OK, the cops screwed up. But they admitted it! And right away too! Then, in a truly shocking move, they repaired the damage they had done. I really enjoyed this story.
British police got a tip on the whereabouts of a drug dealer. They surrounded the home and smashed through the door in true “dynamic entry” fashion. They screamed, they pointed weapons, they captured, they cuffed, they questioned, etc. Problem was, the guy they were looking for moved out months before and an innocent couple and their kids had moved in. Quite a bungle, to be sure, just like cops from around here are famous for. But was the British followup just like cops from around here? No way! These guys stepped up and made amends.
First, they arranged to have the door they obliterated replaced at the police department’s expense. Good start. Then, they went back to the couple’s home and personally apologized to them both, explaining the situation about the drug dealer that had lived there previously. And then they gave the lady a bouquet of flowers and the man a bottle of beer, all on the local PD’s tab.
Expensive gifts? No, not really. But as we all know, it’s the thought that counts. And for a change, a cop actually had a kind and remorseful thought! I’m lovin’ it! Hey Britain….could you export a load of that over here??
New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly had the embarrassment of the 50th raid on the wrong house, make that the SAME wrong house, a few days back. It seems when NYC cops need a house to raid, for anything or anybody, they go to Walter Martin’s residence, and have been doing so for 8 years. Some kind of Mapquest screwup seems to be to blame. Anyway, Kelly’s cops wouldn’t apologize, so Kelly did it for the whole department. He went to the house in Brooklyn and presented the law-abiding victims there with a New York cheesecake.
So, let’s get this straight---in the USA, it takes 50 botched raids to qualify for a cheesecake. What you get on the 75th? 100th? Hopefully the prizes get better as you go like an exciting round of The Price Is Right. Kelly promised that the mistake has been fixed, once and for all, which is good, but I think a bit more than a cheesecake should be awarded for being terrorized by the NYC cops 50 times. Hey, in England, your first time gets you a new front door, a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of beer. I’d say Anthony and Kayleigh are in for some major league prizes by the time they hit number 50!
"What do we have for them, Johnny? "
"Well, how about free college tuition for the two kids, and a brand new Toyota, Bob!"
No, wait, better make that a Ford.
Once again, the British cops show the American cops just how it’s done.
The folks in Huntsville Alabama are finally getting around to trying to decide if maybe they might have a possible problem with some questions on whether the police there could potentially use some help in case they aren’t sure if the job is being done in an OK fashion.
Does that sentence drive you nuts? How about indecision? Does total lack of action when action is needed make you want to scream?
Evidently, it is a pastime of the City Council of Huntsville. The people have made enough noise to get a forum with the City Councilman Richard Showers on the subject of forming a Citizen Review Board, but then caved when it was time to make some progress. The city must like their cops as they are. If so, be they good or bad, they deserve them.
The first sign of foot-dragging came when councilman Showers asked the ad hoc committee to decide if a CRB is needed. Big mistake. Police are police are police, and for that reason, every city and town needs a review board, just like electricity and phone service. There must be a constant and consistent input from the citizens to the police department as to what their needs are, and if the PD is meeting those needs. Without daily direction, cops are guaranteed to slowly warp out of alignment and become progressively more destructive to the citizens they serve, as today’s news shows us. By asking if a CRB is needed, councilman Showers proves he doesn’t know what a CRB is for.
Showers said he was only seeking “information”. Councilman, you don’t need information, you need a CRB; they will get all the information required. He said the town meeting was for introduction. Councilman, it isn’t an introduction you need, it is a Citizen Review Board. Police antics as we all know them has introduced America to what needs to be done, and it is police department control.
Councilman Bill Kling suggested a meeting between citizens and law enforcement officials to “satisfy the needs of both sides”. Really? No. The formation of a CRB with teeth is started by citizens that don’t ask the child if he would like to eat his vegetables, the meal is simply served and expected to be eaten. There is no bargaining. The satisfaction comes if the townspeople like the cops and if the cops want the job.
A serious-minded CRB is fueled by a citizenry that understands a PD is the result of an original community request, and is funded by the community itself. We are not here to be judged by our employees. An effective CRB calls the shots to bring the citizen’s vision of the community to reality, and it does so by sculpting the PD. How? Hire and Fire.
Huntsville, go with Hire and Fire or go home. No police department in America will listen to a word you say without it. Cops are a problem because they think they can do whatever they want. If you give them an inch of negotiating room, they will take every mile the rest of us will ever travel. It is the nature of the personality types the police academy attracts and nurtures. The academy problem can be addressed in due time, but the police problem must be solved now, and with a Citizen Review Board. Call City Councilman Richard Showers and exert your power as a voter and a citizen by telling him to stop the foot dragging and stall tactics. None of us has forever. Put the CRB with Hire & Fire in motion today.
Now here’s what I’m talking about. Requirements to become a cop are falling into the cellar, and there isn’t a police agency in the country that will step up to correct it.
