Nontraditional Intervention: A Police Strategy

This essay explores and details the rationale for police intervention in situations of continuing criminal activity where traditional police tactics cannot be applied or have been but have failed to abate the problem.  The rationale is a keystone in the tactics of the Anti-Crime Team but provides a format for routine patrol force suppression of these nuisances as well.

Examples of these situations can include locations where fencing, prostitution, gambling, and narcotics may be conducted.  The current “rock house” phenomenon where several of the above vices may be practiced simultaneously is the most onerous and demanding scenario.  Varying degrees are likely but community concern clearly indicates the need for police action in all cases.

The precursors for these tactics will usually be situations where, for instance, the Narcotics or Ice (gambling, prostitution) or Commercial Squads have recognized a target but have not been able to enter an agent or informant to create the usual access, a search warrant or arrest warrants or both.

Other situations where repeated police attacks have been frustrated by the use of proxies operating the illegal operations, against whom “dominion and control” or proven “intent to possess” cannot be established, will also warrant intervention.  Clearly the mid and upper level criminal actors have learned that the use of these expendable proxies creates an excellent buffer, insulating them almost entirely from routine police attack.

With the evolution of the “rock house” syndrome, the sheer number of targets, up at least fivefold from recent indicators adds to these dilemmas for the police.  The follow up units recognize they have limited impact for this reason and generally endorse the patrol suppression of those locations which are beyond their control.

Although prosecutions may not be obtained in many cases, the retrieval of weapons and stolen property and the intelligence gathered which may enhance other investigations is of significant value in the whole sense of the police mission.  And restored public confidence is of inestimable worth.
The tactics, then, evolve from the recognized restraints upon civil liberty which are inherent in social situations.  The classic example is the reasonable and necessary restraint upon free speech which precludes a citizen from falsely yelling “fire” in a crowded auditorium, possibly triggering a stampede to the exits in which others are injured or killed.

In the same sense no one would argue the right to set up a target and practice with firearms in a crowded shopping mall, as an activity permitted by the Second Amendment.

And no reasoning person would suggest that the police ignore either situation.  They would be outraged, in fact, if the police did.  Other such necessary restraints would come to mind as each constitutional guarantee was considered.
And in addition to such passive responsibility, other active imperatives upon the citizenry come to mind, many of which are required by ordinance.  Among these, the requirement to assist police officers upon request, to control one’s animals (leash laws, etc.), to operate motor vehicles properly, or to remove hazards or attractive nuisances from private property, are clear indicators of the precept of “civil responsibility,” as it were, which must be met if there is to be a viable social climate.
Extending this principle, then, to the homestead is imminently reasonable, proper and necessary.

With the surety of freedom from unwarranted intrusion, seizure, and deprivation of liberty, or lawful property, defined in the bill of rights, come certain incumbent responsibilities for the citizen in his homestead.  One may not, for instance, leave minor children unattended and hazardous materials about, such as fuels or poisons or firearms, which these youngsters may obtain and misuse, possibly injuring themselves or others.  And one may not leave a recreational fire unattended which may imperil the property or that of others.  No one has such a “civil right.”

And in such instances, the responsibility of police and other officials (Fire, Public Health, CPS, etc.) is clear.  To respond quickly and abate the threat by necessary means.  This may include the removal of the children or other irresponsible parties, removal of the hazards, and securing the premises if a responsible party is not located to accept custody and prevent occurrence.

This leads reasonably and conclusively then to an imperative for the police where the aforementioned circumstances obtain.  Flagrant, continuing criminal activity, which has not yielded to the other police tactics, defined by public complaint, police observation and often information from confidential sources, demands an intervention.
The tactic is straightforward.  Uniform police go to the premises, announce and identify themselves and their purpose.  Demand a tenant or owner come forward.  Specify exactly what the concerns are (trafficking, fencing, gambling, etc.) and request an explanation.  Solicit an invitational entry and question any apparent contraband.  Request the cooperation of all present, including the surrender of any suspected stolen property, firearms or other means of criminal conduct.  And in cases where no one comes forward as a tenant or owner, request the departure of those suspected of conducting the unlawful activity.  Seize the contraband if it represents a hazard to the public (drugs, firearms, etc.).

