Be careful what you want from law enforcement

I’ve said for years, “people get the kind of law enforcement they deserve.” In a way, that distills down to the Talking Heads lyrics: “watch out, you might get what you’re after.”

I make this notation in reference to the NYPD’s firing of Officer Daniel Pantaleo on Monday, August 19th, resulting from the July 17th, 2014 death of Eric Garner on Staten Island.

NYPD fires Officer Daniel Pantaleo for chokehold in Eric Garner’s death

by David K. Li

An administrative judge had earlier recommended that Pantaleo be terminated. Garner’s death, which sparked national protests, occurred on July 17, 2014.

Daniel Pantaleo, the New York City police officer seen on video using a chokehold during Eric Garner’s deadly arrest five years ago ⁠— sparking mass protests ⁠and becoming a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement — was fired by the department on Monday.

NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill announced he’ll enforce an administrative judge’s recommendation, made this month, that Pantaleo be terminated over the July 17, 2014, confrontation as Garner was being arrested on Staten Island for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.

Pantaleo, who has been with the NYPD since 2006, was suspended as soon as that departmental verdict was reached, in keeping with long-standing practice when there is a recommendation for firing. The 13-year veteran had been on desk duty as his case made its way through legal and administrative circles.

“It is clear that Daniel Pantaleo can no longer effectively serve as a New York City police officer,” O’Neill announced.

It would seem to me that this is yet another police officer kicked to the curb due to politics. Please allow me to elaborate and elucidate. Because the implications then and now are rather massive. Here is the caveat:

Minutes after the police commissioner announced his ruling on Monday, Lynch said O’Neill had permanently lost the confidence of officers on the beat.

“The NYPD will remain rudderless and frozen, and Commissioner O’Neill will never be able to bring it back,” Lynch said in a statement.

“Now it is time for every police officer in this city to make their own choice. We are urging all New York City police officers to proceed with the utmost caution in this new reality, in which they may be deemed ‘reckless’ just for doing their job. We will uphold our oath, but we cannot and will not do so by needlessly jeopardizing our careers or personal safety.”

NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo has been through every horror-show ride imaginable. His actions have been examined by every city, county, state and federal microscope extant. Despite that, not one prosecution was recommended.

A Staten Island grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo and, this summer, the Justice Department said it would not bring federal civil rights or criminal charges against him.

Why not? Because, after all, let’s admit that it would certainly have been convenient and politically expedient to recommend Pantaleo for every possible prosecutory venue imaginable. It would have satisfied any number of “communities” involved both local and national.

Let’s not forget that cops don’t just find themselves exposed to “double jeopardy.” Oh no. (this is absolute nirvana for Leftists) They can be tried criminally. They can be tried civilly. They can be prosecuted by the federal government — which pays attorneys to do so under 42 USC 1983. And they can be face entirely separate administrative repercussions. Like Pantaleo. Sounds like quadruple jeopardy to me.

For doing their job. For responding to calls for service.

Why didn’t all of these various potential prosecutions come to fruition? Could it be that the fact patterns extant have had something to do with that?

You see, the laws of physics still remain. Those laws exist on a physical plane and on a human plane. I would remind you of them.

  • “A body at rest will remain at rest, and a body in motion will remain in motion unless it is acted upon by an external force.”
  • “The force acting on an object is equal to the mass of that object times its acceleration.”
  • “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

So true, we are now discovering. In a societal fashion, you see.

You cannot denigrate the importance of a civilized, organized, policed society advancing the rule of law and then complain when it becomes none of that. Nor would you ever want the proverbial “cop on every corner” because that becomes, naturally, Big Brother and “1984.”

There has to be — and there is — some sort of happy medium which now, unfortunately, is far from sight. We talk of pendulums and cycles in law enforcement. Because in my almost 70 years on the planet and 45 years as a Sheepdog in law enforcement, I have seen it all, done it all, watched it all, heard it all, experienced it all, paid for it in a marriage, blood, injuries, psychologically and with alcohol — yet I find myself actually a bit surprised and massively disappointed by today’s state of law enforcement.

I have to admit: I truly didn’t see law enforcement caving to Leftist politics though, of course, I truly shouldn’t be surprised. The gene pool for law enforcement and law enforcement administrators is no different from the one that surrounds every locale. If it is weak, you get weak cops. If it is Leftist, you get Leftist cops. Gene pool, baby.

Read my post about the limp-wristed and Leftist Berkeley Police Department here, the likes of which stood down in the face of Leftist Antifa rioting directly in front of their faces. Their chief told them to stand down, directed by the Berkeley mayor. No more, no less. And the abysmal Berkeley PD officers did just that. They disgust me.

For perspective, all we have to do is go back to LAPD and Rampart in the 1990s. That lovely time was acquired when hiring standards plummeted due to the dearth of appropriate candidates, and LAPD — like most every other California LE agency — lowered its hiring standards. There was a delay in corruption because, as indicated by the IACP — it took a few years for those persons to become sufficiently familiar with the system and feel comfortable with gaming it. Gang members. Minorities. Ties to Death Row Records. The Kingpin of Rampart wasn’t some Caucasoid. It was a guy named Rafael Perez.

Whoa. Hold up on that car wash. I guess that means — as I said — you truly do get the kind of law enforcement you deserve. Or accept.

Stop. Law enforcement agencies get sued due to three primary failures or exposures:

  • Negligence in hiring
  • Negligence in training
  • Negligence in retention.

Are we starting to see that now? I respond: everything is cyclical. Everything.

The New York Times says:

Daniel Pantaleo Was Fired. We’re Still Afraid for Our Lives.

by Steven W. Thrasher

Five years after Eric Garner’s death, it’s painfully obvious that the daily anxiety black and brown people experience is justified.

Last week, while the officer who had held Eric Garner in a banned chokehold as he said “I can’t breathe” about a dozen times was still employed by the New York Police Department, I was thousands of miles away, in Arizona, where I found myself terrified by a different set of law enforcement officials.

Returning from visiting a friend near the Mexico border, I was driving up State Route 90 when all northbound traffic was diverted into a giant tent, where officers from Customs and Border Protection were performing cursory inspections of all vehicles. A menacing German shepherd was being led around each and every car, presumably sniffing for narcotics.

I was experiencing one of the legal checkpoints that the agency uses to search and potentially seize any vehicle within 100 miles of a border, without what would normally be called probable cause. And while I didn’t have any contraband, I felt a rising sense of panic as the officers and dog got closer to my car.

Stop. I vehemently disagree with checkpoints away from a border. But that’s a discussion for another time.

But as a black journalist who has reported as police officers lobbed tear gas and used sound cannons in Baltimore, Ferguson and New York, and simply as a black person living in America, my experience in Arizona reminded me of how very real the stress of living under occupation is for black and brown people. Such stress, of course, takes a mental health toll and likely contributes to rates of hypertension and heart disease that create “John Henryism,” a term Dr. Sherman James, an epidemiologist, coined while trying to understand why black men die younger than white men.

So blacks live “under occupation” in the United States of America?

Take a breath BZ. Then state: what a load of unmitigated bull.

I’ve been stopped by CHP a number of times, some for bogus reasons. I was an EVOC instructor, after all. I was stopped by SPD for no reason. I was stopped by a drunk CHP officer on I-5 in 1986 for going over the limit by two miles per hour. He reeked of alcohol, his hair was askew. He was a mess. I swear, the only reason I was let go was because my then-girlfriend had G-cup breasts in a low-cut blouse. Which he ogled. I’ve been stopped numerous times by law enforcement. And I’m as Caucasoid as the driven snow. So “I’ve been stopped”? Boo-damned-hoo. Get in line.

