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South Seattle Cop

RVP Exclusive: South Seattle Cop Responds to Mayor’s Suggestion That Cops Live Local

March 9, 2011

in Opinion

by South Seattle Cop

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn recently said that more police should live in the city – an idea I’ve heard thrown around since I was a kid. What I have learned is this:

  • Teachers don’t teach better because they live near the school. They either have a passion for teaching or they don’t.
  • Firefighters don’t fight fire and render medical aid any better based on how far they commute to work.
  • Water department doesn’t pump out a flooded street better because he/she woke up that morning within the city limits.

The same goes for police.

Like anyone else in a job like this: We do what we do because we were meant to do it, and doing it well gives us satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.

I spend at least half my waking hours in the ‘hood I patrol, often more. In a typical 24-hour period, I spend as much time here as most of the residents of the ‘hood who work in another part of town. I have always worked here. I feel as plugged-in to the south end as anyone here… more than some.

However, I would NOT want my neighborhood officers where I am to live in the immediate area. That opens up the possibility (or perception of) favoritism towards familiar neighbors and loss of objectivity. Also, officers living in their patrol areas are easy targets for threats and intimidation from criminals.

Think of this: How would you feel if you knew the officer investigating a crime for you lived nearby, and the dirtbag you just identified as the perpetrator knew that too? I would be concerned…

Officers living in the areas where they work are usually mediocre/low performers, and very non-proactive officers. Not go-getters. I can’t point to proof of cause and effect, but I have my suspicions as to why that is.

That’s not who I want prowling up and down my street while I sleep.

And like teachers, firefighters, librarians, and others, cops want to live where they can get the most house for their buck. And usually that is not within the city proper. It does not make them care any less about what they do, or somehow detached from the mysterious tribe known as “seattlites”. It does help them be unafraid to arrest whoever needs arresting, however.

In fact, a lot of your friendly neighborhood South Precinct officers live over in West Seattle.

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Rainier Valley Post Comment of the Week Goes To…

February 12, 2011

in Opinion

Just sayin’ on “RVP Comment of the Week Goes To…”:

A few facts to place Stakeholder’s comments in historical context:

SHA’s original Holly Park and Rainier Vista public housing sites were built to house defense workers and veterans in the 1940s and were converted to public housing back in the 50′s back when the Rainier Valley was a diverse working class neighborhood – SHA did not choose SE Seattle as much as inherit it among the many other neighborhoods they serve such as High Point in West Seattle. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NewHolly, Seattle for more info.

SEED and Mt Baker Housing Association were formed to serve housing needs in SE Seattle in ways that market landlords can’t or won’t. They are place-based organizations just as Capitol Hill Housing and the Delridge Neighborhood Development Association are. SEED has done many things beside build affordable housing such as contribute greatly to the revitalization of Columbia City and was responsible for the rehabilitation of the Lake Washington Apartments.

Mt Baker Housing Association has rehabilitated apartment houses that were below acceptable occupancy standards yet were still open and charging rent despite the hazards and dangers on site.

Blaming the non-profits for the economic fortunes of the Valley is misguided; the truly negative impacts are at a much higher level of ingrained injustice and patterns of discrimination that these very non-profits are working to alleviate through practical measures.

The dialogue that occurs here between friends, neighbors and engaged citizens is one of the features that makes your RVP such a valuable community resource. Your RVP does not necessarily endorse the opinions expressed in the Comment of the Week.

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RVP Comment of the Week Goes To…

February 5, 2011

in Opinion

Stakeholder on “South Seattle Cop on Violent Rainier Beach Crime Wave: It’s Not Complicated.”:

South Seattle Cop said: “Despite these long understood truths, every politician thinks they are the chosen one, the new enlightened mind who has figured out some secret truth that the last 100 years of scholars missed… or they think you are too dumb to remember this come next election time. Usually its a combination of both.”

I couldn’t agree more. But, what South Seattle Cop avoids is the truth that decades of Seattle politicians have steered the low-income and minority populations to one zip code. The Seattle Housing Authority has concentrated their housing units here. So has SEED, Mt. Baker Housing, Union Gospel Mission, and others. If there is nothing wrong with being poor, then why don’t we embrace low-income people and low-income housing in every Seattle neighborhood? Because Seattle is racist and classist, that’s why. Red-lining was outlawed in the 60?s and banks were punished for steering minorities to one neighborhood. Seattle has perfected ‘steering’ of minorities but nobody calls it what it is; red-lining.

Until SE achieves balance, and our middle-class is retored, we will continue to experience higher crime. Your chances of being a victim of crime are about 600% greater because you live in 98118. The data doesn’t lie, poverty and crime go hand in hand. Poverty is the core problem, much more so than the number of cops on the streets.

Focus the blame where it belongs; at the doorstep of city leaders that have been elected to serve. They’re serving their OWN best interests first, taking the easy way out, and forcing SE Seattle to accept resposibilty for the social burdens of an entire city. Dumping all social ills in SE helps our Mayor and City Council win support for re-election in other neighborhoods. Our higher crime is no accident, its by design.

The dialogue that occurs here between friends, neighbors and engaged citizens is one of the features that makes your RVP such a valuable community resource. Your RVP does not necessarily endorse the opinions expressed in the Comment of the Week.

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South Seattle Cop on Violent Rainier Beach Crime Wave: It’s Not Complicated.

February 3, 2011

in 911,Opinion

Ed’s note: Yesterday we reported on the recent wave of violent crime in the South Rainier Valley – particularly Othello through Rainier Beach. What follows is South Seattle Cop’s response to the upsurge just four months after SPD initiated a major crackdown on the area.

By South Seattle Cop

Of course we saw an improvement. There were cops everywhere, and plenty more were available when something happened so response to potential problems was swift and overwhelming. Many instances which could have ended in violence and bloody street mayhem were squashed while they were still just noise complaints, minor disturbances, etc.

And of course when these extra resources from other precincts and other agencies were pulled out and sent back to their normal assignments, the thugs noticed that too.

There is nothing mysterious or complicated about this. This is something that sociologists and criminologists have studied for decades, and the outcome was predictable; even for a mayor and city council  without PhD’s.

Underlying this is an old oft repeated  (and oft ignored) lesson about police resources vs. the population overall, and about resources vs. areas having difficulties. This is day-1 Community Policing stuff at the academy.

Despite these long understood truths, every politician thinks they are the chosen one, the new enlightened mind who has figured out some secret truth that the last 100 years of scholars missed… or they think you are too dumb to remember this come next election time. Usually its a combination of both.

