"Intimidate Those Who Intimidate Others" - motto of LAPD CRASH unit The worst scandal in LAPD history, the Rampart scandal involving widespread police corruption in the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) anti-gang unit of the LAPD's Rampart Division in the late 1990s first came to light around 4 p.m. on March 18, 1997, when LAPD undercover officer Frank Lyga shot and killed Kevin Gaines, a plainclothes Rampart CRASH officer, Kevin Gaines, in self-defense, following a case of road rage. The incident began when Gaines pulled his green Mitsubishi Montero up to Lyga's Buick and flashed Blood gang signs and waved a .45 ACP handgun. Lyga later testified, "In my training experience this guy had 'I'm a gang member' written all over him." Lyga pulled away from the light and Gaines followed, brandishing the pistol. Using a hidden radio activated by a foot pedal Lyga called for backup, saying, "Hey, I got a problem. I've got a black guy in a green Jeep coming up here! He's got a gun!" Lyga unholstered his Beretta 92 service pistol as he came to a stop light. He heard Gaines shout, "I'll cap you!" Lyga fired into Gaines' SUV twice, one of the bullets lodging in Gaines’ heart. Lyga radioed one final transmission: "I just shot this guy! I need help! Get up here!” and reported that Gaines was the first to pull a gun to which he responded in self-defense.
To trace those 'apples' (aka, the police) backward and forward, TC:
'SLAVE PATROLS'
'The origins of modern-day policing can be traced back to the "Slave Patrol." The earliest formal slave patrol was created in the Carolinas in the early 1700s with one mission: to establish a system of terror and squash slave uprisings with the capacity to pursue, apprehend, and return runaway slaves to their owners. Tactics included the use of excessive force to control and produce desired slave behavior.'
'Slave Patrols continued until the end of the Civil War and the passage of the 13th Amendment. Following the Civil War, during Reconstruction, slave patrols were replaced by militia-style groups who were empowered to control and deny access to equal rights to freed slaves. They relentlessly and systematically enforced Black Codes, strict local and state laws that regulated and restricted access to labor, wages, voting rights, and general freedoms for formerly enslaved people.'
In 1868, ratification of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution technically granted equal protections to African Americans — essentially abolishing Black Codes. Jim Crow laws and state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation swiftly took their place.'
'By the 1900s, local municipalities began to establish police departments to enforce local laws in the East and Midwest, including Jim Crow laws. Local municipalities leaned on police to enforce and exert excessive brutality on African Americans who violated any Jim Crow law. Jim Crow Laws continued through the end of the 1960s.' (NAACP) See link below.
"The crisis in policing is the culmination of a thousand other failures — failures of education, social services, public health, gun regulation, criminal justice, and economic development." (The New Yorker, July 13, 2020)
"All cruelty begins with dehumanization — not seeing the face of the other, not seeing the whole humanity of the other. A cultural regime of dehumanization has been constructed in many police departments." The Atlantic, (June 16, 2020),The Culture of Policing is Broken)
I thought I was out of breath when I finished Tom's piece, but your post is the icing on the proverbial cake and now I'm actually panting.
the first time I was arrested, with absolutely no predicate...I was parking a car outside my building, it was by the NYPD Tactical Patrol Force (TPF) in 1968 (actually, it was Erev Yom Kippur, which is pretty funny). same deal...an "elite" unit that demanded nothing in the way of proof that the cops in it would behave any differently from any group of cops left to their own devices. it was disbanded a couple of years later, but, as Tom points out, every time a politician needed to convince voters that he was "tough on crime," similar units would get different acronyms and end up behaving the way these Memphis psychopaths behaved. I remember that, for a long time, NYPD members were getting easier and easier to deal with (I speak as a nominally white guy, of course) and then Giuliani happened. almost overnight, the cops became Professional Assholes again. ironically, this was the same time I was writing briefs for my brother-in-law's law practice, which was dedicated to getting cops accident disability pensions (a sweet deal...three-quarters of final salaries, tax-free...retiring cop brass were awarded these pensions automatically), so I got to know a LOT of cops close-up and they were all big fucking crybabies when they had to deal with anything official. I say all this while allowing that there are plenty of cops who are good guys. for example, I have an NYPD detective living next door, and he's a great neighbor and really sweet guy whose gorgeous wife has made it her business to feed me most nights (she's a kindergarten teacher, so he's obviously a good guy...kindergarten teachers being among my favorite people). getting back to Giuliani, I pride myself on never once thinking he was anything but a total prick..."America's mayor?"...yeah, right...does anybody remember that he tried to parlay one reasonably eloquent moment into an illegal third term because "nobody but me can get this city through this?" the city got through it. more or less.
