The Conscience of Abe’s Turn - power - Comments

Re: 21st Century Alcohol Prohibition and Police Brutality

Anonymous — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 23:32:19 -0700

i am not a very strong writer i need to say that now, WHY ISNT POT LEGAL IN ALL THE STATES?? california made 12-15 BILLION dollars off their medicinal marijuana… man i wish i knew the statistics of how many deaths are caused by alcohol every year or even every day, im sure the deaths in one day, would be more than marijuana related deaths in the whole year.. does the government even think about that? or even imagine what its like for some people that have severe anxiety or eating disorders in which pot relieves their issues.. does alcohol help with anything???????? no it kills people.. everyday, all day long… people dont even have to drink and they can die from it..(d,u,i).. i am in a family where my parents have to have a beer so they can go to sleep.. DOES THE GOVERNMENT THINK ABOUT THAT? OR JUST THE MONEY MADE OFf POISON EVERY DAY. im sure there are a few reasons why pot (which helps people) is illegal and alcohol that kills people a few times a minute is sold in every store. i was wondering if someone could do a story on the reasons pot isnt legal? if you want to say something bad about pot dealers or growers look at anheiser bush or budweiser their factories pollute and is dispersed to “middle men” just the same.. please reply maybe a list of statistic that i havent found on the internet…

Re: On the Yolanda Madden Case in Odessa, Texas

Anonymous — Wed, 27 May 2009 11:08:31 -0700

We now know that the arresting officer in the Confidential Informant case was in fact Officer Travland. The reason he didn’t want his participation to be revealed during the Defendant’s trial is that his arrest report on the Confidential Informant case proves that evidence reported seized at the Confidential Informant arrest (specifically a zippered pouch) ended up in the Defendants property invoice three days after her arrest.

Hope Steffey a Woman Falsely Convicted

John — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:28:01 -0700

Heres some more info about this case, this is a Cut & Paste I have been posting:

This is the BCI report that Agent Christy S. Palmer sent to John D. Ferrero, Prosecuting Attorney Stark County Ohio.
Dated April 16, 2008 BCI Case #: SI-76-08-14-0147

This is part of page 3

http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y39/Zemo999/?action=view&current=BCI-Re…

Sheriff Swanson has ALWAYS maintained that Steffey was ASKED & REFUSED to remove her cloths.
But here’s the BCI’s OWN REPORT that PROVES this is a LIE!
And then they try to explain away their first lie with another lie, about why it was done this way without asking Steffey to do it voluntarily.
They are trying to say that Steffey was resisting enough that EIGHT people couldn’t take the chance of ASKING her to remove her cloths, or EVEN TELL HER WHAT WAS GOING ON!!!
What a crock!!

I did NOT see any resisting in the video, I saw eight cops parading her to the cell, with her in cuffs.

In fact EVERY video I have seen she is in cuffs!
And the ONLY times I have seen her react to the cops is after they have assaulted her or in the process of stripping her naked.

But apparently catching the sheriff’s dept in a lie isn’t a big deal to our “independent” BCI investigator, Christy Palmer, who seems ready to accept ANY excuse the sheriff’s dept wants to use.

The report also goes on to say that they lowered Steffey in a slow controlled manner to the floor. Except that Steffey says she was thrown to the floor.
She also told her husband in a phone call that she thought the cops had broken her nose.
And she was treated by the nurse for the injury.
And in page 4 of this report Christy Palmer even states that Steffey reported that her nose was making “crunching noises”.

So I guess this is proof of a second LIE! (Or third)

And still Christy Palmer, the “independent investigator” doesn’t think twice about accepting the word of the cops over the VICTIMS in spite of proof.
BTW, Christy also references a video that she says “proves that she was lowered in a slow controlled manner to the floor”. As far as I know, THIS would have to be on the ’non-existent’ beginning of the strip video.
On May 5th when I asked about the “missing” video, I was told it would soon be released.
Now here again it looks as though it’s referenced…even though they NOW claim it does not exist.
Interesting. (I have filed a request for this video.)

