Compliment to Two Lewis & Clark, County Sheriff's Deputies--Good Old Fashion Police Work!
Several weeks ago, there was an article in the Missoulian, the local newspaper, about two deputies from Lewis and Clark County, somewhere around Helena, if I am getting my, what, 53 or so counties right, here in Montana--huge state, Utah only had 29, so about double, in this 4th largest state! For those of you who haven't worked with cops, the police department, handles crimes in the cities, the sheriff's departments, traditionally, handle incidents in the county or unincorporated areas; however, in Kalispell, the sheriffs are taking over the city, so I am not sure what's up with that?
But anyway, these officers were called in on a domestic call, if I remember, some guy, stating there was a gun involved . . . now all cops, and people who work in the domestic violence area, which I have, having written the grant, even gone on domestics with Salt Lake City, cops on a ride along, always standing behind them, so as to be protected, while learning what they do, so I could write the cop portion of the domestic violence and sexual assault manual, but people involved in the issue, know that is about the scariest call a cop can make, because while the cops are hauling off the man, usually, the woman, who was beaten, can grab a kitchen knife and plunge it in the back of a cop or shoot him or her!
So with that in mind, these two deputies, didn't know what they were getting themselves into, so they proceeded with caution, to say the least . . ., I think they even got a call, stating that there was not a gun, or the conversation, went back and forth. I don't recall if the incident was during the day or the night, night would make it even more scary . . . but there was some indication that there was a gun, which would make more sense than not, seeing that the average number of guns in a Montana home is 27. So, these officers knew something was up, and there might be a gun.
I think the gun opened the door and told them, the cops, that everything was fine, and there was no gun involved, and they don't know where the call came from. All of the sudden, the woman, poked a shot gun, or rifle out of the door, shocked the hell out of the officers! These officers, took the necessary precautions, they had been trained to do, and talked the wife down, out of a suicide attempt, and a possible, homicide, or shoot out! Good job, and great to see, the cops resort to skill, rather than shoot, first and ask questions later!
We had two situations in Utah, where a couple were in an argument, one in Eureka, and the other one in Davis County, where SWAT, a tank, and whatever, showed up and both men were shot, after what was alleged a stand-off? Similar situations, different solutions . . . I guess you can tell which one I thought was handled right and which ones were totally blown out of proportion and ended in a tragedy, for what might have started as a heated argument, but turned into a bloodbath!
A Friend Will Tell You What You Need to Know, Not What You Want to Hear
I know, that cops lay their lives on the line everyday, but so do I just crossing the street, or even more scary, telling cops what they need to know, or enforcement citizens' rights against cop agencies of all colors, shapes and sizes, both local, state and federal . . . and I am talking attempted homicide! Just last week, the day after the elections, having written a blog on Wednesday, commenting that the newly elected sheriff, who came out of the city police department, having had the mayor as a boss, has a new boss, called what he took and oath to defend, and the people, who elected him to protect their property, act as an officer of the court, run the jail, service court paperwork, transport prisoners to court and back, dealing with both civil and criminal issues, and serve as a peace officer! Not an easy job.
But, when I went to a Human Trafficking Conference, at the college, and was there early, sitting on the back row, about four officers, with guns and handcuffs, all from MPD, or at least I didn't see any sheriffs there, badges reveal the differences, maybe missed some, but some cops glared at me, when they saw my name tag, one female cop, read it and took her name tag off and threw it at the wall. Another cop, sitting up in front of me, stared at me, as if trying to intimidate me, and got up in a huff, and walked to the back of the room, behind me, with the other 3 cops. Am I paranoid, I don't think so, this was a hotly contested sheriff's race, with three good candidates, but a divided department, and the new sheriff, having sued the citizens of the city, obviously using some of the money, he won, having been given the money after, one of the county commissioners, attended his campaign kick off . . . avoid the very appearance of evil!