Do you know what I do that is different from most everyone else when stopped? I pull to the right cautiously and in an area that is safe for the officer. I don’t stop on the left. I don’t stop on freeway ramps. I roll down every window. I keep my hands on the steering wheel. I don’t make any movements. I let the officer set the contact. At night I turn on the overhead cabin light. I say “yes sir” and “no sir.” Lots of that. When I am armed (I am always armed) that is the first thing I say, with both my hands out on the driver’s side door sill. I stay in the car unless directed otherwise.

Today, could I get smoked? Of course I could. If I did something stupid. No one knows me any more. Melanin count means nothing. You act. Cops only get to react.

Chris Rock is correct.

It would seem that most deaths from law enforcement come down to a rather simple equation, much simpler than even Newton’s Laws. Compliance vs resistance.

And when a multitude of brackets, organizations, movements, political groups, communities, media, social mores and even the administrations of various law enforcement agencies insist upon resistance or tacitly condone it, we are discovering that this makes for a brew of terrible consequences, not unlike The Ferguson Effect.

Well, not unlike. Precisely like The Ferguson Effect.

And back we go to the NYPD. Let’s examine the Eric Garner case and why it’s critical not only to the NYPD, but to law enforcement in general. Because some decisions have to be made — not only in terms of law enforcement, but in terms of the overall thinking regarding the crafting of laws.

The background of the Eric Garner case is this.

You have a large, obese black man, Eric Garner, 6’3″ and 370 pounds, who is selling what the City of New York calls “onesies” (cigarettes sold singly, out of a pack, without tax stamps) outside of a store (known as a bodega) on July 17th of 2014.

When it’s written “without tax stamps” that means the City of New York is removed from the tax revenue stream it demands on cigarettes.

So here is a man selling individual cigarettes that folks can purchase tax free, specifically so that people avoid paying taxes. He is doing this directly in front of a store where the owner has to pay tax on every cigarette pack he sells. And the owner doesn’t get the luxury of selling them individually. That is clearly undermining the store owner who is abiding by the law. Paying taxes.

The City of New York not only declares that unfair, but illegal as well.

Here’s where I make one very critical distinction that will come into play in a moment. The cops didn’t create the law. The City of New York did.

At issue is the use of force by the NYPD in terms of an individual who was breaking the law, albeit not regarding a felony, but a crime nevertheless.

And let us not deal in generalities or phrases or SJW chants as Leftists and Demorats are wont to do, but actual issues at handreal time and immediate solutions to problems cops find themselves facing on the street every day. Decisions that must be made in seconds. They don’t have the luxury of months of deliberation.

What Leftist organizations fail to disclose was that this was a common grievance for that area. NYPD just didn’t “happen” to be there. Citizens had complained about persons circumventing the law and, specifically, in front of their stores. The City of New York had decreed that it must have its own Tybalt-like “pound of flesh.”

Meanwhile, Eric Garner’s arrest record with the NYPD indicated a frequency of more than thirty times since 1980 for assault, resisting arrest and grand theft. Even The New York Times wrote that many of these arrests had been for selling untaxed cigarettes. What a shock to find that behavior continuing.

Here is CBS coverage.

But let’s examine things further. Much further than Leftists would care. Let’s look at the size of Garner as compared to the officers around him. They had options. Many options when people fail to comply. Chemicals. Batons. Striking moves. Even deadly force if he attempted to disarm the officers or acquire their weapons which, luckily, he did not do.

Unlike Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, upon which an entire lie was built — “hands up don’t shoot” — and “Black Lives Matter” was created. Yes. On a lie.

What they decided to do, instead, is utilize numbers. An attempt to overpower an individual who clearly was much larger than every other officer present. Further, positional asphyxia comes into play. This is something the suspect brought to the table. Not the officers. The suspect acted. The officers can only react.

But even before we get into those details, which are important, let’s examine the overall situation in the first place.

NYPD either made an on-view notice of a crime, the selling of illegal cigarettes, or they were sent there by dispatch. It really doesn’t matter which one.

They confront the person involved. He either complies or he doesn’t. The initial action is his to make. The officers gauge their reactions to his action. They only know that he’s big. Really big. And he isn’t complying.

Let’s say this is a misdemeanor. And let’s say Eric Garner resists.

If you’re in charge of NYPD, what do your officers do now in the face of resistance?

Do they — as many citizens seem to demand — simply evaluate his quotient of resistance and then determine not to engage? And walk away?

What if the officers write a citation and tell Eric Garner to sign? What if he refuses to sign a summons? Do they walk away in the face of refusal?

I mean, come on, these were cigarettes. It’s not like he murdered someone. They should have simply walked away, right?

“Stop selling cigarettes.” No compliance.

“Sign the citation.” No compliance.

“You’re now under arrest for NYC Code ___.” No compliance.

This would be the perfect time for the officers to turn around and walk away, wouldn’t it? Maybe take his name and submit for a later arrest warrant? Wouldn’t that be logical?

“Give me your name.” No compliance.

“What’s your date of birth?” No compliance.

“What’s your address?” No compliance.

“Give me some ID.” No compliance.

There. The NYPD officers should simply have walked away because, of course, everyone could see the potential escalation at that point.

By this time, everyone on the street is watching you. Do you back up your lawful demands? Do you engage? Or do you simply walk away?

Here are some examples of walking away.

And this.

Look. Let’s be real. Making the dousing of officers a felony may be impractical. Logic tells us, if enacted, the crime may be dropped to a misdemeanor.

So make it a misdemeanor that mandates an immediate arrest, no citation and, if they physically resist, depending upon the violence of resistance and substance, you could easily bump it up to a felony.

We know that, likely, at some time in the future some individual will get the bright idea of substituting, say, vinegar or gasoline or rubbing alcohol or bleach or some clear caustic chemical for water. It’s the nature of crime and criminals. Luckily, to this point, that has not occurred.

But the most important aspect of the situation is to react now. Not an hour from now. Not tomorrow or next week. Immediately at the time of the crime.

Governor Cuomo is correct. With a massive caveat.

Had the officers reacted immediately to their incidents and a “community outrage” ensued, you and I both know that Governor Andrew Cuomo would have been one of the first — after determining which way the prevailing political prairie winds were blowing, sticking his finger up in the air — to condemn the NYPD and those officers, kicking them to the curb. Guaranteed. Easy for him to say in retrospect. Isn’t it?

The streets of what I quaintly term “Urban Rate Cages” are not always filled with warm and fuzzy individuals. Sometimes they aim to punch, kick, rob, steal and murder.

Because in the lawless community — and oh yes, those communities do exist — to do nothing when law enforcement is faced with lawbreakers, simply engenders more lawbreaking and disrespect to not only authority but the entire concept of civility in general.

To do nothing — and watching various NYPD officers walking away from being assaulted — tells those persons in the affected neighborhoods that the cops do nothing and hence mean nothing.

Acting this way — acquiescing in the face of crime — tells criminals that they can do whatever they wish and emboldens them. It also makes the job of law enforcement infinitely tougher for cops who decide to actually enforce laws. They will now be the “bad guys” because “the other officers didn’t do anything.”

So, Leftists, Demorats and American Media Maggots: what are your answers?

