My HUD House was recently mentioned on another blog called The Johnny Law Chronicles. I discovered that blog several months ago through a link on Bobby G’s blog. Johnny Law is a pseudonym used by a current police officer in an undisclosed location.
I enjoy hearing JL's perspective as he writes about the frustration that comes from the often conflicting demands placed upon him by the public. I also like that he doesn’t seem to deal in ultimatums. A lot of police officers appear to be saying that the public should just shut up and quit complaining about the police. Many of them seem to think that people outside of their profession have no business at all in telling them what to do, even though they are the paid agents of those very people.
But what JL seems to be saying is that the public should either quit complaining about the fact that he uses physical force to subdue the crazy man, or the public must accept that the crazy man is going to hurt someone. In other words, he’s saying “Either change the requirements of my job, or shut the f**k up and let me do the job you’ve told me to do.” I think that’s a fair reaction to the damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation that many cops feel they are in.
JL doesn’t hedge about his thoughts on the drunk who pisses in an alley, then calls him a pig before he even has a chance to just tell the guy to move along rather than arrest him. And let’s face it, some people’s degree of idiocy is just too great to even warrant debating the issue. I think it was very fitting that he told that particular guy he was going to jail for being an asshole, rather than for public indecency.
I like his post about the girly-man for several reasons. On the one hand, he opines that citizens should be more willing to handle some issues themselves, rather than always calling the cops. I agree with this sentiment to some degree, but his commenters brought up a few very good points. First of all the official police spokespeople frequently suggest calling the police rather than handling an issue yourself. Also, there is too little context here to adequately appraise the situation. I know that I once walked out to ask a couple of drug dealers to get off my property. One of them responded rather vociferously and threatened to “take my house down”. There was also that night that I followed one of them out of my back yard only to run into about ten of his buddies standing in my front yard.
This post points out the irony of the man not wanting the girl to be arrested. So, he wants the police to enforce the law, but only to a limited degree? Yes, Johnny Law, some of us do get it. There is a house in my neighborhood which has a reported disturbance about once or twice a month. No one ever seems to get arrested from it though. I am guessing here, but I expect this is one of those cases where the man beats his wife/girlfriend until she calls the cops for help. Then as soon as they get there she proclaims that everything is fine. I think the person making the call to the police in cases like this should get one or perhaps two recants at best. After that, I think that if they are not willing to press charges then they should be charged with false reporting. I shouldn’t have to pay my police to baby sit!
This particular post also exemplifies something else I like about Johnny. Most of the comments here were not in direct agreement with his stated view, but he allowed them through anyway. True, JL does hold his comments until he has had a chance to review them, but from the comments of mine and others which he has allowed through I’d say he is a pretty fair blogger. Although he is definitely of strong opinion on most matters, he seems to grasp the concept that there actually might be some degree of legitimacy to points of view which are different than his own.
Overall, I’d say Johnny Law’s treatment of me and my blog was pretty fair based only upon what he has read here. I certainly don’t agree with all of his opinions about me, but I can see how he could get them from reading my blog. My story is far too complex to believe that I could have told it completely and accurately, and JL also does not have the benefit of being from this area and understanding the greater context in which my story takes place. But Johnny seems to be an introspective and inquisitive person who invites discussion and is willing to listen. And I’m not sure what else could be asked of a person.
JL has a sense of humor, which he displays in The Great Escape Attempt. Even a die hard cop-hater would have to laugh at that drunken fool. He also shows he can laugh at himself, which I take to be a sign of a functional personality.
Finally, he displays the one thing that might be most useful for someone who is not a cop to understand someone who is. The fact that the media and the public seem to be far more concerned about an arrest which may or may not have been appropriate, but which definitely resulted in little to no lasting damage, than they are with the deaths of people who fight to protect them is truly worth considering.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
A Simple Solution
You know, as a chronic speeder, I probably will regret making this suggestion, but I am going to offer my opinion anyway. The Fort Wayne Police Department currently has two problems on it’s hands. First of all, the cops are pissed that Chief Dumbfuck is now making them pay for their take home cars. This is negatively affecting officer morale. The other problem is that the cops aren’t writing enough speeding tickets now. Evidently, the second problem is a direct result of the first one, as the officers seem to be purposely relaxing their ticketing as a protest against the new take home car policy.
What I propose in order to rectify the situation is that every time an officer issues a speeding ticket, they be given a one dollar credit towards the cost of their take home vehicle. Only three tickets per work day and they’ve got the entire cost covered. And all the revenue generated from those tickets should more than cover the cost of the cars.
If the program succeeds, perhaps it could be used as a model for other types of problems. Arrest a drug dealer, get a credit towards a new vest. Arrest a child molester, get a free day off with pay. The possibilities for truly incentivizing police activity in this town are endless.
I would also suggest we revisit the idea of putting advertising logos on the police cars to generate revenue. Previously I had argued against this because I thought it was demeaning to the professional image of the officers. However, now realizing that some of them actually don’t mind looking like clowns, I propose that we make the logos optional per each officer’s preference.
Those who want to drive a billboard around town could be allowed to keep a small percentage of the revenue themselves, while the rest of the money would go to pay for their new clubhouse.
Remember, it’s all about the incentive. If you want law enforcement, you’ve got to show them the money!
What I propose in order to rectify the situation is that every time an officer issues a speeding ticket, they be given a one dollar credit towards the cost of their take home vehicle. Only three tickets per work day and they’ve got the entire cost covered. And all the revenue generated from those tickets should more than cover the cost of the cars.
If the program succeeds, perhaps it could be used as a model for other types of problems. Arrest a drug dealer, get a credit towards a new vest. Arrest a child molester, get a free day off with pay. The possibilities for truly incentivizing police activity in this town are endless.
I would also suggest we revisit the idea of putting advertising logos on the police cars to generate revenue. Previously I had argued against this because I thought it was demeaning to the professional image of the officers. However, now realizing that some of them actually don’t mind looking like clowns, I propose that we make the logos optional per each officer’s preference.
Those who want to drive a billboard around town could be allowed to keep a small percentage of the revenue themselves, while the rest of the money would go to pay for their new clubhouse.
Remember, it’s all about the incentive. If you want law enforcement, you’ve got to show them the money!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
XXXXX...Random Thoughts
I'm going to depart from convention here and, rather than write a long and drawn out commentary I am simply going to list several thoughts that are currently running through my mind. Many of them are related to the topic of my blog, and some aren't. Some are merely a statement of information which I am aware of but which the general public may not be. Others are just my opinion on matters which I am sure is probably very far from accurate on many accounts. I will number the comments to facilitate discussion for anyone who cares to respond.
1. R.P. is a neighbor of mine and a drug dealer. For the past several years, R.P. has been the single greatest instigator of the violent activities here. Last summer, R.P. helped his friend (Anthony Parrish) shoot another man, but was given a free pass on this in exchange for his testimony against his friend.
There are three rumors currently circulating in my neighborhood about R.P. The first is that he actually helped the same friend mentiond above kill another man earlier in 2008. That man was actually a distant relative of his and according to the police, they currently have no suspects in his murder. The second rumor is that R.P. will be dead within a year. It is being said that if he does not kill himself (through an overdose or by driving that damn moped into a tree), and if he is not killed by a friend or relative of the person he snitched on, then a Fort Wayne police officer will make sure the job is taken care of.
The third rumor is that R.P. has been a confidential informant for the Fort Wayne Police for the past couple of years. I have seen much evidence myself which tends to support this and in fact, I came to this conclusion alone, before realizing that the entire neighborhood was saying the same thing. This third point is what adds credence to the second. R.P. has created a lot of problems for this neighborhood and for the city. And he has done so while under the quasi-protection of the police. He is a liability that must be removed now.
I think I'll stop there on this topic and give responsible parties a chance to convince me that I should be talking to them instead of the public. If not, that's okay because I have plenty more to say.
2. I think most cops are very agressive, but I don't really fault them for this. I think the vast majority of people in our society want a police "force", not a bunch of social counselors protecting us from crime. While we certainly don't like it when the police tell us what to do, we would be far more upset if they didn't issue orders to anyone at all.
