SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO TAKE A STAND!

“If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.” – Alexander Hamilton

Have you ever been asked to do something you felt was wrong? Did you give in to someone else’s plan or did you take a stand?

My Story

As a 17-year-old high school senior looking for my first “real” job, I was excited when I spotted the “help wanted part time” sign in the window of a local Radio Shack store. I went home to dress appropriately and returned to the store, introducing myself to the store manager. The store manager and I immediately hit it off. He was a former Baltimore city police officer and I an aspiring one. It didn’t hurt that I had been a licensed amateur radio operator since age 13 with a knowledge of electronics. I was immediately scheduled for a pre-hire polygraph exam and was hired after passing with flying colors. It was on my third day of work that I was given some bad news. The regional manager had nullified my hire. It turned out that my being under 18 years of age violated Radio Shack hiring practices and I had somehow fallen through the cracks.

Having already been on the job for three days, I decided to challenge this ruling. With the help of my parents we wrote a rather eloquent letter to the well known President of the Radio Shack division of the Tandy Corporation Lewis Kornfeld, famous for his “flyer-side chats.” After all, I had already been owed money for work completed. By taking a stand, not only was I reinstated but went on to be one of the company’s top salespeople and became a retail store manager for them by age 19.

Having learned a valuable lesson at such a young age served me well when I later myself became a Baltimore city police officer. I utilized my knowledge of the power of taking a stand whenever necessary throughout my career.

I have always placed a high value on truth and justice and took my oath to enforce the law seriously:

 “I, do swear, that I will support the Constitution of the United States and that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the City of Baltimore, State of Maryland and support the Constitution and laws thereof, and that I will, to the best of my skill and judgment, diligently and faithfully, without partiality or prejudice, execute the Office of Police Officer.”

On one particularly notable occasion, after working a busy day-shift in Baltimore’s western police district in the early 1980s, my squad was drafted to be held over for a detail which happened to be at the AFRAM (African American) Festival which was actively taking place at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Due to crowd size and some incidents that had already occurred, command had made the decision to activate additional manpower for festival patrols. During a roll-call briefing about the assignment, my shift commander ordered the drafted officers in attendance to avoid making arrests and specifically ordered that any observed open-air drug use by festival participants be ignored “because we don’t want to create a riot.” Feeling that this was an unlawful order asking to violate my oath of office to diligently and faithfully, without partiality or prejudice, execute the Office of Police Officer  I found myself asking my shift commander to put the order to suspend the enforcement of laws in writing. I never received that written order and was not sent to the festival.

As years went on, I took a stand against the occasional order which did not comport to my oath of office, written policy, legal requirements or my moral compass. I did not take a stand unless I felt certain that it was justifiable and I was not known as a difficult person to supervise. To the contrary, I had good working relationships with supervision and command. We frequently found common ground and without exception had mutual respect.

Taking the high road

During my recent unsuccessful political campaign to become my home county’s next sheriff, I withstood false rumors about me and more than a few naysayers were revealed. Some continually made ridiculous assertions. Throughout it all, my supporters and I proudly stayed the course on the high road without being baited into the bad politics of mudslinging. Rather, we were not deterred in having a positive impact through solutions-based action plans for change.

In this day and age of political discourse, much of which is against the police and in favor of bad behaviors turning victim-perpetrator roles inside out, isn’t it time for law enforcement officers and leaders to consistently take the high road while individually and collectively taking a stand for truth, service, safety and justice?

Are you “woke” yet? Never surrender!

Joel E. Gordon is a former Field Training Officer with the Baltimore City Police Department and is a past Chief of Police for the city of Kingwood, West Virginia. He has also served as vice-chair of a multi-jurisdictional regional narcotics task force. An award winning journalist, he is author of the book Still Seeking Justice: One Officer's Story and founded the Facebook group Police Authors Seeking Justice. Look him up at stillseekingjustice.com

Welcome To The Powder Keg (revised)

Florissant, Missouri, is a suburb of St. Louis County about 18 miles from St. Louis City (proper). Like Minneapolis, Baltimore, and New York City, St. Louis and Ferguson, Missouri were targeted for complete mayhem.  Florissant was added to that list.

Peaceful demonstrations turned violent quickly when professional agitators rolled in and mingled with the Marxist terrorist groups Black Lives Matter as well as ANTIFA, and everybody took the cue to “get their clown on.” They looted and burned, and it had nothing to do with Mr. Floyd.

Let me hip you to something, “These folks don’t give a shit about George Floyd! They don’t give a shit about Rayshard Brooks either!”

The problem is at the top, folks. It’s not the frontline cops who have brickbats bouncing off their skulls every time shit “pops off.”  It’s the command staff, (“the brass”) who are afraid to do their jobs and the politicians who are holding the cops back. They want to protect their jobs, and their money.  Integrity be damned.  Someone gets sacrificed to satisfy the mob.

 “Under the bus you go, tiger! Hold on because we’re going to back it up and then park it on top of you.” And, that’s how it’s done.  Regardless of the sacrifice, Atlanta burned.

It makes as much sense as someone whistling at my neighbor’s wife and I get so mad that I go down the road and beat the shit out a local farmer planting corn and steal his tractor. On the way home I smash out the window of the local liquor store and steal as much as I can carry.  “Don’t worry folks. I’m just acting out.  I’ll be finished in a couple weeks.” Does that sound logical or normal? No!

That’s what is being played out in the major cities where BLM and the ANTIFA pussies (Yup, I said it) are destroying shit, and they are being allowed (if not encouraged and sometimes paid) to do it! You want chaos? You don’t want the police? This country will burn to the ground!

The folks who really need the police are already prisoners in their own neighborhoods!  Defund the police? Defund the politicians and put more cops on the streets to protect these folks. And then, let the cops do their jobs!

