tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158785892024-03-05T08:45:44.642-08:00Chuck PillonRemoving a diving board and dangerous nuisance from the Cedar River.Chuck Pillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14383605776626238599noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878589.post-7268148908852847312017-07-02T21:35:00.000-07:002017-07-02T21:38:49.266-07:00Nontraditional Intervention: A Police StrategyThis 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;">
</span>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.<br />
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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.<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"><br /></span>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.<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;">
</span>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.<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;">
</span>Extending this principle, then, to the homestead is imminently reasonable, proper and necessary.<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"><br /></span>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.”<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"><br /></span>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.<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"><br /></span>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.<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;">
</span>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.). <br />
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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.<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;">
</span>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.<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;">
</span>This strategy has brought credit and respect and renewed cooperation to those who have employed it. <br />
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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.<br />
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Copyright June 1986<br />
Sgt. Chuck Pillon<br />
Seattle Police DepartmentChuck Pillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14383605776626238599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878589.post-73805799966111991612015-04-02T19:31:00.001-07:002015-04-02T19:31:25.823-07:00So Finally...O'Toole<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In this post I offer the final chapter to <a href="http://chuckpillon.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-seattle-situation.html" target="_blank">The Seattle Situation: A City Adrift</a>. Things often go very wrong in police departments before the
media take off the rose-colored glasses and come close to effective
reporting. The media overlook or obscure indicators of potential problems that
may result from decisions made early in the tenure of new police
administrations. The honeymoon period has become sacrosanct. Newcomers are treated as special people by Seattle media. This default position is worthy of
some conversation later on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">By the time critical reporting begins (if ever) it can be
too late to correct the course. That has been the case at Seattle PD for thirty
or more years. Here we take a look at a new police command in its
first year - the “Early Katie O’Toole” - based on a growing record of her actual
decisions and utterances. My observations about the history of the decline in police
management are not intended to imply that there can be no quality administrators imported from other Cities, nor that O’Toole is flawed because
of her membership in this class or because of her gender. Initial contacts with her were positive, but the
“honeymoon” had to end and real measure necessarily commences. Failure has been a constant over far too many years hereabouts. Only a
harsh light will reveal the cracks in a new regime while there is still time to
recover.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">SO FINALLY…KATIE O’TOOLE</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Katie O’Toole is the latest in a line of imports to the
position of Police Chief here in Seattle. She represents yet another player in
the Seattle edition of the modern era of police management. Over the past half-century many cities have taken to a
ritualized national search for the best available candidate when replacing a
departing chief. Local talent is marginalized in many of these
cases. The best available standard is often farcical.
It may have less to do with actual expertise than certain other “desirable” but
subjective factors. For instance, a city that has had noticeable racial strife
can almost certainly be counted on to select a minority as the new Chief.
Women also bring to the process a certain novelty that has political value but may have far less practical effect.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Women and persons of color have
provided high quality service to police agencies around the country. I don't imply that their novelty lessens the quality of leadership, but rather that
the media become so fixed on that novelty that they blind themselves, and the
public, to early problems that may fester and worsen because of the fog in which the media wander. The results of this "best available" process are mixed at best.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To understand what confronts O’Toole, and thus be able
to measure her progress, one must accept that Seattle is in serious straits and that O’Toole inherited a calamity. No other perspective can derive from
the well recorded history of police command failure here. And to understand
O’Toole further I am going to reflect on her early decisions against a backdrop
that the media can’t seem to grasp or are unwilling to confront.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>But first…</b> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Seattle is in the toils of the “Federal Adoption
process” that I mentioned
earlier. The systemic failure that set that </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">process in motion cannot be attributed to any cause other
than the failure of management at SPD that began with Patrick Fitzsimons back
in 1979. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My observations are backed by that well-recorded history. I add that fact here because of my personal “collision” with Pat Fitzsimons
back in the mid-80s: I confronted him publicly about TOLERANCE OF DRUG-DEALING
in inner-city Seattle neighborhoods. Some will say that conflict alone
motivates me to haunt Pat with criticism. (Look forward to a post in the
near-future entitled for the actual details.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The first of the "special travelers" - Patrick Fitzsimons</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Fitzsimons, in his paranoia about “corruption,” curtailed drug
enforcement and crippled Civil Abatement, a patrol division program for
confronting and shutting down the “crack-house” scourge that had many Seattle
neighborhoods in a state of siege. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fitzsimons cryptically blocked an invitation by the DEA for
two patrol sergeants, the principal architects of this very effective strategy, to
address a DEA Seminar in San Francisco…such was the degree of his spite. Note
here that Fitzsimons was not invited, nor was his Narcotics unit Commander. It
was clear to the DEA and other agencies that these two were actually dragging
SPD out of the regional drug enforcement effort.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A perspective on this mysterious withdrawal can be found
soon in this blog. Also, on the last
Sunday of December, 1985, the Times finally did a rare front page review of
Fitzsimons’ destruction of the regional anti-drug effort. Well worth
reading…especially for doubters of my criticisms here. It serves as both a
measure of police management and an indicator of what the media COULD do if
politics were put aside in the interest of public safety.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On to California Dreamin' or t</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">he Reign of the Norman (Stamper, that is) King.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next came Norm (“make no waves”) Stamper, who wanted the
“seas to remain calm around City Hall” at any cost! Don’t wanna waken his Honor
the Mayor, now do we? So dedicated was he to the illusion that all was well if the cops
stayed away that Norm let the WTO demonstrations get completely out of hand
with enormous property damage, injured cops, and disgrace for the SPD. So long
Norm!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now comes NO FRILLS GIL, The </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Man from Myopia</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next came Gil Kerlikowski…Gil from the same mold as Norm “no waves” Stamper. But Gil took hands-off policing to another level. One Fat
Tuesday Eve (a big Mardi Gras-like celebration in Seattle that had become
increasingly ugly in those recent years) Gil so restricted police intervention
in an out-and-out riot in Pioneer Square that a horrible event occurred: a
savage beating death occurred with cops held in check, literally watching from
across the street.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gil knew that the Mayor wanted the big celebration to go
off without any police-related incident. So when a band of savages set upon
innocent revelers on First Avenue he ordered the cops to stay out of the fray.
Gil was taking all this in from the safety of a parking garage across the
street, and some thirty feet overhead from the squadron of cops who were
literally screaming for permission to intervene.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Stand down!" came the order
from above, and THE COPS DID SO! Remarkable, no? That default will be further
reviewed here in time as well. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So the savages set upon any and all at will. Then it
happened - one heroic young man, Kristopher Kime, went to the rescue of a young
woman who had been beaten down to the sidewalk. For his effort Kris was also
savagely assaulted and was to die of his injuries. By the Grace of God the
young woman survived.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Mayor awoke the next morning primarily content that his
police chief had not precipitated any uproar. A tragic preventable death as a
consequence? Shit happens! Right Gil? </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But several of the cops who had been restrained at least
spoke out publicly, and donated to the funeral fund for young Kris. Too little
too late though…even if nobly done! </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Gil hung on for a time. In this interim he launched another
“jewel of command wisdom.” He set the working shifts up so that the troops were
only marginally under the purview of their supervisors. Some days for an hour
or two, others not at all. People wonder then about patterns of mistakes by
cops that grew in this vacuum?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Feds properly made much ado about this absurdity - lack of
first-line supervision - and it is finally going the way of other folly at SPD.
Gil hurried off to become the National Drug Czar for some myopic
president. Via Con Dios. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There was a brief intermission for a hometown boy, John
Diaz, but his was a rather unfocused tenure as Seattle continued to decline.
John stumbled along as disoriented as his contemporaries at SPD. All had been
crippled by the mismanagement styles they absorbed under the unholy three
just mentioned.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Back to the unfolding O’Toole chapter</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here again I have to interject an update! I began the
narrative below with the note that about six months had passed since O’Toole
arrived. Some more weeks have passed and certain more recent events need entry
at this time.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">O’Toole has been busy at her musical-chairs command game, importing command-types from elsewhere, putting her team together, getting her
ducks in a row, so she says. She has also mentioned again that she is hard at work
on a computer purchase ($11,000,000) that will track citizen concerns about
cops and policing. This is all part of her intensive effort to please the Federal
Monitor. And she has taken a few definitive disciplinary steps as well. Jolly
good show!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the meantime, out on the streets, public safety itself
is still very much in question! The hard fact is, what they bring into focus is that O’Toole continues to take refuge in the fog of that Federal
Process. She has yet to sustain improvements in police presence and public
safety. SPD IS STILL ON AUTO-PILOT!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Downtown is getting some attention…a little more foot
patrol…but there is a dirty little secret to that. A forthcoming piece on The Great Labor Day Parade will make it clear that O’Toole did not show any
initiative here until “motivated” by an old cop’s foot patrol
demonstration that just happened to catch her eye.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Also significant is a news item from KOMO featuring Dave Meinert, a tavern owner on Capitol Hill. Last summer, M</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">einert with colleagues and other merchants, staged a public meeting to call out for more
police presence, primarily foot patrol, to put an end to assaults and robberies
and other mayhem they suffer along Broadway and sidestreets. Mind you, this
all plays out within eyesight of the SPD East Precinct. And 12th and Pine!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">SPD (O’Toole) responded with the requested increases, but
only for a time. So there was Dave Meinert on </span><a href="http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Capitol-Hill-businesses-plead-for-more-police-patrols-297094901.html" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">the tube</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> again the other night, praying that the City would go proactive this year and step up the police
presence BEFORE THINGS AGAIN GET OUT OF HAND!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">KOMO went on to say that the Mayor ("Special" Ed Murray) had
promised that patrol presence would be
increased! INDEED! But there was no mention of O’Toole! No indication of
interest or intention about the problem! And no KOMO comment to that point.