This Leviathan is of our own creation. Most people don't have the ability, the means, or the motivation to do what it takes to protect themselves from agression. Therefore we have authorized and paid others to act on our behalf. In this sense, the police are no different than soldiers. It just doesn't make sense to think you can train someone to kill, then put them in situations where their own lives are sometimes on the line, and then to expect everything to go smoothly.
Violence, by it's very nature, is uncontrollable, and the police and military are a minifestation of our own violent tendancies. Although I don't think this means they should be given a free pass to do whatever they wish, I do think that this should be taken into account to some degree whenever evaluating their behavior.
3. I think that most police officers are arrogant. I think this is similar to what occurs in many other specialized professions such as medical or legal. These people receive so much training that they are in most cases better informed and better equipped to deal with a situation that the average citizen. But I think they neglect to consider two very important points here. First of all, there is a huge difference between ignorance and stupidity. While most citizens are indeed ignorant of detailed police procedures, this does not mean they don't have anything important to add.
Most police officers, as well as other professionals, seem to assume that since the general public does not understand their special language and procedures that they therefore have very little constructive advice to offer them. This point is most pronounced when you see it played out between members of the same profession who work for different agencies. It is well known that the different units of our military force often look down on one another with a disparaging view. The same is often true in law enforcement as I have personally observed the schism between city police and county officers or between local and federal authorities.
There is no excuse for this type of arrogant behavior. It is a diservice to the public which pays these people's salaries and it is actually harmful to the arrogant ones themselves in many cases.
4. I think any person who carries an exposed weapon to a political rally is an idiot. And no, it doesn't really matter what the point of the protest is. By taking this action, they are intimating that they are prepared to use physical violence if their political agenda is not accepted.
5. I have sunflowers growing on the edge of my property that are now over ten feet tall! The fact that just a few months ago they were nothing but a tiny seed is something that I am astounded by.
6. Last month I dropped a board on my leg. Actually, I dropped a 16' board from eight feet up in the air, and caught it with my knee. In addition to the swelling from the impact, it got infected. At one point, my entire right leg from ankle to thigh was one and one half times as big as normal. I walked with a cane for a short time and for a while I began to worry that I might not fully recover from the injury. I was wrong, and I am once again amazed at the resilience of the human body.
7. I have a garden that is now producing corn, peppers (hot and mild), beans, squash and canteloupe. If you are a reader of this blog, and you like fresh produce, contact me and I'll hook you up.
8. I think many of the people in my neighborood or areas similar to it are absolutely terrorized of what goes on around them. While I suspect that Chief York's intentions in downplaying the reality of our criminal problems here is designed to not further encourage the criminals themselves, I think he completely fails to consider the kind of message this sends to law abiding citizens who are constantly living in fear of the problem which he says does not even exist.
9. I find it incredibly ridiculous when people who support their favored politician or party in usurping power of some sort get incredibly bent out of shape when the successor to that office (who is not favored by them) exercises the very authority which was handed to them as part of the expanded powers of that office.
10. I think Rusty York, Nancy becher, Kevin Corey, and Lynne Wetmore (all current or former members of the FWPD Command Staff) are completely worthless as police officers. Either through stupidity, ignorance, cowardice or sheer malice, they cause harm to every law abiding citizen and every decent officer who works for the department.
11. I think $14 million is far too much to pay for Renaissance Square. Mayor Henry's unwillingness to negotiate for a fair price on behalf of the citizen's he purports to represent makes one wonder what type of cronyism is at play with this deal.
12. I think that allowing the City of Fort Wayne, which has proven to be very inadequate at managing nearly every enterprise it undertakes, to assume responsibility for the supply of electricity to our homes would be sheer lunacy.
13. I wonder why Rico Parrish's photo shows up in the "Mugshots" magazine, but not in the Allen County on-line warrants.
14. I wonder why, when I leave a voicemail with a FWPD officer saying that I overheard a drug dealer threatening to kill three other drug dealers, moments after one of them fired shots at him, I don't receive a reply. And when one of those drug dealers specifically mentioned in the death threat wids up being shot to death a few months later, and I still receive no call, I wonder a bit more.
15. I wonder why, when I witness a drug dealer purchasing an illegal gun here, and I call the police to report it, they don't send an officer out to check on it and they don't call me to ask any further questions. And when the same person who bought the gun later assualts a FWPD officer, wonder if anyone in that department is smart enough to make the connection and realize that I really am trying to help them.
16. When the police publicly claim a big part of the problem is that citizens wont get involved and engage them, I wonder why when a person actually does this they are then viewed as the enemy by the police.
17. I think it is ridiculous to state that although the City is paying out a third of a million dollars to settle a wrongful death suite, the officer who fired the shots actually did nothing wrong. And I think it is even more ridiculous to conceal the evidence from the very people who have to pay for it.
18. The more I observe and hear from others of the behavior of FWPD, I am increasingly inclined to think they should change their motto from "To Serve and to Protect" to "To Abuse and to Neglect." And I am getting very close to making up a large banner that says this, along with the official FWPD shield with a big "X" through it, and exercise my First Amendment rights by affixing it to the side of my house.
19. I am equally close to printing up a large sign that says "Rusty York is a Coward, Liar and a Fool." and standing outside the FWPD headquarters and in front of the City County building to display it.
20. Sometimes I think the police are just plain stupid. As a case in point, I will relay a conversation I recently had with one FWPD officer. This conversation occurred as the beginning of the attempted mureder trial for Anthony Parrish. This was for the shooting which occurred near my house last summer. Both Rico Parish (mentioned in #1 above) were witnesses to in this trial. I showed up early, Rico didn't show up at all. As the court began to scramble, wondering how they would proceed if Rico wasn't present, I said to one of the officers I knew " Looks like Rico decided to sleep in today. Maybe I should have knocked on his door and offered him a ride.
The officer responded by telling me that Rico no loger lived here. I, in turn, responded that whatever Rico lists as his leagl address, he is in fact still living here with his grandmother. Although I didn't mention this fact to the officer, I have witnessed Rico shooting his gun several times in the past few months from his (granmother's) house here. What i did tell the officer was that just the day before I had witnessed Rico walking down the alley from his granma's to the drug house he currently likes to hang out at.
The officer just looked at me stunned and said "Really?" After I convinced him that Rico was in fact still living here, they sent a posse out to get him. A short while later they returned to the Courthouse with Rico in cuffs and the officer confirmed that he was found at grandma's. So, what I wonder is are the police really stupid enough to just take a drug dealing, gun shooting (possibly) murderous man at his word when he tells them where to find him. Well, sadly, I have plenty of other examples which indicate that they really just might be that stupid.
21. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. Well, I have been blogging for quite while now. One of my main goals was to convince FWPD that private dialogue with me would be better for them than my public diatribes. But they have repeatedly proven to me that they will not accepot any criticism at all of their own actions and that they refuse to engage in honost dialogue. Continuing along my current path will not affect change no matter how long I travel, so I have a choice to make. Either I give up my campaign to make FWPD honest, and acceot their bullshit, or I step up the campaign a bit.
22. Clausewitz explained how war and politics are intimately connected as part of the same continuum. When two people or groups of people have issues of disagreement, they can either talk about them (politics) or fight over them (warfare). It is important to note here that warfare takes many forms besides actual physical assault. Espionage is warfare, and so to is propaganda, as they both lie outside the realm of honest dialogue.
And it is the propagand element which FWPD so excells at. They have created their own perfect paradigm where the citizens, and not themselves, can always be blamed for any dysfunction. If we don't talk to them, we are part of the problem. And when we do talk to them they often complain that we are now expecting too much from them. Either that or they simply ignore us to the point where we naturally revert to no longer talking to them, then they can once again blame us for being a part of the problem.
23. Last Tuesday, I attended the City Council meeting with the sole intent of publicly delivering to them what would have effectively been my declaration of war against the Fort Wayne Police Department. As the meeting progressed though I realized that I was being a bit rash. Although the police department has made it clear that nothing short of a lawsuit will get their attention, and although I know that several members of Council are aware of my situation, the fact is that to publicly rebuke them without first laying out my caes to them in a concise and private manner would be neither fair nor supportive of my goals.