Because essentially what you’re saying is that, in the face of resistance, just about any amount, law enforcement should step back.

One pause for a brief waft of sanity.

Had someone done that to me or any other of my fellow officers in the 70s, 80s or 90s, no matter their ethnicity, they would have found themselves handcuffed and under arrest. No one did that to me or fellow officers where an arrest failed to occur. Just as Governor Cuomo indicated. We knew where the line existed and we held that line.

The laws of certain jungles applied then as now. Either you rule the jungle or the jungle rules you. Lawlessness is either accepted or it is overcome.

Why officers don’t react that way now? Because they realize their very own departments won’t have their backs due to political pressure. And political correctness. The Ferguson Effect.

On August 1st of 2014 the Medical Examiner ruled Garner’s death a homicide. According to the medical examiner’s definition, a homicide is a death caused by the intentional actions of another person or persons, which is not necessarily an intentional death or a criminal death. The five medico-legal rulings in every death are natural, accident, suicide, homicide, and undetermined.

The grand jury decided not to indict. DOJ? Nothing. FBI? Nothing. Attorney General? Nothing.

And earlier this summer, federal prosecutors ended their five-year-long probe of the matter and elected not to pursue any civil rights charges against Pantaleo.

That means: no 42 USC 1983 actions.

Officer Pantaleo was fired after Police Commissioner James O’Neill took a phone call from Mayor Bill de Blasio over that weekend. Politics, baby.

Did we ever see this?

At a May 2019 disciplinary hearing for Pantaleo, Dr. Floriana Persechino, who performed Garner’s autopsy, testified that Pantaleo’s use of a chokehold on Garner “set into motion a lethal sequence” that led to a fatal asthma attack.[167][168] However, the examiner conceded that even “a bear hug” could have had the same effect as the chokehold, given that Garner weighed 395 pounds, suffered from asthma and diabetes, and had a heart twice the size of a healthy person’s heart.[166] Moreover, during the trial at a hearing in June 2019, a defense witness, Dr. Michael Graham, St. Louis, Missouri’s chief medical examiner, testified Garner’s death couldn’t have been caused by a chokehold because, Graham said, Garner was never actually choked or unable to breathe during the arrest.[169][170]Graham attributed Garner’s death to heart disease exacerbated by the stress of the arrest.[169][170]

Imagine that. An excerpt from an article by Dr G Wesley Clark:

Having reviewed the video several times now, and being a physician who specialized in the surgery of the very obese, I believe that the cause of Mr. Garner’s death was not
“police brutality” or negligence, but rather the unfortunate synergy between his disease of morbid obesity and actions most police perform countless times with only transient
discomfort to the arrestee. The decision of the Grand Jury was reasonable.
Mr. Garner’s demise was the consequence of a confluence of many factors, most of which were beyond the ken of a policeman, and which occurred in devastatingly rapid
sequence.
Eric Garner was very obese, said to weigh at least 350 pounds. In fact, based upon his height and appearance, he very likely weighed more than that, but very few bathroom
scales read high enough to accurately measure weight of that magnitude. By simple observation, one could see that his abdomen was very large and protuberant. His chest
was similarly blanketed with a heavy layer of fat, and he had no visible neck – no indentation under his jaw, typically present in non-obese persons, which permits
application of a “chokehold,” to briefly arrest the carotid circulation to render him unconscious and manageable. The chokehold was ineffective as a control, but it served
to take him to the ground by leverage.

Guaranteed you didn’t read of this in any American Media Maggot venue. Then there is this:

The subsequent post-mortem examination is said to have shown no evidence of injury to either the larynx or the hyoid bone, which is almost always fractured in cases of
strangulation. Mr. Garner is said to have died from “chest compression” and associated heart disease.

Few persons, undoubtedly including most police officers and even Mr. Garner, would understand the gravity and complex pathophysiology of this condition, and the rapidity
with which it can become irreversible, unless an airway and mechanical ventilation can be quickly administered – and establishing an airway in a very obese person is itself
extremely challenging even under ideal conditions, such as in an operating room, let alone on the sidewalk.

Eric Garner’s death had essentially nothing to do with racism or racial animosity, particularly when one can see an African-American female sergeant, in charge at the
scene, standing and observing the arrest in the background. Ultimately, as the senior officer on the scene, she was responsible for Mr. Garner’s safety, although it would be
unreasonable to incriminate her, either, given the obscure physiology of the chain of events that led to his unfortunate demise.

But you didn’t hear that either, did you?

This is an interesting opinion piece from the WashingtonExaminer.com:

Despite Eric Garner, Daniel Pantaleo doesn’t deserve to be fired

by James Gagliano

Pantaleo, now 34, inadvertently became part of ground zero for the populist uprising of social justice activists during the summer of 2014. It was then that he was dispatched to a Staten Island street corner, directed to take a 43-year-old father of six, Eric Garner, into custody for selling single cigarettes from packs without a tax stamp, or “loosies,” outside a bodega.

Garner’s death is a vicissitude that should sadden us all. But only one person is accountable here. It is the man who broke the law, obstinately advised police he wouldn’t be held to account for same, and then placed everyone involved in a dangerous intersection of sworn duties and no-way-out choices. Garner caused this horrible incident to occur. Pantaleo will presumably pay the price for that poor decision-making, as well.

Oddly enough, precisely what I’ve been saying.

The tragic incident has undergone scrutinization from outside investigators. First, a Staten Island grand jury failed to indict the officer. Then followed a Department of Justice investigation into Pantaleo’s actions to determine if Garner’s civil rights had been abridged. This investigation spanned both the Obama and Trump presidential administrations and was overseen by four separate attorneys general.

And two excellent points by author James Gagliano, a former FBI agent of 25 years.

Broken Windows has been under fire in the woke days of 2019. But let’s not pretend that its employment has not saved countless black and brown lives when perpetrators and victims of homicides in New York City are overwhelmingly black and brown.

We may debate whether or not the sale of untaxed cigarettes should be considered an arrest-worthy transgression. But cops don’t make laws. When we have laws on the books, law enforcement professionals swear an oath to uphold them. Do we want to confront exactly what “selective enforcement” would look like in a country that already suffers from the belief that certain communities are treated differently with respect to the law?

After a while, having been told by various communities that law enforcement “over polices,” by their administrations that they “over police,” by the news media that they “over police,” by their local politicians that they “over police” and certainly Leftists, Demorats and the American Media Maggots that they “over police,” sooner or later law enforcement officers are going to take this clarion cry to heart.

They’re going to reduce their self-initiated activity or proactive responses. Simultaneously, this is occurring as well:

NYPD officer injuries spike as union blames anti-police lawmakers

by Sara Dorn

NYPD cops have a new reason to walk their beat on eggshells: Officer injuries are spiking.

Amid a spate of assaults on police, including a melee at Brooklyn’s Marcy Projects that left three cops hurt as well as a rash of water-dousing attacks, injuries rose 12.5 percent in the second quarter over the first three months of the year, NYPD data show.

That’s up 2.5 percent over the same time period in 2018 and up 3.5 percent through June over the first half of 2018.

With 1,120 total injuries, April to June this year was the bloodiest quarter for cops since the final three months of 2016, the earliest time period of publicly available data.

Injuries aren’t just knee scrapes; 35 officers were “seriously” hurt and 47 suffered “substantial” injuries, the NYPD says.