And document the incident in its entirety with a major incident report, making the number available to all present.  And, if necessary, secure the premises to prevent resumption of criminal activity until some responsible party is forthcoming.
These actions predicate upon the obvious need to defeat such criminal endeavor, which makes a charade of the sanctity of the homestead.  The demand of the police is to document the fair and uniform application of these tactics.  And never to use them as a subterfuge to enable prosecution or arbitrarily interrupt the conduct of private lives.
This strategy has brought credit and respect and renewed cooperation to those who have employed it.

It is a dynamic effective proper alternative to the frustrated acquiescence that has so limited police effectiveness in recent times and its result, the abatement of this activity, goes to the most sacred police duty, simply, the prevention of crime.


Copyright June 1986
Sgt. Chuck Pillon
Seattle Police Department

Shootouts in the Ghetto

A Cop Car Cowboy Tale

In the last post I left off with the promise that a more definitive analysis of the early tenure of new Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole would follow here, as a continuation of a more general examination of the decline of the Seattle Police Department and the safety and dignity of the City as well.

However, in that last post I also took a very direct look at some companion factors of decline in and around City Hall and SPD: Race (not to be confused here with RACISM), gender, affirmative action, none of which come without a price. That “price” is the  “uncomfortable little topic” the media and civic leadership are loathe to discuss realistically.

As long as “the conversation” remains confounded by this pointless barrier it is going to continue in futility. I intend to change that. In a future post I will isolate the toxic issue of RACISM itself for more definitive consideration.

At this point, because I am determined to forge blunt conversations, I am offering something of a portrait of my experiences that illustrate why I claim standing to drag these “sensitive matters” out in the open. Me, the old white cop.

I am from that class of people who pay most of “the price” of social change. My point is not to undo that social change but to explain to the beneficiaries that it would have been and even tougher climb were it not for our goodwill and patience. Especially with “affirmative action.”

I have never had a person who  benefited from the gains of the last half-century come up and thank me for my forbearance. Never even heard anyone acknowledge that we accepted personal sacrifice for the most part with dignity and fair good humor. In that vacuum is a subtle inference. Some clearly just thought we “had it coming” because it was “white guys” that had heaped all the grief on minorities to begin with.

In that thoughtlessness they were trampling us with a stereotype even as they fought to escape the stereotypes that had been used by some in white society to hold them in bondage to that sort of quiet tyranny. Sort of the same way battered people may become batterers themselves in time.

Ironic that it is necessary, in a discussion about critical social/political issues, for a “minority” to have to prequalify himself to join the forum. But minority I am: an aging white male with a “privileged blue collar” background. And, worse, your basic battle-toughened "Ghetto Cop”! Hell, in many minds that makes me the “problem” and hardly a likely contributor to the solution.

But my other credentials will surprise some of the critics. If they have the integrity to pay attention they may understand better what I say, and understand that I am saying it from a unique perspective. If some still object to my “forced entry” here that ought to disqualify them, not me. I will get to those other “credentials” in time if it becomes necessary.

The conversation I mention above has been the near-exclusive estate of the other more-apparent minorities - people of color or other more chosen status and the “inevitable aristocracy” - the political class who rely on the hysteria these issues generate to maintain the divide between us. In that divide they find their fortune. Little place for white commoners at the table.

I want to get right to the title theme here because it will lift this lament back into positive territory. But take note of what I have said here. The longer we who have been scapegoated and ignored the poorer the conversation!

SHOOTOUTS IN THE GHETTO! I was in many “shootouts” in the inner-city precincts of Seattle over my many years there. Yes, shootouts.

Conjures up a lot of grim imagery, doesn’t it? Quick-triggered cop(s) gunning down anyone who in the least aggravates them. Oblivious and immune to the consequences to the given community they prey upon, especially young Black men? That is the stereotype, promoted and used by the self-serving few who stir this “fog” around us. But the truth is otherwise. The “fog” arises from the mistakes, or malice, of a very few of us. That point needs regular repetition.