so yeah, these so-called "elite units" have always been a disaster and police departments have always turned a blind eye to this fact.
the wrong people tend to be the ones who want to be cops. as someone who became very familiar with the policies always in play at Lefrak City (the location of the police medical and psychological facilities), the problem also has a lot to do with the general orientation and behaviors of the psychologists who are supposed to weed out the people who should NEVER get badges.
my close friend Ruth has a nephew who's a sergeant and who told her that a lot of the cops he supervises were coming in with "Justice for Ashi Babbitt" t-shirts. he told them to never do that and that "she got her justice." and a day later, he started to get death threats.
the David Simon series that aired last year, "We Own This City" dealt very eloquently with that "elite" Baltimore unit. I recommend it to anyone who missed it, as it's unfortunately become more relevant yet again (it's on HBO).
...and how come when I view my own comment, it gets cut off? in my version of my post, the last sentences are "the city got through it. more or less," but obviously everyone else can see the whole thing. has anyone else noticed this?
I read the whole thing, then when I closed and returned it had lost the command to expand the comment (a shortened version is shown with the option to expand) but closing the entire post and reopening restored the last of the post. I know; it's like trying to do something blind. Also, try expanding and contracting the text/image size on your screen, or force a refresh.
You're right, it is their purpose that undermines reforms. I think the reforms that are ongoing here, will fail because of this mindset. After the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor the LMPD Police Chief stepped down. The new Police Chief instructed Police to stand down from traffic offenses. I'm sure that measure saves lives.
Yes, Bliss, to your thought as quoted, 'The new Police Chief instructed Police to stand down from traffic offenses. I'm sure that measure saves lives..' Supervision is critical. Monitoring to insure that the police are standing down from traffic offenses and appropriate consequences when each may not observe that instruction need to be part of the responsibilities of being a police officer. To the community's safety and all around respect.
Fewer people are at risk of being shot. Driving is more hazardous. I wish it were mandatory that all officers wear body cam and have them on at all times. I know that costs money, but I think that is the only way to supervise enough to change things.
…and what did the Scorpion crew do with the camera rolling? The culture of the police department, the ethos of the police unions, the determined will and values of supervisors, the relationship of prosecutors to police departments and serious consequences for wrongdoing on the part of law enforcement officers are all necessary factors to protect the people from harm.
The DOJ fixes will cost Louisville 10million a year. Police should not be Policing the Police. There are already complaints from the citizen oversight committee, about not being given information, and documents when they are requested. Why do they let that ride. I think oversight needs to have some teeth.
Bliss, I think that we are generally in agreement. It is not exactly the police 'policing' each other, but it is about the police upholding the standard of protecting the community first and reporting police misconduct. What is known as 'the blue wall of silence'—an unofficial agreement between law enforcement not to challenge each other's misconduct is part of the 'cancer' that TC may have been referring to.
I think the pseudo-military structure of many police units exacerbates the problem, encouraging obedience to orders and lack of personal responsibility. Couple this with lack of supervision, and you have the culture which let's Derek Chauvin kneel on necks, and gun-toting officers murder a legless amputee so terrified that he tries to save himself by running away on the stumps of his legs.