Police-union president Patrick Lynch — who’s been warring with NYPD brass and Mayor de Blasio in the wake of officer Daniel Pantaleo’s firing — blamed the uptick on “anti-police lawmakers and failed NYPD leaders” who have “emboldened criminals to assault cops and resist arrest.”

Absolutely correct. That is America’s current narrative with regard to law enforcement.

Cops are human. Their job is to do the job. Their job is also to go home in one piece at the end of their shifts. And like all others, they have to look out for themselves and their families. So they’re going to have to make some considered decisions.

NYPD Union Tells Cops To Ask Supervisor Permission Before Arresting Anybody

by Sandy Malone

New York, NY – The police union put out a list of guidelines for officers to follow on Monday after New York Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner James O’Neill fired Officer Daniel Pantaleo in connection with the death of Eric Garner despite the fact a grand jury and a federal investigation had exonerated him.

“Be advised that neither your Police Academy training nor the current Patrol Guide procedures reflect the precedent established by this decision,” Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch wrote in the memo, a copy of which has been obtained by Blue Lives Matter.

Lynch warned that Commissioner O’Neill’s termination of Officer Pantaleo set a dangerous precedent and “fundamentally changed the nature of our job” when he allowed politics to determine Officer Pantaleo’s fate without regard for the fact.

The memo encouraged officers to “uphold our oath” and continue doing their jobs but reminded them “we must remain united to protect each other from the toxic political environment in which we are forced to work.”

On Monday, the PBA accused Commissioner O’Neill of rolling over for City Hall and doing Mayor Bill de Blasio’s bidding.

In order to be in exact compliance with the patrol guide, officers will have to do a lot of things in a specified way that, in the past, was unofficially left to officers’ discretion.

The reasoning is, of course, to ensure they have authority to conduct business. They’re also saying that if they’re to be held perfectly accountable, they must act or react as the guidelines are specifically written.

“For every job involving a possible arrest situation, immediately request response by patrol supervisor and additional members to help control situation, pursuant to P.G. 221-02, ‘Use of Force,’” the PBA memo instructed officers in accordance with NYPD policy. “Await the patrol supervisor’s arrival before attempting to effect an arrest, except when immediate action is necessary to protect life and personal safety of all persons present (see P.G. 221-02).”

“Prior to effecting an arrest, confer with the patrol supervisor,” the memo said, and reminded officers to use their bodycams and “document in your memo book all instructions received from the patrol supervisor or other supervisors at the scene.”

Translated: CYA. Cover Your Ass.

The memo also reminded officers that anytime a suspect doesn’t voluntarily submit to being handcuffed, they need to request an Emergency Service Unit (ESU) before they can take that suspect into custody.

Officers should “attempt to isolate and contain the suspect” while they wait for ESU to arrives, as per NYPD official policy.

If those are the standards then they must be met, the PBA is saying.

“It’s very well known that for a majority of circumstances, the patrol guide is not followed to a T because you’d never get anything done,” the official told Blue Lives Matter. “It’s just too inefficient to do everything that way.”

The PBA memo to its members also reminded officers that they must call for an ambulance every single time there is a use-of-force, regardless of whether anyone has claimed to be injured.

“Do not transport the prisoner until he or she has been evaluated by EMS personnel,” the PBA wrote.

The memo also told officers to be sure and do their paperwork completely and as soon as possible for every incident.

When you’re under the gun as is law enforcement today, what other choices remain?

The NYPD official told Blue Lives Matter that most officers save paperwork to complete at the end of their shift so they can get back out on the street faster when they complete a call, but that the policy says they have to do all paperwork immediately after a call is completed.

I imagine you see the issues here. It’s called “back and forth.” No more. It’s now “one way.”

In Kalifornia, things got worse for law enforcement officers. From CalMatters.org:

Newsom signs landmark police use-of-force bill

California will soon have a tougher new legal standard for the use of deadly force by police, under legislation Gov. Gavin Newsom signed today that was inspired by last year’s fatal shooting of a young, unarmed man in Sacramento.

The governor contends that with Assembly Bill 392 in place, police will turn increasingly to de-escalation techniques including verbal persuasion, weapons other than guns and other crisis-intervention methods.

Under the new law, which takes effect January 1, police may use deadly force only when “necessary in defense of human life.”

That’s a steeper standard than prosecutors apply now, which says officers can shoot when doing so is “reasonable.” One of the most significant changes will allow prosecutors to consider officers’ actions leading up to a shooting when deciding whether deadly force is justified. 

Some police administrators are saying “calm down, there is no difference.” Changing the word “reasonable” to “necessary.” And how will you determine “necessary”? Only at the end of the event. What is “reasonable” to the officer in terms of reaction is no longer of consideration — in other words, what would other reasonable officers have done in a similar situation?

The Ferguson Effect.

It would appear that, throughout all this, Leftists, Demorats and American Media Maggots are getting what they want. From Fox26Houston.com:

Significant drop in people wanting to become police officers

There has been a significant drop in the number of people wanting to be police officers. One officer says he knows why.

Please remember this: at the same time law enforcement is attacked and themselves handcuffed, the LDAMM are waging war against your Second Amendment rights and your ability to defend yourself. Who defends you if law enforcement is stymied and your rights are removed?

The entire point of the article is this: what do you want from your law enforcement officers? At what point do you demand they back down? Is it a sliding scale in terms of the initial crime committed? Is it a sliding scale of the resistance encountered?

Because you have to realize that in terms of any and every crime encountered by law enforcement, persons are going to resist. They are going to resist speaking to an officer, signing a citation, getting out of a car, refusing to submit to handcuffing and more.

Every law created has the potential for resistance. Including smoking in a bar. Vaping in a doorway. Onesies. Cops are called. What do you really want them to do when faced with resistance? Nothing?

Then why are you sending them to calls for service in the first place if you don’t intend them to enforce the law?

The bottom line is this: citizens, what kind of law enforcement do you really want?

After many decades in law enforcement, I do know this: people get the kind of law enforcement they deserve.

The Ferguson Effect is real.

Because cops are human just like everyone else. Unless you want RoboCop — perhaps it might not be that far off.

Good luck with that.

“Watch out, you might get what you’re after.”

BZ

 

Knife control: Japanese man kills 19, injures 26

When-Rocks-Are-OutlawedHad that occurred here in America, Barack Hussein Obaka and Loretta Lynch and Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom and all the rest of the Leftists would still be bleating about gun control.

From CNN.com:

Japan knife attack: At least 19 dead

by Euan McKirdy and Emanuella Grinberg

(CNN)  At least 19 people were killed and 26 injured in a stabbing spree at a facility for disabled people west of Tokyo, making it one of Japan’s deadliest mass killings since World War II. Nine men and 10 women, ranging in age from 18 to 70, were killed in the attack.

Officer Satomi Kurihara of the Sagamihara Fire Department confirmed the death toll at the Tsukui Yamayuri-en facility in Sagamihara, a residential area approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of the capital.
Satoshi Uematsu, a 26-year-old who worked at the facility until February, broke in through a window about 2 a.m. Tuesday (1 p.m. ET Monday), Kanagawa Prefecture officials said at a news conference.

Because, as we all know — and Leftists know this best of all — if we eliminate firearms wholesale, then violence will simply plummet and go away.  All will be well with the world, birds will sing, clouds will part and the sun will shine.

Gun-Control-at-the-Bar

“What’s the frequency, Kenneth?”  Dan Rather knows.