So, seeking to take the high road, I will make my case to them in private first, and give them a chance to show where they stand. Hopefully, at least one of them will have the intelligence to realize that engaging me in dialoge would be the right thing to do. And hopefully someone among them will have the courage to do what is necessary to help straighten out the serious problems which exist at FWPD. If not, then I'll return to public my campaign against FWPD, but this time in a far more pernicious manner.
24. I will not have access to my computer for the next several days. Feel free to leave your comments, but please don't be offended if I don't respond to them for a while.
Addendum:
Regarding points number 18 and 19 above, I want to make it clear that my negative disposition towards FWPD is not a reflection of my experiences with the average patrol officer. But it does fairly summarize my experiences with the higher ranking members that I have interacted with, as well as the deceitful propaganda they regularly foist upon the public.
And the fact is, if a low ranking officer follows the line of B.S. put out by their Command, even when they know it is harmful to the citizens who they have sworn to serve and to protect, then they are guilty as well. "Just doing my job" is not an adequate excuse for being silent as the people who are responsible for ensuring public safetey actually make a mockery of their duties!
I will expose the corruption within FWPD. Although my targets are those at the top, they have designed a system where I must tread upon their lower ranking members first in order to get to them. So be it - War is hell. Although I regret that very soon I will probably be causing a lot of discomfort to people who really have little power to affect the situation, I also realize that I have little other choice than to do this.
So, if you're a Fort Wayne police officer reading this, don't get mad at me. All I want is honest dialogue with your leaders. If they are unwilling or unable to deliver that, then you can either accept the fact that you work for a bunch of lying and cowardly dogs, or you can find a respectable organization to work for.
1. R.P. is a neighbor of mine and a drug dealer. For the past several years, R.P. has been the single greatest instigator of the violent activities here. Last summer, R.P. helped his friend (Anthony Parrish) shoot another man, but was given a free pass on this in exchange for his testimony against his friend.
There are three rumors currently circulating in my neighborhood about R.P. The first is that he actually helped the same friend mentiond above kill another man earlier in 2008. That man was actually a distant relative of his and according to the police, they currently have no suspects in his murder. The second rumor is that R.P. will be dead within a year. It is being said that if he does not kill himself (through an overdose or by driving that damn moped into a tree), and if he is not killed by a friend or relative of the person he snitched on, then a Fort Wayne police officer will make sure the job is taken care of.
The third rumor is that R.P. has been a confidential informant for the Fort Wayne Police for the past couple of years. I have seen much evidence myself which tends to support this and in fact, I came to this conclusion alone, before realizing that the entire neighborhood was saying the same thing. This third point is what adds credence to the second. R.P. has created a lot of problems for this neighborhood and for the city. And he has done so while under the quasi-protection of the police. He is a liability that must be removed now.
I think I'll stop there on this topic and give responsible parties a chance to convince me that I should be talking to them instead of the public. If not, that's okay because I have plenty more to say.
2. I think most cops are very agressive, but I don't really fault them for this. I think the vast majority of people in our society want a police "force", not a bunch of social counselors protecting us from crime. While we certainly don't like it when the police tell us what to do, we would be far more upset if they didn't issue orders to anyone at all.
This Leviathan is of our own creation. Most people don't have the ability, the means, or the motivation to do what it takes to protect themselves from agression. Therefore we have authorized and paid others to act on our behalf. In this sense, the police are no different than soldiers. It just doesn't make sense to think you can train someone to kill, then put them in situations where their own lives are sometimes on the line, and then to expect everything to go smoothly.
Violence, by it's very nature, is uncontrollable, and the police and military are a minifestation of our own violent tendancies. Although I don't think this means they should be given a free pass to do whatever they wish, I do think that this should be taken into account to some degree whenever evaluating their behavior.
3. I think that most police officers are arrogant. I think this is similar to what occurs in many other specialized professions such as medical or legal. These people receive so much training that they are in most cases better informed and better equipped to deal with a situation that the average citizen. But I think they neglect to consider two very important points here. First of all, there is a huge difference between ignorance and stupidity. While most citizens are indeed ignorant of detailed police procedures, this does not mean they don't have anything important to add.
Most police officers, as well as other professionals, seem to assume that since the general public does not understand their special language and procedures that they therefore have very little constructive advice to offer them. This point is most pronounced when you see it played out between members of the same profession who work for different agencies. It is well known that the different units of our military force often look down on one another with a disparaging view. The same is often true in law enforcement as I have personally observed the schism between city police and county officers or between local and federal authorities.
There is no excuse for this type of arrogant behavior. It is a diservice to the public which pays these people's salaries and it is actually harmful to the arrogant ones themselves in many cases.
4. I think any person who carries an exposed weapon to a political rally is an idiot. And no, it doesn't really matter what the point of the protest is. By taking this action, they are intimating that they are prepared to use physical violence if their political agenda is not accepted.
5. I have sunflowers growing on the edge of my property that are now over ten feet tall! The fact that just a few months ago they were nothing but a tiny seed is something that I am astounded by.
6. Last month I dropped a board on my leg. Actually, I dropped a 16' board from eight feet up in the air, and caught it with my knee. In addition to the swelling from the impact, it got infected. At one point, my entire right leg from ankle to thigh was one and one half times as big as normal. I walked with a cane for a short time and for a while I began to worry that I might not fully recover from the injury. I was wrong, and I am once again amazed at the resilience of the human body.
7. I have a garden that is now producing corn, peppers (hot and mild), beans, squash and canteloupe. If you are a reader of this blog, and you like fresh produce, contact me and I'll hook you up.
8. I think many of the people in my neighborood or areas similar to it are absolutely terrorized of what goes on around them. While I suspect that Chief York's intentions in downplaying the reality of our criminal problems here is designed to not further encourage the criminals themselves, I think he completely fails to consider the kind of message this sends to law abiding citizens who are constantly living in fear of the problem which he says does not even exist.
9. I find it incredibly ridiculous when people who support their favored politician or party in usurping power of some sort get incredibly bent out of shape when the successor to that office (who is not favored by them) exercises the very authority which was handed to them as part of the expanded powers of that office.
10. I think Rusty York, Nancy becher, Kevin Corey, and Lynne Wetmore (all current or former members of the FWPD Command Staff) are completely worthless as police officers. Either through stupidity, ignorance, cowardice or sheer malice, they cause harm to every law abiding citizen and every decent officer who works for the department.
11. I think $14 million is far too much to pay for Renaissance Square. Mayor Henry's unwillingness to negotiate for a fair price on behalf of the citizen's he purports to represent makes one wonder what type of cronyism is at play with this deal.
12. I think that allowing the City of Fort Wayne, which has proven to be very inadequate at managing nearly every enterprise it undertakes, to assume responsibility for the supply of electricity to our homes would be sheer lunacy.
13. I wonder why Rico Parrish's photo shows up in the "Mugshots" magazine, but not in the Allen County on-line warrants.
14. I wonder why, when I leave a voicemail with a FWPD officer saying that I overheard a drug dealer threatening to kill three other drug dealers, moments after one of them fired shots at him, I don't receive a reply. And when one of those drug dealers specifically mentioned in the death threat wids up being shot to death a few months later, and I still receive no call, I wonder a bit more.
15. I wonder why, when I witness a drug dealer purchasing an illegal gun here, and I call the police to report it, they don't send an officer out to check on it and they don't call me to ask any further questions. And when the same person who bought the gun later assualts a FWPD officer, wonder if anyone in that department is smart enough to make the connection and realize that I really am trying to help them.
16. When the police publicly claim a big part of the problem is that citizens wont get involved and engage them, I wonder why when a person actually does this they are then viewed as the enemy by the police.
17. I think it is ridiculous to state that although the City is paying out a third of a million dollars to settle a wrongful death suite, the officer who fired the shots actually did nothing wrong. And I think it is even more ridiculous to conceal the evidence from the very people who have to pay for it.
18. The more I observe and hear from others of the behavior of FWPD, I am increasingly inclined to think they should change their motto from "To Serve and to Protect" to "To Abuse and to Neglect." And I am getting very close to making up a large banner that says this, along with the official FWPD shield with a big "X" through it, and exercise my First Amendment rights by affixing it to the side of my house.
19. I am equally close to printing up a large sign that says "Rusty York is a Coward, Liar and a Fool." and standing outside the FWPD headquarters and in front of the City County building to display it.
