LAW  ENFORCEMENT AND THE POLITICS OF POWER.

I've not posted on this site for over a month and the good news is, it doesn't matter. When you don't write for someone or group, what you do and when you do it is completely up to you, That's the way I like it. Now, let me dive into a topic that is probably the most critical issue facing the leader of the free world, the United States. Unless you have been living in a cave, and some do, you've witnessed the recurring spectacle of US Law Enforcement and the politicization of this vital function in society. Is my opinion going to be different than other rants you have listened to or read? Yep. Why? Easy. I will give you a rant, a rant like you've not seen or read yet, but in the end, I will tell you the danger, the real danger to society if this process continues. Finally, I will give you some options for,

" change", a word that is completely abused. Now, before I get started, let me give you my background on the topic, and this will take a few minutes. 

In 1985, I joined a major city PD. I was actually on terminal leave from the military when I was in the Academy. I stayed in the military Reserves and for the next five years, I worked patrol in the East side of this major city. Yep, the "projects!" Afternoon watch / 230/1030. In your car, sometimes with a partner, sometimes not, and that's a topic I will come back to. Running from one radio call to anther for nine hours, often ten or eleven hours a day. Nine hours would seem like 30 minutes, unless you were trying to stay alive fighting someone, and everyone loved to fight the "Police!" Yep, back then, way back then, it was no different. Well, somethings were very different and I will get into that. Five years, nonstop, and remember, this is a job you have to have twenty to twenty-five years before you can think of retiring. It went fast. I was stabbed, shot at, bit, spit on, kicked, and had a 40 0z Cult 45 bottle busted over my head in a riot. Funny thing. I loved the job, and I loved going to work. Was I a hot-headed Rookie working the Projects? No.  Was I full of energy? For a while. Did my goal become just making it home? Absolutely. So, how many times did I get complained on? None, well once. I had the wife of a Professor get upset with me for not addressing her husband by his, "proper title" on a traffic stop. I had the nerve to address him by his first name. Yep, that's the life of police work. Was it frustrating? You mean like coming off a call where you fought a guy who was breaking into a widow's home while she was asleep, only to have someone phone in a complaint because I stopped at a 7-11 to get a drink after it was all over? Yep. I was just goofing off while the people in the neighborhood were crying for police help. Welcome to the world of police work, uniformed patrol. 

After that first five years, my wife, who was also a cop, a cop who spent five days in ICU because a dirtbag tossed her off his door in the middle of the highway, wanted to move back home to finish her degree and teach. She had had enough. Less than five years had broken her spirit of wanting to bring about that buzz word..........................." change!"  I told you this was going to be a rant, and I'm just getting started. Well, off we went. Back in the city, she grew up in. Back to another large city. What did I do when I got there? Easy, I went to work for the Police Department. Ya see, my spirit had been damaged, but I need to provide for her while she went to college.  I was going to go back to the military, but the timing wasn't right. Okay, five more years. Five more years in the "Projects" and low social-economic status areas, if that makes you feel better. Running full speed every day, only this time, one thing was different. In this department, we rotated shifts every 29 days. Try that on for size for five consecutive years. Oh, by the way, in most departments that rotate because it produces a more well-rounded officer, that was the story where I was, the senior leadership doesn't rotate, and they have weekends off. How's that for a leadership style?  Ten years in uniformed patrol. Ten years in the parts of two major cities where the "Police" are not on the Christmascard list. You know what? I still loved the job. If you think you have dedication, trying taking this path for a while. Okay, here is how I will wrap up my background part of this rant. In those ten years, I had ZERO complaints, other than the egomaniac Professor's wife. ZERO. Officers that worked around me were called in, buy my integrity was never challenged. The scar on my right arm tells you, you can be abused and assaulted and still keep your integrity. At the end of that ten years, my wife was teaching and I wanted to go back into the military, so I did. Ten years of my life went by fast. Ten years of seeing a slice of society that most have no idea exist. Ten years of having people in my car telling me and or my partner what they would do to us when they got out. Side Note: Had a prisoner once, a warrant arrest for Sexual Assault of a Child, not a minor, a child........look up the difference. On the way to jail, he decided to tell me how fun it was to watch the little child struggle as he, "had his way with her". Disclosure. I almost didn't take him to jail and that's all I will say about the topic. There you go. There is my background of the topic I am about to dive into. I just wanted you to understand, I didn't come to my conclusions by watching so-called, "experts" on Fox or CNN. Now, let me get down to the matter at hand. What is taking place in the United States right now and why? 

