{"id":24921,"date":"2016-07-10T19:34:02","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T02:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=24921"},"modified":"2016-07-10T20:02:47","modified_gmt":"2016-07-11T03:02:47","slug":"just-saying-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=24921","title":{"rendered":"Just Saying: The Kind of Cops, In the Woods and the Accountability Hype"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Police<\/p>\n

The Kind of Cops<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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The five Dallas police officers who were killed were described by others as professionals who loved their families, the community and helping people. \u00a0These were the kind of cops who you hope show up at your doorstep after you call 911.<\/p>\n

Now, they are gone, and it is a big loss to their families and the community.<\/p>\n

RIP<\/p>\n

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In The Woods<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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In the woods, it’s different.<\/p>\n

The camouflaged hunters, mostly white, go out into the woods with guns, sometimes, a lot of guns and boxes of ammo to shoot deer, bear and other quarry.<\/p>\n

\"federal
Refuge law enforcement officer Scott Pariseau check hunter licenses, equipment and hunting activity in order to make sure that hunting is conducted safely and following regulations. Photo by Mara Koenig\/USFWS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The park rangers routinely stop the hunters’ vehicles.\u00a0\u00a0Usually, there is only one park ranger \u00a0who gets off the patrol car walks toward the vehicle he stopped to check if these hunters have licenses to hunt or if they are illegally poaching. Sometimes, the hunters are\u00a0drunk or high on drugs, and have vehicles full of marijuana or other narcotics.<\/p>\n

When the park ranger sees the weapons inside the vehicle that he is approaching, he doesn’t pull out his weapon and starts shouting commands at the person or persons inside the truck or SUV like:<\/p>\n

“Let me see some hands! Get out of the car! Driver first!”<\/p>\n

I’ve seen dozens of \u00a0Park-Rangers-in-the-woods reality shows like Wild Justice and North Woods Law, and I have yet to see a Park Ranger automatically go into the I fear-for-my-life mode, unholster and raise his weapon.<\/p>\n

This is what federal park rangers do according to the Fish and Wildlife Service:\u00a0\u00a0U.S. Fish and Wildlife.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

It seems that in the woods, there is a different set of rules on how law enforcement deals with traffic stops, a different modus of operandi, so to speak.<\/p>\n

In urban areas, especially in minority neighborhoods, a broken tail light and a legally concealed weapon can get you killed, especially if you are a young black man.<\/p>\n

The lawyer of the cops\u00a0who gunned down Philando Castile said client was reacting to “the presence of that gun and the display of that gun” and so he fired.<\/p>\n

The video, however, doesn’t indicate this and when pressed for further information, \u00a0St. Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez’s lawyer, Thomas Kelly, declined to further comment, according to published reports.<\/p>\n

Maybe thousands of cops need to go to Park Ranger school so they can be trained that lawfully possessing a weapon and having a busted taillight or expired vehicle registration, \u00a0isn’t a reason to neutralize what is perceived as a threat with a permanent solution.<\/p>\n

Is this an indictment of all police officers, certainly not.<\/p>\n

Another thing I find puzzling is why\u00a0even the so-called good cops who are sworn to protect and serve never bother to step in while standing on the sidelines when the bad cop is beating, brutalizing or about to fatally shoot a person who\u00a0is handcuffed, not resisting or complying with what he or she is being ordered to do.<\/p>\n

Does “protection” end after or during an arrest?<\/p>\n

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Police Department Accountability<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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The words respect and accountability are being tossed around by TV pundits and commentators \u00a0like yellow circus balloons. \u00a0It’s as though by repeating the words, they will magically make the nation feel better along with sending up “thoughts and prayers” to the family.<\/p>\n

But then, there are the facts. Some would rather deal with perceptions because the facts tend to be cold, ugly, and they sometimes spit in the faces of our disbelief.<\/p>\n

Here’s one:<\/p>\n

\"Los_Angeles_School_Police_Department_Patch\"The Los Angeles Police Department has more than 9,800 police officers and is the third largest municipal department in the nation behind New York and Chicago.<\/p>\n

