AmercianPoliceBeat

May 2009

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16 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: MAY 2009 Letters Here's your chance to sound off about stuff you've read in American Police Beat, frustrations with the job, information you need or even something positive. Let's hear it. E-mail: Cynthia@apbweb.com or fax: 617-354-6515. OPINION/EDITORIAL Lame coverage Over the years I have enjoyed the articles in Police Beat. Usually the news is rel- evant, the articles educa- tional and informative and the editorials to the point. In your last issue however, there seems to be far more politically correct fl uff and fodder that diminishes the relevant on-point reporting. For example, the article by a middle manager pro- moting community policing with recycled rhetoric was as useful as day-old donuts. Then there was the fill- er article about the low numbers of women in law enforcement. This was an- other example of irrelevant recycled drivel. In twenty years on the job, I've never heard an of- fi cer say "Gee . . . I think we need more female cops in our department . . . wonder what the problem is?" I don't think the Troopers in West Virginia care either. And lastly the articles about police administrators telling us that the economy is in the toilet and crime is on the rise made me want to ask you, "That's a news fl ash? Really?" What happened to the former reporting you did that gave tactical situations Great coverage Thanks for covering our recent survey where we researched the impact of the economic downturn on police department budgets and on crime. American Police Beat continues to do terrifi c work and I continue to be impressed with how you manage to cover all that is happening in our business so well. It was also nice that Ken Garner's picture was on the front page – a nice tribute to him – and so sad that he would die so young only a little while later. Again, thanks to everyone there for all you are doing for our fi eld – it does not go unnoticed and it is appreci- ated. – Chuck Wexler Executive Director Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) we can learn from or the relevant developments? Let's cut the nonsense; personally I would rather read advertisements. – B.K. Byers, Salem, OR Denzel It should be no surprise that Washington is a genuine patriot. From my own personal knowledge, in California, law enforcement is well aware that Denzel Washing- ton occasionally rides along with LAPD offi cers. He has also taken out his check book and qui- etly helped agencies pay for equipment enhancements. He did the same in Long Beach, when he was on a ride-along prepping for background for a fi lm. When his son won a schol- arship to university some years ago he went to the university and offered to write a check in order for someone else to benefi t from that scholarship. He was told his son had won the scholarship, not him, and to let his son ex- perience the joy of achieve- ment . . . which he under- stood and did. The point is, this man has a big heart and is a good, Continued on page 48 There isn't a solitary soul that could make a reasonable argument that police offi cers should not be on the lookout for suspicious individuals and activities that might indi- cate the possibility of a terrorist attack. That being said, the so-called "intelli- gence" that local law enforcement agencies are receiving from data warehouses known as "fusion centers" recently is raising all kinds of serious questions that demand answers. When you manage to put conservative Republicans and the ACLU on the same page, you must have done something truly outrageous. In this case, the outrage was advising peace offi cers that taxpaying American citizens who support certain congressional candidates by displaying bumper stickers should be treated as potential threats to national security and public safety. Part of being smart about protecting Americans from those that would take innocent lives to further an agenda is fo- cusing resources and attention on specifi c threats. The intelligence advisory sent out in Mis- souri recently was nothing short of recycled web junk. But that's to be expected when you have virtually no oversight, quality control or accountability in the homeland security industry. The problem is that after a consensus emerged that intelligence failures played a role in the attacks of 9/11, we didn't focus on sorting out what went wrong at the CIA, NSA and FBI. Instead, we added force multipliers to a system that was badly in need of overhaul and repair. When thousands of people can get a mas- ter's degree in Homeland Security from an online college without ever taking a class, the odds of those folks producing serious or actionable intelligence are slim to none. The US intelligence community has its fair share of problems, but turning national security over to a bunch of guys with a website and no training doesn't seem like it will make Americans any safer. As far as the implications for local law enforcement, there are several. First, bulletins like the one that went out in Missouri are a credible threat to you and your agency's reputation. Secondly, bad intelligence can lead to a "boy who cried wolf" scenario where people just tune out like they did on the color-coded terror warnings and advice from offi cials to buy lots of duct tape and plastic. But most importantly, bogus intel- ligence can create the illusion that there is a vast network of federal offi cials and agencies working in perfect harmony to help local law enforcement prepare for and hopefully prevent a terrorist at- tack. For all the hundreds of billions of dol- lars spent on fusion centers and software solutions for the databases containing the names of some one million "possible" terrorists, most of us will take our chanc- es with a much more inexpensive and low tech counter measure: the instincts of a police offi cer who sees something suspicious. We'll take the cop over the fusion center any day. Fusion leads to confusion !MERICAN 0OLICE "EAT IS TARGETED TO THE NATIONS LAW ENFORCEMENT PROFESSION AND SEEKS TO GIVE A VOICE TO THE NATIONS WORKING LAW ENFORCEMENT PROFESSIONAL 4HIS PUBLICATION IS DEDICATED TO PROVIDING A FORUM WHERE OFl CERS CAN SPEAK OUT ABOUT THE NUMEROUS ISSUES THAT IMPACT THEIR PER SONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LIVES !RTICLES AND PICTURES ARE WELCOME AND SHOULD BE SENT TO THE EDITOR WHO RESERVES THE RIGHT TO EDIT ALL SUBMISSIONS .OT ALL SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION !MERICAN 0OLICE "EAT )33. 8 5303 ALSO HEREAFTER REFERRED TO AS h!0"v IS PUBLISHED TIMES PER YEAR ON A MONTHLY BASIS 3UBSCRIPTIONS ARE PER YEAR FOR TWO YEARS OR FOR THREE YEARS !0" IS PUBLISHED BY /N 4HE "EAT ,,# 4HORNDIKE 3T &LOOR #AMBRIDGE -! 0ERIODICALS 0OSTAGE 0AID AT "OSTON -! AND !D DITIONAL -AILING /Fl CES 0/34-!34%2 SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO !MERICAN 0OLICE "EAT 4HORNDIKE 3TREET &LOOR #AM BRIDGE -! "NFSJDBO1PMJDF#FBU VOICE OF THE NATION'S LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMUNITY #9.4()! 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