20. Sometimes I think the police are just plain stupid. As a case in point, I will relay a conversation I recently had with one FWPD officer. This conversation occurred as the beginning of the attempted mureder trial for Anthony Parrish. This was for the shooting which occurred near my house last summer. Both Rico Parish (mentioned in #1 above) were witnesses to in this trial. I showed up early, Rico didn't show up at all. As the court began to scramble, wondering how they would proceed if Rico wasn't present, I said to one of the officers I knew " Looks like Rico decided to sleep in today. Maybe I should have knocked on his door and offered him a ride.
The officer responded by telling me that Rico no loger lived here. I, in turn, responded that whatever Rico lists as his leagl address, he is in fact still living here with his grandmother. Although I didn't mention this fact to the officer, I have witnessed Rico shooting his gun several times in the past few months from his (granmother's) house here. What i did tell the officer was that just the day before I had witnessed Rico walking down the alley from his granma's to the drug house he currently likes to hang out at.
The officer just looked at me stunned and said "Really?" After I convinced him that Rico was in fact still living here, they sent a posse out to get him. A short while later they returned to the Courthouse with Rico in cuffs and the officer confirmed that he was found at grandma's. So, what I wonder is are the police really stupid enough to just take a drug dealing, gun shooting (possibly) murderous man at his word when he tells them where to find him. Well, sadly, I have plenty of other examples which indicate that they really just might be that stupid.
21. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. Well, I have been blogging for quite while now. One of my main goals was to convince FWPD that private dialogue with me would be better for them than my public diatribes. But they have repeatedly proven to me that they will not accepot any criticism at all of their own actions and that they refuse to engage in honost dialogue. Continuing along my current path will not affect change no matter how long I travel, so I have a choice to make. Either I give up my campaign to make FWPD honest, and acceot their bullshit, or I step up the campaign a bit.
22. Clausewitz explained how war and politics are intimately connected as part of the same continuum. When two people or groups of people have issues of disagreement, they can either talk about them (politics) or fight over them (warfare). It is important to note here that warfare takes many forms besides actual physical assault. Espionage is warfare, and so to is propaganda, as they both lie outside the realm of honest dialogue.
And it is the propagand element which FWPD so excells at. They have created their own perfect paradigm where the citizens, and not themselves, can always be blamed for any dysfunction. If we don't talk to them, we are part of the problem. And when we do talk to them they often complain that we are now expecting too much from them. Either that or they simply ignore us to the point where we naturally revert to no longer talking to them, then they can once again blame us for being a part of the problem.
23. Last Tuesday, I attended the City Council meeting with the sole intent of publicly delivering to them what would have effectively been my declaration of war against the Fort Wayne Police Department. As the meeting progressed though I realized that I was being a bit rash. Although the police department has made it clear that nothing short of a lawsuit will get their attention, and although I know that several members of Council are aware of my situation, the fact is that to publicly rebuke them without first laying out my caes to them in a concise and private manner would be neither fair nor supportive of my goals.
So, seeking to take the high road, I will make my case to them in private first, and give them a chance to show where they stand. Hopefully, at least one of them will have the intelligence to realize that engaging me in dialoge would be the right thing to do. And hopefully someone among them will have the courage to do what is necessary to help straighten out the serious problems which exist at FWPD. If not, then I'll return to public my campaign against FWPD, but this time in a far more pernicious manner.
24. I will not have access to my computer for the next several days. Feel free to leave your comments, but please don't be offended if I don't respond to them for a while.
Addendum:
Regarding points number 18 and 19 above, I want to make it clear that my negative disposition towards FWPD is not a reflection of my experiences with the average patrol officer. But it does fairly summarize my experiences with the higher ranking members that I have interacted with, as well as the deceitful propaganda they regularly foist upon the public.
And the fact is, if a low ranking officer follows the line of B.S. put out by their Command, even when they know it is harmful to the citizens who they have sworn to serve and to protect, then they are guilty as well. "Just doing my job" is not an adequate excuse for being silent as the people who are responsible for ensuring public safetey actually make a mockery of their duties!
I will expose the corruption within FWPD. Although my targets are those at the top, they have designed a system where I must tread upon their lower ranking members first in order to get to them. So be it - War is hell. Although I regret that very soon I will probably be causing a lot of discomfort to people who really have little power to affect the situation, I also realize that I have little other choice than to do this.
So, if you're a Fort Wayne police officer reading this, don't get mad at me. All I want is honest dialogue with your leaders. If they are unwilling or unable to deliver that, then you can either accept the fact that you work for a bunch of lying and cowardly dogs, or you can find a respectable organization to work for.
Random Thoughts
I'm going to depart from convention here and, rather than write a long and drawn out commentary I am simply going to list several thoughts that are currently running through my mind. Many of them are related to the topic of my blog, and some aren't. Some are merely a statement of information which I am aware of but which the general public may not be. Others are just my opinion on matters which I am sure is probably very far from accurate on many accounts. I will number the comments to facilitate discussion for anyone who cares to respond.
1. R.P. is a neighbor of mine and a drug dealer. For the past several years, R.P. has been the single greatest instigator of the violent activities here. Last summer, R.P. helped his friend (Anthony Parrish) shoot another man, but was given a free pass on this in exchange for his testimony against his friend.
There are three rumors currently circulating in my neighborhood about R.P. The first is that he actually helped the same friend mentiond above kill another man earlier in 2008. That man was actually a distant relative of his and according to the police, they currently have no suspects in his murder. The second rumor is that R.P. will be dead within a year. It is being said that if he does not kill himself (through an overdose or by driving that damn moped into a tree), and if he is not killed by a friend or relative of the person he snitched on, then a Fort Wayne police officer will make sure the job is taken care of.
The third rumor is that R.P. has been a confidential informant for the Fort Wayne Police for the past couple of years. I have seen much evidence myself which tends to support this and in fact, I came to this conclusion alone, before realizing that the entire neighborhood was saying the same thing. This third point is what adds credence to the second. R.P. has created a lot of problems for this neighborhood and for the city. And he has done so while under the quasi-protection of the police. He is a liability that must be removed now.
I think I'll stop there on this topic and give responsible parties a chance to convince me that I should be talking to them instead of the public. If not, that's okay because I have plenty more to say.
2. I think most cops are very agressive, but I don't really fault them for this. I think the vast majority of people in our society want a police "force", not a bunch of social counselors protecting us from crime. While we certainly don't like it when the police tell us what to do, we would be far more upset if they didn't issue orders to anyone at all.
This Leviathan is of our own creation. Most people don't have the ability, the means, or the motivation to do what it takes to protect themselves from agression. Therefore we have authorized and paid others to act on our behalf. In this sense, the police are no different than soldiers. It just doesn't make sense to think you can train someone to kill, then put them in situations where their own lives are sometimes on the line, and then to expect everything to go smoothly.
Violence, by it's very nature, is uncontrollable, and the police and military are a minifestation of our own violent tendancies. Although I don't think this means they should be given a free pass to do whatever they wish, I do think that this should be taken into account to some degree whenever evaluating their behavior.
3. I think that most police officers are arrogant. I think this is similar to what occurs in many other specialized professions such as medical or legal. These people receive so much training that they are in most cases better informed and better equipped to deal with a situation that the average citizen. But I think they neglect to consider two very important points here. First of all, there is a huge difference between ignorance and stupidity. While most citizens are indeed ignorant of detailed police procedures, this does not mean they don't have anything important to add.
Most police officers, as well as other professionals, seem to assume that since the general public does not understand their special language and procedures that they therefore have very little constructive advice to offer them. This point is most pronounced when you see it played out between members of the same profession who work for different agencies. It is well known that the different units of our military force often look down on one another with a disparaging view. The same is often true in law enforcement as I have personally observed the schism between city police and county officers or between local and federal authorities.
There is no excuse for this type of arrogant behavior. It is a diservice to the public which pays these people's salaries and it is actually harmful to the arrogant ones themselves in many cases.
4. I think any person who carries an exposed weapon to a political rally is an idiot. And no, it doesn't really matter what the point of the protest is. By taking this action, they are intimating that they are prepared to use physical violence if their political agenda is not accepted.
