in private dialogue with one Fort Wayne police sergeant saw this blog virtually cease to exist, thus proving that constructive engagement was my primary goal. But the time for dialogue has passed.
It is now apparent to me that FWPD is using their extremely late decision to take action in my neighborhood as an excuse to claim that my complaints were unfounded all along, while the truth of the matter is that they likely would have continued in their lackadaisical ways had I not complained so vociferously. And when Chief York says the reason his department can’t get a handle on crime is because people won’t talk to the police, he is implying that I am part of the problem, and he is lying!
Imagine that you are being punched in the face repeatedly and over a long duration of time by someone. As soon as the police arrive, this person stops punching you and claims there is no reason for you to be upset because he is no longer punching you. Then, as a further insult, he claims that it was actually you who punched him. This is the behavior which I have suffered at the hands of FWPD for too long, and this type of offense will no longer be tolerated without a strong response.
The Fort Wayne Police Department refuses to honestly engage me, so I will now assume the method which they have chosen. From this point forward, this blog is no longer open to the comments of any police officers. Other comments will be judged according to their content for determination as to whether they will be published. This blog is no longer interested in finding the truth. It is now an instrument of war and it’s sole purpose is to inflict damage upon my enemy - the Fort Wayne Police Department.
A state of war may be seen as a constant chain of overreactions by two parties towards one another. Neither side looks for opportunities to quell the discontent, but rather only to exacerbate it in the belief that it will ultimately force the other to capitulate. From this point forward, I will be monitoring the actions and the words of the FWPD (in my neighborhood and throughout the city) very carefully. Any misconduct or misstatement by the department will be challenged.
My intent is to prove Pavlov correct and show that even the Fort Wayne Police can learn new tricks. Whenever Chief York or any member of the department makes a public statement which offends the sensibilities of honest and intelligent people, I will deliver a shock through my blog. The reward for his silence will be the inactivity of this blog.
My Arsenal
My previous strategy of pointing to the flaws of the department as a whole seems to be totally ineffective. I think those who run the department realize that their position is so untenable that to truly attempt to defend it would be farcical. They have come to accept the fact that anyone who is adequately informed simply laughs at them, and they have become immune to this from it’s repetitiveness.
So, in order to get to the King, I believe that I must go through his soldiers. And that is why my focus will soon turn to the individual members of the Fort Wayne Police Department. When the department offends, my response will be directed at individual officers rather than the department as a whole. My goal is to create so much discomfort among them that they will be compelled to put upward pressure against the Chief to either make the necessary changes or to resign.
Tomorrow’s post, FWPD Blues, will list the names of these individuals and give an overview of the type of information I have in my arsenal.
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So, whether you look at the broad overview, or examine the details, one thing is clear. When I started this blog in February of 2008, my neighborhood had already been overwhelmed by criminal activity for quite a long time. And shortly after I started blogging here, things completely exploded. My original plan was to just retell the stories from the past ten years in a calm, orderly and rational manner. But the chaos of this neighborhood is infectious.
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