yes, absolutely, but we also need to remember that it's not just the STRUCTURE...it's also the GEAR. when I was a kid (admittedly, more than several historical periods ago, since I'll be 74 on Saturday), cops walked around wearing ordinary clothes (uniforms, but no different from the rest of us), usually patrolling alone. they had a gun, which they almost never used, at least not in my neighborhoods, and, possibly, a blackjack. they didn't even have bulletproof vests (I'll let 'em have the vests). now, I suppose pepper spray and tasers are better than guns, but it also seems to me that the cops are much too quick to use those non-lethal weapons. and back then, there was actual neighborhood policing. the local cops knew kids' NAMES. and they have enough protective gear you can't see their faces. that they look like football players (for the record, I have never watched a whole football game and I'm proud of it). weren't SWAT teams basically invented in the '70s? I remember a book that came out about ten years ago all about just THIS limited topic.
if you give police military gear, they're gonna FEEL military. when that happens, the folks they're supposed to be PROTECTING increasingly become seen as the ENEMY. in the military, you're supposed to DISABLE enemies. it's not that fucking complicated. and since that's the military's function, they seem to have better compliance with the rules of engagement. actually, I'm in dangerous territory here because my direct experience of anything military is, like, zero. but I've seen cops close up when they lose it (both as a witness and, once or twice, being on the receiving end as part of a large group) and it's not pretty. on top of that is the assumption that when ugly shit happens, any other cop who saw it is going to confirm whatever the "official story" happens to be.
all of this was operating with a vengeance in Memphis (as the bodycam and other footage demonstrate all too well), as it does everywhere else these fucking rogue units are encouraged to do their thing. and "rogue units" is exactly what they are.
and I forgot to mention how sensational that account of the Ramparts scandal was, Tom. it was sensational.
So, February 4, 1949? Making you a "double 1 - '2'") in numerology. "the path of the master" (you master it or it masters you). Why am I unsurprised? :-)
"CRASH" unit. So they pick nasty, intimidating names on purpose. How naive of me to think The Police are law abiding peace officers. Thank you for this outstanding LAPD summary TC.
right, MaryPat. as soon as I heard the name "SCORPION," I thought of the fable about the scorpion and the frog (you know..."what did you expect, schmuck? I'm a fucking SCORPION").
The greatest country in the world ‘they’ claim! Yet, we witnessed an attempted coup orchestrated by the amoral trump, abetted by senior administration officials in the military chain of command, abetted by current members of Congress, abetted by current Secret Service Personnel and facilitated by former chief of staff Mark Meadows.! Criminals all! Recently former AG Barr’s role in covering up treasonous activity by Reagan, Papa Bush and the amoral trump has been cogently presented in a substack Hartman report! Underlying and funding recent and current criminal activity by elected or appointed officials is the Dark Money funneled through Leopold Leo’s Federalist Society! Incredulous that our experiment with democracy, if that’s what we really have, has survived the attempts to subvert it form inside our government !
The closing reminder about rotten apples brought to mind exactly what you have described. And now we know that at least two members of the Stench Bench have been further corrupted by their own wives, one being the "Chief Justice" and the other by the disgusting women assaulter, Thomas, plus Barrett's husband, and Kavanaugh's debt free introduction to the black robe society. I'm surprised there are ANY edible apples in that barrel.
A profound reckoning of the problem, TC; thank you.
It's daunting to see this report, and Colonel Wilkerson's recent report on the present danger of our nuclear arms race while our country faces the extreme Republicans' wackadoo agenda in their leadership, or lack of, in Congress.
If there are historians writing 100 years from now, this will look all too obvious as the final stretch, and yet, we seem paralyzed by the polarizing propaganda envelope that we live in.
That is indeed Another Fine Mess. Do you have a screenplay in mind for this mess? You certainly have a room full of stats to pull from. It seems our treatment is worse than the disease in too many cases. Reminds me of the kid who aspired to be a cop when I worked at high school. He was known for tripping kids coming down the stairs. There are ways to screen for such tendencies, but I have to wonder what scams the clever could come up with to defeat that possibility.
I have always thought that there is a certain personality type that goes for positions of control over others: The school patrol, some teachers, most of the school principles I've experienced over the years, some police, a very high percentage of politicians... There are a slew of reasons but it began with our specie evolving in conditions that increased the pursuit of power over others which led to increased access to resources.