Photo/Will Austin Photography

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RVP Exclusive: South Seattle Cop Questions Reporter’s Allegations of Police Brutality

January 20, 2011

in 911,Opinion

South Seattle Cop:

Ms. Romo – the witness in this case – is a reporter, someone who’s job it is to observe and report facts accurately, yet she’s revised the number of punches she claims she saw an officer make a few times now, depending on who she was telling the story to.

In the investigation world, this leads one to be at least, suspicious…

I notice Burbank said today that they were a full city block behind where this all happened. So from that distance away, she could not see if someone got spit on, BUT she could see details like “plastic handcuffs” being used?

I haven’t seen plastic flexcuffs since the last time we had a WTO anniversary years ago. They are not standard issue, and are only issued out when there is an expectation of mass arrests. It is not something normally issued to patrol officers on regular duty.

Furthermore, just off the top of my head, I can think of more than a few instances where a handcuffed suspect (for reasons known only to them) decided they wanted to fight more, even though they were cuffed. Handcuffs are only a partial and temporary restraint. The determined and/or creative offender can still be assaultive while cuffed if the wish. There have been cases where offenders have been able to murder officers after being cuffed.

The point being that the fact that a suspect was cuffed does not automatically mean that further force being used was unjustified.

I think most officers would agree that if you spit on them, you can expect to immediately get popped in the face to show you why you shouldn’t do that again, until a spit-sock can be found. Some jurisdictions charge using human bodily fluids as a weapon as a felony assault.

As a side note, for those who didn’t see the more recent stories: this guy that these two officers arrested apparently is a long time violent career criminal, who one news outlet found out has a conviction for attempted murder! The report released by the department today also seems to indicate this is not the first time he has assaulted SPD officers.

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RVP Exclusive: South Seattle Cop on Rep. Santos & Her DUI

January 8, 2011

in 911,Opinion,Politics

by South Seattle Cop

Some things worthy of note:

–Citing and releasing a DUI suspect (obviously not allowing them to drive themselves away) is the rule, not the exception. The investigation paperwork packet is so cumbersome and time consuming, and the crime considered such a low priority by the courts and society at-large, that a booking is rarely worth the time and effort unless you have a repeat offender on your hands, or other issues in addition to the DUI. An offender booked solely for DUI will walk out the front door of the King County Jail before the officer’s reports are complete and submitted.

I know several officers who make it a common practice to drive the offender home after processing as a way to insure they do not get back behind the wheel that night.

077 vs. .08: WHY APOLOGIZE is wrong and ERICH, ANONYMOUS, TOM, CAROL, etc… are all correct. The .08 limit is a bright line that once crossed, the law considers a driver intoxicated, regardless of you size, metabolism, and any other indications. However, DUI cases rely primarily on the observations of the driving, and the performance on the field sobriety tests (there are a myriad of rumors about SFSTs; the fact is they were designed and vetted by doctors and neurologists, they are easy to perform when sober, and this is why they continue to withstand the test of the courts).

The legislature and courts recognize that at a .08 I may not exhibit significant signs of intoxication, but someone 5’2″ and 120 pounds is probably blitzed out of their mind at that point. Aside from size there are the factors of food consumption, individual metabolism, water intake, etc… Many people are unsafe to drive well before reaching the .08 limit, and this is why blowing below a .08 and still being charged (and convicted) is not at all unusual.

Actually, no one has ever accused me of being slight in stature, or even close to it, and I am done well before .08!

–PBT’s: Portable Breath Testers are used as a factor is assessing a driver in the field, before being brought to a facility with a BAC machine. They are just an added tool for an officer on the scene to get a clearer overall picture while making their assessment. PBT results while useful to the officer’s assessment are not used as evidence in court (although when comparing them to actual BAC readings I have found them to be pretty accurate).

If a driver is clearly impaired, but blows 0.0 on a PBT, alcohol may not be the issue. This would be important for an officer in the field to know, hence the use of PBTs.

In the end is it not a judgment call. The case and charges are built on a series of facts and circumstances observed by the officer during the offender’s driving, roadside assessment, and further DUI processing at a station.

Why apologize?: you can’t MAKE someone blow in the machine if they do not want to. All you can do is provide them the opportunity. Persons supposedly willing to give the breath sample are required by law under implied consent to give two samples for comparison to be deemed as having given a valid breath sample.

Politicians and other public figures are notorious in DUI’s for doing the half-hearted blows in the machine (hoping to fool it), despite the specific instructions provided explaining that a deep exhale, good seal on the mouthpiece, and blowing until the machine signals to stop are required. The machine sensor can tell when it is finally getting the air from deep in the lungs from a deep exhale. When you just do a light blow and stop before the BAC machine signals it has a good sample, then you are not complying with fairly simple and straight forward instructions…you are in fact refusing.

A refusal earns an automatic license suspension.

Get caught driving on that suspended license and the driver WILL go to jail. And rightly so.

And on a side note: A Representative? Ha! That’s nothing, WSP. We got a Supreme Court Justice! (I don’t know how to make a “smug” smiley face…so just assume there is one here).

:-)

Last week, 37th District Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos plead guilty in last summer’s DUI arrest in South Seattle.

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South Seattle Cop: Seward Park Much Safer Than Before; Don’t Be Afraid, Just Be Smart & Aware

October 16, 2010

in 911,Opinion

By South Seattle Cop

Seward Park is no more or less dangerous than any other park. As with any other park, you need to be common-sense about what you do and when. Keep in mind the immense size of the park, which is sometimes hard to appreciate until you look at it on GoogleEarth or something.

There is no illumination in the park after dark with the exception of the lights around the main lot, and one or two odd lights around the lower loop trail. The park interior is completely dark at night, except when moon or starlight can get into the amphitheater area.

As it is large, if something DOES happen and you need to scream for help, keep in mind that unless there is someone in the park with you, and nearby, we have found those screams generally do not make it outside the park bounds to the neighborhoods. Just remember the size and topography.

There is a little known transient population living within the park interior. Those individuals are not necessarily dangerous by default because they are transient, but some of them over the years who migrated there, were found to have done so because it’s a good place for someone who’s violently anti-social to hide-out and avoid police. Don’t be frightened, just be aware, and be smart.

Seward Park is much safer now than it has been in the past. Less bodies are dumped there nowadays, and I think at present the belief is that there is probably only one still in there that we haven’t found, but are reasonably sure is in there somewhere. Back in the roaring 1990?s (anyone live down here back then?) and into the beginning of this decade, gangsters pretty much owned that park, and even had a shooting range set up in it to go try out their “gats” (remember that word?…that takes ya’ back…).

Back then we were not bombarded with news 24/7 all over the internet, and I am not sure anyone in the surrounding area was aware of that back then (maybe). In those days police could not safely enter the park at night except in groups. But the Wild West days of the park are in the past.