Remember that O’Toole visited that Capitol Hill group last year…and
acknowledged that she recognized their fears. But now she is absent? Oh the
mystery.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is as if the media and “Special” Ed have given O’Toole a
pass. It seems that as long as she makes the occasional cameo announcing some type of bureaucratic move, she can delay her entry into the real arena - the
cauldron of public safety - as long as the public allows. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The backdrop is filled out by the <a href="http://q13fox.com/2014/12/31/seattle-neighborhood-hiring-off-duty-cops-to-patrol-streets/" target="_blank">news</a> that Magnolia and Ballard are now on the verge of joining other districts
hiring off-duty cops to have at least a minimally effective police presence. SO
AGAIN, KATIE…WHERE THE HELL ARE THE COPS? You have a force of over thirteen
hundred cops and you can't even mobilize half that many to get out on the
streets and prevent more of the crime that people suffer?</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>BACK NOW TO THE GREATER PERSPECTIVE</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Almost eleven months have passed since
O’Toole took the helm. She was treated to all the ceremonials that befit the latest
“special person” to enter the Seattle scene. All of her extensive police credentials were well published and received by the “special folks” hereabouts. Members of the media practically prostrate themselves at her door. But it was clear that
her greatest merit was gender. That should not remain the major measure of her
efforts, b</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ut it can hardly be any other way in Seattle.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Being
“special enough” quiets more objective measures for quite some time. In some
cases, quiets it, period. Point of fact, there is some incipient irony in this
with respect to “Special” Ed Murray, who arrived just before O’Toole and in fact
hired her. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ed arrived touted as Seattle’s “first Gay
Mayor.” That aura
has already affected coverage of his performance. Much as with Nick (“the Black
Guy”) Metz, Ed may forever be seen through a different lens as a result of the
agenda of some in the Gay community. It is a millstone he may not be able to
shake.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Not a long tenure for O’Toole yet, but certain events to date
seem to indicate what her style and priorities will be. Unfortunately, in spite
of early indicators, she appears to have been caught off guard by the
political firestorm she encountered. It will be difficult to regain her
equilibrium and balance the political with the practical.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I made an overture to O’Toole soon after she arrived and
settled in. I invited her to meet with a few of us retired cops. With
collective experience of decades of policing in Seattle, extending back 60 plus
years, we felt we could bring the Chief up to date on the mistakes of her
predecessors and provide a perspective on some better moments in SPD
history that no other group could. Some success to build on.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The initial response was encouraging, but we were not to hear
from her for several weeks until she came to a luncheon we hosted. It was worth the wait. In
her comments we could see that some of what we offered had impressed her.
O’Toole noted that she had taken a hard look at the danger and
disgrace that afflicts downtown Seattle and she confirmed the
situation was unacceptable! </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">That raised hope that she would promptly act to bolster
police foot patrol to reduce the danger, both to the residents and business
folk, and certainly the cops who work down there, always undermanned and at all the more risk as a result. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But the first sense of doubt of her grasp of the needed
measures began to emerge even as the lunch rolled on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">One of our first
suggestions had been to adapt existing manpower to bolster the patrol forces. Based on our </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">extensive experience we indicated that several
dozen more cops could be mobilized by having the non-uniform
personnel, detectives and actual command staff, work a day or so in uniform each
week and “walk the beat” with the regular patrol forces wherever chronic
problems arose.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But lo…O’Toole announced that she had had someone “survey
the department staffing” and that she could only find SIX officers, out of
approximately 700 non-uniform personnel, that could be so utilized. That is
preposterous …and shortsighted. Hell, the command staff alone would provide at
least sixteen more-or-less able bodies. And the exercise would do them good! I
later asked her who had done that “survey” and offered to do another one for
her. No response. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At a meeting soon after, O’Toole was asked by a distressed
Rainier Valley resident just how manpower assignment decisions were made. This
raises another issue, based directly on an early decision, of O’Toole’s
competence. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Clearly this resident had a sense that more troops were
needed on the streets all over town. She remembered the days when there were more uniformed cops deployed to very good effect in Rainier
Valley, which has always been “tough turf.” </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">O’Toole’s reply was remarkable. She indicated that she was
actually seeking a “consultant firm” to
advise her on assigning officers. Two of her command staff were present and they tacitly endorsed her plan. They said not a word.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then it was that I began to see more of the same old
“special person chief” posture emerging. Can anyone possibly explain why an
experienced Police Commander, accompanied by two veteran command staff, has to
hire a consultant to figure out where to assign the cops? Collectively, O’Toole and her “commanders”
have at least fifty years such experience. So what could be at work here?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What first comes to mind, when an apparently
experienced person sidesteps so relevant a question, is that ineptitude or
political concern is the factor. Politics seems far more likely, based on additional
indicators of O’Toole’s disposition. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Consider the uproar when an officer wrote a significant
number of citations for smoking marijuana in public. These tickets were written
in downtown areas where the smell of burning weed is constant, primarily as a
result of inconsiderate and disruptive behavior, and primarily by a regular
gaggle of young or homeless people who plague public areas like Westlake Park.
Their antics also shield a lot of sometimes vicious criminal behavior.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">These citations have merit as one aspect of a police effort
to discourage the rowdies from interrupting normal social activity and causing
a lot of ordinary folks fear and distress. Seems like some good police work. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But…the cop in question made a couple of irreverent notes on
these tickets lampooning the City Attorney Peter Holmes, since Holmes is an
avowed proponent of legal marijuana possession. The cop may have felt that some extra
signal to Holmes might alert him to the very anti-social results of the MJ
legalization.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sure enough, Holmes takes exception, raises the matter with
Special Ed and O’Toole, and the Seattle Times makes the expose of this cop’s
“heresy” FRONT PAGE NEWS. This doubtless alarms Special Ed at City
Hall. So something clearly has to be done…don’t you know?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sure enough, the cop is hauled up on notice to O’Toole’s
office and leaves chastened and apologetic. But the master stroke is
O’Toole’s decree that those citations will all be cancelled because they were written for the wrong reason. <b>The wrong friggin' reason!</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So the questions must land on O’Toole’s desk! Chief, given that countless folks in a city like Seattle receive citations for
some misdemeanor or other every day, how then will you decide which were written
for the “right reason” or not? </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Will you attend to the concerns of any emergent “special”
group of people like Special Ed did for Harriet Walden when she demanded that
her new “special category” (Black guys) be exempt from routine handling in
personnel assignments? </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Will you polygraph cops who seem to pay special (maybe excessive?) attention to certain groups of people, such as transvestites on
Broadway to see just what motivates them?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What about
the cops who specialize in DUI enforcement? </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here is another very important public safety
problem, impaired driving, and there are a few cops that really excel here. Will
you accept questions of their “motives” from defense attorneys and drag those
cops through the mill and subject them to public criticism?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It has to be said, Katie…you threw in with Special Ed and
Pete with this sort of "PR sop”…and it will come back to haunt you. When you
let special interests…or a petty minded City Attorney…dictate enforcement, you have crossed the sort of bridge that ALWAYS crumbles behind you.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As to the suggestion that you mobilize more cops into
uniform to confront the runaway uproar and violence downtown. In the military
they call this a “SURGE”…and they clearly work. On the one hand, you seem to get
it: But on a recent weekend there were at least two more violent shooting
events downtown. And you have publicly confirmed that you know this is an
ongoing dangerous outrage.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>SO…WHERE THE HELL ARE THE COPS, Katie?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After a “Holiday Parade” (a “one old cop” foot patrol
demonstration) I conducted back on Labor Day you actually did marginally increase troop-strength downtown. More
confirmation of my point that this is the solution. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But here is the rub! .The violence continues, maybe even
worsens - more strong-arm robberies, more drug dealing - so clearly you have not
done enough! How can you now not put more boots on the ground? Do you dare
wait until the bullets flying again kill some innocent?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Early decisions indicate that O’Toole, in the face of
what she has herself described as an ugly and dangerous situation the
heart of Seattle, declines to sufficiently bolster certain important
enforcement (foot patrol - which are the scourge of drug use and dealing) and fails to
employ available manpower to restore some equilibrium (safety) for the
beleaguered folk who must live and work there. Everyone okay with that?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">MORE TO THE POINT…WASSUP WITH THIS?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here is the real grim possibility that may explain the
disconnection that O’Toole herself has recognized. But reader beware…these
facts are as politically incorrect as they are pertinent. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It is clear that much of the violence downtown, in fact