We need better screening (and the will to use it) and better oversight and better accountability - all three. We will never achieve a perfect police force but we can certainly improve on what we currently have. Good examples abound. An obvious place to begin with accountability would be to have a national police registry so those bad apples cannot simply roll on into the next barrel.
you're absolutely right. my niece was married to an NYPD guy, who always had a scary look on his face. he's profoundly dyslexic and if you put any reading matter in front of him, he starts to sweat. now being dyslexic isn't his fault, but he has a deep resentment of anyone who indicates a "tendency" to read things. in his garage (I swear to whomever) he has a big Confederate flag (he's from Queens), as well as a pretty complete collection of metal band CDs from the '70s (again, I can't hate the guy for his taste, but it's definitely part of a pattern). he also was given to the physical and psychological abuse of my great-nephew (or is it grand-nephew?), who was diagnosed at about two with Asperger's Syndrome and is a VERY smart kid (easy to see why the abuse would happen). he was considered a "good cop (he worked in Far Rockaway, which is a recipe for disaster from the get-go, but he played the game well). I have no idea why my niece married him, except that she's given to wild enthusiasms, but he's very typical of many of the cops my brother-in-law would represent (the crybabies cited in an earlier post).
Your excellent writing about police corruption was the first thing I read this morning.
This kind of thing is not limited to big city police departments. Big fish in a little pond syndrome is what happens in small town PDs. They intimidate and lie. They are so impressed with themselves that they often go way out of bounds to "get their (wo)man". But mostly they lie. No one I know trusts a police officer as far as they can throw one.
I apologize - havent even read today's blog yet - just got done reading Democracy Now regarding 9-11 and the absolute f***up made by pretty much everyone in charge! Including "America's Mayor" who we all know so well. When you get a chance there are about three segments of Dem.Now worth reading. I had no idea there was a high school and a college close by that were re-opened within a month of 9-11 - supposed to be safe! I must have been living under a bushel basket in the months after that - so much I didnt know about. I'm well aware of the first responders etc who had to fight so hard just to get what they deserved but there is so much more.
Thank you for this history! I was never clear about the whole Rampart mess and ensuing "studies" and Garcetti and Parks and and and. Methinks I'll look at the one apple rotting in my fruit bowl a bit differently now.
At the time of the OJ Simpson trial, and Mark Fuhrman doing his thing on the witness stand, a friend of mine who once had been in the LAPD--he moved on to the DEA and then academe, oddly enough--said to me, "They have been living off of Jack Webb for decades." I enjoy Dragnet and Adam-12, and they still are.
So true: "Yes, the “bad cops” are a minority, the “few rotten apples” we are told. People forget that left alone, three rotten apples in a barrel of fresh apples will go rotten in a matter of days."
Fascinating story. I remember how rough the Alameda area was in the mid 1990s. By the time these events took place I was absorbed in a young(ish) family life on the opposite coast so I only remember bits of this from the news.
When I think about the long list of things that so badly need changing about our police: The selection, training, mind set, ranks closed against investigation, lack of accountability, the need for a national registry of police ethics offenders, etc., I wonder if your title refers to those things, or if you mean something more fundamental?
If you were given the ability to remake a city police department regardless of political considerations, would you de-emphasize victimless crime, have a percentage of your officers with certifications in sociology or psychology, make more use of street cameras, or is there a model somewhere of what you think a police department should aspire to?
To trace those 'apples' (aka, the police) backward and forward, TC:
'SLAVE PATROLS'
'The origins of modern-day policing can be traced back to the "Slave Patrol." The earliest formal slave patrol was created in the Carolinas in the early 1700s with one mission: to establish a system of terror and squash slave uprisings with the capacity to pursue, apprehend, and return runaway slaves to their owners. Tactics included the use of excessive force to control and produce desired slave behavior.'
'Slave Patrols continued until the end of the Civil War and the passage of the 13th Amendment. Following the Civil War, during Reconstruction, slave patrols were replaced by militia-style groups who were empowered to control and deny access to equal rights to freed slaves. They relentlessly and systematically enforced Black Codes, strict local and state laws that regulated and restricted access to labor, wages, voting rights, and general freedoms for formerly enslaved people.'