Running or walking in the park is fine. Doing it with a dog or a can of pepper-spray handy is better (like any park, really). Keep cognizant of the size and geography of the park, and really think twice about venturing into a park of this size in low lighting/after dark.

I would suggest taking a cell phone, and familiarize yourself with the park (which way is north, south, east, west; which end of the park am I in? how do I get to a paved road from where I am if I needed to so police/fire could reach me quickly, etc…) layout. These are just normal day-to-day good things to be aware of anyway, in a park or otherwise.

Also please observe the posted signs indicating closure hours. Being present in the park after closure hours is Criminal Trespass…just FYI.

With common sense applied, the park is fine. Enjoy.

See you at the park! :-)

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South Seattle Cop: SPD’s So-Called Command Shake-Up = Much Ado About Nothing

September 20, 2010

in 911,News

Last week, in the wake of a wave of questionable shootings and beatings involving the Seattle Police Department, Chief John Diaz announced that several members of SPD’s command staff were being reassigned.

But South Seattle Cop says the so-called shake-up is much ado about nothing:

These were promotions and command assignments in the works for some time, and many if not all of the individuals had already assumed their new positions long before the official announcement and personnel orders were published. This is just a standard list of promotions and assignments. It happens regularly.

Also, no “new” positions were created. Certain new responsibilities, or at least additional duty descriptions, were tagged to some of the positions, but that’s it.

This is all window dressing to placate the “community activists” with their own political agendas related to the John Trouble Williams shooting.

And yes, that is his legal middle name, and for good reason: he was a violent drug and alcohol abusing criminal with a long history of explosive violence against other citizens, law enforcement, the staff at King County Jail, staff at various clean-and-sober houses, and the staff at Harborview Medical Center.

A sudden unexplained attack on someone, especially a police officer, was in fact what he was known for by officers and medical personnel all over the city.

Photo/Will Austin Photography

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Comment of the Week Goes To…

August 14, 2010

in Opinion

South Seattle Cop on 911 Log: Two Attacked Waiting for Bus Near Othello Station, Police Say Drugs, Money Motivated Mt. Baker Robbery + More:

So Citizens Of South Seattle, in the light of the above story, I was wondering…

Since the Times/PI has done a few stories on it, I am assuming folks here are aware that there are extra emphasis patrols going on in Bell Town every Friday and Saturday night?

Were you aware that on these two traditionally busiest crime nights of the week, that officers from all 5 precincts are pulled out of the neighborhoods they would otherwise be patrolling to staff this special detail?

Were you aware that while the 911 lines on Friday and Saturday nights are backed up from calls in the various precincts, that the downtown core (I refuse to call it a neighborhood…I mean, really) is saturated with officers standing around doing nothing but watching drunk idiots act like, well, drunk idiots?

One club usually has a significant potion of the SWAT unit tied-down just sitting around outside it just in case something happens…

All this because the Mayor’s favored few (people more important to him than you or I) cried crocodile tears over two shootings that happened in the space of one month (May…if I recall correctly).

Yep, that’s it. Never mind there are times we may have multiple shootings in one week, one day, or even in one single shift sometimes here, or in East Precinct. But of course if you live in Greenwood, and pander to a small core group of urbanites in north downtown who moved here from god-only-knows-where else assuming this was Mayberry, that’s OK.

It’s just not OK if something like that happens in Bell Town. Then it’s a public safety crisis.

The Bell Town crowd loves it, of course. They can stumble around bar hopping, and everywhere they go they see more police (standing around with nothing to do, because they’ve been told to just be visible, but not to do any actual police work) making them feel safe.

This of course raises some questions in my mind:

1.Why are the citizens in North, South, East, and Southwest Precincts OK with this? It’s their neighborhood precincts coughing up the majority of the extra staffing power that supports this circus. Where is the loud public outrage?

2. Why are the City Attorney and City Council going along with this? Not that I am a fan of any of them, but aren’t they the ones constantly railing about “Social Justice” and other pol-left-ically correct buzzwords with nebulous meanings? Whatever this weeks meaning of Social Justice is according to them, I am willing to bet that they would not define it as: providing preference to the yuppies in condos downtown at the expense of neighborhoods and family safety.

3. What makes the Bell Towners more important to Mayor Mikey than the rest of the city? I’d be willing to bet the percentage of votes for him (or for anyone for that matter) out of the downtown condo crowd was negligible just due to numbers alone.

4. If this type of saturation is what City Hall feels it takes to get a problem area under control, what does this say about the size of the department? What does it say about neighborhood areas where high levels of crime and violence are the norm?

5. Standing alone, the West Precinct would be roughly the 6th largest police department in the state. With all those extra resources available to them, why are neighborhood precincts coughing up resources to support West, on the two nights they can least afford to do so? Are we really to believe they don’t have the staffing?

6. Were you aware Mayor Mikey plans to carry this circus act on through the rest of the year?

7. Where’s the loud public outrage?

See you in Belltown.

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The dialogue that occurs here between friends, neighbors and engaged citizens is one of the features that makes your RVP such a valuable community resource. Your RVP does not necessarily endorse the opinions expressed in the Comment of the Week. Photo/Will Austin Photography

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Local Black Leaders + South Seattle Cop to Diaz: You Are Not Our Choice

July 16, 2010

in Opinion,Politics

KOMO:

In a room as hot as a summer night, tensions boiled over between the community and the man who could be the city’s next top cop.

Community leaders didn’t mince words as they told Seattle Interim Police Chief John Diaz he’s not their choice.

“You’re going to have to change – change in a way that I don’t believe you will,” said James Bible, president of King County NAACP. Read more.

Meanwhile, South Seattle Cop lays it down like this:

Generally, I would agree that internal candidates tend to be the best option. Candidates from outside the area have no idea what they are getting into when they undertake overseeing police operations in a city like Seattle. It’s not like any other city in the US, as anyone who travels can vouch.

That said, Diaz is not particularly bright or articulate, and this job really is just a pay increase and increased personal status for him. He was a less than stellar officer to say the least, before working his way through various admin positions, and just enough time to punch his ticket in command roles, to get promoted quickly. He is not trusted or respected within the Department, and is known to be the type who will try and build his career and political capital by trying to punish anyone he can, regardless of the merits of the complaint.

The result is that under Diaz, officers will be very hesitant to conduct proactive work and investigations on the street, which is the only kind of work that inhibits and intercepts criminals, interdicts criminal activity, and thus can have a reducing effect on crime. Otherwise, officers are just waiting for the dispatched 911 calls, which involves the least risk of liability, but can only hold the line at best against a crime rate.

I think the average citizen is probably not aware why what officers think of the Chief should be important to them. And I think others think it is important, but for the wrong reasons.

The choice of Chief and the perception of that Chief by officers will have a tangible effect on crime in our neighborhoods.