virtually all gun violence, is at the hands of Black males, young men who prey
on one another almost exclusively when
it comes to the shootings, but prey almost exclusively on non-blacks when it
comes to the muggings and other street crime they account for. Keep that in
mind here as we examine the downtown situation in a more definitive light.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Recall the demotion of Nick Metz by Jim Pugel, which was reversed later by
Special Ed (who is Pure Seattle when it comes to yielding to pressure from voices in
minority sectors). Can the tolerance of so much of the downtown uproar result
from some additional unholy concession made to those voices? </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A few strident voices in the Black community raise all kinds
of hell when they feel some sort of “profiling” is occurring, when young Black
people receive much attention from the cops. This is in fact one of the central
complaints that brought the Federales riding into town. It is the most common
stock-in-trade of police critics.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So polarizing and politically potent is the profiling rap that
even any modest evidence of focus on young Black men by the cops can cause a
near hysterical reaction from some in the “community”! </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The history of actual abuse that begot legitimate concern
about “profiling’ in the Black community is not to be forgotten or excused. Time
was that Black folks, not just young Black men, were in real danger in some parts
just for being in the “wrong part of town.” But that concern has long been
addressed with increasing integration (affirmative action) of police forces and
education of all the cops about the unintended consequences of what may be
reasonable actions in a given moment over forty or more years.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now any youngster is as likely to earn the attention of cops
as not, BECAUSE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE THE SOURCE OF THE BULK OF STREET CRIME. But…no
matter to the “voices.” Seen in this broader perspective one has to admit
that it isn’t just black youngsters that are being paid close attention. "It
ain't the color…it’s the neighborhood…STUPID.” </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So it is that any other “color” young man who fits the
general description of individuals or groups that are causing significant crime
and uproar in any area can damn well figure to be confronted by the police in
certain circumstances these days, and necessarily so.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But in Seattle and many other towns the cops can find
themselves under not-so-subtle pressure…even to the point of not broadcasting
the race of suspects of immediate crimes, if the suspects happen to be Black. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This inanity (I call it cowardice) satisfies the ego of the
few "Black Voices" but has an incredible price for the greater Black Community. It is in the shadow of this “protected status”
that the incredibly destructive subculture of violence has engulfed many young
black men.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But to settle the immediate question, which we leave with Special Ed, "Petey" Holmes, and Katie O’Toole: Has some “Devil's bargain" been struck here? Have you agreed to keep the cops’ attention
off young Black men unless they are found directly involved in some violent
incident for fear that they might feel “Profiled”? </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Is this why they are free to smoke dope, and in fact sell
it, right out in the open in this city? If you doubt this, you ought to take a
tour downtown. Do this with a police escort. I suggest you look up Officer Randy
Jokela; he knows that scene pretty damn well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The situation in Seattle begins more and more to resemble
other cities that have gone into a spiral of decline. And it impacts most
certainly inner-city and neighboring environs. There the greatest price is paid
by good Black folk who live in a sea of crime, exacerbated by befuddled civic
authorities and police command who read too much into the uproar caused by
activists who use hysteria and dated history to stifle intelligent
consideration of the problems suffered by the community.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In hard point of fact, young Black men, sheltered by the
timidity of the Mayor and others at City Hall, are wreaking havoc and killing
one another practically at will as police commanders look away from any but the
most unavoidable confrontations. Can’t have anybody feel “profiled” now, can we?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Another anomaly in “early O’Toole” catches the eye as well - the announcement that all of her command staff would be required to “sit at
their desks” and write some mysterious essay to justify their retention of
command assignments. How curious? </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This charade opens all subsequent command assignments to a measure based on what? Poetic skill? Creative writing basics? Personal
connections and allegiances? This again is one of those “early decisions” that
has received absolutely no follow-up notice by the media.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So we have the specters of “police command by consultant”
when it comes to line (street) assignments and “command assignment by default”
when it comes to the command ranks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I realize that these observations…criticisms…ain't exactly
“Seattle Nice” and are bound to raise some hackles in the “special crowd” that
doesn’t want any rain on the (extended) coronation parade.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But lace this subtle-mystery-method of command placement
with the earlier signs that race (<i>e.g.</i>, the Nick Metz affair), among other subjective
factors, has apparently become a consideration in the management of civic
affairs, and then have a look at another O’Toole maneuver - the exception of
one Carmen Best (recently appointed Assistant Chief) from the mystery-method
approach. What in the hell is going on here? Who is Carmen Best…and what
qualifies her as the exception?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To be “sitting at the right hand of the throne” as a
troubled police department seeks to “pull out of the dive”…would one not expect
to find a veteran commander? Someone experienced in crisis confrontation and
personnel allocation? What would come to mind for a candidate here?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is important to provide a little insight here. Her
colleagues generally think well of Chief Best. She is personable and
presentable. She is well remembered in public thought, to anyone paying
attention, as the “attractive face” of the Seattle Police department. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Carmen served for some time as the media spokesperson. With
numerous television appearances under her belt highlighting this crime
investigation or other, Carmen joins the ranks locally of Sheriff John
Urquhart, Ed Troyer down in Pierce Country, and others here and there who have
become better-known to the public than even the various Chiefs they work for.
Such is the power of video media.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">However, a look at Chief Best’s actual police experience, especially in command roles, does not tend to “flesh out” the profile one would expect for the second in command at this time (or
any other, for that matter). Yet…here she is. A</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">nd because these are such critical times at the SPD, I have
to touch again on the question: Does race matter in the civic world of “Special" Ed Murray? As onerous as it is, if there is to be real restoration of public
safety in Seattle, these are the sorts of “early decisions” that demand more
scrutiny.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Chief Best has very little operational command history. Hers
have been those assignments generally associated with ascension up the “special
ladder” in police departments. As much public exposure as possible…and usually
little “combat command.” </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">She served as South Precinct Patrol Captain for a brief
three months last year. That’s it! No one has seen, or been offered, any more
detailed history. Is anyone in the media, or at City Hall (the Public Safety
Committee of the City Council maybe), asking why more “vetting” has not been done? Not a
chance!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What could be the consequences for this situation at SPD? Troop morale and operational competence are already in a tailspin, but...what the hell?
Again, the “Murray moment” here in the Emerald City poses real questions
that, like previous chapters in the decline of SPD, has been insulated by adoring
media from these sorts of questions. Whatever her level of
choices here, O’Toole will pay the price for the uncertainty this all creates. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In this silence, the working cop is left to wonder, are
"special credentials" paramount at SPD? Were more competent commanders passed
by to satisfy the need for “special imagery” in Seattle? </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For the unhidden fact is that Chief Carmen Best is Black…and
she is a woman! There it is, Ed…there it is, Seattle…there it is, media…the very
sort of unholy question no one wants to hear. Yet a question demanded by the
earlier capitulation to artificial racial
concerns in the Metz matter. Is Carmen Best just another convenience
in the campaign at City Hall to keep the Rainbow shining…at any cost? Is
gender now a prime qualifier?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There may be holy hell in some precincts for even raising
such issue. Just not “Seattle Nice” is it? But posturing along such
lines (if it is in fact the motive here again), catering to strident voices
without reason, is a distinct part of the recipe for urban decline in this
country. Both the Seattle Police department (with all its diverse collection of
faces) and Carmen Best deserve better. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>And where does this all land? Oh…the toils of Katie O’Toole!</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If Carmen Best is the preeminent </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">candidate for second in
command, more power to her! If she is not, explanation must be sought. And if
anyone wonders at my motives here (an old white cop who won't go away) in
raising this disturbing issue, I am going to add a personal note. R</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ead <a href="http://chuckpillon.blogspot.com/2015/02/shootouts-in-ghetto.html" target="_blank">Shootouts in the Ghetto</a> for
some insight. You will see why I present myself as distinctly qualified to
raise this critical issue in the moment here. And Carmen…I hope you
can find the time to read it, too. Regards…Chuck Pillon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>WHERE THE BUCK STOPS!</b><span style="color: blue;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the final measure here it is up to O’Toole to grab
the reigns and run up against the bewilderment at City Hall and the conflicted
voices of “community spokespeople," to tell the Federales to take a deep breath and put the cops back
on the corner. Don’t let these political cancers grow! </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Further, she is going to have to be a lot more transparent.
