Officer.com Police Blogs & Podcasts

Tim Dees
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

While I had hoped for a better outcome, it’s looking like there really were some errors on the police side of the equation in the May Day riot in Los Angeles. A preliminary report from LAPD indicates that the officers on scene did not know who the incident commander was. The order to fire rubber bullets at the crowd was given by a police captain in a command post several blocks away, while a deputy chief was apparently on the scene or very close at the time that order was given.

A better perspective on the incident can be inferred from two press releases by the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which is the labor association for LA police officers. These announcements list a series of recommendations for training and policy changes that would prevent future incidents from going wrong, and state that training has suffered in favor of keeping up staffing on the street in the undermanned department.

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Tim Dees
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

I have to admit that I was surprised, although not always pleasantly, by the reaction to last week’s entry about the partying cops in DC. That got 43 comments in less than ten days, which I think is a new record. The comments ran roughly two to one in agreement vs. “you’re an idiot,” but the latter were somewhat more strongly worded.

This blog, which used to be my weekly editorial in a different format, is not much more than a place for my opinion. The operative word in that sentence is “my,” because it doesn’t represent the opinion or official position of Officer.com, Cygnus Business Media, the John Birch Society, or my dog. If I didn’t make it controversial, most people wouldn’t bother to read it.

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Tim Dees
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

Police Week 2007 is over, and those that aren’t hanging in for some sightseeing are on their way home. Except for some events being delayed for one reason or another, most everything went well. The fallen were honored, the survivors were comforted, and the Brother(and Sister-)hood of the Badge was renewed. Unfortunately, somebody took the opportunity to use the observation of National Peace Officer Memorial Day as an excuse to party, and this will not end well.

The NBC affiliate in Washington, DC is reporting two nights of unruly street partying by officers who were allegedly in town for Police Week. A citizen videotaped officers wearing police logo shirts and driving a Segway transporter while they drank beer out of bottles and cups that were filled from the back of an SUV with New Jersey license plates. The citizen complained of shouting, racing motorcycle engines, and other conduct usually associated with teenage beer busts. The DC Metro Police were called several times, and officers responded, but they did nothing to end the disturbance, and the partyers saluted the passing officers with upraised beer bottles.

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Tim Dees
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

I’m in DC this week for the Police Week activities. This isn’t the first time I’ve experienced Police Week, but in the previous years I had always been here on other business, and didn’t have time to do much more than drop in here or there. This is a bit different.

If you have never seen the memorial during Police Week, then you should be prepared for a change. The Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Judiciary Square in DC is an impressive monument, but not a spectacular one. It is understated and low-profile. If you were walking by on the way to someplace else, you might mistake it for a small city park without much grass. This week, it definitely gets your attention. The cops that come here from all over the world decorate the memorial with flower wreaths, photos, cards of remembrance, and in one case, the door from a patrol car. There are hundreds of chairs set up in front of a stage, and scaffolding support lights, speakers and projectors on either side.

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Tim Dees
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

It’s another fine, sunny day in Los Angeles, where being a cop means always having to say you’re sorry.

I already mentioned the MacArthur Park May Day riot in my last installment. Since then, the mayor of Los Angeles, the Honorable Antonio Villaraigosa, with a little help from the LA Times, has stirred the pot. Mayor Villaraigosa made an appearance at an inner city Catholic church last Saturday (Cinco de Mayo, which is now a bigger deal in LA than Independence Day ever was) to promise “There will be consequences.” The LA Times chose to report this under a headline reading “LA mayor vows action against guilty officers.”

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Tim Dees
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

Three things that share a common thread happened this week, and caused me to momentarily channel Cartman for my title. First the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Scott v. Harris to deny an offender who was running from the police the right to sue for the injuries he sustained in so doing. Next, LAPD officers responded to a May Day disturbance at MacArthur Park, and the disturbance escalated to a full-blown riot. Allegations of excessive force are now being investigated. Finally, a deputy sheriff in Florida is getting five days on the beach for his actions when a speed violator took off from a traffic stop and was caught by the deputy. One could find lots of things these incidents have in common, but there is a single characteristic that stands out for me.

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