Next Wednesday at 9:30 a.m., the first of four meetings leading up to the potential confirmation of Diaz (above) as chief is scheduled to take place in Seattle City Council Chambers.

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South Seattle Cop on Monday’s Assault/Punching Incident Near Franklin HS

June 16, 2010

in 911,Opinion

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“Delay in the use of force, and hesitation to accept responsibility for its employment when the situation clearly demands it, will always be interpreted as weakness. Such indecision will encourage further disorder, and will eventually necessitate measures more severe than those which would have sufficed in the first instance”. –page 27, para 1-15, Small Wars Manual (1940), Chapter I Section III: “Psychology”, section dealing with psychology of dealing with riots or other sorts of general civil disorder.

“It’s easy to see how this … applies to not only Mardi Gras but to police work in general. If you don’t establish and maintain control from the start, you will be fighting an uphill battle.” –Ken Saucier

Ken Saucier often quoted that section of the manual to officers when he was working as an instructor, and later as our Guild President when taking members of the news media to school on the issue of force. The manual section was written for the military when trying to assist foreign governments in maintaining civil order overseas. But Ken recognized the universal truth of the statement, and that it applies to virtually any confrontation whether between groups, or one-on-one. The rules of confrontation and establishing control have not changed since we crawled out of the Olduvai Gorge and said, “Look out world, here we come!”

The stop…

The intersection at Rainier Av S/Mt. Baker Blvd. S has a history of traffic/pedestrian safety problems associated with the adjacent Franklin High School. Every year there are pedestrian vs. vehicle accidents, as well as vehicle vs. vehicle and single vehicle accidents resulting from drivers trying to avoid groups of teens running across the lanes, despite a perfectly good pedestrian overpass provided.

The South Precinct command, and also individual officers, myself included, have taken this issue up with Franklin High School since it is an issue of safety of the student body not even a block off of school property. Simply having a couple staff members out there after school to help direct the flow of pedestrian teens to the overpass or to existing crosswalks would probably have a significant impact. In my own experience though, the school has felt there were other afterschool priorities ahead of making sure students didn’t get hit on Rainier Avenue when school lets out, although every year they ask South Precinct to do a jay-walking emphasis on that location.

That’s why Officer Ian Walsh was there.

The point I am making: not only was this a valid detention for an observed violation, but this particular intersection has a history of problems associated with this very issue. Although jay-walking is not normally a high priority overall, in a situation like this a good conscientious community-oriented police officer familiar with his/her patrol area and it’s concerns, looking out for both drivers and youngsters, might recognize the need to stop and address it. Obviously an officer cannot cite an entire mass of people. But usually stopping (even if no citation is issued) the most blatant violator(s) can have a positive effect.

Resistance/Assault…

It doesn’t matter if you were paying close enough attention to your speedometer to agree you were speeding, or figure you must have used your turn signal this time because that’s what you always do, or whatever… If you don’t agree with an enforcement action and officer takes, or don’t agree with something else an officer does (maybe you fancy yourself an expert on search-and-seizure case-law), on the street/at the scene is not the time to try to remediate that, and you are not the person to try and remediate that.

Anything and everything an officer does in an enforcement contact is automatically reviewed in pre-trial hearings, and in trial itself. If your incident does not rise to the level where it ends up I criminal court, you can bring an incident to a courtroom if you like (there are plenty of lawyers in Seattle waiting for you to show up on there doorstep wanting to sue the city, especially SPD, and they will make their fee contingent on a settlement or damages awarded).

My point is this: there is no justifiable reason, even if you are convinced the officer you are dealing with is in the wrong (which these suspects clearly knew better than that) to resist or be obstructive. If you truly feel an improper action is being taken there are multiple venues and avenues of redress available. However none of them are at Rainier Avenue/Mt. Baker Blvd.

If you do decide to take it up in the streets, and force an incident to be resolved in another way, you have only yourself to blame in the end when you are sitting in court all scraped and bruised up.

However in this case I don’t think these two darlings thought they were in the right. They just felt the rules shouldn’t apply to them.

James Kelly said, “Let me be clear here, what the 17-year-old did was wrong and I am not making any excuses for her…” Well, that’s not a truthful statement, Mr. Kelly. If you are not making excuses for her and agree her actions were in the wrong, then you are acknowledging Walsh’s actions were justified. If you are going to claim Walsh was in the wrong, you by default have to be claiming the two suspects were in the right.

Chris Bennett does not even try to put on a façade of being objective and reasonable. He  makes his purely emotional (as opposed to reasoned) reaction clear, “I don’t care what Nick Metz, Diaz, or the mayor or anybody say(s) – we saw what we saw!”  Maybe he sees an opportunity for his name to get recognition on the same level with James Kelly and James Bible. I was just surprised he weighed-in, but since Referendum-71 passed maybe he’s looking for new things to complain about.

Well Mr. Bennet, regardless of what you think you saw, here’s what I saw. Officer Walsh (an officer who by the way has an excellent reputation both within the department and with the neighborhood he has served) was dealing with a whole host of danger factors:

  • Multiple combative suspects
  • Growing hostile crowd (reminiscent of the old Rainer/Henderson and Rainier/MLK riot crowds of a few years back) that although not captured completely in the video ended up being about 40-50 people. I don’t know if Walsh saw them, but on review of the video I noticed several South End bangers in that crowd, which is not surprising given the histories of the two arrestees.
  • Lone officer, no back-up arrived yet (they were on the way, but that’s no help at the moment) and he’s surrounded
  • Multiple times people are seen approaching him from behind, which is a potential dead-officer scenario according to FBI and police studies (you can get taken to the ground, you can get choked, have your gun taken, and that would be the end of the story)
  • He’s being physically resisted and attacked, and every weapon he has available to him is also available to his multiple opponents at that moment, and you can see numerous people approach him from behind in the videos as he is tangled up with these girls, contemplating doing who knows what (just as a side note: if you see me tangled up with a suspect in the street, DON”T COME UP BEHIND ME, you are liable to get knocked flat on you back by me or another officer)

According to FBI LEOKA studies (Law Enforcement Officers Killed/Assaulted) there are several issues seen clearly here that are classic consistent factors found over years of research and tracking officers being assaulted and killed in the line of duty. Unbeknown to Chris Bennet and James Kelly, these two girls created an extremely dangerous and volatile situation, and we are all lucky no one was killed.

Robert Bragg instructs in use of force out at the state academy (WCJTC where all officers and deputies go before being released to their agencies for further training). Don Van Blaricom claims to be an expert in the use of force, despite having rarely ever applied it in his time at the Bellevue PD (what really happens in Bellevue anyway?), having been out of police work for over 30 years, and is normally paid $345, $2,000 minimum, an hour to testify against police. Both of these individuals have publically stated that after reviewing the video of the arrest, the problem was not that Walsh used excessive force, but that he did not use enough force, and did not use it soon enough.