In 1868, ratification of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution technically granted equal protections to African Americans — essentially abolishing Black Codes. Jim Crow laws and state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation swiftly took their place.'
'By the 1900s, local municipalities began to establish police departments to enforce local laws in the East and Midwest, including Jim Crow laws. Local municipalities leaned on police to enforce and exert excessive brutality on African Americans who violated any Jim Crow law. Jim Crow Laws continued through the end of the 1960s.' (NAACP) See link below.
"The crisis in policing is the culmination of a thousand other failures — failures of education, social services, public health, gun regulation, criminal justice, and economic development." (The New Yorker, July 13, 2020)
"All cruelty begins with dehumanization — not seeing the face of the other, not seeing the whole humanity of the other. A cultural regime of dehumanization has been constructed in many police departments." The Atlantic, (June 16, 2020),The Culture of Policing is Broken)
https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/origins-modern-day-policing#:~:text=The%20origins%20of%20modern%2Dday,runaway%20slaves%20to%20their%20owners.
wow, Fern...
I thought I was out of breath when I finished Tom's piece, but your post is the icing on the proverbial cake and now I'm actually panting.
the first time I was arrested, with absolutely no predicate...I was parking a car outside my building, it was by the NYPD Tactical Patrol Force (TPF) in 1968 (actually, it was Erev Yom Kippur, which is pretty funny). same deal...an "elite" unit that demanded nothing in the way of proof that the cops in it would behave any differently from any group of cops left to their own devices. it was disbanded a couple of years later, but, as Tom points out, every time a politician needed to convince voters that he was "tough on crime," similar units would get different acronyms and end up behaving the way these Memphis psychopaths behaved. I remember that, for a long time, NYPD members were getting easier and easier to deal with (I speak as a nominally white guy, of course) and then Giuliani happened. almost overnight, the cops became Professional Assholes again. ironically, this was the same time I was writing briefs for my brother-in-law's law practice, which was dedicated to getting cops accident disability pensions (a sweet deal...three-quarters of final salaries, tax-free...retiring cop brass were awarded these pensions automatically), so I got to know a LOT of cops close-up and they were all big fucking crybabies when they had to deal with anything official. I say all this while allowing that there are plenty of cops who are good guys. for example, I have an NYPD detective living next door, and he's a great neighbor and really sweet guy whose gorgeous wife has made it her business to feed me most nights (she's a kindergarten teacher, so he's obviously a good guy...kindergarten teachers being among my favorite people). getting back to Giuliani, I pride myself on never once thinking he was anything but a total prick..."America's mayor?"...yeah, right...does anybody remember that he tried to parlay one reasonably eloquent moment into an illegal third term because "nobody but me can get this city through this?" the city got through it. more or less.
so yeah, these so-called "elite units" have always been a disaster and police departments have always turned a blind eye to this fact.
the wrong people tend to be the ones who want to be cops. as someone who became very familiar with the policies always in play at Lefrak City (the location of the police medical and psychological facilities), the problem also has a lot to do with the general orientation and behaviors of the psychologists who are supposed to weed out the people who should NEVER get badges.
my close friend Ruth has a nephew who's a sergeant and who told her that a lot of the cops he supervises were coming in with "Justice for Ashi Babbitt" t-shirts. he told them to never do that and that "she got her justice." and a day later, he started to get death threats.
the David Simon series that aired last year, "We Own This City" dealt very eloquently with that "elite" Baltimore unit. I recommend it to anyone who missed it, as it's unfortunately become more relevant yet again (it's on HBO).
Hm... so you're saying the psychologists who screen the cops should be screened.
Most members of the "helping professions" are the ones in need of the most help.
in Social Work School, my feeling was that I wouldn't want to talk to half the other students about a hangnail.
thanks for that. it's a good way to put it...easier to remember.
in fact, I'd call it a slogan.
Just Wow. Thanks for your 1st hand insights David. Darn.
thank you!
