The LEO thread

[JTA]

OMG! roland is apparently going to be shocked and aghast. Now the chief says "that when he moved the weapon, it fired, shooting his wife in the back." "It fired" sounds a lot like a gun that shoots by itself, ya' think?

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/pol ... ar-BBhqjJC

I've got a new born and a 5+ year old. I try to keep them locked up for fear that they'll cause a ruckus in the neighborhood when left home alone without a babysitter.

[neoplacebo]

... “The gun was in the bed and I tried to move it, put it to the side, and then it went off," he told the dispatcher during a call placed at about 4 a.m. local time....

Because every trained, experienced and "responsible" gun owner has a gun in bed at 4 a.m.

Maybe it climbed up there on its own like a cat.

Guns don't kill people, cops do.

I saw a story today that had a recording of the 911 call the chief made; in it, he says "how the hell could this happen?" Looks more and more like this is a case of the mythical "gun going off by itself." This story went on to say that the news folks had tried to contact the chief, but that he was not available, as he was at the hospital with his wife. I hope to hell he didn't take that gun with him. I just don't know if I can take another opps deal this soon. I also hope someone has the sense to not let him be in there with her alone.

[rstrong]

Via today's News of the Weird:

A U.S. Appeals Court once again in September instructed government agencies that it is unconstitutional to make routine business-inspection raids without a judicial warrant. "We hope that the third time will be the charm," wrote Judge Robin Rosenbaum. In the present case, the court denounced the full-dress SWAT raid in 2010 of the Strictly Skillz barbershop in Orange County, Florida, for "barbering" without a license. (All certificates were found to be up-to-date, and in fact, the raiding agency had verified the licenses in a walk-through two days before.) [Courthouse News Service, 9-18-2014]

[neoplacebo]

Via today's News of the Weird:

A U.S. Appeals Court once again in September instructed government agencies that it is unconstitutional to make routine business-inspection raids without a judicial warrant. "We hope that the third time will be the charm," wrote Judge Robin Rosenbaum. In the present case, the court denounced the full-dress SWAT raid in 2010 of the Strictly Skillz barbershop in Orange County, Florida, for "barbering" without a license. (All certificates were found to be up-to-date, and in fact, the raiding agency had verified the licenses in a walk-through two days before.) [Courthouse News Service, 9-18-2014]

It would seem that someone in the Orange County FL sheriff department must have gotten a haircut there that they didn't like. Serve that up with a dose of shock and awe good old boy intimidation and there you go.

[rstrong]

I was reading in the news today about how hundreds of New York City police officers turned their backs on the Mayor as he eulogized a slain officer. It was scary to see police showing open disrespect for the Mayor in such a public way.

Then I remembered that the police have also publicly revealed that they reject applicants who score too well on IQ tests. So the officers may not have been protesting. They might have just been facing the wrong way.

[neoplacebo]

I was reading in the news today about how hundreds of New York City police officers turned their backs on the Mayor as he eulogized a slain officer. It was scary to see police showing open disrespect for the Mayor in such a public way.

Then I remembered that the police have also publicly revealed that they reject applicants who score too well on IQ tests. So the officers may not have been protesting. They might have just been facing the wrong way.

Very possible. I once worked for the US Postal Service and it was the most dysfunctional stupid mind numbing experience I've had to date. It's like the workers and the management spend most of their time figuring the best ways to antagonize the other. They didn't give me an IQ test; I got the job as a result of veteran preference, but it was soon evident to me what was going on around there. They don't want any of the workers to be smart. In fact, it's an advantage to be dumb if you're not on the management side. It's no surprise the Postal Service loses billions each year; it's the logical result of their business plan. Any postal worker could take the place of any cop and no one would know the difference.

[rstrong]

I was reading in the news today about how hundreds of New York City police officers turned their backs on the Mayor as he eulogized a slain officer. It was scary to see police showing open disrespect for the Mayor in such a public way.

Then I remembered that the police have also publicly revealed that they reject applicants who score too well on IQ tests. So the officers may not have been protesting. They might have just been facing the wrong way.

Very possible. I once worked for the US Postal Service and it was the most dysfunctional stupid mind numbing experience I've had to date. It's like the workers and the management spend most of their time figuring the best ways to antagonize the other. They didn't give me an IQ test; I got the job as a result of veteran preference, but it was soon evident to me what was going on around there. They don't want any of the workers to be smart. In fact, it's an advantage to be dumb if you're not on the management side. It's no surprise the Postal Service loses billions each year; it's the logical result of their business plan. Any postal worker could take the place of any cop and no one would know the difference.

Is the US Postal Service is based on the Army command structure and culture?

Back in the 1960s, Canadian defence minister Paul Hellyar decided to integrate the different branches of the military into one to save money. One of the reasons this was a Very Bad Idea was the different cultures in the different branches:

The army's culture was very stratified; you didn't go over your officer's head. Anyone outranking you had the final say.