Florissant, Missouri. On June 2nd an unmarked police vehicle occupied by three officers attempted to curb a vehicle. Its three occupants bailed from the moving vehicle and the police vehicle struck one of the fleeing occupants and he was arrested, roughly. I saw some of the video. I will neither condemn nor defend the actions of the officer.  That’s what the courts are for. There’s always outrage.  The officer driving was white; the suspect treated and released for an ankle injury, was black. Clergy groups called for the officer to be suspended. BLM got in on the act quick, fast and in a hurry.  They organized protests, and demanded the officer be fired.  The chief of police and the mayor asked for an independent investigation and it was underway. The protesters demanded the officer be terminated. The mayor and chief acquiesced, quickly.  The officer was terminated, quickly.   The protests continued, now demanding the officer be charged and arrested, so that happened, also quickly. The protests continue today. 

I’ve seen it, firsthand. The police station is boarded up.  There have been as many as a dozen police officers protecting the mayor’s house.  The protesters want the other two officers terminated and charged with, well … anything.  They’ve been told, “It’s not going to happen.  They didn’t do anything criminal.”  So, what exactly do the protesters want? Who knows?

The old cop in me, I went up to put eyeballs on the scene.  I took along a friend.  Someone posted on social media that the U.S. flag in front of the PD had been desecrated. That pissed me off!

The BLM and ANTIFA folks bellowing into their bullhorns, signs, buckets and drumsticks, not really organized at all, just screaming at the guys and gals in uniform and making demands.  I saw someone in a white shirt and a gold badge slink out the front door of the PD and spied him, hiding in the bushes near a brick pillar, watching from a place of cover and concealment, the activity on the line some 70 meters away.  He never made an attempt to get off the porch and talk with the protesters or join the cops holding the line. I waved at him. He didn’t wave back. He knew it was me and I, him. It was a disgrace. He should be embarrassed

I was some thirty meters from the crowd, just watching,

“Check this guy out,” a slightly built, smiling black man approached my friend and I,

“You guys here to join the protest?”

“Nope. We’re just watching Old Glory. Don’t want to see anything happen to her.”

He scurried off.

I turned to my friend,

“They’re running counter intelligence.  He’s a scout, watch, where he goes. He’ll tell his friends about us and we’ll have company, pretty quick.”

He did exactly that, and within seconds, we were swarmed by five black men, a tall skinny fellow with a big mouth and something in his waistband under his shirt, another was wheelchair-bound and carrying an AR-style pistol.  A dark-skinned lad with dreadlocks was carrying an AR-style rifle on a sling, another who could have been his twin was similarly armed but with a red bandanna holding his hair up. All smiles, he was the talker of this group. His rifle was equipped with a drum magazine. There was a portly fellow in a “wife-threatener” (usually we call them a wife-beater except in cases wherein the person wearing it is not physically up to the task, and I don’t think he was up for much physical activity) This guy was also sporting “white face,” makeup which added a little “comic relief” to a scene that had the potential to go horribly wrong.

 Red bandanna started to speak just as a pudgy person, that I could only describe as androgynous, bulging out of shirt and pants, joined the group.  It yelled something from behind its mask that was unintelligible, but angry. 

Red bandanna, “What are y’all doing here?”

“Watching our flag,” as I pointed to it.

“It ain’t my flag, shit!” He laughed as he spoke.

“Well, it’s my flag, and my friend’s flag”

“What if I go over there and tear that flag down off that pole and burn it? Whatcha gonna do about that?”

I looked red bandanna square in the eyes, “It’s still there.  You want to take it down you’re certainly welcome to try.”

“You prepared to die for that flag?” he seemed serious enough for me. A threat? You bet!

I answered, “Lots of folks have died for it. What are you prepared to do? That’s the real question.”

It was hot out, but not so hot for the red bandannas’ skin to be leaking so hard.  He had stopped laughing but I hadn’t laughed since the encounter began. To me, this was not a joke.

The tall one with the big mouth jumped up and perched atop an orange water-filled barricade. He was in my space.  Red bandanna told him to move away from me.  He did.

I saw every trigger finger on every rifle I could see.

The fat tub of shit in whiteface had to get in on it, red bandanna suddenly quiet,

“What if I snatch that hat off yo head? Whatchu gone do about that?”

Still watching every trigger finger,

“This hat? I’m bettin’ it’s gonna stay right here on my head. What are you gone do ‘bout that?”

He must have lost his voice. No reply.

Red bandanna,

“What you gone do, kill us? You packin’?”

“You’re all carrying guns. There’s what, five of you and two of us? This is America. You can carry guns. We can carry guns. What’s the big deal? No reason to get all nervous.”

Red bandanna had “that look,” the look when you’ve started something you weren’t really sure you wanted to start.  Brandishing weapons attempting to instill fear, and making threats, weren’t working.

Calmer heads prevail. We were outnumbered, but not really out-gunned; they had long guns and probably very little training.  We were armed and had lots of training. Discretion being the better part of valor, my friend and I agreed that we’d go leave the way we came, so we simply backed up, cautiously (turning and running usually triggers an enhanced mob attack), and left.   

I think they considered following, but red bandanna knew there was something in the wind that told him it might be a bad idea. Old Glory still at full mast, my hat still on my head.  I certainly didn’t want to be on the evening news or in the newspapers.  We would have been labeled as “troublemakers” spoiling for an armed confrontation.  I did wish they had just kept their distance. We were just on opposite sides.  Where’s the harm in me, a law-abiding citizen on a public roadway, engaging in a conversation about our beloved flag, being accosted by a group of armed men making credible threats?  Powder keg. That’s the best way to describe it, and it probably plays out more often than you’d think, but nobody will tell that story.  Another time, another place, a similar situation will play out and someone will do something they will regret.  We, as Americans cannot roll over and let the mob rule. There comes a time when you need to make a stand.  My question, the one plaguing me is, “Where are the other patriots?” The powder keg is there, and somebody is going to touch that fucker off!

Kirk Lawless is a 28 year, decorated, veteran police officer from the St Louis area. He’s a former SWAT operator, narcotics agent, homicide investigator, detective and Medal of Valor recipient. Off the job due to an up close and personal gunfight, he now concentrates on writing. He’s a patriotic warrior, artist, poet, actor, musician, and man of peace.