 Enemies and the threat of real violence: 

If you follow my post on this blog site or on Twitter / @ColDan11 / you know my consistent drumbeat on disunity and it's emboldening powers with the US's enemies. Historically, an aggressor weighs its enemy's desire to fight as well as it's ability. The growing perception of US disunity is a powerful weapon and those who dream of taking the US down grow more confident by the day. Does anyone in DC seem to comprehend this? Worse, does anyone care? A dozen minority males are killed in one year, and the ability of the greatest nation in the history of the human race to stand against aggression on a global scale is jeopardized. Think that sounds melodramatic? If so, then you don't understand how conflicts, global conflicts come about. Would the enemies of the US leverage this current crisis? Hint, it is well underway. Last comment on the topic of, "enemies". " The enemy of my enemy is my friend!" 

The Politics of Law Enforcement: 

Have the actions of Law Enforcement become political tools? Yes, at the highest levels, yes! If I started down the path of a rant on the topic of the DOJ and FBI under Obama, this post would never get done! The US criminal justice system is a political toy with neither party actually attempting to make the process what the people of the nation deserve or believe it should be. The "blame game" is the usual topic of the process, but somehow, that process has continued to be one of the benchmarks of the US's status in the world. Yes, the legal system in the US has been a political tool for as long as anyone can remember, but it works; it works better than 90 percent of the rest of the world. Here is the problem. Times are changing. The US is changing. The age-old political practice of using the nation's legal system as a device to gain votes, well, it's now doing more damage than at any point in the past. Why? My guess is social media and a world that communicates in a matter of seconds. Perception is reality and knowing history is an art lost in the past. Justice is supposed to be blind, but fewer and fewer people now believe that, and you can thank the political/ideological war that rages in the US, nonstop. 

It's now clear, Law Enforcement Officers are guilty by association. If you are White and you take action against a person of, "Color", by the way.....................isn't White a color, I may have to toss a crayon in the trash. Oh ya. White is not a color, according to science. Hint.........neither is Black! Labels, we love to let political leaders and academia make labels for all of us to live under. Wow, I wondered there! Look, a White Officer who encounters a person of color is said to have inherent racism. Why? Well, they are White! Does that sound like a bigoted statement? Let me push on. You are White, and you're a cop. You are placed into a box and it doesn't matter how hard you try to do your job. Admit your guilt. Take a knee, kiss my ass............whoops..........sorry...that slipped! That's the environment some are trying to force the US into. The Anarchists and other groups seem to have a common goal; destroy the status of the US. Remember my comment about the enemy of my enemy! In the end, those who have sworn an oath to defend the foundation of civil society are the ones being accused of ripping it apart, and that accusation is being made by power-hungry groups to include one the nation's political parties. Another side note. Can anyone produce any statistical data that supports the systematic, unconscious racism in Law Enforcement or those who capture such data too busy taking a knee to a fundraising organization? 

Just what are we trying to fix: 

"Change!" It's the buzzword of the Democratic party. It seems to be the go-to word anytime anything comes into the light of the media. Say it and say it often. Get dressed up and take a knee, but only while you have the right news crews watching. Rip down the racist statues, even the one of that guy, who actually was against slavery. Whoops. You have to know the history before you can abuse history. I wonder when the mop will reach Egypt and destroy that temple of Jewish slavery? You know, the Pyramids? Oh, history. 

What changes are we looking for? If we have hard data, we can make precise changes. Wait, we don't have hard data on Law Enforcement, systemic racism. Now, how do we make changes without knowing what needs to be changed? Data shows the issue of Law Enforcement acts towards African Americans has improved over the years and done so dramatically. Here's the problem with that data, it doesn't fit the narrative! If you want to keep the Human Cattle/votes/ loyal to those who run the Cattle Pens, major US cities, you have to stay away from real data. In the meantime, keep talking about all that change that needs to take place. 

Now, are there issues with how Law Enforcement is conducted? You bet. Did I see things in my ten years that bothered me? Yes. Was it all based on, "bad cops?" No. Okay then, let me get down to the part of this rant I promised. Let me show you some real changes that could make a difference, but only to those who are truly looking for, "change!" For those groups looking to damage the nation or continue their shakedown of guilty White Folks............change is a bad.........bad thing and must be avoided. 