Don’t leave these early decisions to swirl in a mysterious cloud. If
certain quotas or personnel expectations have been imposed, either by the
Feds or Special Ed, out with it! For the good of the City…and the Service.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Things looked good in the beginning but the political winds
have shifted and O’Toole’s sails seem to be going slack. In a telling
utterance after a wringing-out in the Federal Court recently, O’Toole remarked
that she “thought she finally had her ducks lined up” in her effort to please
the Feds. Enough already!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Time to regain command of that adoption process. The
“friendly Feds” can’t be allowed to do more harm than good. Cooperation
shouldn’t lead to surrender to that unquestioned process. And there the media
have set up SPD to fail as well. They should be doing more incisive reporting
on the problems in “adoptions” elsewhere. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The old bromide about ignoring the lessons of history hangs
over all of this like an anvil teetering on a ledge. Katie…I hope you reconsider
and find some time for us old troops. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Special" Ed, Merrick Bobb, Bernie Melekian, Judge “Roy Bean”
Robart, no one at City Hall…none of them are going to be able to tell you about
the effort to bring the Anti- Crime Teams into being, the advent of the K9
Unit, the once-grand Block Watch Program, the outreach to the original Youth
Service Bureaus and alternative school programs. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">They know virtually nothing of these stellar moments. Just
ask them. They are simply voices in concert with the Federales, joining in
blind obedience to a process that, while it has some marginal merit, has crippled
the very institution it is supposed to be improving. Have you asked Merrick
Bobb what brought him to conclude that there is DE-POLICING going on in
Seattle? </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If, as it seems, you are going to stay in lock-step with
them, you will be letting the danger you have publicly recognized grow even as
the Federal Charade continues to sweep you along.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You may not be mindful of the observations of another recent
candidate for the job there at SPD, a guy named Rick Braziel out of
California (COP in Sacramento) who declined to even take the test here when you
did because of the contradiction and incompetence he observed in his
preliminary visits to City Hall. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">He made it clear that the mess would make it extremely
difficult to right-the-course at SPD. HELL! We veterans could write a book on
the subject. The pretenders and partisans at City Hall have long been a serious
factor in the decline of this City. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Those observations are worth remembering. Braziel’s
credentials are substantial, like yours, and we know that things haven’t gotten
better at City Hall. That ain’t the Mensa Society meeting at Fifth and
James! </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Let your allegiance be first to the folks in this
City. Let Special Ed and the Federales take their proper place in
line. And let folks hear from you on this subject.</span><br />
<br /></div>
Chuck Pillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14383605776626238599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878589.post-29066310205797535192015-03-14T20:12:00.002-07:002015-03-30T17:11:59.773-07:00The Night I Met Jesus...And He Was Black<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Continuing commentary on the decline of public safety in
Seattle is my primary purpose at this time, but I a bit of inspirational illustration of my time at SPD is important, too. My previous story <a href="http://chuckpillon.blogspot.com/2015/02/shootouts-in-ghetto.html" target="_blank">Shootouts in the Ghetto</a> told of the gathering of young cops
and central area kids in the gym up at 17th and Fir. But it wasn’t bullets
flying…it was basketballs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What I am recounting here illustrates another remarkable
moment, adding to scores of others, to give you a sense of the treasure of
human experience I gathered over those many years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A few short years into the “mission” (my police
service), we faced the first rioting over civil rights and anti-war issues. That
a “country kid” from Eastern Washington, then east Renton, was caught in disbelief at these
developments is an understatement. I came to the cop car life with an arcane
notion that the good folks would love us and the crooks would “take it on the
lam”! One night, as we stood in a hailstorm of rocks and bottles and a bullet
or two, I was finally shorn of that innocence. For good!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The important message here is the rich and unexpected
blessing that followed. As the rioting up at Garfield High nearby slowly
dissipated near midnight, I took a sentinel position at 23rd and Spruce
Street. That watchfulness has always been an instinct with me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There were passersby, good folks, mostly Black, making their
way around the scene down the street. I greeted them with as much reassurance
as I could. Several stopped to talk with me. I took from that the sense that
decent conversation was always valuable in the face of such strife. There is
far less that divides us, even when racial tension seems like
a runaway train, than most people might believe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now to my meeting with Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Most folks had passed by as midnight arrived, but I felt a
presence behind me. I was about to turn when I felt a hand softly on my
shoulder. I glanced that way to see an elderly black man in a preacher's frock.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was a little startled at first but then remembered that
there was an old church on the corner. It may have been the calming of that
gentle touch, but I was momentarily speechless. Before I could react the old man spoke. "Son, be
patient with these children. They are angry tonight but they will need you
tomorrow." I am seldom speechless; most people think I talk too much. But it was
a moment before I collected my wits. Then I turned to thank the old man, BUT HE
WAS GONE!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I walked around that old church, found not a door or window
ajar, no fresh footprints on the lawn or steps. Not a sign of the old man. But I
continued to ponder the nature of the greater sign here: how had this happened…and why?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Just a few nights later, when I and my fellow cops gathered for a
“post-riot debriefing” (a few beers and other spirits), I spontaneously
uttered the words…LET ME TELL ABOUT WHEN I MET JESUS…AND HE WAS BLACK. This
crew included several Black cops as well. We were well integrated by then.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am the perpetual “class-clown” sort…and the crew literally
burst out in laughter. I enjoy my own work as well. I was laughing, too. But
later it began to settle in, as it has to this day. I believe those moments were
out of the ordinary. Both that hand on my shoulder and that surprising
utterance at the “debriefing” the next night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Something happened there that I can still only ponder. As
much as I will say for certain is that it fits into the many blessings I enjoyed
by the grace of many old Black folks I was to meet and know in my days as a cop in the central district!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Soon I will tell you of Big Momma's Coffee, Sarg's Barbecue and others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Chuck Pillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14383605776626238599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878589.post-66489531434906636032015-02-16T07:13:00.000-08:002015-03-30T17:12:27.625-07:00Shootouts in the Ghetto<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">A Cop Car Cowboy Tale</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">SHOOTOUTS IN THE GHETTO! I was in many “shootouts” in the inner-city precincts of Seattle over my many years there. Yes, shootouts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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”.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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..</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If anyone still wants to question my “standing” to speak to these challenging issues, look me up. That needs to be a personal conversation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />Chuck Pillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14383605776626238599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878589.post-8811626015475715902015-02-02T20:41:00.004-08:002015-03-30T17:13:01.869-07:00The Seattle Situation<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>A CITY ADRIFT…COPS IN JEOPARDY</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">SO THE QUESTION...WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS MESS? </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>AS TO THOSE RESPONSIBLE:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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....<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>THE OTHER BRIGHT LIGHTS AT CITY HALL</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>ENTER NOW…THE FEDERALES</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>EFFORTS AT ACCOUNTABILITY…AND ACCOMMODATION</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>SO BEGINS THE DECLINE</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“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?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>OUR OTHER PLAYERS</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I might stop here but there are a couple more players who
need mention:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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 <a href="http://chuckpillon.blogspot.com/2014/10/where-hell-are-cops.html" target="_blank">WHERE THE HELL ARE THE COPS??</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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”!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>BUT REAL LOCAL HEROES REMAIN</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>TO BE CONTINUED</b> with narrative regarding Katie O’Toole and her early
efforts.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Chuck Pillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14383605776626238599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878589.post-3993066172822619762014-10-06T13:48:00.002-07:002015-03-30T17:13:30.557-07:00Where the Hell are the Cops??<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">A Solution to the Downtown Seattle Dilemma!</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><i><b><span style="font-size: large;">One old Cop’s
suggestion</span></b></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Such is the level of fear downtown that the local Sheriff <a href="http://blogs.seattletimes.com/politicsnorthwest/2013/10/22/king-county-sheriff-endorses-ed-murray/">publicly announced</a> 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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">