Contact : kirklawless@yahoo.com

POLICE REFORM: HERE WE GO AGAIN

After every high-profile police use of force going back to the Rodney King incident involving the Los Angeles Police Department, there has been an immediate knee-jerk reaction call to reform police agencies. Change was needed, we were told. The problem is that the final reports on the need for change were one-sided. Efforts were made to improve policing but no efforts to date have been made requiring criminals to behave in ways that will increase the likelihood of surviving an encounter with police. When you flee police, fail to abide by an officer’s lawful command, resist arrest or attempt to disarm an officer, you are likely to experience a bad outcome.

Yet every time an officer legally uses force to protect themselves against a threat posed by a suspect, we go about the same inane exercise of trying to reform policing. The reason that not much ever changes, however, is that we end up working on the wrong thing. The police are not the problem. Failed communities are the problem, but fixing that seems to be too high a mountain to scale so we go back to picking at the low-hanging fruit, which is to try to reform policing. Panels and task forces are convened, meetings are held and a work product is usually produced that contains nothing more than platitudes, rhetoric and cliches. After a while when emotions have subsided, everybody goes back to doing what they were doing before the incident that got people’s attention.

The last time we heard calls for change on a national scale was after the riots in Ferguson, Missouri, New York and Baltimore. People forget that before Freddie Gray’s death in police custody, President Obama gave a speech in which he heralded the Baltimore Police Department for its reform efforts and its commitment to community policing. He called Baltimore PD a model for change and one that every law enforcement agency should emulate. A few months later, after the death of Freddie Gray, the Baltimore Police were being investigated by Obama’s Department of Justice under Attorney General Eric Holder for racism, profiling and unfair treatment in black neighborhoods. I’m serious.

Obama signed an Executive Order appointing an 11-member task force titled 21st Century Policing that would “begin the process of healing and restoring community trust”. Yes, here we go again. A 38-page document called an action plan was produced. Most of what was recommended was already being done by agencies across America. All the usual key words were included, like community policing, crime reduction, building trust, oversight and training. The rest was a bunch of pie in the sky flowery-sounding nonsense that was actually dangerous to officers and citizens alike. Nothing changed. And then came the in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. And just as sure as the sun rising in the east, the call went out to reform policing — yet again.

I cannot stress enough the importance of blocking efforts by politicians to transform the profession of policing in America in knee-jerk fashion because of one or two incidents involving the police use of force. Knee-jerk public policy most often turns out to be bad public policy because a balancing test is not performed. The balancing test answers this vital question. Have we considered what bad outcomes might result from our emotional decision? Asking this important question can reduce the likelihood of the law of unintended consequences. Another troublesome point is that this reform movement is being led by people who do not like police. In fact, they hate police. Black Lives Matter, Antifa or any other innocently disguised groups cannot and should not be allowed to drive police reform. They are pursuing reform with one goal — to weaken a law enforcement officer’s ability to keep the peace, enforce the rule of law and take law violators into custody. In other words, it will severely hamper effective law enforcement. Calls for reform are not based on any data or research to support sweeping change. These are based solely on emotional rhetoric and propaganda. A recent poll by Rasmussen shows that 81% of people polled believe that police deserve more respect and support. A Gallup poll shows that 80% of blacks polled want the same level of policing and some want more law enforcement in their communities. Why, then, are politicians ignoring the will of the general public?

Fortunately, many police agencies are refusing to cave to major policy changes being pursued by the idiot social justice warriors. The reformers are people who have no understanding whatsoever about police work. A Washington Times newspaper survey of police agencies across the country found that, “Most are making only slight adjustments to standard operating procedures rather than major overhauls.” Calls for more body cameras is a reasonable request. Most agencies banned the use of chokeholds a long time ago. Banning no-knock search warrants deserves more data and research before banning. This is an officer safety issue when serving narcotic-related search warrants. Let’s be clear. What the cop-hating crowd has in mind for reform is to ban the use of tear gas in riot situations and to eliminate the use of police canines as one Milwaukee, Wisconsin, alderman has introduced and to prevent agencies from buying surplus military equipment under the 1033 federal program. Things like ballistic shields and helmets.

Another sweeping change suggestion is a call for national standards in local policing. It’s a terrible idea. That is about one thing: federal control of local police. The Founding Fathers knew the danger of that and did not want it. What the people making this suggestion to police standards fail to understand is that how a community is policed is incumbent upon local conditions. Every community is unique and requires a style of policing tailored to that particular environment and culture. How you police in a dynamic and complex densely populated urban area like New York is different than how you would police a midsize Midwestern city or outlying rural area.

What is noticeably left out from the recommendation list is how the community can do a better job of holding up their responsibility in a representative democracy. People have certain responsibilities to make communities work and function. Parents need to raise socially adjusted children, for instance. They need to instill virtues in them like respect for authority and personal responsibility. Police were designed to keep the peace already in place because of societally enforced standards, not create the peace. Now they are called for everything. Increased police/citizen interaction leads to an increase for potential conflict.  That’s how we arrive at Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray and George Floyd.

Sheriff David Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of AmericasSheriff LLC, Board member of the Crime Research Center, author of the book Cop Under Fire: Beyond Hashtags of Race Crime and Politics for a Better America. To learn more visit www.americassheriff.com

Politics, Pardons and Commutations

Politics, Pardons and Commutations

The power of clemency is one of the fullest powers bestowed on the president by the United States Constitution. The pardon powers of the president are outlined in Article Two of the United States Constitution (Section 2, Clause 1):The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States.

Clemency given by a president falls into one of two categories: A pardon is an executive order granting clemency for a conviction; it may be granted at any point after the commission of the crime. As per Justice Department regulations, convicted persons may only apply five or more years after their sentence has been completed. However, the president's power to pardon is not restricted by any temporal constraints except that the crime must have been committed. Its practical effect is the restoration of civil rights and statutory disabilities (i.e., firearm rights, occupational licensing) associated with a past criminal conviction. A commutation is the mitigation of the sentence of someone currently serving a sentence for a crime pursuant to a conviction without vacating the conviction itself (example: Roger Stone).President Trump, as of this writing, has issued 44 pardons and commutations. This compared to President Obama, who after eight full years in office left with a total of 1,927.