What is the Mesure of a Police Department:

A Mayor or City Manager, a person used when the Mayor is too busy playing politics to run a city, wants one outcome. "Show me crime is going down. Show me we are one of the lowest cities for crime in the country!" Is this a stance that would lead to real Law Enforcement reform, change?  It's hard to sell a city's value to investors when the crime in the city is in the news every night. Chicago. That's the poster child. "Chief...............you have to get crime under control!" Does the Police Chief control the social-economic status of the city? No. The Law Enforcement agencies react to the environment the city has placed itself in. If a Mayor or a City Manager wants low crime numbers, then make changes the Police Department is powerless to control. Crime is systemic of the overall health of a community and the overall social-economic status of a community is not the responsibility of Law Enforcement. The city's leadership is to be proactive by nature. Law Enforcement may be told to be proactive, but without sound vision, the odds of that being successful are extremely low. The end result of poor city management is stressed and problematic Law Enforcement. So, should low crime rates be the benchmark of Law Enforcement? Is that the right targeted goal? I will tell you this if that remains the political leadership goal, then numbers and stats will continue to be the driving force behind Law Enforcement management, and that departmental goal becomes the next level of the problem. 

When I was a Police Officer, my yearly performance reports were based on two topics. The number of arrests made and the number of tickets written. In one department, the feedback on, "numbers" was monthly. " Dan.......you need to pick up some tickets this week! You only have two felony arrests this month!" What drives this pressure from a street-level supervisor? Just read the paragraph above. Pressure on the Chief leads to pressure on the streets.............period! Do you think city leadership understands this? "Stop and flop". Have you ever heard of this phrase? Someone drives by and they look like a Duck, they dress like a Duck..........they act like a Duck. Well, It's Ducks I'm looking for so, let's see what's taking place here! Hard to understand this concept without jumping on the racist bandwagon. Here is the problem with that bandwagon being attached to, "stop and flop." I played this game in White neighborhoods as well as Black, Hispanic ones. If the Crips were having a conflict in my beat, I didn't look for cars full of White kids in a hotrod. If I had problems in a White neighborhood and a carload of kids went by me at 2 am, yep......I stopped them. Sound wrong? Get to a police academy and spend a few years on the job then come back and let's talk. 

Profiling. 

Is it wrong? Let me ask you a question. What does Law Enforcement look like without it? Can you tell me? Remember that demand by the Mayor and his or her investors? What does pressure from above create? What are the second and third-order effects of political leadership? Lower the crime = get your numbers = profiling. Don't believe me. Head to an academy and give it a shot. The law of unintended consequences. It's always been one of my favorite topics. Oh, by the way, if you want to get promoted, if you want to go to VICE or other specialty units, you better have good numbers. You better be seen as a "good cop!" I stayed in uniformed patrol for ten years for one reason. I loved working on the streets, but if you want to climb the ladder, you better have the things the supervisors are looking for. Change that and let's see what happens! 

Change from the other side: 

When you listen to people talking about, "change," do you hear them speaking of this change from the other side of the table? " All Police Departments have systemic racism." That's not the stance of everyone that is upset right now, but it's the sexy message the MSM is focused on. Those who work off of scripted instructions, some of it taking place for decades by those who shake society down for the cash, seem to have a limited amount of information to work with. Do you think people like Al Sharpton, the master of shaking down folks, ever stop to talk about the actual crime stats in this nation? Do they ever come to the table of knowledge with statements based on facts? "Hands Up.....Don't Shoot!" A complete lie, still told to this day. Why? Money that's why! You see, power and wealth can be obtained in a variety of ways, and division and fear is an age-old pitch used in this world. " You better side with me, or they will get you. Oh...by the way...you need to make a donation to the cause......me!" At the end of the Civil War, one of the worst scourges in the nation was a group of people called, Carpet Baggers. Those who strive to make their fortune off the misery of others. Well, folks, sad to say, that tradition is alive and well in the 21st Century, and all people like Al Sharpton need is a wagon to carry on the tradition. Now, let me hit the real nerve here. Let me address the organization that has many White people tossing money towards, and taking a knee to. 