The Solution</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>Post script:</i></b> 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!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Chuck Pillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14383605776626238599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878589.post-61120574600815125882010-08-14T22:20:00.000-07:002015-03-30T17:17:23.094-07:00Tempest on the Issaquah<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi37ParYOHFzLsBxFIzG-xCOApoG5HGEFD4QRXZWAw-jjF223OX16FTGqt9G7C9Lcq5O2GjmFEndCeZCQRK-9C3jb2uvuveSvQR01qY9mYqdLOv3ggmljhsl_54QE67d9O8w2J/s1600/Iss+Press+1.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi37ParYOHFzLsBxFIzG-xCOApoG5HGEFD4QRXZWAw-jjF223OX16FTGqt9G7C9Lcq5O2GjmFEndCeZCQRK-9C3jb2uvuveSvQR01qY9mYqdLOv3ggmljhsl_54QE67d9O8w2J/s400/Iss+Press+1.JPG" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505503430621230690" style="display: block; height: 306px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 402px;" /></span></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">DANGER UNINTENDED…DANGER NONETHELESS</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
OVER THE PAST 20 PLUS YEARS GREAT EFFORT HAS BEEN INVESTED IN RECOVERY OF SALMON RUNS IN REGIONAL STREAMS.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
Some efforts have been relatively benign…others not so. And some have been clearly sources of danger to folks who venture near our popular streams for recreation and enjoyment. Especially children and youngsters. These kids are playing on a logjam trapped by the “installed LWD” in the foreground…the log with the squarecut end and the chain wrapped around it!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
One of the most controversial, and of unproven value, is the placement of what has come to be called LARGE WOODY DEBRIS in areas along stream-banks and in the channel as well that create immediate danger to swimmers, boaters, “tubers” and others.</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFaaaB483YsWjhIv2incHElAosDUI2_C4I6QtKpDptRNNNER7xh8S0feb2WQqupUsb85M7VjdZW-ivaBJ9tXo57iRI29GMBIQAHLXagl9aFH_4vxQMSuW6fUlYTfNCqOMF5r69/s1600/1-Iss+Crk+Dec+08_1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFaaaB483YsWjhIv2incHElAosDUI2_C4I6QtKpDptRNNNER7xh8S0feb2WQqupUsb85M7VjdZW-ivaBJ9tXo57iRI29GMBIQAHLXagl9aFH_4vxQMSuW6fUlYTfNCqOMF5r69/s400/1-Iss+Crk+Dec+08_1.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506087817049214850" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 306px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 462px;" /></a><span style="font-size: 78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Perspective from common vantage point upstream as debris builds up.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
Recent admissions by certain agents of King County and the state dept of fish and wild life confirm what has been only too obvious to other observers: these very dangerous projects…which have caused injury and death to the public in recent years…have brought no perceptible improvement of fish populations.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
These admissions have come only after great effort by some in the community who challenged the LWD programs after studying the matter for several years. These folks have identified the hazards and noted the tragedies only to be ignored or marginalized by the wild life “experts”. But at long last their efforts have paid off.</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcCQIuO3XzQiVlWPB-K_aFIs2fvvn7SUfn8sX5i9m0YKyH89mM3jcX4OzYpe1e0JyR1g4e-rBfhoroh9FxrZvtC7IuhtaBNoPIZ5mZlBc6iOKhyM7QOgLjfxhDtWQ6aEbvpQET/s1600/2-Iss+Crk+Dec+08_3.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcCQIuO3XzQiVlWPB-K_aFIs2fvvn7SUfn8sX5i9m0YKyH89mM3jcX4OzYpe1e0JyR1g4e-rBfhoroh9FxrZvtC7IuhtaBNoPIZ5mZlBc6iOKhyM7QOgLjfxhDtWQ6aEbvpQET/s400/2-Iss+Crk+Dec+08_3.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506091072348438354" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 324px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 489px;" /></a><span style="font-size: 78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Another perspective of build-up from the bridge.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
One of the most shattering aspects of these LWD installations has haunted these good folks for many of these years. The front page photograph says in an instant what these folks have argued for years…LWD ATTRACTS KIDS AND DRAWS THEM INTO RISKY PLAY AND ADVENTURE! WHERE THESE INSTALLATIONS ARE ACCESSIBLE TO KIDS THEY REPRESENT VERY DANGEROUS “ATTRACTIVE” NUISANCES. PROHIBITED BY LAW…BUT THERE NONETHELESS!</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPZY7I0Ho4IlTiR9h06I4ckrZzTc_iohc8nqHtn-tgk6L-Wyi-rQhVaQVAFaV-3PKt31nk03B97wsgVHlgR1ZK1r6XGb2HN-wdAijUOCxqLxO-AYkWZ-MoFh8E8n2Zynruq26Q/s1600/3-Iss+Crk+Dec+08_7R.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPZY7I0Ho4IlTiR9h06I4ckrZzTc_iohc8nqHtn-tgk6L-Wyi-rQhVaQVAFaV-3PKt31nk03B97wsgVHlgR1ZK1r6XGb2HN-wdAijUOCxqLxO-AYkWZ-MoFh8E8n2Zynruq26Q/s400/3-Iss+Crk+Dec+08_7R.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506092087205268066" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 367px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 310px;" /></a><span style="font-size: 78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Major debris build-up seen from same point as the top photo (with youngsters) but taken weeks before.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
The photo with the youngsters at the top of this post was taken in April 2006… AFTER the removal of the original build-up that led to severe flooding in December 2005. The installed LWD log in the foreground has trapped the two “volunteer” logs that were swept along by another later storm. Not only do they inspire the adventuresome kids in the photo…they were the beginning of the next build-up. Issaquah officials had asked to remove them during the earlier operation but were told by WDFW that they were “new salmon habitat” and they had to stay! Imagine!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
This installation that repeatedly trapped so much debris was installed right in the heart of Issaquah… in the “storied little river” that runs through downtown, the Issaquah creek. All of this within 300 feet of the Issaquah salmon hatchery which annually draws tens of thousands of visitors, probably half of whom are youngsters. It is also within 400 feet of an Issaquah middle school. Potential victims could hardly be nearer!</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiR6RZal9d6m7WHAuFSbI3K6gpl-m4QUXxoh9mazVxMwqTqd17pcvB8vy3T3f6Ya9I0iQrq6K_0HmO1pisWBdjBH7mWxIi5jDKz5jvuA5YgGiWK8I4w1kd7wBYEyLs_aG7uYoC/s1600/Flooding+Jan+09_15.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiR6RZal9d6m7WHAuFSbI3K6gpl-m4QUXxoh9mazVxMwqTqd17pcvB8vy3T3f6Ya9I0iQrq6K_0HmO1pisWBdjBH7mWxIi5jDKz5jvuA5YgGiWK8I4w1kd7wBYEyLs_aG7uYoC/s400/Flooding+Jan+09_15.JPG" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506093354186629986" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 287px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 433px;" /></a><span style="font-size: 78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Flood surge well below the peak...covering LWD dam...already flooding the neighborhood.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
Issaquah officials were sorely concerned about damage to the bridge…a vital traffic link…as well as the safety of the public. Fortunately damage was manageable…this time!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
The accompanying photo montage gives a clear picture of this absurd project from the perspective of time passage and differing stream conditions. They illustrate the build-up of debris caused repeatedly by this project…the flooding that this exacerbates…the danger as seen in the lead picture…and the final result of an act of nature that leaves one to wonder at the message of nature.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMyooOcWHwGW4na9hq97A1_RTH-mY9jRShh3vNbqJphi_sn-A3B8XjJWhPV1rLz_ZHQGpGFYrNXXxEGlRdCL9wOGbPYPm7cU3VfAeWAQGzDU8OTu0GigJfratJNLViinenr7rH/s1600/2-Flooding+Jan+09_07.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMyooOcWHwGW4na9hq97A1_RTH-mY9jRShh3vNbqJphi_sn-A3B8XjJWhPV1rLz_ZHQGpGFYrNXXxEGlRdCL9wOGbPYPm7cU3VfAeWAQGzDU8OTu0GigJfratJNLViinenr7rH/s400/2-Flooding+Jan+09_07.JPG" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506094086026843794" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 265px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><span style="font-size: 78%; font-style: italic;">Flooding forced into nearby neighborhoods because of the obstruction.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
In the big storm this past winter Mother Nature abated the danger once and for all. She stripped the stream clean of the man-made artifice…and left it again reasonably safe for the legions of kids who have ever…and ever will…haunt her shores!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
We at the KCRJP feel it is time to respond to this clear natural signal…and clean up the other dangers in our streams. And to those so sympathetic to the salmon…we say, safety first…for the kids.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">AFTER ALL…HOW MANY FISH WOULD YOU TRADE A CHILD’S LIFE FOR??<br /></span></span>Chuck Pillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14383605776626238599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878589.post-84199482268497500912010-08-10T06:57:00.000-07:002015-03-30T17:14:22.266-07:00The Scene of the Crime<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This picture of yours truly pulling a make-shift diving-board from the rootwad of a stump on the Cedar River doesn’t begin to tell the story. Earlier I mentioned a “felony conviction” for malicious mischief some years back. This is where the “mischief” took place. This is a swimming hole on the Cedar - famous for over half a century as “beer bottle beach” - a mecca that I visited with buddies back in the day on our “trusty Coast Guard approved” 7-60x15 inner-tubes. You get the picture. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
Matter of fact we learned some fateful lessons back when! First trip down one spring on an unauthorized field trip from Mrs. Hanis’s afternoon study hall session at our venerable alma mater, old RHS, we nearly lost Pete Cunningham in a logjam.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
“Little Pete,” as we called him, hit the water first and sped off with the beer…beer purloined from the back shelf of me beloved mother’s Kelvinator (generous soul she was; never seemed to keep much count…never missed a grog or two, now and then)! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
Anyhow, Little Pete rounded the next river bend and was abruptly plunged under a big logjam we had not anticipated! But for the heroics of Eddie “grappa” Tasca and I think it was Lee Douglas, it would have been the end of Pete!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
We had no sense of the gravity of that moment. Our main concern was recovering the beer (only marginally successful at that)! It was only years later that I began to realize that our experience was…is…and always will be…a hard fact of life when kids get around rivers. There is no holding back. And nature has a way of filling rivers with dangerous snags…all by herself!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
Then a few years back I learned that so-called Large Woody Debris was actually being placed in our rivers…in extremely dangerous manner as you can see in the “crime scene photo”…root-wads protruding into the stream on the outside radii of bends where the current is swiftest…injuries and deaths to floaters…kids and adults alike…were occurring…all for what was… and still is…unproven “fish habitat enhancement!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
Recording several injuries and near death situations at this site…we began to press King County to make the site safe…with the question… “how many fish would you trade one of your kids for”??…if in fact the habitat did work. No one from King County has ever answered.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
As the near misses continued I felt finally I had to act. We had removed numerous “diving boards” the kids would place haphazard in the stumps…and then dive into the pool…IN WHICH KING COUNTY HAD PLACED LARGE BOULDERS WITH NO WARNING SIGNS!!! One young lad stated in a KING TV report we arranged from the site that he had rescued several kids who had hit the rocks and nearly drowned.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
All to no avail. The County sat on its hands…it was all for the fish!! Never mind the kids!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