My blog, written before I even knew about the conference, was an educational piece, to tell not only the new sheriff, but the mayor, and the public, there is a difference, and this former, police detective, was under new rules, a very different job, and things were going in have to change! That is not mean, that is fact . . . and you will have trouble on our job, if you don't see the differences, and your loyalties change. This was not a criticism of local police, nor putting sheriffs above city cops, it was the reality of the job, which of the three, you had the least experience, having worked with cops at a statewide level, I have had more of a bird's eye view, of how things are suppose to work, not necessarily how they do work . . . I am an idealist, a constitutional law attorney, that is not against cops, just want things to work, constitutionally the way they are suppose to . . . believe me, that document will do more to protect you, as a sheriff or cop, than any other thing around . . . you have total immunity from lawsuits, if you follow that and your policy manual, even if something goes wrong, or someone didn't get the policy right, you are protected, the county attorney might have to change a policy manual, but she won't have to be paying for huge lawsuits for not following constitutional and statutory mandates, and laws, that should, be based on the Constitution!
There are shit load of new sheriffs and county attorneys out there, I am helping you, being a friend, not an enemy . . . you don't want me to just pat you on the back, and tell you are doing a great job, if you are not. You have a fresh start, all sheriffs and county attorneys, take your oath of office, seriously, and the government, your job, citizens, and society will be a lot happier, more productive, and feel respected and served. These are the rules of engagement between the governed and the government, follow them! New judges, would do well to do the same . . . the law is the law, is the law . . . you swear to preserve, protect and defend the U.S. Constitution, the SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND! And your state constitutions, that are the highest law in the state, as long as it doesn't conflict in this federalist system of our republic, or representative form of government . . . you now, represent the people!
No Cop Shop, Wants To Be In The National Headlines!
I think my knee-jerk reaction, to the spook, who is probably hired to see what I am up to, writing about, or thinking about, and worried, after hearing my name, that bullets will be sprayed through the glass windows of the Break Cafe, was in reaction to one of the most horrifying scenes that I have ever seen, performed in the alleged line of duty, even worse than the LA, Rodney King incident . . . case in point, riots in the streets when the 4 officers, who beat King to a bloody pulp, got acquitted, to the dismay of the whole nation! There has been little publicity on this case, as far as I know, what is big in one part of the country, may not be news here in Montana, but this one is so bad, it is worth mentioning to cops, and hopefully, avoid it ever happening again . . .
These three or four cops, were transit authority cops, working for the BART subway system in San Francisco, or surrounding area, the bay area . . . the cops got a call that there had been a disturbance on the train. As the train came to a stop, about 5 or 6 young black, looked like college aged students, got off together. The peace officers, failed to ask anyone, or get the details of what even happened on the train, and just assumed, racist as it is, that these boys, a pack of them, must have been the ones involved, wouldn't listen to them, forced them to sit up against a wall, and started screaming orders at them.
One young man, started to demand his rights, or ask the officer, about his rights, this was coming from a surveillance camera, so the facts are sketchy, but, the officers, all pummeled the single kids, forced him on this stomach, or told him to get on his stomach, but I remember, this was months ago, I saw this, but they handcuffed him, with his arms and hands behind his back. The officer on top, hand his knee in his back, took out his gun and shot the kid in the head! You could clearly see, what happened, there was not disguising it, the kid was point blank, executed. The cop, claimed that his gun just misfired in his holster!
Fucking bull shit, it misfired . . . that might be why there is not much being said about the case in the news, the city had to pay, wrongful death charges, that were as clear as a bell!
Citizens Have Laws They Have to Follow, But So Do Cops, and They All Took An Oath to the Laws They Must Follow
And you know what it is called. Miranda warnings, are judicially created laws, that give teeth to the 4th, 5th, and 6th amendment rights! Many cops don't feel the need to read defendants their rights anymore, just got inconvenient, that is for the cops on TV, well, no, that is for you, to not only warn the defendants, but to protect you. I have heard, haven't read the case, don't know if it is true, but there may be a warning that a defendant has to ask, you to read them their rights . . . that person already know them, but wants to hear the exact words, or whatever . . . I don't even know if that is true, but, best, read them their rights.