This isn’t so much an investigation report as it is a smear campaign against Hope Steffey.

The cops can polish this turd as much as want, this STILL STINKS!

BTW I don’t know why they bothered to black out the names of Nurse Coren Lennon and the jail psychologist Thomas Anuszkiewicz, aren’t they PROUD of the work they do?

Re: I Wear a Badge! I Don't Have to Follow Your Stinkin' Rules!

John Tsangaris — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:25:50 -0800

Well, I had an excellent and eloquent response that took me a bit to write, but my cat jumped on my keyboard and now I start over with far less enthusiasm than my first run. :-/

Let me hit the highlights, and I realize this wont be as romantic as my first go, but, whatever:

1) I do, fortunately, work for a department that enforces public and private conduct guidelines. I also personally serve with officers who have shown that they are not two faced and that their conduct is that which I can trust both to keep me out of the grave and out of the courtroom. I realize that not every officer is like this, and that the typical person who becomes an officer doesn’t do it because it seems like a nice quiet way to earn a check.

2) I do this because I believe in service. I believe citizenship is constantly earned and that it should not simply be a couple’s whim at the geographical happenstance of copulation. Citizenship is not simply a certificate that defines the future, but a way of life that both adds to ones own future AND the future of those around them. I just read a saying (don’t know if it’s true but it sounds good) that the Iroquios law stated that in every deliberation we must consider the effect on the next seven generations. I think, in this spirit, an officer is protected from both himself and the politics in that his motives and goals do not allow him (or her) to abuse their power.

3) Something about being libertarian before I knew what it was in Massachusetts.

4) I went to a seminar by Lt. Col. (ret) David Grossman who described a sheep, wolf, and sheepdog analogy that I think may be enlightening. Here’s a blog that is a pretty good summary: http://www.aretheytrulythatstupid.com/index.php/2008/09/18/on-sheep-wolv…

5) Hope you are having a great end of year!

As history has shown, sequels usually suck. Sorry. I’ve been staring at my cat this whole post to ensure that I catch her before she hits the yucky button. BTW, I am working at getting into writing as well, started a novel and finished the first chapter but I back burnered it for a bit until I get my programming life back in gear. Any hints on writing would help. I’ve not made any professional contacts at this point. The writing was more of a flirtation that became a one night stand to a “would you like to have lunch next week” to haven’t heard from her in a bit.

And, you’re an ass for leaving me hanging with Abe’s Turn. When is the next part due out?

Re: I Wear a Badge! I Don't Have to Follow Your Stinkin' Rules!

TimK — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 09:27:00 -0800

Hi, John. I usually don’t reply to comments on this site, but you’re a friend, and I wanted to thank you for the well-thought-out, insightful comment.

My intention was not to generalize to all police officers or police departments. It actually lifts my spirits to observe that casually browsing RateMyCop.com shows that most of the feedback there on individual officers is positive. (Unfortunately, most of the positive reports there give no story or details, just unalloyed praise, making them useless as positive anecdotes. Meanwhile, the negative reports are very specific, and sometimes vitriolic.)

However, while I did not intend to generalize to all officers, I did intend to point out the danger of giving officers—or anyone—in general too much power. While—we hope—most would not abuse that power, the fact is that enough do to make it a general concern. And while there are indeed many rules by which police are supposed to abide, unfortunately, rules do little good unless the system and processes in place actually support those rules.

The Human Rights Watch 1998 report on police abuse in the U.S., for example, notes:

If the barriers to accountability described in this report were removed, the number and severity of abuses that officers commit would no doubt be greatly reduced. Yet the administrative and legal procedures that should guarantee accountability are seriously flawed and have been extremely resistant to change. In fact, many of the problems we describe in this report have been highlighted in previous studies on police practices [going back to 1968]… Nevertheless, most police departments examined by Human Rights Watch continue with “business as usual” until scandals emerge. Those who claim that each high-profile human rights abuse is an aberration, committed by a “rogue” officer, are missing the point: human rights violations persist in large part because the accountability systems are so defective.