Now, back to the “shootouts.” I did spend years in the company of youngsters we were supposed to have “preyed on,” kids who were mired in the pathos of those neighborhoods. Kids caught up in crime of serious sort. Kids who sometimes committed vicious street-robberies, random assaults, burglaries, sundry other crimes of opportunity, and some of a very determined nature.

And I never once had blood on my hands. Shot at, spit on, cussed and kicked, and never any blood on my hands, which was a journey shared with almost all of my partners.

But with my troops I chased those kids down night after day. Chased them down whenever necessary, put them behind bars, and haunted them when they were back on the loose after brief -always brief - periods of incarceration. I took away their loot, their guns, their cars, even their shoes on occasion. It shouldn't surprise the cynics that I and my troops were in a lot of shootouts with those kids then…right?

Hate to disappoint the cynics who can scarcely imagine the absence of bloodletting in this cauldron. But, you see friends, it wasn't bullets flying, IT WAS BASKETBALLS! Basketballs flying in any court we could find. How’s that for a spin? We took our case to the basketball “court” instead of the Juvenile Court whenever we could.

We diverted these kids, took them, virtually “shanghaied” them in some cases, under our wing and showed them a world they could hardly believe. Those young kids and our young cops met head-to-head- in situations where the kids could not express themselves as bullies, thieves or other destructive types.

What they could do, however, was imagine themselves as equals in a way they had hardly ever experienced. Maybe even better than equals. If they played hard and smart, they could even WIN, “kick the cops’ butts” for a change!”

This “crowd of gunslingers” (the cops) we put together to take the game to these kids was a true “Rainbow Coalition” too. About a dozen cops from the East Precinct at the time, all inspired by the near immediate success we had in turning these kids around. White…Black…Asian…the whole “Rainbow”. And it wasn't lost on these kids the fraternity we shared.

There was Billy (captain) Edwards, Don (coach) Huston, Bobby (world’s fastest Puerto Rican hub cap thief) Garcia, Kirby (whoosh) Leufroy, there was Gary, Charlie, John (the politician) Manning, Jerry (Kung Pau) Fernandez…The list can go on, but I crippled here by my aging memory. You brothers I have failed to mention will forgive me I trust.

Then there was the beginning of a softball challenge at the old Judkins Rejected Playfield up off of 23rd and Jackson, put together by Don (the Lt.) Marquardt and Capt Dean (the machine) Olson. Friends, we were on the way to a magical tour of this City that would engender understanding and connection with communities the whole city over, not just the “Ghettos”.

John Manning and the late great Mark Sabourin put together an exhibition challenge match with a team put together by Slick Watts and Sonny (killer of six) Sixkiller. We played at Eckstein Jr. High in the north end. Have to say it- cops won 77-76 before an astonished crowd . No truth to the rumor that we put the handcuffs on Slick at halftime either.

What we envisioned was a sort of athletic outreach all around town based on the early unqualified success and goodwill. There were a hell of a lot of very good athletes in the police ranks and our games were in earnest. Some of the kids were just amazed and all the more motivated - we never had to “let them win.”

Dean Olson was also arranging for our women officers to engage the “Girls from Garfield” that same year. Imagine the effect on the young girls who were, in growing numbers, dropping out for the street life, suddenly in the friendly (but competitive) company of young women they might hope to emulate in time.

Many older folks in the “ghetto” were profuse in their appreciation and encouragement. The kids were so engaged that for a while you couldn't slow a cop car down in parts of the “ghetto” because the kids were crawling in the windows, turning on the lights and siren, and demanding a ride past “Tyrone’s (pick a name) house” so they could light him up!

But the “game” was not to continue, the opportunity squandered by a few “police administrators” who had a different agenda, who simply looked away with an indifference I have yet to understand.

My great sadness remains. We were on this roll just as the first California gangbangers hit Seattle, bringing on a game of their own. They were to prevail, and our games passed into little noted history, with few ever to ponder what what might have been.

One truly memorable footnote: Our partner Charlie Allers took three of the most troubled kids on a camping trip over in the Olympics. He was an inspiration for other cops here. Those kids were transformed, at least for a while.