Yes, Leftists are in fact that naive.  Logic and the nature of humanity, as I’ve written before, eludes the deluded.

When firearms are eradicated, violence will cease.  Right?  But wait; what about Australia, where gun deaths are down but knife deaths are climbing.  Why might that be?  Let’s glance at China, where a knife is the weapon of choice and 130 persons were stabbed at random36 persons were stabbed and killed at a Chinese police station in 2013Eight children were killed by a knife-wielder in JapanEight people killed in South Korea41 people were stabbed by a 16-year-old in Berlin.  A 13-year-old girl was stabbed to death in the UK.  The knife is the UK “weapon of choice” for violence, as it is in Israel with Palestinians stabbing and killing Israeli citizensFBI data indicates you are more likely to be beaten, clubbed or stabbed to death than to be murdered using an AR-15 or any other rifle in the United States.

In Europe, guns are involved in 36 percent of murders and knives are involved in 43 percent.  Where is the cry for “knife control”?

Locally, there were a number of knife attacks last year.

Some other interesting statistics.

Murder Victims, by Weapons Used

The following table shows the number and percent of murder victims in the United States by the cause of death. Weapons used or cause of death include guns, stabbing, blunt objects, strangulation, arson, and more.

Weapons used or cause of death
Year Murder
victims,
total
Guns Cutting or
stabbing
Blunt
object1
Strangulation,
hands, fists,
feet, or pushing
Arson2 All
other3
Total Percent
1965 8,773 5,015 57.2% 2,021 505 894 226 112
1970 13,649 9,039 66.2 2,424 604 1,031 353 198
1975 18,642 12,061 64.7 3,245 1,001 1,646 193 496
1980 21,860 13,650 62.0 4,212 1,094 1,666 291 947
1985 17,545 10,296 58.7 3,694 972 1,491 243 849
1990 20,045 12,847 64.1 3,503 1,075 1,424 287 909
1991 21,676 14,373 66.3 3,430 1,099 1,529 195 847
1992 22,716 15,489 68.2 3,296 1,040 1,445 203 1,043
1993 23,180 16,136 69.6 2,967 1,022 1,482 217 1,168
1994 22,084 15,463 70.0 2,802 912 1,452 196 1,079
1995 20,232 13,790 68.2 2,557 918 1,438 166 968
1996 15,848 10,744 67.8 2,142 733 1,182 151 726
1997 15,289 10,369 67.8 1,963 702 1,187 134 934
2002 14,263 9,528 66.7 1,776 681 954 103 874
2006 14,990 10,177 67.9 1,822 607 833 115 1,128
2007 14,831 10,086 68.0 1,796 647 854 130 1,016
2008 14,224 9,528 66.9 1,888 603 964 85 1,156
2011 12,795 8,653 67.6 1,716 502 751 76 1,009
2012 12,765 8,855 69.4 1,589 518 767 85 951
1. Refers to club, hammer, etc.
2. Before 1973, includes drowning.
3. Includes poison, explosives, unknown, drowning, asphyxiation, narcotics, other means, and weapons not stated.

Source: Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reports for the United States, 1997, 2007 and 2008; Crime in the United States 2011, 2012.

But let’s stop dancing around the issue of “gun control.”  Let’s get down to brass tacks: Demorats and Leftists want out-and-out gun confiscation.  Make no mistake about that.  Hillary Clinton and all other power elites have their own private police forces.  You don’t.  They have “theirs” and that is all they care about.

When you get down to it, Leftists and Demorats will only be satisfied when there exists the complete removal of firearms from American citizens.  The outright trampling of the Second Amendment.  What’s left?  Tire irons?  Knives?

But here’s one thing you won’t be able to do with a knife or a rock or a lamp or a baseball bat or a torch or a pitchfork: defend yourself against a government.  Oppose oppressive government regimes.  Governments, all governments, our government, will always be armed with heavy, military grade weapons.  Historically, our Second Amendment does not exist to allow Americans to hunt.  That’s a ridiculous claim when made by anyone.  The Second Amendment exists in America in order to resist tyranny in any form and that includes an over-reaching government, foreign or domestic.

Demorats and Leftists are not grounded in reality.  They are only versed in power and money.  The citizenry can be armed or it can be disarmed.  Those who are disarmed are called Proles, Serfs, Groundlings, Commoners.

In the meantime, criminals will still commit crimes, the mentally unstable will still be unstable, and Leftists will still be unable to grasp these fundamental concepts.

BZ

 

3 Baton Rouge officers killed; Obama bleats about gun control

Baton Rouge Officers Killed 7-17-2016Baton Rouge Police Department Officers Montrell Jackson, Brad Garafola, Matthew Gerald, stalked, ambushed and killed by black suspect.

It’s the customary Barack Hussein Obama response whenever guns are used in violence: gun control.  We need more gun control.  It’s the standard Mark I, Model I retort for Obama and Leftists and Demorats.  We need more gun control — though in the bulk of these cases the suspects did not violate the law and would not have otherwise been able to be stopped.  “More gun control” simply penalizes one group of persons: the law abiding, not the law breaking.  This simple fact completely eludes the deluded.

There should therefore be truck control for France, pressure cooker control for Massachusetts and knife control for much of the rest of the world.

Pause here for just a moment.

Let’s envision a gun-free US.  Then let’s envision Australia, where gun deaths are down but knife deaths are climbing.  Why might that be?  Let’s glance at China, where a knife is the weapon of choice and 130 persons were stabbed at random36 persons were stabbed and killed at a Chinese police station in 2013Eight children were killed by a knife-wielder in JapanEight people killed in South Korea41 people were stabbed by a 16-year-old in Berlin.  A 13-year-old girl was stabbed to death in the UK.  The knife is the UK “weapon of choice” for violence, as it is in Israel with Palestinians stabbing and killing Israeli citizensFBI data indicates you are more likely to be beaten, clubbed or stabbed to death than to be murdered using an AR-15 or any other rifle in the United States.

Yet the meme continues, pushed, shoved and agendized by Mr Obama, Leftists and our American Media Maggots.

In Europe, guns are involved in 36 percent of murders and knives are involved in 43 percent.  Where is the cry for “knife control”?
KNIFE CONTROLBut here’s one thing you won’t be able to do with a knife: defend yourself against a government.  Oppose oppressive government regimes.  Governments, all governments, our government, will always be armed with heavy, military grade weapons.  Historically, our Second Amendment does not exist to allow Americans to hunt.  That’s a ridiculous claim when made by anyone.  The Second Amendment exists in America in order to resist tyranny in any form and that includes an over-reaching government, foreign or domestic.

We all know what occurs when you take a knife to a gun fight.  The only solution to an evil person with a gun is another gun.  Period.  Most of these recent mass killers shoot themselves or surrender when confronted with armed resistance.  They are completely aware of so-called “gun free zones.”  They know what will happen when law enforcement arrives.

As the great Divider-In-Chief, here is what one of your black minions, Cleveland Brown player Isaiah Crowell, posted on Instagram.

Cop Throat Slit

This is but a small portion of the offensive material going out on social media against law enforcement.

Cop Throat Slit ComparisonNotice any similarity, Mr Obama?  This is your doing sir.  Your doing.  I am not the only one who believes this.  Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke calls Barack Hussein Obama the Cop Hater-In-Chief.

Sheriff Clarke was interviewed by Don Lemon on CNN last night and had had enough.  You must watch the full interview.