Of greater importance than the number of individuals granted clemency is the severity of the offenses and the totality of the known information on their individual backgrounds, their likelihood of recidivism and their own success at improving their lives and the lives of others while incarcerated. 

While the vast majority of President Obama’s executive clemency orders affected people considered being low-level and nonviolent participants in the drug trade, many with an addiction issue themselves, not all met those criteria. Perhaps President Obama’s most well-known commutation decision was when he ordered Army Private Chelsea Manning to be released from prison after serving just seven years of a 34-year sentence for passing secret documents to WikiLeaks. 

Lesser known is that President Obama ordered the early and immediate release of Oscar Lopez Rivera on Jan. 17, 2017, as one of the final acts of his presidency. During the 1970s, Lopez Rivera headed a Chicago-based cell of the Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN), which waged a futile but violent struggle to win Puerto Rican independence. The FALN claimed responsibility for more than 120 bombings between 1974 and 1983 that killed six and injured dozens. In 1981, a federal court in Chicago sentenced Lopez Rivera to 55 years for seditious conspiracy, armed robbery, interstate transportation of firearms and conspiracy to transport explosives with intent to destroy government property. The indictment listed 28 Chicago-area bombings. FBI agents at the time discovered dynamite, detonators and firearms at two residences occupied by Lopez Rivera. At trial, a cooperating witness from the FALN testified that Lopez Rivera personally trained him in bomb-making. Oscar Lopez Rivera is neither a low-level offender nor a repentant or nonviolent one. 

In contrast, President Trump granted executive clemency and famously commuted the life sentence of first-time, nonviolent drug offender Alice Marie Johnson following a meeting between President Trump and Kim Kardashian. This was followed by landmark justice reforms through the First Step Act which requires the Board of Prisons to assess prisoner recidivism risk and place prisoners in recidivism-reducing and productive programs.

In fact, the president just recently commuted the sentences of five nonviolent offenders. The White House described all of the individuals as having been model inmates during their incarcerations who had worked to better themselves and the people around them while still behind bars. 

So those are the facts. Conclude for yourself the importance executive clemency to those truly deserving second looks who contribute to our society in positive ways versus the potential danger in any president releasing those who could justifiably be deemed to be a threat to our republic.

A complete list of President Obama’s granted executive clemency requests can be found at: https://www.justice.gov/pardon/obama-pardons

https://www.justice.gov/pardon/obama-commutations

A complete list of President Trump’s granted executive clemency requests can be found at:

https://www.justice.gov/pardon/pardons-granted-president-donald-trump

https://www.justice.gov/pardon/commutations-granted-president-donald-trump-2017-present

Joel E. Gordon is a former Field Training Officer with the Baltimore City Police Department and is a past Chief of Police for the city of Kingwood, West Virginia. He has also served as vice-chair of a multi-jurisdictional regional narcotics task force. An award winning journalist, he is author of the book Still Seeking Justice: One Officer's Story and founded the Facebook group Police Authors Seeking Justice. Look him up at stillseekingjustice.com

After Further Review, A Change Of Heart

With great amusement I am watching politicians who eagerly jumped on board with calls from cop haters to defund and even abolish police now having to contort themselves into a more serious public policy proposal now that they see the foolishness of these suggestions after polling suggests there is nearly zero public support across all demographics for defunding police.

What started out as blatant calls to defund and abolish have turned into a game of wordsmithing by two-bit politicians who got too far out in front of their skis on this inane idea. Now defunding, abolishing and cuts have been replaced by words and phrases like “redirecting”, “repurposing” or “reallocating” police resources to disguise and mislead their true intentions.

Democrat vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris calls it “re-imagining” policing. All of this is being done after cities like Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland (OR), Chicago, Milwaukee, New York City and Los Angeles have experienced spikes in violent crime rates as police stood down and backed off the need to be assertive in order to keep crime and violence in check, to keep the peace and maintain law and order. Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden gave his vision of police reform saying he should send social workers along with police on calls to talk them out of using force when they legally need to. You won’t find many social workers who will sign up for that.

The New York City council recommends cutting the six-billion-dollar budget of the NYPD by one billion dollars. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett submitted a city budget for 2021 that includes cutting funding for 125 officers on a police department already operating with vacancies. The liberal local newspaper that shills for the liberal mayor said in a story on the budget that Barrett’s proposal was not a true defunding move. Really? Then what is it? In Seattle, calls for cutting the police budget in half led to “only” a 1% reduction in the police budget. In Portland, the police budget has been cut by $10 million or 4% of the budget and far less that the police hater had sought. In Los Angeles, the city council cut the budget by $150 million. The Philadelphia Police Department was scheduled for an increase in its 2021 budget but that was nixed.

As a law enforcement chief executive and former sheriff of Milwaukee County, I know a thing or two about budgeting. A budget is a plan about what you will do to keep the area safe. Most of what is contained in a budget, about 92%, is eaten up in salaries and benefits. That leaves only 8% left for discretionary spending. That’s working on the margins. My budget, like most law enforcement agencies, was underfunded to start with. That means that the slightest cut is a big deal. Cuts don’t include the rate of inflation-the rising cost of collectively bargained salaries and benefits.

All of this has consequences for the public, especially those who live in areas ravaged by street violence. Poor black and Hispanic people who live in these urban centers will bear a disproportionate level of being victimized. Minneapolis has had more homicides in the first three quarters of 2020 than in all of the previous year. Rising crime in cities cutting police budgets has left clueless politicians scratching their heads. In Minneapolis, for example, at a recent city council meeting, several council members have asked where the police are as their constituents demand that something be done about crime. Council President Lisa Bender even accused the police of not enforcing the law or making arrests.