The crowd…

Walsh is a good officer, and I can make a pretty educated guess as to what concerns may have led him to be so reluctant to use force when it was so clearly called for. I figure, like most officers, he was probably concerned about several things, including:

  • The suspects were teens.
  • They were black and he was white (and this is Seattle).
  • Force never looks pretty. Everyone agrees police sometimes need to use force. But for some reason some of those people suddenly freak out and go into seizures when they actually see it being used. I’m sure Walsh knew that as soon as he took decisive action, he was going to end up being publically drawn-and-quartered on the evening news…and in the end he was right.
  • Worried about a triggering a mob-mentality with 40 to 50 hostile potential attackers present (Jason McKissack was taken down by only three…and he’s the physically strongest human being I have ever met in-person). So these may have been contributing factors to his reluctance to ramp up his level of force where he probably should have.
  • Taking a suspect to the ground is often an effective tactic for gaining control, BUT ONLY WHEN YOU HAVE BACKING OFFICERS WITH YOU. Without back-up, you end up in a close quarters fight on the ground, which the FBI LEOKA studies say dramatically decreases the officers chance of survival. Add to that equation not only were back-up officers not arrived yet, but if Walsh did end up on the ground, that’s an invitation to a mob attack. And yes, we have seen that happen here before also.

Multiple suspects/Jason McKissack…

Earlier I brought up Jason McKissack’s name. For those who had not learned it already, McKissack’s tragic experience reminded/taught officers a valuable lesson. McKissack, as I mentioned before, is the strongest human being I have met in-person. That guy’s arms were thicker than my neck and thighs combined. For those of you with some martial arts knowledge, he is the only person I have seen who can press his way out of a “figure-4” arm hold by sheer brute strength alone. Prior to seeing that, I had mistakenly come to believe the figure-4 hold, once achieved, was unbreakable after having successfully applied it to people several times my size and strength.. And on anyone else, it pretty much still is.

So McKissack responds to a report of some teens fighting in the street. McKissack has more physical power in his pinky finger than most of these knuckleheads have in their whole bodies. But when he arrived they set upon him like a pack of wolves, one of them taking him from behind. Through that they were able to get him on the ground, and then the savage beating began. For those that are unaware, McKissack was nearly killed, and suffers permanent irreparable brain damage to this day, which prevents him from continuing to live his dream of serving as a police officer (or any other occupation for that matter).

Just after delivering the famous punch to the jaw to one of the suspects, we see Walsh get tangled up at the car with her, her cousin, and another male. Three people are on Walsh at this point, all within grasping reach of his gun.

Taking into account the history and studies associated with multiple suspects attacks on single officers (that’s how the majority of officer end up dead…2009 in Washington State was an unusual year, but points out you don’t need multiple bad guys for bad things to happen) as well as the recent memory of the Jason McKissack attack, I can tell that this is the point where myself and other officers will decide coming out of this alive to our families and not being permanently maimed, means shooting someone.

THAT”S HOW SERIOUS these knuckleheads made this situation. That’s something Chris Bennet and James Kelly refuse to acknowledge in their rush to defend two criminals and attack a police department.

When you surround an officer with a crowd, or confront an officer with multiple suspects, you add a new twist to the use-of-force equation that the officer must consider. The officer has to assume that he/she may have to fight everyone they are faced with. It’s a prudent assumption to make, and it’s an entirely reasonable assumption based on historical fact.

So if I am confronted with the likelihood of fighting multiple suspects, I am going to dramatically ramp-up my level of fore applied to resistance or assault. The reason is I need to take each opponent out of action absolutely as fast as possible so I can address the next combatant and so that I am not exhausted and completely worn out when I am taking each one down.

Officers fought to exhaustion or until they lose consciousness end up dead (Deputy Saul Gallegos, Chelan County Sheriff’s Office). When you confront me with all your friends and think that is going to save you, what you in fact do if force me to hurt you a lot worse than I would have had to otherwise to overcome resistance and assaultive behavior…or if you have just cooperated and chalked this arrest up to the cost of doing business.

This is why those girls, that crowd, and Walsh are all fortunate. This was a hairs breath away from being a deadly-force confrontation.

Force: not related to the reason for the stop…

I am tied of hearing the mantra over and over again of this being “all over a jay-walking”. This WAS NOT all over a jay-walking. The initial stop, and the ticket or verbal warning that would have followed were over a jay-walking, or would have been.

The newspapers and TV love to repeat that phrase over and over again, and it just goes to show how ignorant they are in their race for ratings.

The courts, as well as the Washington State Legislature, are in agreement: any force, up to and including deadly force, may be used “When necessarily used by a peace officer to overcome actual resistance to the execution of the legal process, mandate, or order of a court or officer, or in the discharge of a legal duty.”

What this means is that the offense causing the initial contact/detention is not what decided the level of force used. The level of force used is in response to the threat or actual assaultive/resistive behavior the officer is confronted with.

Don’t want to die over a traffic ticket? Don’t get in a brawl with a State Trooper and take him to the ground on Interstate-5.

The inescapable fact of this whole mess is: had the two teens been cooperative, and just taken their ticket (or more likely, a brief verbal reminder about jay-walking) NONE of this would have happened at all!

Criticisms: too little force too late…

As I have said before, Walsh is an excellent officer, and the residents of the valley are lucky to have him. The news has made much of him being “reassigned to the training unit”, etc… He is going through some refresher training from the ICC (Integrated Combat & Control) training staff.

This is not because he used excessive force. He is getting the refresher because, and I think even he would admit this in retrospect, because in an effort to try and resolve the incident peacefully he ended up waiting too long to apply force, and did not apply enough. And that does not mean he’s incompetent or not a good officer.

There is no officer (myself included) on this department who hasn’t looked back at a violent confrontation and thought: “Y’know, I got really lucky that time…I should have done “X” a lot sooner/harder, or I should have skipped the niceties and gone straight to a “X” type of force. Next time I won’t take such a big risk.”

We’ve all done it.

So despite the media’s attempt to make it look like he is being punished, or is being “retrained” because there is even a shred of credibility to the accusations against him, it just isn’t true.

Although our ICC staff is much better qualified than I to handle it, and I am sure they are doing a fine job, if I had to offer some friendly advice/constructive criticism to Walsh from my additional years of experience, it would be what has already been said: this was too little force, too late.

And I am glad we didn’t loose Walsh on Rainier Avenue that day. Just a slightly different action by only one or two people present could have instantly spiraled this into a deadly force confrontation, with either Walsh or suspects lying dead or dying in the street.

