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.