The Air Force was less stratified. And ground crew could tell the officers out-ranking them that no sir, you're not flying this aircraft until it's serviced.

On a navy ship even the lowest crew would routinely talk to the captain.

It sounds like the US Postal Service is based on the Army.

50 years later, much of Paul Hellyar's changes have been undone. Hellyar is now is best known by conspiracy theorists for claiming that we're in a war with aliens, led by George W. Bush with a forward base on the moon.

As an aside, watch A Bridge Too Far when you get a chance. It has an all-star cast - Sir Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Anthony Hopkins, Gene Hackman, etc. etc. None of this works against the movie.

But suddenly you see John Ratzenberger. In an army uniform. Much like his Postal Service uniform in Cheers. And you get pulled right out of the movie, wondering "What's Cliff Clavin doing there?"

[neoplacebo]

Yeah, the Postal Service is organized most like the Army. The Army of Pakistan. Or Iraq.

[O Really]

I've never worked for the postal service, but for a variety of reasons I'm very familiar with how it works. And I've never seen anybody ever with less of a grasp of decent employee relations concepts than the postal service. Even Wal-Mart. There's a reason the term for an employee gone amuck was originally "going postal."

[neoplacebo]

I've never worked for the postal service, but for a variety of reasons I'm very familiar with how it works. And I've never seen anybody ever with less of a grasp of decent employee relations concepts than the postal service. Even Wal-Mart. There's a reason the term for an employee gone amuck was originally "going postal."

The ones who went postal were the smart ones......I got out because I could see trouble coming.

[rstrong]

The US Postal Service is one of my examples of how the US is more socialist than Canada. They have a monopoly unheard here in Canada and elsewhere. They even take companies to court if they rely too much on courier services. They'd never get away with that here.

[neoplacebo]

The US Postal Service is one of my examples of how the US is more socialist than Canada. They have a monopoly unheard here in Canada and elsewhere. They even take companies to court if they rely too much on courier services. They'd never get away with that here.

Not long ago there was a big hubbub about having folks at Staple's (or it could have been Office Depot; not sure) acting as de facto postal workers, just as an added service to the Staple's customers. The postal workers union, which they all belong to, except the management, raised all kinds of hell over it and the plan was dropped. Let's keep our inefficiency our own and make it as expensive as possible is what it all came down to.

[Mr.B]

"It would seem that someone in the Orange County FL sheriff department must have gotten a haircut there that they didn't like."

Possibly there was suspicion that this was the favorite barber shop of Kim Jong Un......

[neoplacebo]

I read on Yahoo news today that one of the grand jurors in the Michael Brown / Darren Wilson case has sued the local District Attorney over the way evidence was, and was not presented to them. This is quite a significant and unheard of event.

[Mr.B]

Asheville police lower educational requirements for recruits

ASHEVILLE (AP) — The Asheville Police Department has cut degree requirements for new recruits, saying new police officers no longer need a two-year college degree and can be hired with a high school diploma.

Interim Police Chief Wade Wood said the change is intended to increase the size, diversity and quality of the department's applicant pool.
The department quietly lowered education requirements in June.

Asheville began a push to increase academic standards in the mid-1990s under (former) Chief Will Annarino, but 23 officers filed a grievance in 2001,
claiming his policy of paying new hires with college degrees 5 to 10 percent more, was unfair to current officers with degrees.

Eventually, the standard was set at a two-year associate's degree or 60 curriculum hours.

[bannination]

Asheville police lower educational requirements for recruits

ASHEVILLE (AP) — The Asheville Police Department has cut degree requirements for new recruits, saying new police officers no longer need a two-year college degree and can be hired with a high school diploma.

Interim Police Chief Wade Wood said the change is intended to increase the size, diversity and quality of the department's applicant pool.
The department quietly lowered education requirements in June.

Asheville began a push to increase academic standards in the mid-1990s under (former) Chief Will Annarino, but 23 officers filed a grievance in 2001,
claiming his policy of paying new hires with college degrees 5 to 10 percent more, was unfair to current officers with degrees.

Eventually, the standard was set at a two-year associate's degree or 60 curriculum hours.

Call me skeptical.

[Mr.B]

"Call me skeptical."

Yep, me too...that's why I posted it.

[neoplacebo]

Maybe if cops had to be lawyers before becoming cops, they would have more of a handle on what they can get away with and what they can't. Plus, they'd be smarter. This would also significantly reduce the local district attorney's work load, speed up court proceedings, and generally make the judicial system more efficient. I guess.

[rstrong]

And in Albuquerque, police officers shot and killed a mentally ill homeless man as he turned away from them, which police chief Gordon Eden said was "justified."

BBC: Albuquerque police charged in homeless killing

[neoplacebo]

It looks like I will have to write to Chief Eden just like I did with Chief Lee in Sanford; seems like only yesterday.....sigh.