Hopefully, the situation has improved over the past decade. Even so, enough individual reports continue to flood in that one can’t keep up with them all. And accounts continue to be told of official misbehavior excused—or even applauded—at all levels of government. Maybe you work in one of the jurisdictions that has implemented systemic safeguards and scientific procedures to avoid running afoul of human-rights issues. If so, excellent. But in the general case, it’s still hard to have faith in “the system.”

-TimK

P.S. Compare a recent article on the new civilian review board in Boston.

Re: I Wear a Badge! I Don't Have to Follow Your Stinkin' Rules!

John Tsangaris — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 08:29:11 -0800

I wear a badge. Theoretically, you are correct, you point the weapon when you intend to shoot. You have cited an instance when a member of the commissioned populace acted with imprudence and downright stupidity. There are rules that govern what we do far more than those that govern the average citizen who carries a weapon.

I am commissioned in Missouri and, other than federal buildings, there is no place in Missouri I am not allowed to carry a gun, including bars. There are policies (where I work) against consuming alcohol and carrying a weapon, against showing a weapon unless in the performance of duty, for pointing the weapon at people (if I point it, I have to document it), for carrying it, when I can carry it, in what holster I can carry it, what else I have to carry when I carry it, having to qualify to carry it (yearly), etc. As well, there are rules about getting things for free or discounted because I’m an officer (I cannot accept either and have refused on many occasions, even when people insist, (that cup of coffee I get for free from the person in the line in front of me is never free because I pay for the coffee and give the free one to the person behind me), how I can talk to people, when people make up false things about me what steps I have to take, who can sue me, when I can be sued, what the procedure is if I get sued, when I can possess tobacco (I don’t actually use tobacco in any way, but still), when I can drive a squad car, where I can drive the squad car, how I can drive the squad car, to whom I can talk, the various ways I have to document incidents, what happens if I don’t document properly, the levels of punishment if my fault is severe, the numerous ways I can get fired, the numerous ways I can get suspended, when I can point the weapon, when I can unholster the weapon, which weapons I can use, which weapons I have to carry, when to use the weapon, what happens if I don’t treat each weapon properly, when I have to test my weapons, when I have to test my other tools (did you know there are 8 things I have to do in about 2 seconds if I am to use my RADAR properly?), where I can park, where I can leave my tools, how I document my tools, how I have to inspect my car daily, how I have to document problems with the car, etc. These are examples of roughly 4 or 5 standard operating guidelines. And not an exhaustive listing of each rule inside each guideline, not by far. As well, I have over 120 sets of guidelines governing over 120 areas of my job. And that’s just for my department, that’s not including the rules at the state or federal level. (sorry, soapbox moment)

The one instance you cite, and you may have many more, is not enough to put the label of “I rule cause I have a badge” on all officers. That is akin to me saying that anyone that carries a gun and does not have a badge is most likely a criminal. That’s not the case. I know many people who carry concealed weapons and I would hope more do so. But police are a target because they are the publicly hired enforcers of the publicly chosen law. People resent police because money is taken from their pockets in order to pay police to stop the same people from bending the rules a little bit (what’s 10 mph over?) or outright breaking the rules. Can you imagine if we could fire our own parents? Most children resent their parents but parents are the necessary evil (though my implication is not so much that they are evil, but that’s the perception of children). As well, my analogy is not that police are the parents who know better than the citizen, only that the police are in a role to enforce the rules and catch people when they do wrong. Sometimes it’s with a hand in a cookie jar and they get a smack, sometimes it’s lighting a dogs tail on fire, and sometimes it’s much much worse. My analogy leading to, and my point being, that just because one parent, or many parents have beaten for having not said please at the dinner table, that does not many every parent is a child abuser or that every parent seeks a time when they can catch the child for something small to punish them something furious.