To me, as both a former criminal defense attorney and civil rights attorney . . . and I am one of the nice ones, I have worked withe cops, traveled, trained, and broken bread with cops--but there are getting to be more and more attorneys, seeing the deep pockets of cities, counties, states, and the feds, think about sharks and barracudas that are waiting to take a big bite, not out of your asses, but take a piece of the city or county and tax payer dollars, that could have been used for your pay increase, but is now gone! One of the reasons, I didn't vote for Josh Wettering, is because he mentioned, you know, those attorneys, and everyone knows who they are, that bring up constitutional issues in court . . . what the fuck do you think the Bill of Rights were about?
You have a single defendant, against all levels of cops, all levels of prosecutors, at times, and the judge, who came up through the prosecutorial ranks, and the only protection he/she has, is the Constitution and their attorney, and I have had prosecutors throw out both, the rights and the arguments I made . . . I was defending one of the plaintiffs, in my civil right suit against the county, Michael Shane Clark, but that is not reason, he gets no rights, no defense, no constitutional protections, and not even my arguments . . . the prosecutors that were watching from remote viewing, or short circuit TV, work jury instructions, to benefit the single prosecutor in the room, and the judge, prosecutor, number 5 in that case, allowed, the spring surprise, just before closing arguments, jury instructions going from 9 the night before the 2 day trial, to 23 right while the jury was waiting during a 10 minute recess!
The lame ass prosecutor, who must have gone to law school, in China, said, your honor, in response to my alarm that the new instructions totally discarded the Constitution and my arguments, if JoAnn, is allowed to use the Constitution, it is unfair to the state, well guess what, dumb shit, it is not the state, who is going to have their ass, sitting in jail! When the jury still favored the defendant, the country attorney, just jury tampered, just like he had witness tamper . . . if you have to fucking cheat to get a win, there is something wrong! And to me, that starts with reading a defendant his/her rights! To all you new county attorneys, a prosecutor's job is to be the gatekeeper to justice!
This is not to see how many skins you can hang on the wall, the challenge of getting an innocent defendant, this is not a sport, nor how many notches you can put on your belt, this is suppose to be about justice, not about appearing to be tough on crime, so you can one day be a fucking judge, for God sake!
Just a Note on Privitization of Prisons--It is Stupid!
There are some things in the government that private corporations can do better than the government, but this is not one of them. You do not want to make justice, rehabilitation, or protecting society about profits and money! We now have Citizens United, trying to call the shots in our elections, LOL, not yet, or at a national level, but Parcell, who ran for sheriff here, in Missoula County, was pissed as hell, and said, well, you got the best money could buy, and with the lawsuit, and almost, what appeared to be, not only an endorsement, but a gift, laundered through the powers that be, could be true, but that is not my call. Parcell was so pissed, he has already announced his candidacy for the 2018 elections . . . when all is done above board, you don't get the anger, even in a hot race . . . avoid this shit!
The justice system, mimics a cattle call as it is, too often. At least in Utah, the prosecutors, will do everything to avoid doing their jobs, other than not declining prosecution, when they know there is not enough evidence to convict . . . rarely is a case not bound over for trial, but defendants are charged with 12 alleged crimes, prosecutors throw the spaghetti bowl at them, hope one or two will stick, then get the defense attorneys, who are no more willing or want to go to trial, get their client to plead to 6 charges! This is called baby splitting, everyone is happy, no trial, and the defendant is relieved, because, he got scared shit less, not knowing the law, that he could have 12 charges, when in reality, the prosecutor couldn't prove 2 of them, but he/she doesn't know that, no trial, so both sides attorneys and the judge are relieved . . . but heaven help the poor fool, who decides to actually fight the charges!
The are told, things will go worse for you if you fight it, just plead . . . I always fight it, if the defendant says they are innocent, and I usually get them a better deal than the plead bargain!
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