5. I have sunflowers growing on the edge of my property that are now over ten feet tall! The fact that just a few months ago they were nothing but a tiny seed is something that I am astounded by.
6. Last month I dropped a board on my leg. Actually, I dropped a 16' board from eight feet up in the air, and caught it with my knee. In addition to the swelling from the impact, it got infected. At one point, my entire right leg from ankle to thigh was one and one half times as big as normal. I walked with a cane for a short time and for a while I began to worry that I might not fully recover from the injury. I was wrong, and I am once again amazed at the resilience of the human body.
7. I have a garden that is now producing corn, peppers (hot and mild), beans, squash and canteloupe. If you are a reader of this blog, and you like fresh produce, contact me and I'll hook you up.
8. I think many of the people in my neighborood or areas similar to it are absolutely terrorized of what goes on around them. While I suspect that Chief York's intentions in downplaying the reality of our criminal problems here is designed to not further encourage the criminals themselves, I think he completely fails to consider the kind of message this sends to law abiding citizens who are constantly living in fear of the problem which he says does not even exist.
9. I find it incredibly ridiculous when people who support their favored politician or party in usurping power of some sort get incredibly bent out of shape when the successor to that office (who is not favored by them) exercises the very authority which was handed to them as part of the expanded powers of that office.
10. I think Rusty York, Nancy becher, Kevin Corey, and Lynne Wetmore (all current or former members of the FWPD Command Staff) are completely worthless as police officers. Either through stupidity, ignorance, cowardice or sheer malice, they cause harm to every law abiding citizen and every decent officer who works for the department.
11. I think $14 million is far too much to pay for Renaissance Square. Mayor Henry's unwillingness to negotiate for a fair price on behalf of the citizen's he purports to represent makes one wonder what type of cronyism is at play with this deal.
12. I think that allowing the City of Fort Wayne, which has proven to be very inadequate at managing nearly every enterprise it undertakes, to assume responsibility for the supply of electricity to our homes would be sheer lunacy.
13. I wonder why Rico Parrish's photo shows up in the "Mugshots" magazine, but not in the Allen County on-line warrants.
14. I wonder why, when I leave a voicemail with a FWPD officer saying that I overheard a drug dealer threatening to kill three other drug dealers, moments after one of them fired shots at him, I don't receive a reply. And when one of those drug dealers specifically mentioned in the death threat wids up being shot to death a few months later, and I still receive no call, I wonder a bit more.
15. I wonder why, when I witness a drug dealer purchasing an illegal gun here, and I call the police to report it, they don't send an officer out to check on it and they don't call me to ask any further questions. And when the same person who bought the gun later assualts a FWPD officer, wonder if anyone in that department is smart enough to make the connection and realize that I really am trying to help them.
16. When the police publicly claim a big part of the problem is that citizens wont get involved and engage them, I wonder why when a person actually does this they are then viewed as the enemy by the police.
17. I think it is ridiculous to state that although the City is paying out a third of a million dollars to settle a wrongful death suite, the officer who fired the shots actually did nothing wrong. And I think it is even more ridiculous to conceal the evidence from the very people who have to pay for it.
18. The more I observe and hear from others of the behavior of FWPD, I am increasingly inclined to think they should change their motto from "To Serve and to Protect" to "To Abuse and to Neglect." And I am getting very close to making up a large banner that says this, along with the official FWPD shield with a big "X" through it, and exercise my First Amendment rights by affixing it to the side of my house.
19. I am equally close to printing up a large sign that says "Rusty York is a Coward, Liar and a Fool." and standing outside the FWPD headquarters and in front of the City County building to display it.
20. Sometimes I think the police are just plain stupid. As a case in point, I will relay a conversation I recently had with one FWPD officer. This conversation occurred as the beginning of the attempted mureder trial for Anthony Parrish. This was for the shooting which occurred near my house last summer. Both Rico Parish (mentioned in #1 above) were witnesses to in this trial. I showed up early, Rico didn't show up at all. As the court began to scramble, wondering how they would proceed if Rico wasn't present, I said to one of the officers I knew " Looks like Rico decided to sleep in today. Maybe I should have knocked on his door and offered him a ride.
The officer responded by telling me that Rico no loger lived here. I, in turn, responded that whatever Rico lists as his leagl address, he is in fact still living here with his grandmother. Although I didn't mention this fact to the officer, I have witnessed Rico shooting his gun several times in the past few months from his (granmother's) house here. What i did tell the officer was that just the day before I had witnessed Rico walking down the alley from his granma's to the drug house he currently likes to hang out at.
The officer just looked at me stunned and said "Really?" After I convinced him that Rico was in fact still living here, they sent a posse out to get him. A short while later they returned to the Courthouse with Rico in cuffs and the officer confirmed that he was found at grandma's. So, what I wonder is are the police really stupid enough to just take a drug dealing, gun shooting (possibly) murderous man at his word when he tells them where to find him. Well, sadly, I have plenty of other examples which indicate that they really just might be that stupid.
21. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. Well, I have been blogging for quite while now. One of my main goals was to convince FWPD that private dialogue with me would be better for them than my public diatribes. But they have repeatedly proven to me that they will not accepot any criticism at all of their own actions and that they refuse to engage in honost dialogue. Continuing along my current path will not affect change no matter how long I travel, so I have a choice to make. Either I give up my campaign to make FWPD honest, and acceot their bullshit, or I step up the campaign a bit.
22. Clausewitz explained how war and politics are intimately connected as part of the same continuum. When two people or groups of people have issues of disagreement, they can either talk about them (politics) or fight over them (warfare). It is important to note here that warfare takes many forms besides actual physical assault. Espionage is warfare, and so to is propaganda, as they both lie outside the realm of honest dialogue.
And it is the propagand element which FWPD so excells at. They have created their own perfect paradigm where the citizens, and not themselves, can always be blamed for any dysfunction. If we don't talk to them, we are part of the problem. And when we do talk to them they often complain that we are now expecting too much from them. Either that or they simply ignore us to the point where we naturally revert to no longer talking to them, then they can once again blame us for being a part of the problem.
23. Last Tuesday, I attended the City Council meeting with the sole intent of publicly delivering to them what would have effectively been my declaration of war against the Fort Wayne Police Department. As the meeting progressed though I realized that I was being a bit rash. Although the police department has made it clear that nothing short of a lawsuit will get their attention, and although I know that several members of Council are aware of my situation, the fact is that to publicly rebuke them without first laying out my caes to them in a concise and private manner would be neither fair nor supportive of my goals.
So, seeking to take the high road, I will make my case to them in private first, and give them a chance to show where they stand. Hopefully, at least one of them will have the intelligence to realize that engaging me in dialoge would be the right thing to do. And hopefully someone among them will have the courage to do what is necessary to help straighten out the serious problems which exist at FWPD. If not, then I'll return to public my campaign against FWPD, but this time in a far more pernicious manner.
24. I will not have access to my computer for the next several days. Feel free to leave your comments, but please don't be offended if I don't respond to them for a while.
Addendum:
Regarding points number 18 and 19 above, I want to make it clear that my negative disposition towards FWPD is not a reflection of my experiences with the average patrol officer. But it does fairly summarize my experiences with the higher ranking members that I have interacted with, as well as the deceitful propaganda they regularly foist upon the public.
And the fact is, if a low ranking officer follows the line of B.S. put out by their Command, even when they know it is harmful to the citizens who they have sworn to serve and to protect, then they are guilty as well. "Just doing my job" is not an adequate excuse for being silent as the people who are responsible for ensuring public safetey actually make a mockery of their duties!
I will expose the corruption within FWPD. Although my targets are those at the top, they have designed a system where I must tread upon their lower ranking members first in order to get to them. So be it - War is hell. Although I regret that very soon I will probably be causing a lot of discomfort to people who really have little power to affect the situation, I also realize that I have little other choice than to do this.
So, if you're a Fort Wayne police officer reading this, don't get mad at me. All I want is honest dialogue with your leaders. If they are unwilling or unable to deliver that, then you can either accept the fact that you work for a bunch of lying and cowardly dogs, or you can find a respectable organization to work for.