These absent-minded politicians cannot and will not make the connection between fewer police and rising street crimes like robberies, aggravated assaults and homicides. They cannot make the connection that all this cop-hating and physical attacks are having on the psyche of officers. Chief Medaria

Arredondo had a chance to let them know that cuts mean fewer police and longer response times and that his officers are mentally and physically fatigued. He did not. He stood down. Instead, he said he would discuss it with his commanders. I was recently in Minneapolis and talked to several police officers including one who still has not been cleared for duty having been injured during the riots following the death of George Floyd. They told me that the department was totally demoralized. That Arredondo doesn’t know that is telling how disconnected he is from his officers.

Other city leaders have also had a change of heart. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan was all in with Antifa and Black Lives Matter about abolishing the Seattle Police Department. After an awakening that saw her come under attack from the same insurrectionists she once supported, she had to walk back her initial anti-police position. Her veto of police budget cuts was overridden.

Add to this that retirements and resignations are skyrocketing. The Milwaukee Police Department is experiencing an over 40% retirement rate compared to a year ago. In Minneapolis, 100 officers have left the agency. NYPD is seeing what is described as a “troubling surge in officer retirements”. Most officers surveyed say they are leaving due to all the anti-police rhetoric. Losing a police officer in and of itself places a heavier workload on an already overworked staff. An overworked officer is subject to making more mistakes. Add to that all of the experience that is walking out the door. Politicians don’t consider that. Most agencies do not have a succession plan to capture that knowledge and experience before officers retire. That is not replaced by simply hiring a new officer. Most officers know that it takes about 5 years for an officer to become truly seasoned in the science of policing.

I am sounding the alarm now. The fire is getting closer. We need more effective police leadership today more than ever before. The question is whether we’ll see it or not before this proud profession collapses.

Sheriff David Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of AmericasSheriff LLC, Board member of the Crime Research Center, author of the book Cop Under Fire: Beyond Hashtags of Race Crime and Politics for a Better America. To learn more visit www.americassheriff.com

Let them hate, so long as they fear

“Oderint dum metuant,” loosely translated, is a message capable of sending mixed signals.  For The United States Marine Corps, “No better friend, No worse enemy,” drives home a point.  

Consider the NYPD legend of the 1870s and ‘80s, Captain Alexander “Clubber” Williams and his quote, “There is more law in the end of a policeman’s stick than in any decision of The Supreme Court.”  

People on the left and right will, without a doubt, cringe to some degree when reading this. Does it embody police brutality? Was it applicable in a past century? Certainly. Is it applicable today? Yes, that’s my opinion and I’ll back it up.

We, the police, are a necessary evil.  Should people actually fear us? Yes, but not all people.  Criminals should fear us.  Otherwise, we are approachable and we should be.  Are we guarded?  We’d be foolish not to be.  We are here for the solitary reason of maintaining law and order, keeping the peace, whatever the “flavor of the month” is.  The absurdities of “Defunding or abolishing the police” are catastrophes being set in motion and only in their first trimester.  It’s a litmus test.  

You are witnessing a precursor of some folks’ Utopian dream being played out in major cities as BLM terrorists and ANTIFA counterparts loot, burn, attack and destroy, and guess what. That shit ain’t working!

​You can hate the police all damned day, but the community, as a whole will be better served when the criminal element reverts to fearing the police.  Protest all you want.  I encourage it, but when you break the law there should be consequences, and that’s where the cops come in.  People are calling for the reformation of the police.  Here’s a little clue for you.  Police work has been reforming since its inception.  Police officers for the most part are more educated now and receive training updates at every turn.  It is an ever-evolving, trained animal, but like every animal it can turn on you when attacked or provoked.  

I read a comment from an ANTIFA “warrior” a few hours ago, “Man, I got hit with those pepper-balls, it was like I was in a war.”  Pepper-balls hurt, no doubt, but when this turns into a real war, this guy will be begging for pepper-balls.

Back to “Clubber” Williams, and the fondness for his nightstick.  The Supreme Court Justices are afforded the time to dissect every interpretation of the law and adjust it accordingly when the envelope is pushed, for the police it’s not always that easy.  We don’t have the comfort of the bench. Our “bench” is the asphalt streets we patrol.  We have to think on the fly, sometimes with seconds, if not milliseconds, to react to an incoming viable threat.  Sometimes the cops get it wrong and they are held accountable, more so now than ever. The nightstick does not discriminate! If you don’t fear it, you might learn to, the hard way!

There are no rules for the terrorists, but they want the police to stop using intermediate weapons such as tear gas, Tasers and pepper-balls.  They have been whining about it for months. “Ouch! That hurt!” says the skateboard-swinging, brick-toting in his Hello Kitty backpack, ninja-outfit-wearing “toughie” who had been hitting cops with goodies from his bag of tricks, falling as the staccato of a pepper-ball gun drops him to the pavement, a short-lasting lesson, at best.

“Son of a bitch! I don’t want to lose my leg,” cries another suffering from an abrasion caused by a rubber impact baton fired at him (for no good reason apparently, according to the left-wing media) while another idiot applies a tourniquet to his “damaged” limb, potentially causing the noble warrior to lose his leg due to an uneducated wannabe trauma medic plying her trade.

​If they get arrested, after the “owie” wagon (or band aid bus) takes them to the hospital, they get booked, released and go right back out there to start the same shit over again. That is not “pain compliance,” to me that’s justa temporary inconvenience.  Pain compliance curbs the criminal activity long enough to get someone in handcuffs and tossed into a cell.  When delivered properly, it curbs behavior and maybe, just maybe, the recipient of a solid baton strike sees his or her own blood, later feels the stitches and the swollen bumps and thinks, “You know, that hurt really bad, I’m going to pass on the next peaceful protest.”

​So, let’s take away the tear gas, pepper balls, Maceand Tasers.  The antagonists still have bricks, sharpened PVC pipes, umbrellas, bricks, guns (they have guns too) lasers, frozen water bottles, Molotov cocktails and potatoes with ten-penny nails sticking out of them (I shit you, not) and you expect the cops to stand there and take the physical injuries?  Remember, we are trained?  Remember we are Class one mammals (look it up)?

​That will leave the cops with fists, nightsticks, gunsand accordingly bad attitudes.  If you noticed how the National Guard handled the violent protesters in Ferguson, it expertly displayed the pain compliance theory.