My role as a police officer is to watch, stop crime and criminal behavior, help people when they are down, encourage people, to treat all people with respect and to be courteous, and to open car doors when women lock their children in the car, among many other things.

The movies and shows on TV are a testament to the entertainment’s industry opinion of police as they are the ones to ultimately tell actors to point their weapons and to take the money, and to bully people, and to perpetuate this misconception. We are not the bullies that the TV shows us to be, and we are not the heroes that 1 in 100 movies show us to be, we are the in between who do our job for less pay than if we worked in the private sector because we each have a small glimmer of hope in us that we can help change our community for the better.

Re: Civil Rights and Economic Rights

TimK — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 10:31:39 -0800

Thanks so much for writing. As you probably know, I’m following Yolanda’s case with interest, and I wish you the best, as I do all the others who have lost their freedoms in this modern age of fear mongering and political crisis.

Sincerely,
-TimK

Re: Civil Rights and Economic Rights

Leatherneck65 — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:28:31 -0800

Politics = Power & Money
I am the father of Yolanda Madden. The person the cops framed in Odessa, Texas. I was small business man for 30 years. Working hard and believing in the system I studied in School. You know - that lost class we refered to as “civics”. Wow! The world changed when I was asleep. Rip van Winkle has nothing on me.
During my two year investigation of police in Odessa, I discovered more than I expected. The corruption went to higher levels. You cannot have a climate of corruption in the police force without prosecutors, judges, and yes even “defence lawyers” or as I now find “plea lawyers going along to get along. The system is broke. Now for my first revelation of many. Two cops testified that Yolanda “confessed” to the crime. She did not and first time she saw the officer she “confessed” to was in court. Poly graphs of Yolanda and the “CI” indicate they were truthful. Officer testified in court that the Federal Prosecutor glen Jackson instructed him not to record interviews or confessions of cases that would be federal. Judge stated in transcript that he did not hear that!My investigation has turned up internal odessa police document that shows that indeed the Federal prosecutor had conspired with OPD to eliminate the 5th amendent rights of the accussed. The deal is that in the court of Federal Judge Junell Midland Texas- if two cops testify that you confessed then he will find you guilty. Will add that bad lawyers led to “bench trial” transcript actually shows it as a”kangaroo court” The Judge then made his findings of fact- which blatently conflict with actual testimony. He found cops credible that testified to physically impossible events. One found one piece of evidence in two different places. Another was in two places five miles apart at the same time!.
He found the CI credible to make police search legal, then found the same CI not credible when he testified the cops coerced him to plant the drugs. Trial was nightmare. You can not prepare for cops that “compose confessions” and are will to lie as they did. Federal prosecutor told judge perjury had happened and he “took that seriously” and would investigate. All defense witnesses took poly graph test awaiting the “investigation that never happened”. The prosecutor did not have FBI investigate (he knew who committed perjury -the cops) and FBI would not open investigation when we made charges agaisnt the police. That is when my two year investigation with all the police stone walling began. Finally have the proof now need the forum. All my proof consists of police records, transcripts, Internal affairs document, phone records, video tapes, emails from prosecutors, and eyewitnesses. Am loaded for the “bear” and await the court room now. Even that is hard when Fed Judges involved. True results of my investigation is “wake up America the system is broke”. War on drugs ( and I never have used or advocated illegal drugs) is just one more “crisis” to justify suspending the rights of those “scumbag dopeys”. Problem is if one loses his rights, then another, then another, well logic defines we will all loose. thanks for staying with my “rant”
God Bless and Save America!

Re: If Power Corrupts, Can the Right Man Ever Save the Country?

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 08:31:30 -0800

I am so glad to hear someone address this. I’ve seem so much especially right around the election that showed how much some of the American people are putting Obama in a Saviour-like context. It was disturbing that with the right circumstances that Obama seemed ripe for the picking simply because of his skin color and his slogan of change.

Great site!
~Wendy