You can’t understand the magic here unless I confide that Charlie…well I don’t want to say he was a “REDNECK”…but the rumor was that some folks in his clan were so far right that they thought John Wayne was Gay! Go figure.

And I can't forget “Manny and the Amigos,” a group of young Latino guys who we  “gunned it up” with many Saturday mornings at the old Public Safety Building gym. Manny’s wife Lydia worked at “the Greeks” at 9th and Madison, poured a lot of coffee and good humor for us cops in her day.

As I said, all the grief we endured - losing partners to violence, witnessing every sort of savagery including homicides and horrific other assaults, the inhumanity - took a heavy toll on all our souls. But seeing that magic, those SHOOTOUTS  be let slip away because of a failed command staff is probably the worst sadness of all.

There are other great memories to relate in time, others that had an equally blessed effect on my soul. One day I will tell of the “night-life” I drew my young cops into, when “Big Momma” had “the coffee” (shop,that is) down on Yesler and Old Sarge” had “the barbeque” up on 20th..

I will relate in time as well the make-up of my family as well. Suffice it to say, we are white, black, Asian, Native American, and none of the above (me) I guess. Most of my kin have yet to really figure me out…me included.

If anyone still wants to question my “standing” to speak to these challenging issues, look me up. That needs to be a personal conversation.

I hope I have accomplished some of what I set out to here. I don’t want to be the “intruder” but I damn well intend that the viewpoint of my colleagues and I be heard. Without us the “conversation” is crippled!

The Seattle Situation

A CITY ADRIFT…COPS IN JEOPARDY

If you want a “PERFECT STORM” to inflict upon the cops in a city, to demoralize and endanger them even as you expect more and more of them, you need look no farther than Seattle.

The reality here, described as DE-POLICING by Federal Monitor Merrick Bobb, is evident in the actions and utterances of many of Seattle's Finest. Many have confirmed the case in conversations with folks around the City; significant numbers of police commanders say it as well. As you will see…you can’t blame them.

De-policing is a defensive posture in which cops seek to minimize their engagement with the public to avoid complaints and other consequences developed in a fire of criticism and hostility that has been fueled by the selfish or simply stupid interests of a few politicians, so-called community leaders and very certainly the media.

Who can blame the cops? They face danger on the streets while feeling the "heat on their backsides" from an ill-defined "REFORM PROCESS" poorly managed by a Federal cadre that is hearing too much from the wrong people, to the exclusion of temperate voices, thus crippling the very reform they contend they are dedicated to.

Make no mistake...there have been failures at SPD that sorely need repair. Look at the cop stomping the man who was down and cuffed in one incident, or the cop who ran into the downtown convenience store and started playing "Karate Kid" on a suspect who was clearly not aggressive at the time. Look at the horrible "execution" of the woodcarver  John Williams by a terribly misguided cop who was in no danger whatsoever at the time. This is gross, even criminal, misconduct. There are other such incidents, to be sure, but no epidemic.

Management failure in the far greatest part has led to this state of affairs and to the Federal presence. Management failures that have taken root after twenty-plus years of inept leadership by this or that "special Chief of Police" brought in by "special people” at City Hall in league with "special people" from community groups. They have failed repeatedly over thirty-plus years yet they go unchallenged.

This "Inevitable Aristocracy" that all cities produce too often displaces voices from the wider community when these "special selections" occur. This needs to be a conversation all by itself in the near future. The cast of characters needs to change.

It needs to be said here that the new Chief, Kathleen O'Toole, has generated some initial encouragement in the ranks of retired cops like me. But she has to directly and publicly - and soon pick up the pace of real leadership at SPD and overcome the impression that she has first and foremost to "dance to the Federal Tune." More on that to come.

SO THE QUESTION...WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS MESS?

There is plenty of blame to go around. Time to look at the most troubling examples. But first we need to promptly dispose of the cancerous notion that there has been major misconduct and abuse by a significant number of cops anywhere in this City that legitimizes the magnitude of this Circus. Even the most strident critics of SPD officers have never made that case because it is not the truth, but hysteria and prejudice substitute well in their minds.

What we are treated to by our local media, whose job is to open civic issues to intelligent examination, are endless repeats of the unholy footage of a few cops in glaring examples of misconduct and unquestioning repetition of the exaggerated claims of the critics.