Jamillah, who may or may not be a good citizen, was desperate to become a cop. She is 5 ft tall and under 100 lbs, not exactly the person you would call on to do any heavy lifting, be it literal or figurative. She is a cop in the city of New Rochelle, NY. She wanted it very much, (I always wanted to sing like Pavarotti, but didn’t have the pipes for it), and finally squeezed herself into the department somehow. The Commissioner, Patrick Carroll, went out of his way to accommodate Jamillah’s obvious physical shortcomings, not to mention her past brushes with the law including drug association and domestic violence with a roommate. Article
None of those screaming red flags prevented the Chief from hiring Jamillah, not the undersize or underweight, not the shady history. Then, once hired, what did she do? She LOST her badge. Yes, lost it, meaning forgot where she put it, along with the police ID that accompanied it. The items were never found and had to be replaced. Maybe they are on eBay.
Update: Thanks to Robert Cox from Talk of the Sound for this--Jamillah lost not one, but two badges and police ID's. I suppose that will drive down the bids on eBay for the first one, now that there are two out there.
Jamillah Blair first lost her police badge, and then she lost her ability to drive only when sober. She got into a bit of a scrape because of drunk driving and then leaving the scene of a head-on crash with a Yonkers man. While she may have been viewed as a great public relations tool for a police force, couldn’t Chief Carroll hire one that doesn’t drink? I mean, c’mon Chief, she caused a head-on collision with an innocent driver and then had the nerve to flee the scene. Cops know not to flee scenes, don’t they?
Jamillah Blair is the SIXTH cop in Westchester County to be found drunk driving in the last 4 months. The statistics don’t look too good for New Rochelle, nor does the success rate for Commissioner Carroll’s hiring methods.
Look At It This Way
The population of the city is just under 75K, and the police department employs 250. Understanding that cops like to chirp “We are human too, sometimes we make mistakes”, how many cops should the people of New Rochelle allow to be drunk? 10%? That would be 25. 1%? That’s only 2½ cops at any one time. Maybe citizens should learn to have at least that much tolerance for diversity. After all, cops are only human, right? So they say.
How about this for an idea…..NO DRUNK COPS, EVER. Here’s a policy for your consideration: A drunk cop equals an unemployed cop. Simple. We need to clear our streets of law-breaking law enforcers, and a great place to start is with how they abuse alcohol.
One way to accomplish this is to require all cops to add an alcohol-detecting ankle bracelet to the uniform, and a similar device to their personal vehicle. In addition, liquor stores and bars can be instructed to refuse to sell to cops, in or out of uniform. This isn't just for cops caught drunk, this is for all cops beginning on the date of hire. Jamillah has proven, along with so many more examples as listed on the sidebar of this blog, that cops just can’t handle it. How do we accomplish this? A Citizen Oversight Panel with Hire & Fire.
Employment Practice
How many things can one police commissioner in one PD screw up at one time?
·Refuse others the job because of insufficient height, weight, or record, but hire Jamillah.
·Allow drunk cops to operate on or off the job, including driving
·When a cop is caught drunk driving, crashing into a citizen and fleeing the scene, continue to pay them the taxpayer’s money, without termination, like Jamillah.
·Refuse the townspeople of New Rochelle input as to what level of quality they get in a tax-supported PD.
This is the sixth time in 4 months in Westchester, New Rochelle! Your cops are failing to earn your tax dollars, and have no respect for their job, or the profession in general. When sober, they are stealing your money, and when drunk, they are crashing into your cars and running from the scene to cover it up.Do you condone this level of ethics? Or honesty? Or sobriety?
The fact that Commissioner Carroll had to bend the rules to get Jamillah in is bad enough for all those who had similar size problems and were refused, but to keep paying a drunk driver who flees the scene is just too much. Dishonesty, questionable character, prior record problems, all overlooked. Then there’s the physical inadequacy, and now a PD that needs to shop around for a wholesale price on detoxing. Where is your Citizen Review Board, New Rochelle? I mean the one with Hire & Fire?
This particular chapter in the peoples’ fight to get control of their PD takes things to a whole new level. It isn’t just a bad judgment during an adrenalin-fueled chase and arrest that makes a bad cop, and it isn’t just a jaw-jutting jerk of a human that makes a bad cop. This time it is a woefully inadequate cop, hired by a Chief who seems to have more respect for favoring a political viewpoint than desire to provide the people of New Rochelle quality policing. New Rochelle's citizens must provide it instead, and only a CRB will accomplish that.
What are you waiting for?Call the Mayor, and all other office-holders in your city, county and state. Remind them all that November 2 will be here before we know it, and those that agree with a CRB that can Hire & Fire get elected.
Chicago-land comes through again. No fleeing the scene this time, but jumping the curb and mowing down a stop sign is still fair play for a sheriff department employee. Add a heapin’ helpin’ of attitude and what do you get? Eryn Gray. She is quite the handful. Read her story, but lock your liquor cabinet.
Posts