So we fired up the trusty “STIHL” and out came three of the stumps!!! Danger done with!!! No more injury. No death period. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
Well the short version of the rest of it all was that I was later convicted of malicious mischief and King County demanded $119,000 FOR THEIR DAMMED STUMPS.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That finally became $19,000…but what the hell…I ain’t gonna pay in any event…the County has already confirmed that I was right…and announced that “we don’t do it that way (install big trees with the roots out in the current on river bends) anymore”… “Chuck Pillon showed us we were wrong”! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
Damn faint praise if you ask me…be nice if they went back and told the Judge they were wrong…but we are still building on that success…on river danger and other concerns. I will settle for that.</span>Chuck Pillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14383605776626238599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878589.post-85250313085493929682010-08-05T01:11:00.000-07:002015-03-30T17:14:42.464-07:00Log Jams: The Facts and the Folly<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Remarkable bit of prophecy in the essay below (Deadly Rivers) about the expensive “engineered LWD” at Cedar Rapids on the Cedar River, where the “bundles” of logs chained together on the riverbank had started to pull loose and into the river! In spite of the fact that the County crew frantically re-chained the bundles (this time to huge cottonwoods on the bank) the whole thing blew out and headed downstream dragging their new companions (the huge cottonwoods) along. The following piece written after that fiasco tells the dangerous, potentially deadly, tale.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When this man-made “engineered LWD” monster finally hit Renton seven miles downstream, it nearly took out the Williams Street bridge. Had it tipped that bridge into the riverbed the dam it formed would have diverted the massive torrent into the entire downtown area. Casualties would have been in the hundreds. Unthinkable, but nearly the fact!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, read LOGJAMS…FACT AND FOLLY (from Jan 2010)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So long as there have been rivers…trees…and people to be near them…the danger of logjams has been evident. Too often the result is in human terms…death and injury. Historically they have been a primary concern for agencies with responsibility to keep rivers open for public use…commerce and travel. The most important task…the safety of the public near them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The United States Army Corps of Engineers and other local agencies have long cooperated in this effort. Until recent times it would have been unthinkable for any individual…let alone public agency… to obstruct this vital work.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In those earlier times waterways were… and remain… very important to commerce and social mobility. Where natural waterways did not exist…most known civilizations has created them…so vital have they been.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In recent years the established priority in river management has been hijacked…and the safety of the public pushed down the list of concerns. This sacrifice of safety has been driven… in great part… by well intended but myopic individuals and groups emerging from the environmental movement.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">These good folk are disciples of LARGE WOODY DEBRIS (LWD)…the placement of logs and stumps and other obstructions in our rivers. They also stridently oppose removal of natural wind-falls in streams as well. The practice has been to wait until there is some injury or other before any action is taken at a site. There is clear evidence that in some cases such information has been ignored or denied by those responsible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Their “science” is increasingly in question…but their determination undiminished.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This “science” has seldom been seriously challenged by the agencies that should …from the mighty Corps of Engineers…right on to the local public safety officials who have primary responsibility. To this point the advocates have essentially cowed the others into quiet surrender in many instances.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It should be noted here that the danger of LWD increases in proportion to the size and social utilization of streams. Many creeks and small tributaries are well suited to habitat enhancement. It is the introduction or retention of LWD in streams that see substantial daytime recreational use…especially by youngsters…that we argue clearly demands reassessment. Likewise LWD in rivers prone to flooding and destruction of settled areas need scrutiny.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Though there is some obvious importance to logs and stumps and brush…as habitat in river systems… twenty plus years of virtually unfettered dangerous experimentation with this policy in streams where it clearly is not safe...has not produced significant improvement in fish populations. It also must be noted that large woody debris…installed or natural…for as much as it may have habitat value…can be located and maintained far more safely than has been the case in these “experiments”.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is undisputed that danger to people….especially children…has been time and again demonstrated. Death and injury are regularly reported. Yet no effectively focused challenge has born on this matter. Around the region concerned individuals and groups have been allowed to “comment” on the matter…but …in venues controlled by the proponents for the most part. “Comment” has become a pacifier.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Only last year for instance…twenty plus years into the “experiment”… did the King County Council finally call for some safety standards in these operations. This…after years of frustrated complaints (comment) from the public…at endless hearings.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In point of fact this action was really one of meaningless redundancy. More pacification.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There have been laws and regulations to insure safe methodology in public works for over a century. Laws and regulations that were disregarded at will by the “proponents” of reckless LWD in our streams.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This has to change. The public must come to see the contradiction…and the cost…in this abandonment. Here the media and the body politic have scarcely spoken. Again pacification of the public…behind a screen of half-truths and misinformation… has been the common serving.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">LOGJAMS…THE ORIGINS</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dangerous woody debris…from the occasional loose log to the massive and ever-growing jams that may finally stir the media to some note… has essentially two origins. Those LWD installations of habitat proponents… placed in streams by government agencies… and the natural storm-fall or bank-erosion loosened trees that occur with some frequency depending on natural events.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The accompanying pictures illustrate the creation…collapse…and ultimate catastrophe…</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">of one such agency-created failure on the Cedar River in King County, WA. This project was done in spite of at least one reported drowning…and many injuries to other youngsters…in the same reach of this river. These other recorded events all took place in similar LWD installations by King County.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The unnatural and haphazard nature of this project is immediately apparent in the pictures. Even agents of other agencies who promote LWD warned that this project was inherently dangerous and certain to fail. The attitude of the “designers” was time will tell. By accounts of neighbors and other King County employees…the danger was so obvious that one of the “design team” at least…refused to sign off on it. Yet this person did not muster the determination to report the matter with the observation at a public meeting that he felt…”time will tell”…as to the integrity of the project!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And indeed it did!</span><br />
<br />Chuck Pillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14383605776626238599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878589.post-12438132688780988862010-08-05T00:36:00.000-07:002010-08-05T01:09:58.317-07:00Engineered LWD<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCD7tFHeaFcOkxLRcMOru0GLttFlZTcHmOTpuLTnr7p9clGBDv4e21nMN5cpL4mWgJgzZgMqUi-f7kRtSvfr4_xTtNyvXCxZbZbc2D-rNrWpgZ58-XcXnevN4ZeQ-roLW07doe/s1600/Cedar+River+Dec+08_5.jpg"><br /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEsrF0hYn9i3xnahR4ncVwhxfzpEO9QDUdSvjJ2fD8QQ9jHS1m51D_J_CDBZyhdSx2XIZas84OBx-3OZbK5OP0NhHdgXxVl19fMbGAmDqiFXYMZNjMMJyoUTnAaoqd2fjlgMfU/s1600/Logs+%26+Chains.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEsrF0hYn9i3xnahR4ncVwhxfzpEO9QDUdSvjJ2fD8QQ9jHS1m51D_J_CDBZyhdSx2XIZas84OBx-3OZbK5OP0NhHdgXxVl19fMbGAmDqiFXYMZNjMMJyoUTnAaoqd2fjlgMfU/s400/Logs+%26+Chains.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501826851036651474" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYu-PAts5hLQHtATXderYhewaWAaXlCYTnRSW86xFC39n1hF0aR_6BUfiUePi-atX9037Tgf1XAbRHnQsYa-ieHEzkYLwr9c5rOIi20hjJIeqY9VNJZk7PSJD8tlXbI3v4bjUr/s1600/LWD+in+chains+1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYu-PAts5hLQHtATXderYhewaWAaXlCYTnRSW86xFC39n1hF0aR_6BUfiUePi-atX9037Tgf1XAbRHnQsYa-ieHEzkYLwr9c5rOIi20hjJIeqY9VNJZk7PSJD8tlXbI3v4bjUr/s400/LWD+in+chains+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501827302037986162" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCD7tFHeaFcOkxLRcMOru0GLttFlZTcHmOTpuLTnr7p9clGBDv4e21nMN5cpL4mWgJgzZgMqUi-f7kRtSvfr4_xTtNyvXCxZbZbc2D-rNrWpgZ58-XcXnevN4ZeQ-roLW07doe/s1600/Cedar+River+Dec+08_5.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCD7tFHeaFcOkxLRcMOru0GLttFlZTcHmOTpuLTnr7p9clGBDv4e21nMN5cpL4mWgJgzZgMqUi-f7kRtSvfr4_xTtNyvXCxZbZbc2D-rNrWpgZ58-XcXnevN4ZeQ-roLW07doe/s400/Cedar+River+Dec+08_5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501831183871740706" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDsXS7HE5vyFupD3Dy2ND0FzLDTlSfbFbNn_vYgvI5h0fm35Pf1Wg5V7zs1-_H6DsjkepNuIjxPZtcje_8BxOuAuGgXdxdu67Y2gomGsoj-P9WmvTs-k4x5TSUg6Qgpa-jWma3/s1600/Renton+Bridge+Jan+09_02.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDsXS7HE5vyFupD3Dy2ND0FzLDTlSfbFbNn_vYgvI5h0fm35Pf1Wg5V7zs1-_H6DsjkepNuIjxPZtcje_8BxOuAuGgXdxdu67Y2gomGsoj-P9WmvTs-k4x5TSUg6Qgpa-jWma3/s400/Renton+Bridge+Jan+09_02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501831686825813266" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEies-IU3YlRQn9TigvCVBk5Biruwep6ZmFQzklAwz3wiYZ9enzaU-vcaEI50HcOIVVtUE0B9BMSBIl5Y24Gewne5NohDvA0vNDTQT-8ubWi8Rs9L6fx9C-U0MjlVpyEqffpcJm7/s1600/Renton+Bridge+Jan+09_10.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEies-IU3YlRQn9TigvCVBk5Biruwep6ZmFQzklAwz3wiYZ9enzaU-vcaEI50HcOIVVtUE0B9BMSBIl5Y24Gewne5NohDvA0vNDTQT-8ubWi8Rs9L6fx9C-U0MjlVpyEqffpcJm7/s400/Renton+Bridge+Jan+09_10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501832049576202946" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEsrF0hYn9i3xnahR4ncVwhxfzpEO9QDUdSvjJ2fD8QQ9jHS1m51D_J_CDBZyhdSx2XIZas84OBx-3OZbK5OP0NhHdgXxVl19fMbGAmDqiFXYMZNjMMJyoUTnAaoqd2fjlgMfU/s1600/Logs+%26+Chains.jpg"><br /></a>Chuck Pillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14383605776626238599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878589.post-41385826605623713392010-07-29T23:16:00.001-07:002015-03-30T17:21:56.614-07:00River Safety: A Quick Bit of Background<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To bring some continuity and a common banner to our sundry efforts we created an entity we call the KING COUNTY RURAL JUSTICE PROJECT KCRJP)…and we write and respond in this manner. You will find earlier essays, reports and commentaries headed KCRJP from time to time reflecting past or current work.