It is actual mismanagement by some at the high levels of SPD that has precipitated need for "REFORM," but the efforts should be measured and focused on that failure and not become this  "Barnum and Bailey Extravaganza" feeding on hackneyed footage of a few cops gone wrong.

It is at that level (management) where the problem of poor training and discipline originate and it must be fixed first. And then effective responses to the occasional misconduct by a few cops will follow in a proper manner.

AS TO THOSE RESPONSIBLE:

THERE IS A PATHETIC AND WELL RECORDED HISTORY of the origin(s) and perpetuation of this malaise. It reaches back to several Mayors and cops. With that said...and leaving it to further scrutiny when that might be appropriate...lets pick up the trail with the past year's drama. Let’s look to "Special" Ed Murray:

Ed rides into office with no claim whatsoever to understand policing and cops in any but the most abstract way and quickly announces that POLICE REFORM, not police service, is an absolute priority. He gathers "advisers" and community voices and the impression is promoted by the media that the new Mayor is obviously "in command."

Ed soon looks in on "Acting Chief" Jim Pugel, who was appointed by Mike McGinn a short while before. Pugel has already impressed Merrick Bobb at the Federal office by making a determined effort to set the real needed reform(s) in motion at SPD.

Special Ed joins in that endorsement and the cops begin to hope that some stability is at hand. But Pugel, acting with the necessary resolve, demotes three top commanders as part of the revitalization all agree is needed at SPD command. But...not so fast here....

One of the "demotees" is Nick Metz, who is now said to be "the Black Guy" by longtime "community voice" Harriet Walden who has has had a longstanding presence in public conversations about the police department. Note here: Nick Metz never to my memory made any issue of his race. 

The gist of it is this: Pugel never condescends to publicly rationalize these moves. He acts as a responsible commander should, and not the least of his concerns is that anyone subject to such movement deserves some dignity and privacy and absolutely should not be stigmatized or diminished by unnecessary disclosures.

Yet, without a moment hesitation, Harriet cries out to the media something to the effect of "That's right...BLAME IT ON THE BLACK GUY!" Harriet offers no evidence or even argument that Metz is being singled out as a fall guy here. Metz alone wasn’t reassigned! Two “WHITE GUYS” went with him!

Harriet didn’t even need to offer any evidence that Metz was singled out. Special Ed immediately responds to this blatant "race card" play. He sacks poor Jim Pugel, a shattering blow to the "stability" the cops had come to hope for and an unholy precursor of folly to come.

Moving to further placate Harriet (and God only knows who else), Special Ed rounds up recently retired Harry Bailey (an even Blacker Guy?) and installs him as Acting Chief but on condition that Harry foreswear any appetite for the position permanently. Special Ed doesn't seem to see the significance of his “limitation” here. He seemingly tosses Harry out as a sort of token, apparently to further placate Harriet, et. al.

Harry is well and affectionately held by the cops across the street, with whom he served for thirty-plus years. This "limitation" further signals that "stability" may never be taken for granted in the realm of Ed Murray. (Interestingly, even a few "journalists" have remarked on occasion that Ed is a little "mercuric" when confronted.)

Within a few days the hapless Harry steps in to resume some of the work Pugel had started, cleaning up some disciplinary problems that had festered far too long in the dysfunctional mess that was command at SPD.

Knowing that such uncertainty is destructive of morale, Harry settled the cases (none of which involved any "high crime or misdemeanor" against the public) and sought to move on to the work at hand. But...not so fast...

Minor incidents that should be promptly dealt with are the very choice fodder for the "Hyper-Critics" of the cops...who exaggerate such modest matters into their inflated tirades...and like Harriet with her "BLAME IT" tirade. Murray soon heard from these folks...and once again he chose to cut-and-run!

Murray initially endorsed this "house-cleaning" by both Pugel and Bailey but now he had to scurry. So he runs Harry up on the gallows (the good old press conference) with his "Machiavellian" mystery adviser Bernie Melechian nearby in the background. Harry has to eat humble pie, recanting Pugel's practical decisions that he had in turn endorsed.