1. R.P. is a neighbor of mine and a drug dealer. For the past several years, R.P. has been the single greatest instigator of the violent activities here. Last summer, R.P. helped his friend (Anthony Parrish) shoot another man, but was given a free pass on this in exchange for his testimony against his friend.
There are three rumors currently circulating in my neighborhood about R.P. The first is that he actually helped the same friend mentiond above kill another man earlier in 2008. That man was actually a distant relative of his and according to the police, they currently have no suspects in his murder. The second rumor is that R.P. will be dead within a year. It is being said that if he does not kill himself (through an overdose or by driving that damn moped into a tree), and if he is not killed by a friend or relative of the person he snitched on, then a Fort Wayne police officer will make sure the job is taken care of.
The third rumor is that R.P. has been a confidential informant for the Fort Wayne Police for the past couple of years. I have seen much evidence myself which tends to support this and in fact, I came to this conclusion alone, before realizing that the entire neighborhood was saying the same thing. This third point is what adds credence to the second. R.P. has created a lot of problems for this neighborhood and for the city. And he has done so while under the quasi-protection of the police. He is a liability that must be removed now.
I think I'll stop there on this topic and give responsible parties a chance to convince me that I should be talking to them instead of the public. If not, that's okay because I have plenty more to say.
2. I think most cops are very agressive, but I don't really fault them for this. I think the vast majority of people in our society want a police "force", not a bunch of social counselors protecting us from crime. While we certainly don't like it when the police tell us what to do, we would be far more upset if they didn't issue orders to anyone at all.
This Leviathan is of our own creation. Most people don't have the ability, the means, or the motivation to do what it takes to protect themselves from agression. Therefore we have authorized and paid others to act on our behalf. In this sense, the police are no different than soldiers. It just doesn't make sense to think you can train someone to kill, then put them in situations where their own lives are sometimes on the line, and then to expect everything to go smoothly.
Violence, by it's very nature, is uncontrollable, and the police and military are a minifestation of our own violent tendancies. Although I don't think this means they should be given a free pass to do whatever they wish, I do think that this should be taken into account to some degree whenever evaluating their behavior.
3. I think that most police officers are arrogant. I think this is similar to what occurs in many other specialized professions such as medical or legal. These people receive so much training that they are in most cases better informed and better equipped to deal with a situation that the average citizen. But I think they neglect to consider two very important points here. First of all, there is a huge difference between ignorance and stupidity. While most citizens are indeed ignorant of detailed police procedures, this does not mean they don't have anything important to add.
Most police officers, as well as other professionals, seem to assume that since the general public does not understand their special language and procedures that they therefore have very little constructive advice to offer them. This point is most pronounced when you see it played out between members of the same profession who work for different agencies. It is well known that the different units of our military force often look down on one another with a disparaging view. The same is often true in law enforcement as I have personally observed the schism between city police and county officers or between local and federal authorities.
There is no excuse for this type of arrogant behavior. It is a diservice to the public which pays these people's salaries and it is actually harmful to the arrogant ones themselves in many cases.
4. I think any person who carries an exposed weapon to a political rally is an idiot. And no, it doesn't really matter what the point of the protest is. By taking this action, they are intimating that they are prepared to use physical violence if their political agenda is not accepted.
5. I have sunflowers growing on the edge of my property that are now over ten feet tall! The fact that just a few months ago they were nothing but a tiny seed is something that I am astounded by.
6. Last month I dropped a board on my leg. Actually, I dropped a 16' board from eight feet up in the air, and caught it with my knee. In addition to the swelling from the impact, it got infected. At one point, my entire right leg from ankle to thigh was one and one half times as big as normal. I walked with a cane for a short time and for a while I began to worry that I might not fully recover from the injury. I was wrong, and I am once again amazed at the resilience of the human body.
7. I have a garden that is now producing corn, peppers (hot and mild), beans, squash and canteloupe. If you are a reader of this blog, and you like fresh produce, contact me and I'll hook you up.
8. I think many of the people in my neighborood or areas similar to it are absolutely terrorized of what goes on around them. While I suspect that Chief York's intentions in downplaying the reality of our criminal problems here is designed to not further encourage the criminals themselves, I think he completely fails to consider the kind of message this sends to law abiding citizens who are constantly living in fear of the problem which he says does not even exist.
9. I find it incredibly ridiculous when people who support their favored politician or party in usurping power of some sort get incredibly bent out of shape when the successor to that office (who is not favored by them) exercises the very authority which was handed to them as part of the expanded powers of that office.
10. I think Rusty York, Nancy becher, Kevin Corey, and Lynne Wetmore (all current or former members of the FWPD Command Staff) are completely worthless as police officers. Either through stupidity, ignorance, cowardice or sheer malice, they cause harm to every law abiding citizen and every decent officer who works for the department.
11. I think $14 million is far too much to pay for Renaissance Square. Mayor Henry's unwillingness to negotiate for a fair price on behalf of the citizen's he purports to represent makes one wonder what type of cronyism is at play with this deal.
12. I think that allowing the City of Fort Wayne, which has proven to be very inadequate at managing nearly every enterprise it undertakes, to assume responsibility for the supply of electricity to our homes would be sheer lunacy.
13. I wonder why Rico Parrish's photo shows up in the "Mugshots" magazine, but not in the Allen County on-line warrants.
14. I wonder why, when I leave a voicemail with a FWPD officer saying that I overheard a drug dealer threatening to kill three other drug dealers, moments after one of them fired shots at him, I don't receive a reply. And when one of those drug dealers specifically mentioned in the death threat wids up being shot to death a few months later, and I still receive no call, I wonder a bit more.
15. I wonder why, when I witness a drug dealer purchasing an illegal gun here, and I call the police to report it, they don't send an officer out to check on it and they don't call me to ask any further questions. And when the same person who bought the gun later assualts a FWPD officer, wonder if anyone in that department is smart enough to make the connection and realize that I really am trying to help them.
16. When the police publicly claim a big part of the problem is that citizens wont get involved and engage them, I wonder why when a person actually does this they are then viewed as the enemy by the police.
17. I think it is ridiculous to state that although the City is paying out a third of a million dollars to settle a wrongful death suite, the officer who fired the shots actually did nothing wrong. And I think it is even more ridiculous to conceal the evidence from the very people who have to pay for it.
18. The more I observe and hear from others of the behavior of FWPD, I am increasingly inclined to think they should change their motto from "To Serve and to Protect" to "To Abuse and to Neglect." And I am getting very close to making up a large banner that says this, along with the official FWPD shield with a big "X" through it, and exercise my First Amendment rights by affixing it to the side of my house.
19. I am equally close to printing up a large sign that says "Rusty York is a Coward, Liar and a Fool." and standing outside the FWPD headquarters and in front of the City County building to display it.
20. Sometimes I think the police are just plain stupid. As a case in point, I will relay a conversation I recently had with one FWPD officer. This conversation occurred as the beginning of the attempted mureder trial for Anthony Parrish. This was for the shooting which occurred near my house last summer. Both Rico Parish (mentioned in #1 above) were witnesses to in this trial. I showed up early, Rico didn't show up at all. As the court began to scramble, wondering how they would proceed if Rico wasn't present, I said to one of the officers I knew " Looks like Rico decided to sleep in today. Maybe I should have knocked on his door and offered him a ride.
The officer responded by telling me that Rico no loger lived here. I, in turn, responded that whatever Rico lists as his leagl address, he is in fact still living here with his grandmother. Although I didn't mention this fact to the officer, I have witnessed Rico shooting his gun several times in the past few months from his (granmother's) house here. What i did tell the officer was that just the day before I had witnessed Rico walking down the alley from his granma's to the drug house he currently likes to hang out at.
The officer just looked at me stunned and said "Really?" After I convinced him that Rico was in fact still living here, they sent a posse out to get him. A short while later they returned to the Courthouse with Rico in cuffs and the officer confirmed that he was found at grandma's. So, what I wonder is are the police really stupid enough to just take a drug dealing, gun shooting (possibly) murderous man at his word when he tells them where to find him. Well, sadly, I have plenty of other examples which indicate that they really just might be that stupid.
21. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. Well, I have been blogging for quite while now. One of my main goals was to convince FWPD that private dialogue with me would be better for them than my public diatribes. But they have repeatedly proven to me that they will not accepot any criticism at all of their own actions and that they refuse to engage in honost dialogue. Continuing along my current path will not affect change no matter how long I travel, so I have a choice to make. Either I give up my campaign to make FWPD honest, and acceot their bullshit, or I step up the campaign a bit.
22. Clausewitz explained how war and politics are intimately connected as part of the same continuum. When two people or groups of people have issues of disagreement, they can either talk about them (politics) or fight over them (warfare). It is important to note here that warfare takes many forms besides actual physical assault. Espionage is warfare, and so to is propaganda, as they both lie outside the realm of honest dialogue.
And it is the propagand element which FWPD so excells at. They have created their own perfect paradigm where the citizens, and not themselves, can always be blamed for any dysfunction. If we don't talk to them, we are part of the problem. And when we do talk to them they often complain that we are now expecting too much from them. Either that or they simply ignore us to the point where we naturally revert to no longer talking to them, then they can once again blame us for being a part of the problem.
23. Last Tuesday, I attended the City Council meeting with the sole intent of publicly delivering to them what would have effectively been my declaration of war against the Fort Wayne Police Department. As the meeting progressed though I realized that I was being a bit rash. Although the police department has made it clear that nothing short of a lawsuit will get their attention, and although I know that several members of Council are aware of my situation, the fact is that to publicly rebuke them without first laying out my caes to them in a concise and private manner would be neither fair nor supportive of my goals.
So, seeking to take the high road, I will make my case to them in private first, and give them a chance to show where they stand. Hopefully, at least one of them will have the intelligence to realize that engaging me in dialoge would be the right thing to do. And hopefully someone among them will have the courage to do what is necessary to help straighten out the serious problems which exist at FWPD. If not, then I'll return to public my campaign against FWPD, but this time in a far more pernicious manner.
24. I will not have access to my computer for the next several days. Feel free to leave your comments, but please don't be offended if I don't respond to them for a while.
Addendum:
Regarding points number 18 and 19 above, I want to make it clear that my negative disposition towards FWPD is not a reflection of my experiences with the average patrol officer. But it does fairly summarize my experiences with the higher ranking members that I have interacted with, as well as the deceitful propaganda they regularly foist upon the public.
And the fact is, if a low ranking officer follows the line of B.S. put out by their Command, even when they know it is harmful to the citizens who they have sworn to serve and to protect, then they are guilty as well. "Just doing my job" is not an adequate excuse for being silent as the people who are responsible for ensuring public safetey actually make a mockery of their duties!
I will expose the corruption within FWPD. Although my targets are those at the top, they have designed a system where I must tread upon their lower ranking members first in order to get to them. So be it - War is hell. Although I regret that very soon I will probably be causing a lot of discomfort to people who really have little power to affect the situation, I also realize that I have little other choice than to do this.
So, if you're a Fort Wayne police officer reading this, don't get mad at me. All I want is honest dialogue with your leaders. If they are unwilling or unable to deliver that, then you can either accept the fact that you work for a bunch of lying and cowardly dogs, or you can find a respectable organization to work for.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
The End Of Dialogue
If you look at my post of June 10, you’ll see that it elicited a strong response from Sergeant Ritchie. I am still a bit perplexed by this, as I do not believe that post was extremely critical of FWPD. All I did was to sort through the raw data and analyze how my neighborhood compares to the rest of the city. The results are more of a testament to the nature of my neighbors rather than of the behavior of the police. By my calculations it appears that, during the one year time period that I studied, there was about nine times as much reported police activity in my neighborhood as compared to the average Fort Wayne neighborhood.
Granted, that is not exactly the way I stated it though. What I actually said was that there was more crime (rather than just reported police activity) in my neighborhood. And to Sergeant Ritchie, it appears that my “misrepresenting” the facts was seen as a purposeful action on my part, intended to slander the hard work that FWPD is doing in my neighborhood. The only response I can make to that is that, logically, one would think these two activities (crime and police activity) would be very strongly correlated.
The very next day, I posted the other half of this story, which was to show that my neighborhood has settled down quite a bit in the past year. I do see that as a testament to the hard work of FWPD, and I thought I had indicated this on a previous post, but there too, Sergeant Ritchie took issue. In fact, this particular post is what my direct communications with Sergeant Ritchie had been moving me towards for quite some time.
Eventually, I will bring this blog to an end. But not before my goals have either been met or until I have pushed them to the point where I am forced to admit that they can’t be met, and not without giving some closing explanation. The dialoge which had existed between Sergeant Ritchie was actually compelling me to consider to stand down. I was getting very close to making a final statement saying something to the effect of “Although problems still exist, the dramatically improved situation now is even better than I hoped for when I first started this blog.”
And then, Chief Dumbfuck had to open his big mouth. There is certainly much cause for FWPD to receive recognition for the work they have been doing lately. I see the results not just here but in other areas of town where there is a lot of criminal activity. And I believe the police deserve a lot of credit for this. But to claim that the problem no longer exists, as Chief York’s idiotic statement did. Or to even imply that the problem never did exist, as some officers seem to do, is something that I find to be entirely unacceptable.
To understand why this bothers me so much, you only have to read a single newspaper story. A man walks past the corner of Suttenfield and Caroline (one block from my house), encounters a large group of people standing around, is offered and declines to buy drugs from them, gets told “Then get your punk ass off the block”, then is shot and nearly killed. And why did this happen? Only because he wandered into gangland, and offended one of the gang members. This single story epitomizes the conditions under which my neighborhood suffers much of the time, and it should make it clear that Chief York’s comments are patently false.
This is the way things have been for the entire time I have lived here. Granted, it has it’s quiet moments, but there is no better way to describe my neighborhood than to say that it is gang-controlled. Personally, this used to intimidate me quite a bit. There was a time when I was reluctant to wander on foot more than a couple houses away from my own, for fear that I would be seen as interfering with someone’s turf. But that wall came down the night they fire-bombed my house. It’s not that I now feel any safer it the neighborhood at large, it’s just that the illusion that remaining close to home would somehow protect me came to an end.
I’ve learned to take care of myself in this neighborhood. I walk to the store several blocks away and don’t worry when I pass by a group of drug dealers. This is because I am alert, and I am prepared for action (meaning that I am armed). But can you blame some of my older neighbors for not acting as nonchalant as I do? When they see these guys on the streets in front of their homes, selling drugs, often standing in large menacing looking groups, and on many occasions shooting at each other or setting people’s houses on fire. I think this alone would be enough to cause great concern for most people.
Then, when these old folks look out their windows and see the police at various times either ignoring these guys or palling around with them, it becomes alarming. And to further compound the problem, many of the police officers fail to properly differentiate between the criminals and the law abiding citizens here. The police sometime hold no reservations against meting out their aggressive tactics towards that same old lady who only the day before saw that officer standing on the corner, laughing and joking with the very same drug dealers who only the day before that were shooting at each other right beside her house.
So, the old lady gets stopped for driving through the alley on the way to her house, while the drug dealers often seem to get a free pass. What would you think? Although I have clearly stated that I no longer believe this is the case, and that is only because I have studied the situation intensely for the past three years, the observations that are gleaned from my neighborhood could easily lead one to speculate that the police are either afraid of these gangs, or are themselves actually the ones running the drugs here. And that is why Chief York’s idiotic comments are so insulting. We have a very serious gang problem in Fort Wayne, and the police department is a part of that problem.
But Sergeant Ritchie misconstrued my comments entirely. All I was doing in that post was pointing to the fact that crime is still very high in my neighborhood, while at the same time being sure to acknowledge the police for their role in greatly reducing it lately. Yet Sergeant Ritchie seemed to view this a s a baseless assault upon him and his officers. My response to Sergeant Ritchie on the blog tried to make a couple things clear. First of all, I blame the drug dealers, not the police, for instigating the problems here. And second, although I do take much issue with the improper way FWPD has dealt with the problem at times, I was clearly directing my current assault only at the top, to those people who would make such thoughtless statements as to claim that Fort Wayne does not have a gang problem.