I can sit here armchair quarterbacking and say I would have done things differently, but that is only because I have faced this situation before, and somehow lived through it. I have the added benefit of having more years on this job than Walsh.

If you think Bennet and Kelly are drooling at the PR and litigation opportunities in front of them now, I can only say they would be high-fiving and celebrating Christmas early if this had been me videoed in this same situation. The public would be in an even bigger uproar than they are in now, and my career would most certainly be hanging in the balance…and I might be hanging from a flagpole in front of City Hall.

The reason for that is because faced with a similar police officer doomsday scenario like the one Walsh faced, I am too cautious now to risk letting the scenario play out: my actions to establish control over the situation would have been swift and harsh, and in the end one or more people might have needed medical attention…but that crowd would not have been so quick to walk up on me from behind after seeing it!

My actions would have left two people in no doubt about the fact they were under arrest, and what would happen to them if they got up off the ground again before back-up arrived. The crowd would also have no doubt that there was a good 15-20 foot exclusion zone around me and my suspects, and they’d have no doubt about the consequences of crossing that line.

Anyone who DID decide to walk up on me in a serious situation like that would wake up in the back of a Medic Unit.

As for our poor suspect (“scared” in the words of her public defender), that girl would have gotten a lot more than a love-tap to her chin.

It doesn’t sound nice and touchy-feely, and it sure as hell isn’t pretty, but as I’ve said before: this isn’t Mayberry, this is policing in the big city.

The suspects…

It’s worthwhile now to point out that these were not a couple of upstanding citizens or future Rhoades Scholars. Both of these darlings have criminal histories, one of which includes a previous assault on a law enforcement officer. It is absolutely no surprise to see them in this situation.

As a parent…

I can only tell you that if this were my teenager on this video, that little wake-up call to the chin would be the least of their concerns once I got a hold of them. If this HAD been my child, and they complained to me that big bad Officer Walsh punched them in the face, my reply would be, “Apparently not hard enough!” But then again, maybe that’s why this wouldn’t be my child.

I would certainly not be defending my child for this incident. I WOULD be passing my personal apologies on to the officer, as would my teen (whether they wanted to or not). And my child would want to enjoy their time in the criminal justice system, because once released back to me, that’s when the REAL PUNISHMENT would commence.

In fact, my kid would be in trouble for just having been there (unless they were calling 911 to report an officer needing help). As a parent trying to raise a child into a responsible adult, that would be my child’s only acceptable defense (for having been in that crowd).

“African American”

Interesting fact about this case: many of the usual organizations such as the Urban League and NAACP have weighed-in, mentioning how the “African-American” community is concerned, outraged, blah, blah, blah…

Apparently none of them are doing their homework, and that slip-up has allowed their own organizations’ institutional racism to slip out, because only one person in this incident is actually an “African-American”.

Only one person on that video is a native, born and raised, of a small country in Africa, and is now an American citizen (i.e. an actual African American).

Any guesses who?

Your RVP is committed to creating a safe space for community members to discuss critical issues just like this one in a safe and civil space. To that end, King County NAACP President James Bible has also been invited to write a guest column reflecting his perspective of this incident. Photo/Will Austin Photography

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{ 54 comments }

Comment of the Week Goes To…

May 15, 2010

in Opinion

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South Seattle Cop on FBI Launches Civil Rights Probe Into SPD Stomping of Franklin HS Graduate:

DISCLAIMER: Firstly, this is not a comment on or about the incident at the China Harbor restaurant, so when you sit down to type out an attack against me after reading this, just make sure you know what you are attacking me for. ALSO, this post applies to very few of the RVP readers. But the few on the fringes are often very vocal, which is why I have chosen to respond. If this doesn’t sound like it applies to you, then it doesn’t. :-)

Desi’s other comments aside, which I think are more a product of the media’s lust for ratings than anything else, and I think lead to the long list of her misconceptions about a job where less than 1% of applicants get hired (and that’s just the beginning), she is right about one thing (and only one as near as I can tell): many of our actions are dictated by fear for our own safety.

The same media that rakes in huge rating$, and thu$ huge profit$, by portraying the police as just what Desi has come to believe we are (knuckle-dragging thugs…that about right, Desi?), is the same media that does not make an issue of how dangerous the occupation actually is, or try to explain to the public why we do things the ways we do them. The deadliest year in LE history was 1930, with 285 Law Enforcement Officers (LEO’s) killed in the line of duty. The deadliest decade was the 1970’s with a total LEO body count of 2,286 (1974 total was 279).

If you were a number-cruncher, you would conclude based on the stats, that the job is safer now than it ever was before…but you would be mistaken. Assaults against police officers have increased over the years, not decreased, and currently the average is more than 58,000 law enforcement officers are assaulted each year, resulting in approximately 16,000 injuries.

Remember the difference between and “assault” and a “murder” is most often just a matter of aim.

At any given moment in a typical day, a police officer or officers somewhere in the USA are locked in mortal combat with some sociopath ass—- who would rather murder them or leave them bleeding to death in a street or on a remote stretch of dark highway, laying ruin to the lives of their family and friends, than spend a few hours or a couple days in a cell before being released, maybe on a bond, maybe without having to post any bond at all. Yes, any given moment during the day.

The drop in fatalities is actually due to much better tactical training than we’ve ever had before, better (but not perfect) body armor, and vastly improved medical science. The biggest factor is medicine, followed closely by tactics.

The drop IS NOT the result of a decrease in efforts by the criminals.

By the time I graduated WCJTC (the police academy), through incidents captured by police car video cameras, news camera, and ordinary citizens, I had seen literally hundreds of police officers murdered in every way imaginable. The purpose of this wasn’t just to scare me (although it is important to let recruits know just what they are buying into) but also so that each video and case study could be examined closely and picked apart to see the common physical and verbal warning signs transmitted by attackers (called Pre-Attack Indicators), and also to learn the common traits and bad habits of officers getting attacked/killed (Fatal Tendencies). We examine videos to see the undeniable proof that action ALWAYS beats reaction…every time. It’s human psychological and physiological fact. I was shown that no confrontation/attack looked remotely like how they are portrayed on TV: they go from Andy Griffith to Gunfight at the OK Corral to Newhall California in the blink of an eye…yes, literally the time it takes to blink. You have to rewind and replay in slow-motion, frame-by-frame, to even see what happened.

We learn about Boyd’s Loop (the OODA Loop) and how it plays into action vs. reaction. And it helps explain why if an attacker holding an edged weapon (most common tool used by humans to kill each other across history until recent centuries) and standing even 21 to 35 feet away, if he/she charges at me, I will not be able to draw my gun, aim, and fire in time to stop the attack. We see it demonstrated in simulations, and in tragic videos of real life.