​Whichever state you’re in, and you are a professional “shit bird” see what offenses you plan on committing and figure what level of the police force continuum you can be met with.  That way, you’ll know the gamut of stupid prizes you might win, should you score a hit on a cop with a brickbat.  

Keep it up.  The cops are getting tired and angry.  At some point the bosses will quit being political pussies, hiding in the bushes, and let the adults handle things.  Oh, you can still hate us, but there’s that element of fear, and those nightsticks!  Be careful what you wish for!

Kirk Lawless is a 28 year, decorated, veteran police officer from the St Louis area. He’s a former SWAT operator, narcotics agent, homicide investigator, detective and Medal of Valor recipient. Off the job due to an up close and personal gunfight, he now concentrates on writing. He’s a patriotic warrior, artist, poet, actor, musician, and man of peace.

Contact : kirklawless@yahoo.com

Interview: Emmy Award-winning actor Tony LoBianco Talks to Blue About his Support for LEOs

We all know of a handful of celebrities who are very public about their anti-police beliefs. It's a shame they're using their influence to convince America's youth that we are the bad guys. The worst part is these celebrities don't understand the intricacies and complexities of our job, especially the all-too-familiar and difficult split-second decision.

I wouldn’t dare try to tell professional athletes how to play their sport, or actors how to act. They, in turn, are in no position to tell the LEO community how to do their job. They just think they know what’s right, and it’s disgusting and an insult to those who walk the beat every day dealing with the decay of society.

 But there's one celebrity who's not afraid to show his support for the men and women in blue- Emmy Award-winner Tony LoBianco. 

Every supporter of blue has their own reasons why he or she supports law enforcement, and Tony has his reasons. Tony tells Blue in a Zoom interview, “It’s (LE support) common sense logically, just watching history and knowing what they’ve gone through. Growing up at the right time to appreciate the military and police.”

And there’s a very specific reason for it. He knows the job and understands what it’s like to be a police officer.

 “I was greatly interested in police work when I got into acting.” Tony said. “I went out on many calls with police … I was on murders, rapes, suicides, kidnappings … everything you could imagine and I see what police go through.”

 Every anti-police celebrity should spend a day in an officer’s shoes like Tony did so they can see exactly what police go through and how difficult the job is. That will help them understand that we aren’t the bloodthirsty maniacs the media and ignorant celebrities paint us to be. It’ll prove to them that many police interactions just aren’t that simple and force must be used. 

Instead, spoiled celebrities think they have the answer, but in reality, they are just contributing to social injustice by spreading misguided rhetoric.

“The people should be reformed to learn respect for authority, law enforcement and the laws.” Tony said. And he is absolutely correct. Tony truly understands the value of law enforcement, and even the US military.

In 2015, Tony LoBianco and his team created a beautiful tribute video to the American military entitled “Just a Common Soldier” (www.JustaCommonSoldier.com). It reached millions of viewers and continues to reach more. 

Tony produced and wrote The Blues, a tribute to law enforcement.

This past August, Tony created another tribute video to honor the men and women of law enforcement (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-1jzMTy4jM&t=80s). His staunch support of law enforcement must be recognized and he wants the LEO community to know that some celebrities DO care, some DO have your backs. 

But the political climate remains unstable and the routine challenges of the average police officer remains extremely difficult. Tony was asked to give some words of wisdom to the law enforcement community.

“I care about United States of America and how to heal this wound. Hang in there, I know it’s extremely difficult when the authority won’t let you do your job, just hang in there.”

The law enforcement community needs more actors like Tony LoBianco, because he understands what it means to be a police officer. He has seen it and been there. 

But for every Tony LoBianco out there, there are 100 celebrities who believe they know how police work should go and they couldn’t be more ignorant. 

There are other well-known figures out there like Tony, we just need to find them and make their voices heard. Thank you, Tony LoBianco for letting us know you care and lifting our spirits during these turbulent times. 

For information about Tony LoBianco, go to www.TonyLoBianco.com

Eddie Molina is a leadership professional, blogger and author. He voluntarily writes articles to keep the law enforcement, first responder and military community informed on important issues. For more information or to see the full unedited Zoom interview with Tony LoBianco, go to www.eddiemolina.com

Weary? You’re not alone.

Have we reached the ultimate stage of absurdity where some people are held responsible for things that happened before they were born, while other people are not held responsible for what they themselves are doing today? – Thomas Sowell

Where freedom of speech, expression, individual thought and group-think intersect I have grown weary. The divisiveness, the anger, the coming apart instead of coming together is increasingly hard to take. I am constantly catching myself trying to make rational sense out of many positions I see being taken in an irrational upside-down, inside-out world.

Three words come to mind when it comes to the state of our nation...  anger, tribalism and anxiety. Feeling attacked for your own thoughts? You're not alone.

No matter what the subject, disagreement seems to ensue. Whether it comes to peace treaties, societal reforms, protests, riots, capitalism, socialism, safety, constitutional matters, judgeships, whose life matters, you name it. The result is all the same in black and white, with stances being taken with very little gray allowed in the opinions being shared. 

Are you tired of conspiracy theories?

Tired of in with new “politically correct” murals and monuments and out with the old in our cancel culture “new world order”?

Tired of COVID-19 and the wearing of a mask debate?

Tired of Blacks vs. Whites?

Tired of Democrats vs. Republicans?
Trump vs. Biden?

Facts vs. Fiction?

I am sick of the people who are jumping on the bandwagon to spread hatred and start riots, looting and destroying others’ property or calling for or causing injury and death.

Huntington West Virginia’s Marshall University recently suspended a professor who, during a virtual biology class session online, after noting that some supporters of President Donald Trump at an indoor political rally were not wearing face coverings, stated “I’ve become the type of person where I hope they all get it (COVID-19) and die. I’m sorry, but that’s so frustrating – just – I don’t know what else to do. You can’t argue with them, you can’t talk sense with them, uhm, I said to somebody yesterday I hope they all die before the election.” To the professor, I say how about being mature enough to be able to deal with the fact that thankfully everyone doesn’t have that same mind-set? The penalty for disagreement should now be death according to you? Is this how far we have come with an alleged educator spewing such vile rhetoric? I guess not every life matters in your world. I am very grateful for those who have not been affected by indoctrination and are able and willing to look past ideologies in search of unity and fact.