Let us not forget that Black Lives Matter was created behind an outright lie — the lie of “hands up don’t shoot.”  Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson had the full force of the federal government fall down on him as a host of 100 FBI agents descended upon Ferguson in order to prove him a racist, a liar, a bad cop, the outright assassin of Michael Brown.

Officer Darren Wilson was cleared entirely but his life was destroyed.  He can never be a law enforcement officer again because of his perceived stigma.

Let me say that again: Black Lives Matter was predicated but upon a LIE, and consists now of mostly racist individuals whose words are murderous themselves and whose members foment and partake of violence.

Black Lives Matter Hate Group SPLC GraphicAs the great Divider-In-Chief and, as I am wont to say, the Racist-In-Chief, Obama is quick to conclude that law enforcement officers are swine.  It is Barack Obama who stated Trayvon Martin could be his son.  In one way, sir, yes, perhaps he could indeed.  But not in the manner he perhaps envisioned.  I don’t mean that in a good way, you see.  Rhetoric uber alles, Mr Obama, for It was Obama who said “if they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.”

Today Barack Obama said that cops need to “admit their failures.”  Perhaps you should turn that burning and accusing finger towards yourself sir and examine your own rhetoric, your own lack of leadership, your own clear biases and prejudices.

It is Barack Hussein Obama who acts without facts.  As I wrote earlier:

Obama sets the tone and the pace for the administration in DC and, by dint of that, the tone for the rest of those who follow he and his fellow political Leftists.

Trayvon Martin became Barack Hussein Obama’s son.  Obama didn’t have all the facts but proclaimed Martin a victim.  Zimmermann was found not guilty, though Obama had already found him guilty.

Obama stated with Bully Pulpit firmness that the Cambridge Police Department “acted stupidly” in the arrest of professor Henry Gates, though Obama didn’t have all the facts.  Gates, by the way, just “happened” to be a personal black friend of Obama’s.

Obama’s attitude of Officer Darren Wilson was that of guilt, though Wilson was never indicted or charged.  Wilson’s life was, however, ruined forever though not convicted of any crime.

Holder had the opportunity to make a statement when Black Panthers barricaded the polls in Philadelphia with weapons they carried, but Holder refused to take any actions whatsoever.

Obama has fanned racist flames, whenever he could, in Ferguson and in Baltimore.  It’s no secret that he wants to federalize police nationally.

Cops are not saints and there are racist cops.  I readily admit that; I’d be a fool not to.

A black male was baldly murdered for taking leg bail on a white police officer following a traffic stop.  That cop, University of Cincinnati Police Officer Ray Tensing, now in fact does face murder charges for the killing of Sanuel DuBose in July of 2015.  DeKalb County (GA) Police Officer Robert Olsen was indicted for murder in January of this year involving the shooting of Anthony Hill, a naked black man with PTSD.  A Portsmouth (VA) police officer, Stephen Rankin, was indicted for murder in September of 2015 for the shooting death of William Chapman, a black young man, stemming from a shoplifting call at a WalMart when Chapman charged at the officer

But these are the few exceptions and not the rule.  This doesn’t count Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson who was not charged at all after the shooting of Michael Brown, as well as countless other officers uncharged in various shootings around the country.  This also doesn’t take into account the white males who have been shot and killed at the hands of black police officers — a fact entirely unaddressed by media.

Statistically, roughly 5% of police shootings fall under circumstances that are questionable according to the Washington Post.  The vast majority of individuals shot and killed by police officers were armed with guns and killed after attacking police officers or civilians or making other direct threats.  Of the 960 people killed by police in 2015, 564 were armed with a gun.  281 were armed with another weapon.  Almost half have been white, a quarter have been black and one-sixth have been Hispanic.

Fact: doctors kill roughly 400,000 people per year in the United States.  Doctors are the #3 killer in the US, right behind heart disease and cancer.  Clearly, the nation is screaming for “doctor control.”

On October 24th of last year, my department lost Deputy Danny Oliver, who was shot and killed during a suspicious person contact adjacent a motel.  That same suspect fled the scene, shot a civilian, and then killed Placer County Sheriff’s Detective Michael Davis Jr a short time later.  Detective Michael David Davis Jr. was killed 26 years — to the day — after his own law enforcement father was killed.  Both deputies were slain by a Mexican national who had been deported twice and had drug arrests.

“The rule of law makes society possible,” Mr Barack Hussein Obama said today during a news conference regarding Baton Rouge.  There is a staggering lack of leadership in this nation because of Barack Hussein Obama and, in my opinion, this is quite purposeful for the reasons via the examples I illustrated above.  Mr Obama by his words and actions and continuing tendencies has set a tone and created a climate that has emboldened and empowered people to push and challenge law enforcement to the point where officers nationwide are being ambushed and assassinated outright.

Because of this “tone,” the NAACP is now calling for certain police departments to be defunded.

Mr Obama sets the tone for the nation.  Tone noted.  And I’m so very tired of it.

“Rule of law.”  Right, Mr Obama.  The same “rule of law” continuously avoided by those in power, such as Hillary Rodham Clinton, yourself, William Jefferson Clinton and any number of the political power brokers in DC, aided and abetted by Eric Holder, Loretta Lynch, James Comey and others too numerous to mention.

“All animals are equal, some are more equal than others.”

Rule of law” you say, Mr Barack Hussein Obama?

America needs to have the back of its law enforcement officers.  We should be thankful for its Silverbacks and its Sheepdogs.  I am still a Sheepdog.

When all you do, however, is attack your Sheepdogs, then the wolves appear in greater numbers and threaten your sheep.

Unless that’s your actual plan.

It’s no more complicated than that.

BZ

 

A new paradigm for US law enforcement

Police Officer MovedTami Jackson, a Conservative author who has written numerous articles for various blogs and news sites, and is editor in chief of RightVoiceMedia and currently executive editor for BarbWire.com, hosts her own streaming radio show once again on the 405 Media out of Los Angeles.

She contacted me on Monday and asked if I would appear on her 405 radio show Tamara Jackson On RadioTuesday night (7 PM Pacific) with guest Enes Smith, a former Tribal Police Chief for the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Indians of Oregon, as well as a detective, homicide investigator and author of numerous mysteries available on Amazon — to the point where “Cold River Rising” has been optioned for film.

The topic is American law enforcement and the current war on cops, as most recently exemplified by a 39-year-old Seaside, Oregon police officer being killed this past Friday the 5th.  From OregonLive.com:

A 13-year veteran of the Seaside Police Department was fatally shot while trying to arrest a career criminal with a history of assaulting officers, officials confirmed Saturday. 

Sgt. Jason Goodding died Friday night after he and another officer attempted to take 55-year-old Phillip Ferry into custody, Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis said during a morning news conference at Seaside City Hall. 

They were trying to arrest Ferry on a warrant tied to an earlier assault on a police officer, said Sgt. Kyle Hove, an Oregon State Police spokesman. 

He is survived by his wife and two young daughters.  A husband and a father dies because of an individual who has a history of targeting law enforcement officers.  If convicted, the suspect will receive much street cred and respect in prison for having murdered a police officer.

Enes Smith knew Sgt Goodding personally.

Oddly enough I have been to Seaside.  My wife and I drove there during our honeymoon in 2007.  We stayed in Astoria but traveled to visit the Seaside Aquarium.

American law enforcement is in a state of flux right now.  There are major societal pressures on law enforcement from many directions.