Between 2012 and 2014, the Los Angeles Police Department had 1,356 allegations against cops that were investigated, and none of the complaints were upheld, according to a Police Commission’s watchdog. \u00a0What does this say about police accountable? \u00a0What does it say about how these investigations are conducted? What message does this send to a brutal, racist and abusive cop on the streets?<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Times fact click here: \u00a0newspaper report<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, let’s go to the third largest police department in Chicago.<\/p>\n

Fact: The Department of Justice announced last year that they were investigating whether Chicago police has a habit violating the law or the U.S. Constitution in their policing, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said.<\/p>\n

The “pattern-and-practice” probe, as it’s known, will focus on use of force, deadly force, accountability and how the Chicago Police Department “tracks and treats” those incidents, she said.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoCNN report fact click here: \u00a0Chicago Police\/Department of Justice<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, let’s go to the East Coast.<\/p>\n

The New York Police Department is being accused of setting up illegal quotas aimed at minorities, and the accusers say that officers are punished for not meeting numerical goals. \u00a0Who is making these allegations? The Black Lives Matter crew? A loud-mouth minority group that hates cops?<\/p>\n

\"NewNo, 10 NYPD officers recently made this allegation.<\/p>\n

Julio Diaz, New York chapter president of the Latino Officers Association, said, \u201cI can tell you I\u2019m a police officer, and there are quotas in the NYPD.\u201d<\/p>\n

New York Police Commissioner William Bratton and other police officials adamantly denied this.<\/p>\n

Click here for NBC News report and video on quota allegations: \u00a0NYPD Report<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

All these facts and allegations underscore the level accountability of those who wear guns and badges and have the power to charge, arrest and \u00a0put us in jail or in the grave.<\/p>\n

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State Prosecutors and Police Unions<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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When district attorneys run for office throughout the nation, most want to thump their chest and say they are tough on crime. Braggadocio BS, and there is no better way to do this than to get the endorsement of the police unions. But whether DAs want to admit this or not, all this comes with a price, a big price extolled on the rest of us.<\/p>\n

This is the problem: District Attorneys Offices rely on cops to testify in trials so they can prosecute criminals.<\/p>\n

Successful prosecutions mean they can run the look-at-my-tough-on-crime political ads. Ads that often come with red, white and blue trimming and an occasional cop or two for props\u2014 how can you lose?<\/p>\n

Here is the problem. District Attorneys\u00a0offices are responsible for reviewing and investigating police shootings after police Internal Affairs Departments conduct their own investigations, making recommendations on whether to prosecute.<\/p>\n

Throughout as this national soul-searching for better ways of policing, the media has never published a report on the number of cops involved in fatal shootings of unarmed suspects that have been prosecuted by District Attorneys Office. Why? Because it would be laughable but it would be eyeopening and would hold these offices accountable.<\/p>\n

I venture to say that in the last five years, I could count the prosecution of cops nationwide by DAs with one hand and divided that by two.<\/p>\n

The Media<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In addition, the lack of accountability of police is exacerbated by most in the media, especially TV reporters. In these matters, reporters \u00a0are usually out to lunch. Plus, editors don’t want to press the matter because it might upset viewers or readers. \u00a0What editor wants to look like they are siding with Black Lives Matter-type groups or other minorities in poor neighborhoods who are loud, vocal and take to the streets.<\/p>\n

As long as it is happening in those neighborhoods, well, come on, is it really bad policing or just aggressive crime-fighting tactics by overzealous police officers?<\/p>\n

So most of the media never question these shootings. The tendency is to publish,\u00a0verbatim, the police department emailed press releases without bothering to go to the neighborhoods where the shooting occurred to talk to witnesses. Without trying to find out whether there are problems between residents in these neighborhoods and police.<\/p>\n

Without even bothering to give these people a voice, period.<\/p>\n

In Chicago, the dash-cam video of the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, 16, was only released after two free-lance journalists who persisted in getting the video \u00a0took the matter to court. The city’s major newspaper, the Chicago Tribune, buried the shooting of McDonald and printed the cop version of what happened without question.<\/p>\n