So, I patiently awaited Sergeant Ritchie’s reply to this. I waited two weeks, and he made no reply. But my response was pretty harsh, so I decided to add another filler post to keep the blog active, while I continued waiting to allow him a fair chance to reply. Then, after waiting for two more weeks, I sent him a private e-mail. I just wanted to check and see if the channels of communication were still open, or if perhaps there was a reasonable explanation for a lack of response.
Sergeant Ritchie quickly responded to that e-mail, beginning with an explanation which in itself would have served to fully justify his apparent disconnect from the dialogue we had engaged in. But then, he went on to reply to something else I had said in my last e-mail, and that is what seemed to have finally pushed him over the edge. In that e-mail, I did nothing more than to try to make Sergeant Ritchie aware of a very serious problem in this neighborhood. This problem is one that his department is intimately connected to, and in fact has helped to create (although probably inadvertently.)
I told Sergeant Ritchie that I realized (for legal reasons) that he could probably not acknowledge that what I was saying actually was true, but I simply requested that he pass the information along to the appropriate persons within his department before the problem progressed further. I think I was doing the responsible thing by trying to communicate this information in private, but Sergeant Ritchie’s response made it clear that any comments which even slightly criticized his department would not be listened to by him.
Fair enough. I don’t have any right to demand that sergeant Ritchie listen to or talk with me. He wasn’t getting paid for the time he devoted to our dialogue, and he felt that it was no longer productive, so he was certainly within his rights to discontinue it. But the problem is, the department as a whole has already shown that they do not engage in real dialogue with citizens. Sure, they make public statements, but this is a one way dialogue, and it is often very far from honest.
So, per the actions of Sergeant Ritchie and of the people who run FWPD, I really have no choice now than to begin a full public assault against what I consider to be the real reason for the violent gang problems we are experiencing in Fort Wayne, which is ineffective leadership at FWPD. In my next post, I will try to briefly summarize the most salient points of my cause, and state what my goals are. And then, let the battle begin!
Granted, that is not exactly the way I stated it though. What I actually said was that there was more crime (rather than just reported police activity) in my neighborhood. And to Sergeant Ritchie, it appears that my “misrepresenting” the facts was seen as a purposeful action on my part, intended to slander the hard work that FWPD is doing in my neighborhood. The only response I can make to that is that, logically, one would think these two activities (crime and police activity) would be very strongly correlated.
The very next day, I posted the other half of this story, which was to show that my neighborhood has settled down quite a bit in the past year. I do see that as a testament to the hard work of FWPD, and I thought I had indicated this on a previous post, but there too, Sergeant Ritchie took issue. In fact, this particular post is what my direct communications with Sergeant Ritchie had been moving me towards for quite some time.
Eventually, I will bring this blog to an end. But not before my goals have either been met or until I have pushed them to the point where I am forced to admit that they can’t be met, and not without giving some closing explanation. The dialoge which had existed between Sergeant Ritchie was actually compelling me to consider to stand down. I was getting very close to making a final statement saying something to the effect of “Although problems still exist, the dramatically improved situation now is even better than I hoped for when I first started this blog.”
And then, Chief Dumbfuck had to open his big mouth. There is certainly much cause for FWPD to receive recognition for the work they have been doing lately. I see the results not just here but in other areas of town where there is a lot of criminal activity. And I believe the police deserve a lot of credit for this. But to claim that the problem no longer exists, as Chief York’s idiotic statement did. Or to even imply that the problem never did exist, as some officers seem to do, is something that I find to be entirely unacceptable.
To understand why this bothers me so much, you only have to read a single newspaper story. A man walks past the corner of Suttenfield and Caroline (one block from my house), encounters a large group of people standing around, is offered and declines to buy drugs from them, gets told “Then get your punk ass off the block”, then is shot and nearly killed. And why did this happen? Only because he wandered into gangland, and offended one of the gang members. This single story epitomizes the conditions under which my neighborhood suffers much of the time, and it should make it clear that Chief York’s comments are patently false.
This is the way things have been for the entire time I have lived here. Granted, it has it’s quiet moments, but there is no better way to describe my neighborhood than to say that it is gang-controlled. Personally, this used to intimidate me quite a bit. There was a time when I was reluctant to wander on foot more than a couple houses away from my own, for fear that I would be seen as interfering with someone’s turf. But that wall came down the night they fire-bombed my house. It’s not that I now feel any safer it the neighborhood at large, it’s just that the illusion that remaining close to home would somehow protect me came to an end.
I’ve learned to take care of myself in this neighborhood. I walk to the store several blocks away and don’t worry when I pass by a group of drug dealers. This is because I am alert, and I am prepared for action (meaning that I am armed). But can you blame some of my older neighbors for not acting as nonchalant as I do? When they see these guys on the streets in front of their homes, selling drugs, often standing in large menacing looking groups, and on many occasions shooting at each other or setting people’s houses on fire. I think this alone would be enough to cause great concern for most people.
Then, when these old folks look out their windows and see the police at various times either ignoring these guys or palling around with them, it becomes alarming. And to further compound the problem, many of the police officers fail to properly differentiate between the criminals and the law abiding citizens here. The police sometime hold no reservations against meting out their aggressive tactics towards that same old lady who only the day before saw that officer standing on the corner, laughing and joking with the very same drug dealers who only the day before that were shooting at each other right beside her house.
So, the old lady gets stopped for driving through the alley on the way to her house, while the drug dealers often seem to get a free pass. What would you think? Although I have clearly stated that I no longer believe this is the case, and that is only because I have studied the situation intensely for the past three years, the observations that are gleaned from my neighborhood could easily lead one to speculate that the police are either afraid of these gangs, or are themselves actually the ones running the drugs here. And that is why Chief York’s idiotic comments are so insulting. We have a very serious gang problem in Fort Wayne, and the police department is a part of that problem.
But Sergeant Ritchie misconstrued my comments entirely. All I was doing in that post was pointing to the fact that crime is still very high in my neighborhood, while at the same time being sure to acknowledge the police for their role in greatly reducing it lately. Yet Sergeant Ritchie seemed to view this a s a baseless assault upon him and his officers. My response to Sergeant Ritchie on the blog tried to make a couple things clear. First of all, I blame the drug dealers, not the police, for instigating the problems here. And second, although I do take much issue with the improper way FWPD has dealt with the problem at times, I was clearly directing my current assault only at the top, to those people who would make such thoughtless statements as to claim that Fort Wayne does not have a gang problem.
So, I patiently awaited Sergeant Ritchie’s reply to this. I waited two weeks, and he made no reply. But my response was pretty harsh, so I decided to add another filler post to keep the blog active, while I continued waiting to allow him a fair chance to reply. Then, after waiting for two more weeks, I sent him a private e-mail. I just wanted to check and see if the channels of communication were still open, or if perhaps there was a reasonable explanation for a lack of response.
Sergeant Ritchie quickly responded to that e-mail, beginning with an explanation which in itself would have served to fully justify his apparent disconnect from the dialogue we had engaged in. But then, he went on to reply to something else I had said in my last e-mail, and that is what seemed to have finally pushed him over the edge. In that e-mail, I did nothing more than to try to make Sergeant Ritchie aware of a very serious problem in this neighborhood. This problem is one that his department is intimately connected to, and in fact has helped to create (although probably inadvertently.)
I told Sergeant Ritchie that I realized (for legal reasons) that he could probably not acknowledge that what I was saying actually was true, but I simply requested that he pass the information along to the appropriate persons within his department before the problem progressed further. I think I was doing the responsible thing by trying to communicate this information in private, but Sergeant Ritchie’s response made it clear that any comments which even slightly criticized his department would not be listened to by him.
Fair enough. I don’t have any right to demand that sergeant Ritchie listen to or talk with me. He wasn’t getting paid for the time he devoted to our dialogue, and he felt that it was no longer productive, so he was certainly within his rights to discontinue it. But the problem is, the department as a whole has already shown that they do not engage in real dialogue with citizens. Sure, they make public statements, but this is a one way dialogue, and it is often very far from honest.
So, per the actions of Sergeant Ritchie and of the people who run FWPD, I really have no choice now than to begin a full public assault against what I consider to be the real reason for the violent gang problems we are experiencing in Fort Wayne, which is ineffective leadership at FWPD. In my next post, I will try to briefly summarize the most salient points of my cause, and state what my goals are. And then, let the battle begin!
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