Harry deserved better. This matter should have been resolved quietly, with the media aware but not agitated by the theatrics. Special Ed lost even more "cred" with the cops, and the Mayor's Office didn't have much in the bank to begin with.

So, in one bold capitulation, Special Ed establishes a brand new standard for personnel management. What “classes of city employees” can now expect such political filtration of their assignments, Ed? With the passion for special classes here in Seattle it is likely going to be everybody…but white folk.

THE OTHER BRIGHT LIGHTS AT CITY HALL

Swirling around all this melodrama in real time, the City Council has maintained its own "Special Place" over on stage left, not much to mention beyond the predictable meandering they present about this critical sort of issue. They add little in the way of focus here, and can only be counted on to provide the "dignified aloofness" that is a Council specialty.

But fear not, there is another actor at City Hall that more than makes up for the vacuum the Council serves up...our stalwart City Attorney Peter (PETEY?) Holmes. Here is a guy who would walk on hot coals before he would miss a slap at the working cop.

We don't even have to present the list here. Petey won’t let anyone forget his wretched campaign to demean and hinder the working cops in Seattle. In this he serves as a priceless megaphone for the garden variety "cop-bashers" that infest so much of the public discourse here in the Emerald City.

Let me say again here - there are very real problems at SPD. No one knows it better than the cops and they want these problems fixed. But constantly and indiscriminately kicking them in the teeth when they are caught in such a political crossfire is unbecoming of a City Official who is himself sworn to the public interest. Has he no sense of the demoralizing effect he has? Will nobody inform him?

ENTER NOW…THE FEDERALES

Look now at the Federal apparatus. Inevitable tensions in the police - community relationship in cities like Seattle lead in many cases to these "Federal Adoptions," virtual takeovers of police departments on the marginal premise that they have become so corrupted they are a danger to the very public they serve.

This "Adoption" exercise has literally become an industry with outside advisers and monitors plying their trade whenever the Federal system chooses. Money is made here, and the longer the "adoption" period, the more money to be distributed. That former "police administrator" types join this industry in significant numbers raises questions that no one has even asked with any clarity, what needs to be done and who is folowing the money? One such fellow in Oakland managed to bank about a quarter million before he was located.

The common litany of offenses identified in “the profiling” of the given police agency becomes rather standard stuff, guaranteed to stir the radical heart. EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE... PROFILING... SELECTIVE ENFORCEMENT ...for starters. The menu is rounded out with real or imagined specifics from city to city.

In point of fact, most of these "sins" are occasionally committed in the routine of policing in most cities and towns. Once upon a time there was very little accountability, but social pressures (from the sixties on) pushed this unholy situation out into the open and much has been done to correct the problem in the interim, even if the “cop-bashers” marginalize it to keep things stirred up.

EFFORTS AT ACCOUNTABILITY…AND ACCOMMODATION

The emergence of the Internal Investigation process in police agencies, which is by no means perfect and in fact has become a problem itself for the public, has been improved by increasing civilian review boards and committees. It is this latter process which must become the final mechanism for review and resolution of  police / community concerns and conflicts. This evolution will free up cops currently maintaining appearances in the Internal Investigation Division to go back to productive public safety efforts at a time when they are sorely needed.

Meanwhile, the Federal process is free to move along unfettered for the most part by recognition of these earlier but ongoing efforts. The Feds initiate entirely subjective “indictments” from that list of generic elements but with very little specificity as to how many incidents of, say, excessive force have been identified, and even less specificity about how many and particularly which cops might be involved.

SO BEGINS THE DECLINE

Make no mistake…this is where the demoralization of the working cop begins. They are all stigmatized by this “shotgun approach” even as some may well have intervened to put an end to such abuses they see very few of their fellows practice. While cops generally have a subtle feeling that the great number of folks they serve do not prejudice them so, there is a paranoia nonetheless, never knowing when an opportunistic critic may be around. That paranoia is one of the basic fuels of the DE-POLICING that Federal Monitor Merrick Bobb notes in his public utterances. Bobb needs to answer the question: isn’t this “de-policing” a predictable and common consequence of these “Adoptions”and the pall they cast? Shouldn't he utter some words to quiet this fear from time to time?