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For over a century the rivers of our good land were managed with concern for the safety of the public uppermost. That began to change…dramatically and dangerously about 25 years ago. Blossoming environmental passions produced a cadre of well-intended but seriously inept individuals who used hysteria about the plight of migratory fish…in this case…to usurp control of river management.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They invaded river-related agencies at local…state…and federal levels to impose what they thought were fish-productive alterations to our rivers. In a word they opposed and prevented the removal of dangerous trees and such…(now colloquially referred to as Large Woody Debris) from our rivers with the argument that it is “new salmon habitat” and must remain in place in accordance with the Federal Endangered Species Act, among other emerging law and policy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The other “jaw of the vise” is their pet program of “installing LWD” in these same rivers and streams. Never mind that both of these misguided efforts have produced death and injury, and exacerbated flooding damage…the zealots have clung to their “pets”with a subtle but real defiance. That is changing, but not fast enough, for instance, for young Russelle Yap. Russelle hopped into the Skykomish up near Sultan on sunny day in July.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Russelle was with several friends, without adequate flotation and safety gear. He was soon trapped in a logjam just downstream. As his friends struggled futilely to pull him out, young Russelle lost his life.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yes, the kids were careless about their gear, but kids will do that sort of thing. Didn’t we all?? The hard fact of the matter is that Russelle was trapped in a logjam that Snohomish county public safety troops had sought for years to remove. It was not to be.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In spite of several other near death incidents there the Washington Department of Wildlife and the State Department of Natural Resources refused to permit the removal. New salmon habitat, they said!! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How many fish do you suppose they would trade one of their kids for???</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The final absurdity: They have been at this for nearly a quarter century, and they are beginning to admit that the fish runs are not significantly improved!! But…never mind!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Following then are a two earlier reports on the subject that should intrigue and inform. And more to come.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Chuck Pillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14383605776626238599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878589.post-76121620695654776272010-07-29T22:08:00.000-07:002015-03-30T17:22:45.239-07:00Torpedoes in the Green River<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">A DANGEROUS LITTLE SECRET</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Concern about catastrophic flooding potential in the Green River Floodplain this fall has brought focus to the infirmity of the Howard Hanson Dam…and other danger factors that hang ominously over the communities downstream in the Green River Valley.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Several government agencies have joined to sound the alarm and provide some support for the potential victims to make whatever preparations are possible…and in any event be prepared to evacuate if worse comes to worse.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Preeminent among these agencies is the UNITED STATES ARMY CORP OF ENGINEERS.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In a public meeting in Auburn some weeks just past, Colonel Anthony Wright, local commander of the CORP, noted some of the danger factors in the upper stretches of the river in addition to the danger of possible failure at the Dam.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Among others, he alerted the public to the significant danger posed by loose logs (“torpedoes” the Col. called them) in the upper river, that can be swept along by a flood surge and literally destroy levees and other infrastructure…and that this could lead to an explosive flood surge destroying community areas and likely causing death to some trapped in the deluge.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This sort of information is very properly made public. The damage caused by large wood and other significant debris in a flood surge has been chronicled since any records of flooding have been kept in this region and elsewhere. No question remains.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What did not get said at that meeting…nor before or since…is the fact…still secret…that the CORP has been forced to dump literally hundreds of those very “torpedoes” in the River just below the H.H. DAM. This has been part of a program aimed at “habitat enhancement” for fish in the river. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">These programs have been in place for fifteen to twenty years and admittedly still have not proven to significantly restore fish-runs…which clearly are being decimated more by ocean conditions and predators. In any event “habitat” can be created far more safely than dumping loose “torpedoes” into a stream… above the tens of thousands of hapless citizens…and their children…not to mention the billions of dollars of vital public and private infrastructure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This program is slated to go on…FOR A TOTAL OF FIFTY YEARS…until literally thousands of these dangerous missiles have been dumped above the Valley. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Details of this program…a result of the hard work of our good neighbor Martha Parker… are available at <a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.nws.usace.army.mil/PublicMenu/documents/HHD_AWSP"></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Most folks are sympathetic to such environmental concern…but when the cost may be measured in human life…some restraint is in order. That is clearly the case today in the Green River Valley.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Proper review by responsible authorities is paramount and should be prompt. The fact that the CORP feels compelled to maintain secrecy about this danger speaks volumes. Sources at the CORP tell us there is real distress about this disconnect from their historic mission making these rivers as safe as possible. This seems to be a sort of “PRE-KATRINA” circumstance re-visited. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A proper inquiry will identify just who it is that can stymie the better judgment of the CORP… and impose this secret danger on an unsuspecting public! Indeed! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And certainly as well…these questions must be answered…CAN MORE BE DONE TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC NOW?? IN ADVANCE OF THE CALAMITY THAT WILL CERTAINLY FOLLOW THIS MISGUIDED “HABITAT” PROGRAM…IF NOT THIS YEAR…THEN CERTAINLY IN THE NEAR FUTURE. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And how can this program be allowed to continue in the face of the clear danger it is now recognized to represent?? How many fish will we trade for someone’s child???</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">THESE “TORPEDOES” FORM…OR EXACERBATE EXISTING…LOGJAMS. NO MATTER THE FATE OF THE H.H.DAM…THESE LITTLE LOG DAMS WILL ULTIMATELY FAIL AS HISTORY HAS SHOWN…WITH CERTAINLY DESTRUCTIVE CONSEQUENCE.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We strongly suggest that the CORP draw from resources at Fort Lewis and enlist the personnel and equipment available. THIS IS WELL WITHIN THEIR AUTHORITY! IN FACT IT IS THEIR RESPONSIBILITY! A BASIC TENET OF THEIR MISSION!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Army Rangers and Engineers could be mobilized…those huge helicopters standing by could be airborne…and some part at least of this reckless man-made danger could be abated. While there is still time!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Other Govt. agency personnel and private contractors could be put to work and some of the natural logjams and other hazards could be addressed as well. It bears note here that several other agencies have aggressively “protected” these natural hazards from removal as well…again in the name of “HABITAT." Time to revisit that policy as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All this myopia has brought the public safety issue in the Valley to “critical mass.” The public deserves better. We say again…habitat can be created…or repaired…far more safely.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One thing is certain. Those huge “copters” will… sooner or later… be in the air over the Green River Valley. If it is later…it may well be to rescue flood-survivors…or worse…to retrieve the bodies of victims.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">THAT SHOULD NOT BE!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">WE URGE ALL WHO SHARE THIS CONCERN TO CONTACT THE APPROPRIATE OFFICIALS AND DEMAND A REVIEW.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Chuck Pillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14383605776626238599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878589.post-13042409281137281392010-07-29T21:49:00.000-07:002015-03-30T17:23:22.499-07:00Deadly Rivers: Trouble in King County<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If the public awakened one morning to a headline announcing that King County had a new priority/policy, establishing river-bank landscaping as the prime task for the County Dept of Transportation crews…setting aside road safety/maintenance and other mundane tasks to get on with the more important installation of logs and stumps (so-called Large Woody Debris, or LWD) and exotic flora in and along our streams and ditches…little doubt what the typical public reaction would be.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If sidebar articles noted the death of members of the public here and there…trapped in some of these artificial installations or natural logjams that have been protected by the same policy…or accidents and deaths along rivers and ditches for want of necessary guardrails…again a predictable public response…someone would have to explain.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The incredulous reader would be shocked to consider…for instance…the tragic loss of the two youngsters whose vehicle tumbled into the Green River last week…in the context of so reckless a County policy…or maybe the plight of the Maple Valley woman who lay helpless and trapped in her vehicle in a ditch out there last year…long days before she was finally rescued…would come to mind. And again…all the grief for want of a guardrail…or any of the several other occurrences of the sort.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If the story went on to detail approval by the County Executive and the County Council of this policy…and the Sheriff was found looking away…there would be hell to pay. Such recklessness would seem unthinkable!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Unthinkable that these sworn public servants would approve this sort of madness? Unthinkable…indeed! But the de facto reality is that our worthy public servants have left certain County employees to operate in a vacuum of mismanagement and inattention …and that has as certainly created tragedy and danger to the public…as if they had directly approved it to begin with!