...and how come when I view my own comment, it gets cut off? in my version of my post, the last sentences are "the city got through it. more or less," but obviously everyone else can see the whole thing. has anyone else noticed this?
Don't worry, it's all there.
whew! thanks, Tom.
I read the whole thing, then when I closed and returned it had lost the command to expand the comment (a shortened version is shown with the option to expand) but closing the entire post and reopening restored the last of the post. I know; it's like trying to do something blind. Also, try expanding and contracting the text/image size on your screen, or force a refresh.
thank you. yeah, it's frustrating. and I wondered what "expand" means. now I know.
Thank you for the NAACP link. I'm reading the July 2020 New Yorker article, and it's chilling.
You're right, it is their purpose that undermines reforms. I think the reforms that are ongoing here, will fail because of this mindset. After the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor the LMPD Police Chief stepped down. The new Police Chief instructed Police to stand down from traffic offenses. I'm sure that measure saves lives.
All the reforms they talk about are bandaids on cancer. They have to cut out the cancer.
Yes, Bliss, to your thought as quoted, 'The new Police Chief instructed Police to stand down from traffic offenses. I'm sure that measure saves lives..' Supervision is critical. Monitoring to insure that the police are standing down from traffic offenses and appropriate consequences when each may not observe that instruction need to be part of the responsibilities of being a police officer. To the community's safety and all around respect.
Fewer people are at risk of being shot. Driving is more hazardous. I wish it were mandatory that all officers wear body cam and have them on at all times. I know that costs money, but I think that is the only way to supervise enough to change things.
…and what did the Scorpion crew do with the camera rolling? The culture of the police department, the ethos of the police unions, the determined will and values of supervisors, the relationship of prosecutors to police departments and serious consequences for wrongdoing on the part of law enforcement officers are all necessary factors to protect the people from harm.
The DOJ fixes will cost Louisville 10million a year. Police should not be Policing the Police. There are already complaints from the citizen oversight committee, about not being given information, and documents when they are requested. Why do they let that ride. I think oversight needs to have some teeth.
Bliss, I think that we are generally in agreement. It is not exactly the police 'policing' each other, but it is about the police upholding the standard of protecting the community first and reporting police misconduct. What is known as 'the blue wall of silence'—an unofficial agreement between law enforcement not to challenge each other's misconduct is part of the 'cancer' that TC may have been referring to.
Thanks (I think) for this history and source, Fern. Oh, how much we have yet to "overcome."
I think the pseudo-military structure of many police units exacerbates the problem, encouraging obedience to orders and lack of personal responsibility. Couple this with lack of supervision, and you have the culture which let's Derek Chauvin kneel on necks, and gun-toting officers murder a legless amputee so terrified that he tries to save himself by running away on the stumps of his legs.
yes, absolutely, but we also need to remember that it's not just the STRUCTURE...it's also the GEAR. when I was a kid (admittedly, more than several historical periods ago, since I'll be 74 on Saturday), cops walked around wearing ordinary clothes (uniforms, but no different from the rest of us), usually patrolling alone. they had a gun, which they almost never used, at least not in my neighborhoods, and, possibly, a blackjack. they didn't even have bulletproof vests (I'll let 'em have the vests). now, I suppose pepper spray and tasers are better than guns, but it also seems to me that the cops are much too quick to use those non-lethal weapons. and back then, there was actual neighborhood policing. the local cops knew kids' NAMES. and they have enough protective gear you can't see their faces. that they look like football players (for the record, I have never watched a whole football game and I'm proud of it). weren't SWAT teams basically invented in the '70s? I remember a book that came out about ten years ago all about just THIS limited topic.
if you give police military gear, they're gonna FEEL military. when that happens, the folks they're supposed to be PROTECTING increasingly become seen as the ENEMY. in the military, you're supposed to DISABLE enemies. it's not that fucking complicated. and since that's the military's function, they seem to have better compliance with the rules of engagement. actually, I'm in dangerous territory here because my direct experience of anything military is, like, zero. but I've seen cops close up when they lose it (both as a witness and, once or twice, being on the receiving end as part of a large group) and it's not pretty. on top of that is the assumption that when ugly shit happens, any other cop who saw it is going to confirm whatever the "official story" happens to be.
all of this was operating with a vengeance in Memphis (as the bodycam and other footage demonstrate all too well), as it does everywhere else these fucking rogue units are encouraged to do their thing. and "rogue units" is exactly what they are.
and I forgot to mention how sensational that account of the Ramparts scandal was, Tom. it was sensational.