There are other support players in this Federal cast. Recently departed U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkin was always available for a chorus of essentially-marginal police department bashing. She will be missed at choir practice.

The principal other is Federal Judge James Robart. who has been assigned to enforce the City adherence to the federal demands. He has been a stern task-master. His orders and demands are well recorded in the media, as have been the responses of the City and notably in recent months of Katie O’Toole (which we will come to in a moment). But an extremely telling utterance from Judge Robart came as a result of a complaint by a significant number of SPD officers that the new “use-of-force-mandates” were too subjective and in fact would place the officers in danger if not modified to reflect the realities they face on the street all too often. With little apparent objectivity, not even allowing the complainants to produce witnesses (notably retired veterans cops and including a number or retired commanders), he tossed the troubled cops out on their ears with the comment that "WE ARE NOT GOING BACK TO THE GOOD OLD DAYS!”

“WE ARE NOT GOING BACK TO THE GOOD OLD DAYS” INDEED! Could there be a more telling indictment, a more telling expression of prejudice, a more telling exposure of the failing of this "Federal Adoption" process than to have the very arbiter, the master of the art, publicly declare over one hundred cops guilty of an attempt to return to some vague past where (he cynically suggests, if not states) they were in league in a practice of brutality and abuse of authority?? What else could he have been inferring?

Judge Robart needs to explain this. Yet who will ask him? The mayor has not! Chief O’Toole has not! Merrick Bobb has not! Jenny Durkin has not! AND THE MEDIA CERTAINLY HAVE NOT!

This sort of prejudicial expression (condemnation!) is precisely the sort a proper Judge would never allow in a proceeding in the Courtroom. If attorneys tried to slip in so improper a remark they might well hear a contempt warning, at least, from the bench.

OUR OTHER PLAYERS

I might stop here but there are a couple more players who need mention:

Over time I have canvassed the streets of business zones and adjacent residential areas, carrying the challenge to step up and lobby City Hall and SPD to re-vitalize operations with a return to a greater public uniform presence…with an eye on preventing more crime and restoring a sense of safety and dignity to our public places.

The essence of that effort would be to place more of the non-uniform personnel in distinctive garb…either the regular uniform or a distinctive blazer...and have them join the patrol forces in public wherever trouble can be anticipated. This is covered in this Blog in an entry called WHERE THE HELL ARE THE COPS??

Scores of people in downtown businesses and neighborhoods have been the primary focus, given that the very heart of this City has been plagued for shameful years with street crime and outrage. From the high-end bistros and boutiques to the hot-dog stand on the corner, countless contacts and never once a negative response to the idea of more “cops-on-the-corner”! Civic organizations like the Downtown Seattle Association, the Chamber of Commerce, the major media houses…you name it…are all in agreement expressing momentary enthusiasm.

But then??...Silence! No challenge to the media to do more than ex post facto obituary-writing (the next horror story of an assault, rape or homicide; the drug sales and every sort of thievery, with film-at-eleven). No call for a TOWN MEETING, no HELL-RAISING AT CITY HALL, just a seeming acquiescence until the next outrage occurs to rattle them and their colleagues. Civic Seattle has all the hubris but none of the guts to take a hand in the recovery of this beautiful City where they make their considerable fortunes. They serve their gourmet plates, pour their Micro-Brews and fill their publicly funded Stadia with instant millionaire sports stars, then quietly stroll past the ubiquitous mayhem all around them. Enough said about “Civic Lights”!

BUT REAL LOCAL HEROES REMAIN

One has to mention that “local heroes” are thankfully always around. Their efforts in service and community organizations can’t be discounted. But it also can’t be “counted on”…expected to overcome the problems the civic establishment tolerates and exacerbates. They can’t be expected to take on the whole City.

An example is the movement(s) in neighborhood/community areas to reach into their pockets and fund increased police patrol presence (off-duty SPD officers) for the added protection of themselves and certainly their neighbors. Their determination may have hoped-for results in their neighborhoods, and more power to them. Four such efforts are already in motion in Madison Park, Windemere, Laurelhurst the Whittier community in Ballard.