I see the many different ways offenders suck officers in close by lulling them into a false sense of security, and then attack viciously and without warning. I have seen grandmothers as old as in their 80’s pull guns out of purses, and one who drove a 9-inch knitting needing through an officer’s neck after he had given her a courtesy-ride to her house after a minor traffic collision she was involved in. I saw a seven-year-old who had stolen a car get pulled over by a Highway Patrol Officer, and then shoot the officer dead-center in his chest with a handgun when the officer reached the driver’s side door.

During the past ten years, more officers were killed feloniously on Friday than any other day of the week. The fewest number of felonious fatalities occurred on Sunday. Over the past decade, more officers were killed between 8:01 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. than during any other two-hour period. While you think about that statistic, then remember that four Lakewood PD officers were executed around 8:30am on a quiet Sunday morning.

99.9999% of attacks on officers do not make it into the “news” you are spoon-fed by a for-profit business trying to sell airtime or advertising space in a paper. It doesn’t pay and sell airtime/ad space to be perceived as “cop-friendly”. But even the most outlandish allegations, made by people who have not the faintest clue what statute and case law actually say about use-of-force, investigational detentions, criminal law or criminal procedure, the definitions of reasonable suspicion or probable cause or the applicable court decisions, or what the Criminal Court Rules are regarding review of probable cause, will get full airtime the top of the broadcast, and front page of the paper.

So if I pull you over and am lighting you car up with my spotlights like an incoming airplane, it’s because I know that behind that “curtain of light” you can’t see me, and that gives me an extra chance to live long enough shoot back. I know you don’t like the light in your eyes, but I have an aversion to being shot at, stabbed, and bludgeoned. And you’ll get over the light. It’s not personal. If I seem to be interested in the interior of you car, it’s because I have been taught and also seen for myself where the hidden weapons tend to pop out from. It’s not personal. If you start to get animated and loud and I decide you need to sit down for my safety, it’s because I have seen how animated and loud can easily slip into violent and bloody. It’s not personal.

You’re having a bad day? I get it, just sit there and cool off for a minute. It’ll be alright. It’s not personal. You might be an absolutely law abiding citizen, but contrary to popular media, criminals don’t have “I’m a criminal thinking about killing you” tattooed on their foreheads! (I know a few of you are surprised to hear that, but it’s true).

You might be perfectly happy to have me in your house, but when I ask you to step out of or away from the kitchen, it’s because so many police officers have been attacked with kitchen carving knives. Do you think if the person who attacked them “looked like a criminal” they would have let them near the knife drawer? No! But until they were trying to carve up a police officer into flank steaks, THEY LOOKED JUST LIKE YOU! It’s not personal.

If I tell you “If you look at my gun one more time I’m, putting you in handcuffs”, it’s because years of intense training and experience have taught me what a “target glance” looks like, and what happens next. And I am not about to get in a tug-of-war with anyone over my own gun, because research shows that if I lose my gun to an opponent, chances he/she will use it against me are 100%, and the chances I will die as a result of that loss of the gun fluctuates between 90-99%, depending on the year in question. Maybe you stared at my gun unconsciously, maybe not. But I am not going to roll the dice with my or my family’s future to find out. It’s not personal.

MAYBE YOU DO have a permit to carry that perfectly legal firearm for personal protection. GOOD FOR YOU, I actually wholeheartedly support that. But while we are conversing during a response to your call, traffic stop, street contact, etc…that gun is MINE. The courts have ruled this legal under the 4th Amendment. Don’t worry, you’ll get it back. Whether you get it back from me directly, or have to pick it up in 72-hours at the SPD Evidence Unit, is up to how I perceive my safety and your behavior. “But I have no criminal history!” you protest? Neither did Christopher Monfort, until last Halloween. And if unbeknownst to me you just suffered some personal/financial hardship and the strain is wearing on you, I’m not about to be the outlet for your angst, rage, and hatred of the world for all the ways it’s wronged you. It’s not personal.

Don’t want to tell me you have the gun? That’s your right. Just be forewarned that if I detect it’s presence on my own, what possible scenarios do I have to consider as reasons why you chose to conceal that gun FROM SOMEONE YOU KNEW WAS A POLICE OFFICER? Think about it. Yes, you might suddenly find yourself horizontal flat on the ground or the hood of my car, or staring down the barrel of my gun, and it might not feel good. But that was your fault, not mine. I am going home to my family when this shift is over. It’s not personal.

If I ask you to please step back (depending on how things are going, I might not say “please”), it’s because I know about something called the Reaction Gap, and how it plays into the action vs. reaction equation. Even if I say “please”, don’t mistake this for a request. I’m going home at the end of my shift. It’s not personal.

If I have you stand here, stand there, stand like that, put your hands here, it’s NOT for my personal entertainment. It’s tactics I was taught, and know that work, because I DON’T KNOW YOU. It may also be a test of your compliance. It’s not personal. Yes, I HAVE seen a gunfight erupt at a minor traffic collision. NO, we don’t know what it was that set the one driver off who started it, because he didn’t live through it. But that IS why you need to go back to your car and wait for me, not hover next to my car while I gather vehicle and driver information on my computer screen. It’s not personal.

If one officer maintains some degree of control over you while you’re a–hole significant other is led away in cuffs, IT’S BECAUSE IN MOST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ARRESTS, IT’S THE VICTIM WHO ATTACKS US after we arrest the abuser. Yes, I know they do it because they are making a show for their abuser. But that changes nothing when I am the target of the attack. And I have no idea if you have spiraled that deep into the “DV-cycle” or not just by looking at you. It’s not personal.

I may have sounded brusque when I told you to step back when you wanted to trot up and ask me something while I was contacting someone(s). But what you didn’t think of is you were dividing my attention at a critical time, and that is a critical moment offenders look for to make their move. Offenders are CONSTANTLY reading officers to see which ones are vulnerable, and when. It’s not personal. And NO, while my gun is in my hand and I am clearly involved in a potentially deadly situation, I AM NOT GOING TO STOP TO ANSWER YOU WHEN YOU COME OVER AND ASK “OFFICER, WHAT’S GOING ON?” It’s not personal. Have people walked BETWEEN me and the dangerous felon I was holding at gunpoint until help arrived? Yes they have, and it still mystifies me.

NO, I did not just jump out of my car and randomly snatch someone off the street, or pick someone at random to pull out of a bar. Ever hear of a radio? Ever hear of an area check for suspects? Ever hear of warrants for arrest that I might know about that you don’t? Yes, chances are you are looking at THE END of the story, not the beginning.

I am not here to tell the world what our tactics are that keep us safe, and there’s not enough room on the RVP to give a class in all the ways things can go bad in the blink of an eye. What I have written here is not comprehensive. In fact, it barely scratches the surface.