So, February 4, 1949? Making you a "double 1 - '2'") in numerology. "the path of the master" (you master it or it masters you). Why am I unsurprised? :-)
I just Laughed Out Loud.
💓♒🐯❤️🔥🦉😊🎈📣 HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID! 🎉✨🎂🍨🌠🌞💖❗❗❗
I have to admit...I was fishing a little. when it comes to birthdays, I'm still about five years old.
Oh I was so much older then - I'm younger than that now. :-)
I just Laughed Out Loud, again.
and actually, weren't we ALL?...which is probably one of the GOOD things about old. I was gonna type "older."
fortunately, we're NOT always mellower. at least neither of us is. thank god.
if I could give you quintuple hearts, Fern, I would.
"CRASH" unit. So they pick nasty, intimidating names on purpose. How naive of me to think The Police are law abiding peace officers. Thank you for this outstanding LAPD summary TC.
right, MaryPat. as soon as I heard the name "SCORPION," I thought of the fable about the scorpion and the frog (you know..."what did you expect, schmuck? I'm a fucking SCORPION").
The greatest country in the world ‘they’ claim! Yet, we witnessed an attempted coup orchestrated by the amoral trump, abetted by senior administration officials in the military chain of command, abetted by current members of Congress, abetted by current Secret Service Personnel and facilitated by former chief of staff Mark Meadows.! Criminals all! Recently former AG Barr’s role in covering up treasonous activity by Reagan, Papa Bush and the amoral trump has been cogently presented in a substack Hartman report! Underlying and funding recent and current criminal activity by elected or appointed officials is the Dark Money funneled through Leopold Leo’s Federalist Society! Incredulous that our experiment with democracy, if that’s what we really have, has survived the attempts to subvert it form inside our government !
The closing reminder about rotten apples brought to mind exactly what you have described. And now we know that at least two members of the Stench Bench have been further corrupted by their own wives, one being the "Chief Justice" and the other by the disgusting women assaulter, Thomas, plus Barrett's husband, and Kavanaugh's debt free introduction to the black robe society. I'm surprised there are ANY edible apples in that barrel.
I loathe Thomas as much as anybody, but did he actually "assault" anybody? I thought he was merely creepy and disgusting.
There aren’t !
you still have three liberals.
yup. I got you. the filthiness of these most recent disclosures has surprised even me, which is saying something.
Your “rotten apple in a barrel of fresh” is one heck of a barnburner closer for a masterpiece of an essay on the plight of policing in America.
Salud, TC.
🗽
A profound reckoning of the problem, TC; thank you.
It's daunting to see this report, and Colonel Wilkerson's recent report on the present danger of our nuclear arms race while our country faces the extreme Republicans' wackadoo agenda in their leadership, or lack of, in Congress.
If there are historians writing 100 years from now, this will look all too obvious as the final stretch, and yet, we seem paralyzed by the polarizing propaganda envelope that we live in.
That is indeed Another Fine Mess. Do you have a screenplay in mind for this mess? You certainly have a room full of stats to pull from. It seems our treatment is worse than the disease in too many cases. Reminds me of the kid who aspired to be a cop when I worked at high school. He was known for tripping kids coming down the stairs. There are ways to screen for such tendencies, but I have to wonder what scams the clever could come up with to defeat that possibility.
I have always thought that there is a certain personality type that goes for positions of control over others: The school patrol, some teachers, most of the school principles I've experienced over the years, some police, a very high percentage of politicians... There are a slew of reasons but it began with our specie evolving in conditions that increased the pursuit of power over others which led to increased access to resources.