But there is a downside here: The threat of the City becoming even more polarized along the have-vs-have-not barricades. Not all communities are coherent or wealthy enough to take these measures. And to the degree that City Hall encourages this all…it has a hand in the further decline of safety and civility in Seattle. Has anyone heard a word from “Special Ed” about this?

TO BE CONTINUED with narrative regarding Katie O’Toole and her early efforts.

Where the Hell are the Cops??

A Solution to the Downtown Seattle Dilemma!

One old Cop’s suggestion

Several weeks back City Councilman Bruce Harrell convened a meeting to ponder (yet again) the danger and uproar that has plagued downtown precincts. This is the “Annual Public Safety Pow Wow” and this installment produced essentially the same results such convocations have produced for the last twenty years or so.

Such is the level of fear downtown that the local Sheriff publicly announced that his own wife is afraid to visit him at his office in the County Courthouse. Other folks writing to the local media have also express this fear in first-person detail. From SODO to lower Queen Anne, and in many other precincts of the city, fear is an everyday experience for locals and visitors alike.

An old cop visits these areas regularly and the police presence is so minimal it has no perceptible impact. It becomes clear that the few cops on foot patrol need training in the art of community policing, the projection of a very evident police presence and direct interaction with merchants and residents alike. Given the crowd density there is a need for elevated vantage points that the police officers can use intermittently, to see as well as to be seen.

Cops speak of the futility of even marginal efforts to restore order while the Mayor and the City Attorney spar like a couple of sophomores over some year old initiative which is fruitless save for the talk it has produced. Talk is no solution!

Well intended advocates constantly bang the drum for more social and mental health services. There is definitely some need. However, years of that approach alone have clearly been inadequate. The definitive fact of the matter is that only a positive police presence consistently prevents the aggressive behaviors that are so destructive. Let the social services providers compliment the police effort; they certainly can’t replace it!

The police brass offer anecdotes about crime rates in some areas actually going down. However, those statistics do nothing to allay the pervasive and chronic fear downtown that will not go away with police reassurances. For many years citizen concerns have been met with a promise that the City will hire more cops next year…and that is as much hope as anyone leaves the meeting with. 

Look again at the police manpower situation. Seattle PD has hundreds more cops than the 500 mentioned. They can be found in detective follow-up units, the traffic division and so called Community Policing Teams (which obviously have little impact on this critical problem) and so on. Fact: the more crime you fail to prevent…the more detectives you need to solve them.

The Solution

An effective police strategy would change the routine of the non-uniform personnel. They would be assigned to uniform duty one or two days a week. They would be available for regular foot patrol deployment in any troubled areas of the City for as long as needed to re-establish safety and order. They would then be maintained there for a continuing period after the fact to ensure continued good order.

Mobility could be enhanced by with a fleet of electric (golf) carts so foot patrol could shift from, for example, Pioneer Square to China Town in mere minutes. Likewise from Westlake to Steinbreuck Park, or Broadway to Cal Anderson!

This would provide roughly one hundred additional troops for suppressive efforts. With the advent of the remarkable technologies we see today, officers can remain in touch with their colleagues in the follow-up units and be far more available to victims and witnesses if their street assignments are effectively coordinated with the areas they typically investigate.

As a complement to patrol attire, a very distinctive blazer could be utilized as a hallmark for these officers (detectives) in their direct community assignments. This dress option could vary as needed. Both options would enhance community confidence. A day or two of availability of the detectives at the neighborhood coffee shop would be very conducive to improved community relations.

In the confusion surrounding safety issues for many years, the ray of hope has always (and only) been more cops on foot patrol in any troubled area of the City. This plan would lift that hope from a reactive now-and-then to an everyday fact of civic life in the Emerald City we all treasure.

It should no longer be acceptable to prolong this malaise in a beautiful City like ours because of manageable bureaucratic issues. Time to “FIX IT” as the Seattle Times put it in a recent editorial. Long past time…in fact.

Post script: Your writer here is a retired 24 year veteran of the Seattle Police Department and I speak in concert with many other retirees. This entry was first written over a year ago thus some of the references are dated, but the message remains relevant…poignantly so!