As time passes, we increasingly find ourselves battling the differences between each other, rather than recognizing that there is so much more that we hold in common. The human tendency to want to categorize everything has seemingly spiraled wildly out of control. Even people who essentially agree are often seen being disagreeable and argumentative with one another.

Much of the divisiveness has been fueled through the media sources we turn to for information that have validated that in their media world bubble it's really primarily about identity politics and labels. It's "us versus them." Commentary is less about balance, substance and truth or telling two sides to a story with absolute accuracy. Forget finding any common ground. Value is only seen in certain beliefs quickly invalidating or demeaning those with heightened concerns due to a different perspective. Often it comes down to what amounts to a difference of opinion on perceived intent and motivation from different groups or movements and who is aligned with whom.

Is real support for the First Amendment reserved for when it supports a singular agenda? Attempts at shaming and silencing the opposition is a tactic used instead of learning by listening to views outside what has been described as a safe space or comfort zone. How about coverage, commentary and discussions which might actually result in new insights, knowledge and understanding? I’m done with attempts at erasing historical lessons learned. I am sick of blaming the world for the wrongdoings of a few. 

Personal Responsibility

I look forward to better times ahead where we can feel some level of success in preaching to those outside our own choir in a civil manner complete with respect, trust and with a mutual goal of learning and understanding the viewpoints of others. While, in the end, we may agree to disagree, surely our human journey together can be improved upon.

We must do better.

Joel E. Gordon is a former Field Training Officer with the Baltimore City Police Department and is a past Chief of Police for the city of Kingwood, West Virginia. He has also served as vice-chair of a multi-jurisdictional regional narcotics task force. An award winning journalist, he is author of the book Still Seeking Justice: One Officer's Story and founded the Facebook group Police Authors Seeking Justice. Look him up at stillseekingjustice.com

The police officer was wounded, but is expected to survive

Thank God for this addendum to a story that is played out nearly every day in the United States.  Maybe it’s reported this way to provide a bit of a “warm and fuzzy” close to a violent story. 

There’s way more to it, usually.  The officer doesn’t always get out of the hospital and walk away and get back after it (the job).  The mainstream media may do follow-up stories in those cases where the officer returns Lazarus-like (not from death itself) but from the brink of death.

In my part of the world, those follow-ups are usually celebrations of officers who have been shot in the head and by God’s grace survived, and learned to walk and talk again. Others who survived a shooting or a vehicle accident lived to tell the tale, but have become prisoners in their own bodies, paralyzed from the neck down, maybe from the waist down (if they’re lucky).

Most stories are not followed up on.  I have a good friend and young police brother who got shot in the back in 2009 and is now paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair.  This happened because he was a police officer doing his job.  The bad guy could have simply run away, but elected to pop up out of a dumpster and back-shoot this kid.

Oh, the department pinned medals on him and put him in his dress uniform and wheeled him around for photo ops.  The community rallied behind him and raised money for the young officer and his family.  The department controlled the money (whatever the actual figure was is not known) and it was doled out, as they deemed necessary.  He was promised, “He’ll have a job here, no matter what.”

But, at the end of the day, promises made are not always kept.  He now lives in another state, doing the best he can physically and mentally.  He is also in litigation with the body armor company who provided a product that failed to perform. 

Now, he’s on his own with his family, his attorney and a circle of friends pulling for him.  I don’t believe the city is rallying behind him in his lawsuit endeavors.  

On the morning he got shot, I was one of the first guys to arrive at the hospital to check on him.  He was awake and in good spirits, waiting for surgery.  Before I got to speak with him and his wife, I noticed a young lady in business attire, clipboard in hand, standing near his room.  I surmised she was a hospital employee.  I engaged her in a short conversation and learned that she was an investigator from the insurance company representing the city.  When I spoke with my friend and learned of the extent of his injuries, I told him and his wife that the woman with the clipboard was not their “friend.”  I told my young brother to stay tough and get better; that was the most important thing to do.  I spoke briefly with his wife and told her to have very little interaction with the insurance company representative.  I also told her to reach out to legal counsel as soon as she could, after the lifesaving surgery and her valiant husband was on the road to recovery.

At the end of the day, the city let him go.  They like to use the term “separation,” and that they did.  The litigation with the body armor company continues, and he still does not have a job there “no matter what.”  It’s cheaper to let us go than to help us.

Lots of cops get “that letter,” nobody from the police departments and cities want to talk about it.  I was the recipient of such a letter, but I talk about it.

What the media doesn’t talk about is that we, the police are way easier to replace than to repair.

The officer is expected to survive.  What does that mean? And survive at what level? How will they support their family, maybe with Worker’s Compensation?  Look into that. Do the math.  And don’t you dare believe that the department, the city, or their attorneys are looking out for the best interest of the officer and their family.  They are not.  They are protecting themselves and they want to keep their money.  Think I’m lying? It’s all about the money.

In today’s climate, every cop out there is one brick toss or frozen water bottle to the head away from getting “separated” from their department. One broken hand, injured back, one laser-blinded eye and you are done. PTSD, PTSI or TBI and you’re done.

And remember, when the cop bellies up to the bar at the Worker’s Comp meetings, the city attorney will be right in there, figuring out a way to fuck the cop over.  Pimps and whores, it’s what they are and what they do; they protect the city and their money while billing the city for their time and they make lots of money per hour.

Research how many departments write a check for a job well done to a cop whose gun hand got mangled in a gunfight, or suffered debilitating injuries in a car crash, or a TBI, or PTSD?  I’m pretty sure you won’t find any. If you do, I’d certainly like to hear about it!

Kirk Lawless is a 28 year, decorated, veteran police officer from the St Louis area. He’s a former SWAT operator, narcotics agent, homicide investigator, detective and Medal of Valor recipient. Off the job due to an up close and personal gunfight, he now concentrates on writing. He’s a patriotic warrior, artist, poet, actor, musician, and man of peace.