We need better screening (and the will to use it) and better oversight and better accountability - all three. We will never achieve a perfect police force but we can certainly improve on what we currently have. Good examples abound. An obvious place to begin with accountability would be to have a national police registry so those bad apples cannot simply roll on into the next barrel.
you're absolutely right. my niece was married to an NYPD guy, who always had a scary look on his face. he's profoundly dyslexic and if you put any reading matter in front of him, he starts to sweat. now being dyslexic isn't his fault, but he has a deep resentment of anyone who indicates a "tendency" to read things. in his garage (I swear to whomever) he has a big Confederate flag (he's from Queens), as well as a pretty complete collection of metal band CDs from the '70s (again, I can't hate the guy for his taste, but it's definitely part of a pattern). he also was given to the physical and psychological abuse of my great-nephew (or is it grand-nephew?), who was diagnosed at about two with Asperger's Syndrome and is a VERY smart kid (easy to see why the abuse would happen). he was considered a "good cop (he worked in Far Rockaway, which is a recipe for disaster from the get-go, but he played the game well). I have no idea why my niece married him, except that she's given to wild enthusiasms, but he's very typical of many of the cops my brother-in-law would represent (the crybabies cited in an earlier post).
again, fuck him and fuck them.
Your excellent writing about police corruption was the first thing I read this morning.
This kind of thing is not limited to big city police departments. Big fish in a little pond syndrome is what happens in small town PDs. They intimidate and lie. They are so impressed with themselves that they often go way out of bounds to "get their (wo)man". But mostly they lie. No one I know trusts a police officer as far as they can throw one.
Very cogent conclusion.
One niggle. UC Berkeley has dropped “Boalt Hall” from its name because of Mr. Boalt’s racism. It’s now simply the “School of Law”.
Not having been there in a long time, I wasn't aware. I shall edit that. Thanks.
I apologize - havent even read today's blog yet - just got done reading Democracy Now regarding 9-11 and the absolute f***up made by pretty much everyone in charge! Including "America's Mayor" who we all know so well. When you get a chance there are about three segments of Dem.Now worth reading. I had no idea there was a high school and a college close by that were re-opened within a month of 9-11 - supposed to be safe! I must have been living under a bushel basket in the months after that - so much I didnt know about. I'm well aware of the first responders etc who had to fight so hard just to get what they deserved but there is so much more.
https://www.democracynow.org/2021/9/7/9_11s_unsettled_dust_documentary
Sorry - will go back & read todays article now.
Thank you for this history! I was never clear about the whole Rampart mess and ensuing "studies" and Garcetti and Parks and and and. Methinks I'll look at the one apple rotting in my fruit bowl a bit differently now.
At the time of the OJ Simpson trial, and Mark Fuhrman doing his thing on the witness stand, a friend of mine who once had been in the LAPD--he moved on to the DEA and then academe, oddly enough--said to me, "They have been living off of Jack Webb for decades." I enjoy Dragnet and Adam-12, and they still are.
Jack Webb, the anti-charisma TV star. Also movies - "The D.I." and "Pete Kelly's Blues."
His lack of charisma was almost charismatic. Though I do recommend the "copper clapper caper" with Johnny Carson.
So true: "Yes, the “bad cops” are a minority, the “few rotten apples” we are told. People forget that left alone, three rotten apples in a barrel of fresh apples will go rotten in a matter of days."
And after reading today's "mess of information" - gee, I guess "just like on tv". Now thats sure uplifting!
Fascinating story. I remember how rough the Alameda area was in the mid 1990s. By the time these events took place I was absorbed in a young(ish) family life on the opposite coast so I only remember bits of this from the news.
When I think about the long list of things that so badly need changing about our police: The selection, training, mind set, ranks closed against investigation, lack of accountability, the need for a national registry of police ethics offenders, etc., I wonder if your title refers to those things, or if you mean something more fundamental?
If you were given the ability to remake a city police department regardless of political considerations, would you de-emphasize victimless crime, have a percentage of your officers with certifications in sociology or psychology, make more use of street cameras, or is there a model somewhere of what you think a police department should aspire to?
I mean the fundamental purpose of American police. The only people they aim "to serve and to protect" are the rich and powerful.