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Money is being poured into failed and failing projects as described above, by one section of the County Department of Natural Resources, with no effective oversight has festooned even the seasonal puddles and dry ditches with what is at best to be called landscaping. Large logs and boulders placed in some areas where only seasonal waters accumulate. The cost of all this so troublesome in a County where so many critical budget items are falling to the axe is just remarkable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Probably no more tragic and ironic an example of this is that site on the Green River Road where those two little lives were lost. There are long gaps in what little guardrail there is along that dangerous path. Where there is guardrail up the road a ways, it bears the scars of other more fortunate travelers who have struck it with their vehicles, preventing them from a similar fate…a tumble into the river. There is no doubt these little ones would have been saved if all that road were properly guarded!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And unnoticed by most who visited the site to pay respects, and assist where they could, is a nearby little rivulet called Olsen Creek. It empties into the river about 300 feet from the accident scene. This creek is about four feet wide and was running high the day in question, yet the water was not within 2 to 3 feet of certain large logs placed parallel to the flow along with several large boulders.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At a cost of tens of thousands of dollars at this site alone, King County had “landscaped” this freshet to “mitigate” some construction elsewhere…another site that could not possibly have benefited from this waste. Neighbors are clear that this creek supports a run of salmon, but it has never been burdened with or in apparent need of, the sort of “mitigation” as seen now. And the fish did just fine. Point of fact, the water will never reach these logs above as placed…no benefit to nature will ever accrue.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The cost however is now clear to all the brokenhearted who grieve the loss of children. How many feet of guardrail could have been installed with those wasted thousands of public dollars? And how many other wistful wasteful projects are carried out in the vacuum permitted by County leadership. The answer is in the hundreds. And at the very least they are costly…many are very dangerous as well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Two other examples are worthy of inclusion…they really drive home the point of all this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">About four miles upstream from Renton a new “Elliott Bridge” across the Cedar River was completed just a few years back. Total project cost was in the area of eleven million dollars. A critical examination of the costs there reveals roughly two million in what is palpably waste. A costly ($165,000) box culvert was installed there on an adjoining creek. This culvert exceeds the potential maximum flow level of the creek by 1200 percent according to one County engineer who asked not to be named. This needless expense went to replace a perfectly functional 5-foot culvert at the site!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Landscaping alone on this project exceeded half a million dollars. Exotic plantings alone exceed $500,000! Among other plantings…$66,000 dollars for something called the “Nootka Rose”…which just happens to be a favored source of browse for the local deer herd! Planting an attraction for deer in what is an increasingly high traffic intersection again speaks volumes about priority here! This creek is also “landscaped” high on the bank with roughly 20 large logs which will also never see the water. These “enhance the salmon habitat”…we are told…at $1500 to $3000 apiece!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The most recent example of this misguided environmental zeal is found a couple miles upstream on the Cedar…if you are quick to observe that is…they may not survive another storm. Along a stretch of the river that is being “naturalized” by DNR, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent to place LWD on the shoreline. These logs with. root-wads still attached, were chained together and marginally anchored to large rocks. Their purpose is cited somewhere in the unreviewed annals of this particular project.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That these setups are inherently dangerous is absolutely not in question. Even the DNR employees who place them have admitted as much. Similar installations have caused additional debris to collect in rivers, causing near-drownings and property damage. But still they are promoted and placed for some questionable purpose or other. Never mind the safety of the public. The children.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And more irony??? Just last week…as reported by KING-5 TV…these “carefully engineered” and guaranteed safe installations began to “migrate”…that is loosen up and float away…in the first modest storm of the season. As neighbor Ron Burrus noted in the KING-5 report, at the very least this floating… publicly funded…debris represents a huge risk to the infrastructure down stream…especially the new multimillion dollar Elliott Bridge! Never mind the safety of the public! Next in line…the golf course.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The final scene of this little drama…KING 5 found the D.O.T. crews and the DNR engineer frantically trying to secure this mess with 3” chain to nearby trees…large unstable cottonwoods. What do you suppose will happen when a really big storm rolls through??? Most likely the whole mess, including the “newly recruited” cottonwoods on the bank will begin another voluntary journey…perhaps as far as the bridges in the City of Renton!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have to say a thoughtful word here about the folks at DNR who plan and execute these projects. I am acquainted with many of them and they are decent folks…but their understanding of public safety issues is wanting. They have…at the very least a “conflict of interest”…in their situation…experimenting with the notion that somehow urban streams can be returned to their “natural state” as in 100 years or so ago.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This misbegotten notion could one day have them attempting to re-direct the Cedar into its old path…which just happened to be the heart of modern-day Renton…City Hall square in the path. Never mind the old “Black River” which shared a similar path…right through what is now the Renton Airport!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And to this point… just a year ago last July…as concern from public safety and river recreation groups reached a great level…the King County Council at last took what some hoped would be a level-headed look at this problem. Council members Reagan Dunn and Larry Philips penned a letter to County Exec Ron Sims requesting some accountability for public safety concerns. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With more “fanfare than fat”…an inquiry of sorts was conducted and predictably closed with assurances that all was well…and after all didn’t we all want the Salmon to recover??? This last point exposes the most common excuse used to shield these dangers from real scrutiny. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here is the hard point of fact! The real science around “salmon recovery” is at best neutral when considering these LWD exercises! Media and “should be responsible” County government folks swallow “hook-line-and-sinker” the lame arguments that this danger is mandated by some Federal environmental plan or other. It would do the salmon (and Steelhead) a hell of a lot more good to just shoot…that’s right shoot…the burgeoning populations of Sea Lions that destroy whole or partial fish-runs when they gang up at dams and the Ballard Locks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And finally the question for zealots who decry these questions. How many fish would you trade one of your kids for???</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">THE ABSURD FOOTNOTES ABOUND:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To illustrate the degree to which County Govt. itself is divided consider this: in these recent years of “back to nature” zealotry even public safety authorities have been thwarted in trying to maintain a public safety balance in these projects. You will not find a cop or firefighter who has anything positive to say about LWD. Likewise they deplore having to let natural debris or other dangerous conditions accumulate around our rivers, as DNR has argued they should.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In June 2006, the King County Marine safety Unit responded to a whole bevy of complaints about youngsters injured swinging from ropes (attached to trees along the bank) at the famous “Blue Hole” on the Snoqualmie River near North Bend. After several injuries and near death situations the Marine Safety Unit took matters in hand and cut down the two offending trees! End of problem! The neighbors cheered them on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Reaction from elsewhere in County Govt??? A “Code Enforcement” officer from the DDES/DNR cited the cops for “logging and clearing in a sensitive area…without a permit!!!” This citation was recorded in DDES file # E05G0183…which file has mysteriously disappeared from the records at the Sheriff’s Office according to the staff there. Whatever the fate of the file and the cops in question……this sort of event was hardly a happy token between the two agencies. How does that bode for public safety. Probably just coincidence that this “file” disappeared the same month a local paper (P.I., July 2005) began an expose’ on such doings at the sheriff’s office!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN???</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The responsible parties…the Sheriff…the County Council…the County Executive…should promptly review this program and place public safety in the forefront of all such efforts. A real hearing should be held to put the mater in focus…and the cops and firefighters should find the voices at last and weigh in publicly! If any of these good people see any task of Government as more important than public safety…especially that of children…they should be put out to seek other employment. The cynical excuse that some Federal, State or Local “environmental fiat” takes precedence over public safety should be seen for what it is worth…a violation of the first and most sacred purpose of Government…and promptly discarded! Let’s get on with it before other innocents are sacrificed! As I asked above…how many fish would you trade a child for???</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Finally! This madness about fish infects the State as well!! Deaths are mounting all over the State as rivers are reduced to death traps by ardent but misguided “environmentalist bureaucrats! Take a look at the potentially deadly logjam in the middle of downtown Issaquah…courtesy of someone at the state Dept of Fish and Game. Questions have got to be asked about the safety of these “projects”…the public deserves some answers!</span><br />
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<br />Chuck Pillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14383605776626238599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878589.post-86451545887203390412010-07-18T23:17:00.000-07:002015-03-30T17:23:43.093-07:00River Safety in the News<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Some video clips to give an introduction to some of these issues:</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.king5.com/news/local/59783052.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Logs on Cedar River Raise Flooding Concerns</span></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.kirotv.com/news/18975303/detail.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Salmon Recovery Project Falls Apart (KIRO)</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.komonews.com/news/local/82647942.html?tab=video">County, Boaters Looking for Common Ground (KOMO)</a></span><br />
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<br />Chuck Pillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14383605776626238599noreply@blogger.com1