There are those in Chicago who say there simply shouldn’t be any police presence in the city, as incredible as that may seem.  They want the Chicago PD defunded.  A Portland officer was removed from his position when he Tweeted off duty that he had to “babysit these fools” later, referring to Black Lives Matter protesters.  Repeat: he made that remark off duty, on his own time.  Sorry.  No freedom of speech for cops.

There is, contrasting, no problem with Black Lives Matter chanting about” pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon.”

I asked, “who is responsible for the war on cops?”  I wrote: Barack Hussein Obama.

Obama sets the tone and the pace for the administration in DC and, by dint of that, the tone for the rest of those who follow he and his fellow political Leftists.

Trayvon Martin became Barack Hussein Obama’s son.  Obama didn’t have all the facts but proclaimed Martin a victim.  Zimmermann was found not guilty, though Obama had already found him guilty.

Obama stated with Bully Pulpit firmness that the Cambridge Police Department “acted stupidly” in the arrest of professor Henry Gates, though Obama didn’t have all the facts.  Gates, by the way, just “happened” to be a personal black friend of Obama’s.

Obama’s attitude of Officer Darren Wilson was that of guilt, though Wilson was never indicted or charged.  Wilson’s life was, however, ruined forever though not convicted of any crime.

Holder had the opportunity to make a statement when Black Panthers barricaded the polls in Philadelphia with weapons they carried, but Holder refused to take any actions whatsoever.

Obama has fanned racist flames, whenever he could, in Ferguson and in Baltimore.  It’s no secret that he wants to federalize police nationally.

Hold that thought.  We’ll get back to it.

On the other hand, a black male was baldly murdered for taking leg bail on a white police following a traffic stop.  That cop, University of Cincinnati Police Officer Ray Tensing, now in fact does face murder charges for the killing of Sanuel DuBose in July of 2015.  DeKalb County (GA) Police Officer Robert Olsen was indicted for murder in January of this year involving the shooting of Anthony Hill, a naked black man with PTSD.  A Portsmouth (VA) police officer, Stephen Rankin, was indicted for murder in September of 2015 for the shooting death of William Chapman, a black young man, stemming from a shoplifting call at a WalMart when Chapman charged at the officer

These are the exceptions and not the rule.  This doesn’t count Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson who was not charged at all after the shooting of Michael Brown, as well as countless other officers uncharged in various shootings around the country.  This also doesn’t take into account the white males who have been shot and killed at the hands of black police officers — a fact entirely unaddressed by media.

Statistically, roughly 5% of police shootings fall under circumstances that are questionable according to the Washington Post.  The vast majority of individuals shot and killed by police officers were armed with guns and killed after attacking police officers or civilians or making other direct threats.  Of the 960 people killed by police in 2015, 564 were armed with a gun.  281 were armed with another weapon.  Almost half have been white, a quarter have been black and one-sixth have been Hispanic.

Fact: doctors kill roughly 400,000 people per year in the United States.  Doctors are the #3 killer in the US, right behind heart disease and cancer.

In Ferguson, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, New York, even in my own department, officers are being assaulted, shot and/or killed and some are literally ambushed and assassinated, such as NYPD Detectives Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu.

On October 24th of last year, my department lost Deputy Danny Oliver, who was shot and killed during a suspicious person contact adjacent a motel.  That same suspect fled that scene, shot a civilian, and then killed Placer County Sheriff’s Detective Michael Davis Jr a short time later.  Detective Michael David Davis Jr. was killed 26 years — to the day — after his own law enforcement father was killed.  Both deputies were slain by a Mexican national who had been deported twice and had drug arrests.

The Ferguson Effect isn’t simply a phrase, it’s a phenomenon that is, I believe, a contributing factor — amongst many — to the rise in crime rates across the nation.  Even FBI Director James Comey believes there is such a thing as the Ferguson Effect.  My department is not exempt from it.  Deputies are having to consider not only the physical officer survival aspects of the job, but the career survival aspects as well.  What are the, now, political ramifications of doing something on a call?  Certainly, officers are responding to calls for service.  But trust me when I tell you that what is termed “self-initiated activity” is plummeting.  Good or bad, that is a fact.

This is occurring as, in general, the populace seems to culturally be turning more to port, whilst cops tend to be representative of a mid-to-starboard rudder position.

There is a general disrespect for authority and a specific disrespect for police, where the most recent public display occurred by Beyonce during the Super Bowl halftime, in full support of Black Lives Matter by way of the Black Panthers.

In front of a TV audience of one billion, her dancers paraded in outfits similar to controversial activists the Black Panthers. They also raised their fists in an apparent tribute.

The tiides have changed to the point where it is acceptable to denigrate the police during the Super Bowl.  And most persons are sufficiently ignorant as to be completely unaware.

Body cams for police officers will change everything.  There are large issues with body cameras and there are many varieties from which to choose.  Officers are already accustomed to dash cameras, many of which have an audio microphone placed on the officer themselves.

Video has changed the landscape for police officers nationally.  Not only are cameras everywhere, from freeways to intersections to bank ATMs to businesses far and wide.  Video cameras are in public transportation, buses, trucks and locomotives.  They are endemic.  It is customary now to video police, pushing the police as much as possible solely for video reactions.  YouTube is replete with examples, mostly focused upon “bad cops.”

Body cams create a lack of privacy for police that no one quite yet knows how to resolve.  When do you turn the cams on and off?  Who has an expectation of privacy regarding police body cams?  What about citizens on mundane report calls?  Their children, visiting neighbors or friends, people entirely uninvolved with a given call for service?

Will cops be videoed urinating, defecating?  Because, as an attorney, I can make an excellent argument that, unless turned on at the beginning of watch and only turned off at end of watch, “your officer specifically chose when to activate his camera to the detriment of my client.”  You see where I am going, I presume.

This is monitoring on an ultra scale, and does not even address the issue of expense, time and space.  Body cameras are not cheap.  The Denver Police Department has estimated a cost of $6.1 million taxpayer dollars to outfit their agency.  Then there is the issue of storage, mandating huge servers and huge space requirements.  Baltimore estimates a cost of $2.6 million dollars per year just for storage.  Then: how long do you keep your video take?  Where and how do you keep it?  And moreover, who can see it, when, where, and why?

That last question has huge connotations and unanswered issues.

Then there is the physical issue of uploading.  Police vehicles already outfitted with dashcams are generally automatically and wirelessly connected to police station servers at end of watch.  Some downloads are easy, some are difficult.  Police vehicles have been taken out of service for subsequent shifts because their uploads have not completed.  That already occurs in my department.

There is also the issue of comparing styles of police enforcement.  More and more US cops are being compared to England and other European countries who do not arm or minimally arm their police.  Norway, for example, recently decided to disarm their officers completely.  Again.

In the face of greater terror threats, ISIS, Syrian refugees, I believe this philosophy will not pay off for the lawful citizens of European nations.  Many EU nations are already wishing they had their own version of the Second Amendment.

People — and Obama — want US cops “de-militarized” despite the fact they are true first responders.  Not the FBI, not FEMA, not the national guard.  Your local law enforcement.  Yet Mr Obama and some citizens want police agency to give back their “scary equipment” like free MRAPs, military nylon equipment, ballistic helmets, dark boots and those even-more-frightening black rifles with funny thingies protruding all over.  They all look scary.  But they have been historically free from the US government as military surplus.