Black Lives Matter:

BLM. My question is, to who? Does BLM have paying members who truly wish to make society a better place? Yes. Like most movements, has it been hijacked by those who have other agendas? Yes. is BLM now based on social power and gaining funds? Yes. Do all of its members realize that? No. Look, it's human nature to want to feel like you are doing the right thing. It's the way God wants us to feel. But, there is a danger in that human characteristic. Evil people know just how to exploit that desire. "Side with us........sign the petition or you are a racist!" Followers, they are easily manipulated and manipulation is all the African American community has known in the US. Large Cities = Cattle Pens for votes. Keep the cattle scared and tell them they better not leave the Pens or the wolves will eat them. The tactic of fear. It's as old as the human race itself. Don't believe it. What do you think good old Uncle Joe meant when he made his statement about Blacks voting for Trump? ' Stay in the pen or we won't protect you.' Look. The reality is, BLM is a movement about power and money. If BLM was upset over the deaths of Black men in the US, they would be spending every dollar they raised to stop the real danger to Black men.........Black on Black crime. A third side note. How much money has BLM raised since the death of Floyd? If you asked them, do you think they would tell you? Has someone asked and I've just missed the answer? If so, I apologize. Last comment about BLM.  Do not forget my statement about the enemy of my enemy. Can the BLM movement be manipulated? Yes. Would the good members of the movement realize it? No. If they were shown the truth by the Department of Justice or some third party organization, would they believe it? That's a dangerous answer. How do we honestly fix the preception problems in the US? How do we get those who have been told what to think, when to think, and how to think? How do we get the truth to set the misguided free? The answer may have just come in Seatle. 

From CHAZ to CHOP:

What took place in the six-block area inside the city of Seatle this weekend? Did anyone pay attention? What made the name change take place? The story goes, it was a collective decision to put the event back of focus of what they are truly upset over. You know.....BLM! So, is that it? Is that what happened? I say no! the other day, I watched a video of an African Americain Woman talking at one of the CHAZ "talkins", and she was upset with the folks that appeared to be ANTIFA. She was asking why things had to be destroyed to make their point. She was angry and the crowd quickly took her side. You could see the panic in the body language of the young, white anarchist in their typical blacked-out clothing. Did this upset lady know these young people are promoting Communist doctrine? Probably not. What she understood was the fact their actions were not furthering the cause of BLM. Ah....a division .....a crack in the armor! I saw it and you can bet those trained to look for it saw it as well. The next thing you know, the area is renamed. Interesting. Social crises are almost always hijacked. The Iranian revolution, the Arab Spring......hijacked by movements that were ready to jump on the next crisis. It's exactly what the ANTIFA groups did with Floyd's death. They flew into the city and other key targeted cities with one goal in mind, and that had nothing to do with Floyd's death. But, and this is a huge but........ they failed. Their hijacking of the BLM, even in a city ANTIFA belives thew own, Seattle, failed. Why? Why did they fail to take complete control of the CHAZ? Why did they give in and rename to CHOP? I will tell you why. The leadership of BLM is better funded and works from a much more secure position. Think about it. Anarchists are predominantly White, collage, or college-age kids. It took the President less than a day to blame them for the events in Seattle. It's a much easier target. White. Blasting BLM is an act that plays right into the race trap. Pick the easier target. Now, Trump has gone after BLM, but the approach is different and we all know why. The fact remains. CHAZ turned into CHOP because ANTIFA failed! They had to compromise, and they probably anticipate making gains further down the road. It's almost the same way they had to give up on Occupy Wallstreet. As I stated earlier, cracks in the armor. If there is no unity of effort between the radical anarchist and the senior leadership of the BLM, then that division needs to be leveraged into a canyon. the ability to drive a wedge in the saying, enemy of my enemy, it's right there, right now. Here is the hard part. How do you get the bickering idiots in DC to see the opportunity? If we can keep the false narrative of America's systematic racism from gaining strength, then we might be able to get the good people who are upset to see the truth, see the data that tells the truth. That's disastrous for the anarchist and that's disastrous for the leadership of BLM. How can the Democratic party keep the cattle in the pens and get the people who have been told to feel guilty to keep pumping money into the false storefront if supporters start to see the truth? Changing the concepts of Law Enforcement is far more complex than racism classes inside the departments. Sound, political leadership must take place fist. Let's see if those who run the cattle pens call for that change first!