The newspaper did this to most of Chicago’s cops fatal shootings, and there were many. The Chicago Police Department had big, very serious problems.<\/p>\n

So with this kind of\u00a0police accountability, why wouldn’t a renegade or racist cops feel that they can get away with murder without impunity.<\/p>\n

Shootings in Broad Daylight<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a North Charleston neighborhood, Walter Scott was shot in the back by a cop while he was running away in public place, not in some dark alley. It all went down in broad daylight.<\/p>\n

\"Walter
Former Cop Michael Slager standing over the handcuffed body of Walter Scott who was shot in the back by Slager while running away.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Why would\u00a0Michael Slager, a white North Charleston police officer,\u00a0<\/i>believe he could so casually and calmly\u00a0kill a man like a hunter bringing down a wild animal without the fear of being prosecuted? \u00a0Maybe, it’s because he knew that the odds of getting away with it were heavily in his favor, and he never banked that someone with a cell phone camera would videotape the killing of Walter Scott.<\/p>\n

Seriously, does anybody really believe that this is the first time an unarmed man has been shot in the back by police while running away?<\/p>\n

The reason Slager isn’t still on the streets with a gun and badge is because \u00a0a cell phone camera nailed him firing his weapon and then, trying to tidy up the crime scene to compliment his perjured police report.<\/p>\n

The public outcry after the video went viral brought in the Department of Justice, which sent FBI agents to investigate.<\/p>\n

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Federal Agency to Monitor Police Departments<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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There needs to be an independent investigative federal body to look at each police fatal shooting of unarmed suspects.<\/p>\n

A body that acts as a national clearinghouse and collects information on police fatal shootings.\u00a0This federal body would be able to pinpoint whether a police department or certain police officers have problems and perhaps, fix it or take the department to court to have a federal judge order the repairs.<\/p>\n

The information from this clearinghouse should be readily available to the public on a website along while being shared with police departments. \u00a0This would promote and enhance public confidence.<\/p>\n

Contributing to the \u00a0problem is that bad cops are fired from one department and go work in another department in a different city.<\/p>\n

This happens in California where it is almost impossible to find out whether an officer has citizen complaints lodged against him because state Open Records Laws prohibit citizens from getting these complaint records, citing that they are strictly personnel matter.<\/p>\n

These records should be available to citizens as a matter of public safety.<\/p>\n

In some states like Texas, however, citizen complaints about police officers are available under that state’s Open Records Laws.<\/p>\n

Some cops have no business being on the streets with guns or badges because they are more dangerous than the gangs and criminal predators who they are there to weed out and arrest.<\/p>\n

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The NRA and Guns Laws<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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The two-legged evil who opened fire on cops in Dallas was a loser looking for a cause.<\/p>\n

Micah Johnson moved and shot from different angles while laughing, singing, playing games and taunting the police, according to reports. He later wrote letters “R.V.” in his own blood on the walls where he was cornered.<\/p>\n

Police officers finally sent a robot with a bomb to take out this \u00a0domestic terrorist who was looking for some sick way to justify his meager existence, rejection and rage.<\/p>\n

What is surprising is how easy it is, thanks to the NRA and state legislators, to carry assault rifles and other weapons in public places including downtown streets in more than 40 states.<\/p>\n

Killer Johnson could have had co-conspirators with rifles walking among the protestors in Dallas and all of a sudden at the right time, there would be gunfire from different buildings, intersections and from behind cars.<\/p>\n

Ohio has open-carry gun laws, and the Republic Convention is being held there this month. With Donald Trump slinging his hateful and racist BS coupled with promises by Nazis, white supremacists and left-wing protestors that they plan to attend the convention, it’s going to be insane if some of the violent crazies start pulling out and aiming weapons.<\/p>\n

Maybe, Dallas is just a preview and caution of \u00a0the damage that one demented loser with a rifle can cause at a peaceful protest, political convention or some other \u00a0public gathering.<\/p>\n

A warning that extraordinary precautions must be taken to avoid a catastrophe.<\/p>\n

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The videos below sum up police shootings, and give a good example of a good cop on the streets:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n