Funny thing: Mr Obama wants police departments to give back their scary equipment, but doesn’t mind leaving thousands and thousands of tons of equipment behind in the Middle East for ISIS to wrest from the grip of former allies of the US — to include MRAPs and its variables, Hummers, automatic weapons, shoulder-fired weapons, explosives and a host of armored vehicles to even include tanks.  Yes, there are US tanks now being driven and controlled by ISIS.

The Syrian refugee issue IS coming to the US, and just as what you see in Europe could easily happen here.  Mr Obama wants Syrian refugees imported into the US and that is already in occurring.  Ask any Texan.  With that importation comes the myriad problems associated with those young war-age males who bring no skills, no training, and entirely different and frequently incompatible cultural values.

There is also a push to re-train US cops like officers from Sweden and Scotland.  Major unmentioned differences between these nations include a history of gangs, a history of multiple groups and ethnicities, our western manifest destiny with firearms, and the size of the population and minimal comparative resources available.

There is the issue of the mentally ill.  Training. The never-ending threat of those with mental problems, juveniles, those with no concept of mortality or death.  I told my trainees there was almost nothing more dangerous than a mentally deficient male juvenile with a firearm.  I would have been inclined to the drop the hammer on a person of that type more readily than most anyone else.  A tough concept to swallow but based in reality.

We decided in the 60s to stop housing our mentally ill in buildings away from the population in general.  Good or bad, there are now thousands of mentally ill persons walking the streets, involved in crime, encountering officers, being arrested, and only receiving treatment for whatever brief periods they remain in national jails — then released back onto the streets.

Just because someone is mentally ill doesn’t make them less dangerous to the officer on the street and playing the “mentally ill card” seems to, more and more, excuse citizens and damn cops for force and violence between the two.

All along, there is huge, massive competition by law enforcement agencies for grants and assets they normally otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford.

There is also the Millennial Recruit issue — soldier veterans vs civilian recruits.  Cops are only as good as their surrounding agency gene pool.  We have to remember that Millennials — unless they served in the military — have seldom if ever been struck in anger.  You can train and train, but we are seeing that cops want to avoid going “hands-on” with a potential suspect as much as possible.  This is being reinforced by societal and agency administrative reactions.  Injured or killed cops cost money.

Millennials also aren’t familiar with many of the psychomotor skills and aspects of law enforcement required to do the job, such as EVOC (few Millennials, if they drive, drive large chassis vehicles), firearms range training and hands-on weaponless arrest tactics.

Millennials have no loyalty to jobs, change jobs, are into jobs for the working conditions first, and money a bit down the line.  How kindly and considerately they are treated by supervisors and managers makes the greatest difference to them.  What kind of car they get to drive, can they wear a beard, wear shorts, what kind of gun will they get to carry — those are all important aspects to Millennial recruits.  In their first weeks of training they will ask when they can take vacation days.  Their drive for patience and sacrifice is lacking.  Hand them a graveyard shift with crappy days off and few vacation days — well, that becomes a death knell.

Law enforcement realized many years ago that risk management has a great deal to do with police conduct, planning and training.  Because there are more attorneys per square inch in the United States, much of what law enforcement does is predicated upon their fiscal exposure to suits and resulting case law.  Gordon Graham was a man ahead of his time but still makes massive sense.

Law enforcement can still do better with its Risk Management.  Gordon Graham rules that venue with his Seven Rules of Risk Management and High Risk/Low Frequency incidents.  Liability, lawsuits, massive awards; all a part of law enforcement because of deadly potential consequences on so many calls.

Of course there are common sense applications to cop work.  To any job.  Common sense is how I operated as a cop and as a Sergeant.  I am an Oathkeeper, and a believer in keeping law enforcement as simple as possible — a very difficult task in the face of ever-changing and sometimes diminishing societal mores — but still do-able.

Wrap that all up in the average time at any given law enforcement call for service, where you have roughly 10 or 15 minutes to solve a set of problems that may have been growing and festering, sometimes, for weeks, months, maybe five, ten, sometimes twenty years.

A wise old Sergeant named Bill Roberts said something to me a long time ago that held then and holds now.  He said, “kid, there are only three things you need to do to have a good career.  Tell the truth.  Do your job.  Don’t be malicious.”

True then and true now.

There was a time when, literally — as I was told in the early 70s by a grizzled veteran of the Sacramento Police Department — the police academy was held in the shed of the Rose Garden of McClatchy Park for two weeks and, on their first day, they were handed the keys to a car and a shotgun.

Those days are gone, as well they should be.

We know that law enforcement is in the midst of a very important and perhaps potentially radical paradigm shift.

How radical?  Here is potentially the most important, as the advocacy wave is growing.  What wave?  The one where all national law enforcement shootings — and perhaps even all use of force incidents — are investigated by the federal government.

Trust me when I tell you that this will be the next trend in law enforcement.

In spite of these trends, there is hope.  Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke is a standout law enforcement administrator, as are Sheriff’s Joe Arpaio and Paul Babeu.

In closing, there are three things I know that are eternally immutable.

  • I am a Sheepdog.  For those of you who don’t know what that is, click the link.  I took an oath as a law enforcement officer and, even though I am retired, my oath has no expiration date.  I will defend my Constitution and foundational documents against all enemies, foreign and domestic, to my last breath.
  • If you want more cops, buy ’em.
  • Finally: society gets the kind of law enforcement it wants and deserves.

If the US keeps on its current path, it is going to get the kind of law enforcement it deserves.

BZ

 

Tyrone Harris shot in Ferguson: another thug

Tyrone Harris 5, Video StillOn the one year anniversary of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson this past Sunday, Ferguson erupted in violence.  A suspect was arrested for shooting at officers, 18-year-old Tyrone Harris.  Video released purports to show Harris involved in a gun battle with officers.  Harris was critically wounded by officers and has been charged with ten felonies.  He was also a close friend of Michael Brown.

Some photographs of Tyrone Harris, courtesy of various forms of social media and KTVI and Daily Haze.

Tyrone Harris 1 Tyrone Harris 2 Tyrone Harris 3 Tyrone Harris 4 Tyrone Harris 6Tyrone Harris — aka Ty Glock — was currently out on bond for various felony charges.

A St. Louis Police Department spokesman confirmed to TheBlaze that Tyrone Harris Jr. was arrested in November on charges of stealing a car, theft of a firearm and resisting arrest by fleeing.

The claims of Harris wearing black and being completely uninvolved appear to be specious, shall we say.

By the way, just who is funding the various protests in and around Ferguson?  Why, of course, that would be George Soros.  From the WashingtonTimes.com:

George Soros funds Ferguson protests, hopes to spur civil action

Liberal billionaire gave at least $33 million in one year to groups that emboldened activists

by Kelly Riddell

There’s a solitary man at the financial center of the Ferguson protest movement. No, it’s not victim Michael Brown or Officer Darren Wilson. It’s not even the Rev. Al Sharpton, despite his ubiquitous campaign on TV and the streets.

Rather, it’s liberal billionaire George Soros, who has built a business empire that dominates across the ocean in Europe while forging a political machine powered by nonprofit foundations that impacts American politics and policy, not unlike what he did with MoveOn.org.

In all, Mr. Soros gave at least $33 million in one year to support already-established groups that emboldened the grass-roots, on-the-ground activists in Ferguson, according to the most recent tax filings of his nonprofit Open Society Foundations.

Yes, some of the protesters in Ferguson have a conviction.  Conversely, some of those protesting in Ferguson are nothing but thug criminal trash.

You figure out who is who.

BZ