Wondering where Andy Griffith went?

You know what makes some officers cynical and bitter? It’s not the old BS from Hill Street Blues that we don’t like dealing with criminals all the time…we LOVE dealing with criminals! Why do you think we’re here? It’s not because we ONLY deal with criminals, the fact is we are one of the few professions that deals with EVERYONE: criminals, victims, witnesses, bystanders, etc…the whole spectrum. We are one of the few groups that see the whole picture.

No, when cynicism creeps in it is when an officer is slapped in the face with the harsh realization that the media only treats the profession as something honorable, and us as honorable, when we are being killed. The rest of the time, reporters will go out of their way to find someone, ANYONE, who will say something negative that can be used for/twisted into a headline. Even when it’s Leonard Haywood, long time Valley 74-Hoover Crip, complaining to The Stranger about being harassed in his favorite bar, or the founder of Mother’s Against Police Harassment, who raised two career criminals who ended up getting locked up on their 3rd strikes…nice job, Mom.

If any Griffith were on SPD, his bullet riddled body would be found probably on one of the major intersections along S Henderson St, E Union St, California or Delridge Way SW, or up on Aurora or Lake City Way.

You’ve been fed a myth about police, and how most don’t even take their guns out of their holsters during their careers. Don’t know where that myth started, but it’s damn sure a myth. And whatever the actual stats on that are, remember stats are based on national figures. Remember that nationally more than 70% of communities in America are policed by small rural police departments where a raccoon breaking into a general store, or a coyote stealing someone’s cat, makes the local paper. And folks, THAT AIN’T POLICEWORK IN THE BIG CITY.

In Tacoma, roughly 30% of their officers have been involved in a shooting. No, that was not a typo. Roughly 1-in-3. What is the stat in Seattle? Don’t know, and in this political environment I doubt SPD wants to know, or would be forthcoming if they did. Tacoma has 397 officers to Seattle’s 1300+. The point being: what you unconsciously perceive the danger to be based on a lifetime of false input through TV, urban legends, etc…is an underestimate. Some people quit during their training when this stark reality sinks in, and it conflicts with what they had come to accept over a lifetime about the reality of the world we live in.

NO I DON’T know how many times I have looked over the sights of my gun, my heart pounding, adrenaline oozing out of my pores causing that metallic taste on the tip of my tongue, and realized: this is it, I am about to kill this guy/gal. Only to have the situation change (again, in the blink of an eye) and somehow in the middle of squeezing the trigger I was able to slack-off in time before the gun went “Bang”. I don’t know because I quit counting. All I do know it that it feels like it takes about 2 years off my life every time it happens.

I will make no apologies for doing what I need to live to retirement. It’s not personal. But as of today there are 18,983 names on the National law Enforcement Memorial Wall in Washington DC, among them friends and even family, who are calling out to me telling me this is not the time or place to let my guard down.

Do I wish you understood this? I mean REALLY understood it? Yes, I think if you understood me, you might like me better, and might see th police profession in a whole new light. And contrary to what TV or other people with an axe to grind may have led you to believe, I really do want you to like me. Do I wish some honest member of the news media would make the effort to learn this and explain it to the masses whose perception (sadly) of reality is shaped by TV? Yes, the change that understanding would bring to police/community relations would be nothing short of earth-shattering.

But I’m, not holding my breath until that happens. Too many people have vested interests in not allowing that. What I AM DOING is making sure I live to serve you another day. But I won’t apologize for doing what it takes to make that happen. It’s not personal.

But for Desi, it is personal. Desi has made it so.

Desi, by your own admission, you look at me and make a laundry list of negative (erroneous) assumptions, many of which you aren’t even aware you are making. You make judgments about my motives, my education, my morals, my integrity, indeed judge every aspect of the content of my character, all based on my appearance and your biases. You do that same thing regarding my training, and my profession.

And you do this not because I am African , Asian, Caucasian, Latino, Native, etc…because I am black, brown, red, yellow, or white. You do it because I am blue. You make generalizations about me, based only on the slanted view you have absorbed through media and other questionable sources, and my appearance. Sound like anything familiar? But what’s the difference?

There is none.

Desi, you ARE the thing that you say you believe police are.

The interesting thing I noticed is that you are aware of your prejudices, ignorance, and bigoted attitudes, and even have some idea where they come from and how you have let individuals affect your perception of an entire group of people. Yet even knowing that, you hold on to your views.

So that IS personal. It’s a personal problem. But it’s your problem, not mine.

To the rest of you: see you on the streets! :-)

The dialogue that occurs here between friends, neighbors and engaged citizens is one of the features that makes your RVP such a valuable community resource. Your RVP does not necessarily endorse the opinions expressed in the Comment of the Week. Photo/Will Austin Photography

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{ 14 comments }

South Seattle Cop on N’hood Policing, Media Non-Response & Gutting the Gang Unit

10.31.2009 Opinion
SPD1

By South Seattle Cop If you’ll remember a few years back Seattle announced that everything in the Land Of Oz was at peace, the birds were chirping, the butterflies were gently drifting on the breeze, and thus the politically undesirable SPD Gang Unit could now be gutted from just under 30 detectives working 3 shifts [...]

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South Seattle Cop: Mayor’s Gun Ban Illegal, Unenforceable & Potential Civil Rights Violation

10.16.2009 Opinion
killingzoone

Ed. note: Earlier this week, Mayor Greg Nickels announced a new rule banning guns at certain parks and community centers throughout Seattle. According to the City, the rule will take effect at designated facilities only after signs are posted notifying visitors of the new rule (by Dec. 1). More. By South Seattle Cop The rule [...]

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South-End Scenes: Chickens at Othello Station

10.09.2009 News
chickens

From South Seattle Cop: The gentleman who sells out of the back of the truck on MLK is operating legally under a law dating back to 18-I’m-not-sure-what-year which permits this type of sale of live poultry in the city. Many of the Asian immigrant families in our area make traditional recipes at home that require [...]

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South Seattle Cop on Kids, Gangs, Violence & Self-Hate

10.02.2009 911
SPD1

South Seattle Cop: THE SELF HATE THEORY Do the gangbangers or the young kids considering that lifestyle that I meet have latent self-esteem issues (perhaps “self-hate”), and a low self-value that contributes to a fatalistic mentality which allows rationalization of any act of brutality, and a desire to join a group that will reinforce to [...]

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First RVP Comment of the Week Goes To…

08.15.2009 911
SPD1

South Seattle Cop [08.15.09 at 6:25 am]: Those pointing out sleazy downtown politics (is there any other kind?) as the reason why this program was tried in the CD but not here in the South End, are right on the money. Is the box between 23rd and MLK, Cherry to Union, really the main hub [...]

47 comments Read the full article →