Contact : kirklawless@yahoo.com

Our America: Holding the line

WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America.

The preamble to the Unites States Constitution … and so it begins in 1787. Our founding fathers were all about putting out fires, not starting them. Having lived and worked in urban, suburban and rural area law enforcement, I have found that politicians, modern lawmakers and even some rural enforcers have failed to understand the importance of self-reliance and personal responsibility for one’s own safety, security and welfare.

If you ask the average citizen about being victimized by criminal activity and what they would do if and when confronted with violence, the typical response is “I would just call 911 for help.” There is a false sense of security created with the 911 system that has some believing that with a single call, an officer will be dispatched immediately to save you and your family within minutes of the call. Unfortunately, this couldn’t be further from the truth with an ever-shrinking thin blue line tasked to cover increasingly large geographical areas or sometimes within areas of greater population density than before. 

While rapid response times of emergency responders in urban and suburban areas have historically been of top priority, in rural America individuals and families have always understood the importance of self-defense capability without reliance on government to come to the rescue when faced with emergencies and threatening encounters. The United States is estimated to consist of about 97% rural areas, though only about one-fifth of the overall population resides in these rural areas according to the United States Census Bureau. In many areas of the country, law enforcement response times are measured in hours, not minutes, if there is any response at all. It wasn’t until more recent times that there was even 24-hour on-duty law enforcement coverage of my home county here in West Virginia. With diminished staffs and funding, even urban and suburban areas are now experiencing a longer wait and increasing response times for police arrivals, too. 

Even those with good intentions often mistakenly promote the idea that government, through law enforcement, will be able to protect against criminal intrusions or violent confrontation. I hear politicians, especially those with no concept of rural life, promote the frequently repeated adage that law enforcement is all that protects us from succumbing to violence and anarchy. While it is the intent of law enforcement to be a first-line defense, it is not a realistic expectation nor possible in many situations and scenarios. The truth is that it is the American people who are tasked to protect our land, lives and livelihoods, with law enforcement to be relied on for help and guidance to assist in that effort. 

Lately we hear stories where citizens are arrested for raising a firearm when confronted with intruders at their residence after being placed in fear for a family’s safety; then having guns confiscated under court order or resulting from “red flag” laws. While there may possibly be other circumstances used by the courts to justify such charges or action, when this occurs law enforcement is put into a difficult position with a public perception that the police are taking away the individual right to protection of one’s self and family. With extended response times in many communities, this adds to citizen insecurity and becomes a “hot” topic on social media and in the towns and neighborhoods where this has occurred. It is situations like this which serve to further the divide in our country and put law enforcement squarely in the cross hairs of the current debate on reforms. 

The reality is that we all have a personal responsibility for our own protection, and our Constitution’s Second Amendment ensures that citizens are reasonably afforded the opportunity to possess the tools which may prove necessary to do just that.  

Isn’t it odd that some of the same people who promote “modern interpretation” or changes to our Constitution’s Second Amendment are, in many cases, the same people who are advocating for less police? Should law-abiding citizens be placed in no-win situations at the mercy of those with intent to cause harm? Ironically, even rioters have gone from yelling “defund the police” to “call the police” upon being confronted with violence.

During this time of reflection and reevaluation, let us view the world how it really is and not the way many wish it would be with a view toward making sure that WE THE PEOPLE move ever closer to that more perfect union envisioned by our forefathers.

Joel E. Gordon is a former Field Training Officer with the Baltimore City Police Department and is a past Chief of Police for the city of Kingwood, West Virginia. He has also served as vice-chair of a multi-jurisdictional regional narcotics task force. An award winning journalist, he is author of the book Still Seeking Justice: One Officer's Story and founded the Facebook group Police Authors Seeking Justice. Look him up at stillseekingjustice.com

Police Unions Do Not Protect Bad Officers

Much is being made recently about the role police labor organizations have played in officer discipline and other political activity. Most of the claims are anecdotal and part of the ongoing attempt to smear and disparage the American police officer. Being ignorant and uninformed is no justification for criticizing law enforcement agencies for retaining an officer because of the discipline process that is codified in law.

The same politicians taking cheap shots at agencies for retaining an officer with a lengthy record of complaints fail to inform the public that the process for disciplining an officer is codified in collective bargaining agreements that politicians themselves, including the mayor, signed onto. None of these agreements can occur without city approval. So if there is displeasure with how difficult it is to terminate an officer, the politicians should look in the mirror.

Much was made over the fact that the Minneapolis Police Department officer directly involved in the video that depicted him with his knee on the neck of George Floyd has 18 conduct complaints. I was interviewed extensively on cable news about this, to which I responded, “So?” Unless I know the particulars of each case, it is irrelevant to me.

Several things are noteworthy here. As former sheriff of Milwaukee County, I was responsible for the good conduct of my officers. After a personnel investigation was conducted, I ruled on what an appropriate disposition was. It ranged from unfounded, retraining, a suspension or termination. I had to consider all of these before my decision and I would have to defend the decision in the appeal process if the employee appealed my decision to a county personnel review board. State law creates these tribunals. These boards are all in on what is called progressive discipline. In other words, is there a lesser discipline that is appropriate. Termination is a severe recommendation. It has legal implications. After this step, the case can be appealed to state and federal court and in rare cases could end up back in the US Supreme Court like the Cleveland Board of Education v Loudermill case did. It applied due process rights to public sector employees in disciplinary cases.

The other thing that is noteworthy is that no other public sector employee is exposed to people on a daily basis like a police officer is. That contact is usually under less than pleasant circumstances. Not only that, no other public agency encourages and solicits complaints from people like police agencies do. In fact, they advertise it. No other public employee faces that. The teachers union is probably the largest public sector entity. School officials and school boards do not encourage parents or students to make complaints against teachers even though they probably should.

For this reason, it is totally understandable for cops to have representation from a labor organization for alleged complaints made against them. Uninformed blowhards like to claim that police unions make it impossible to fire a police officer and that they protect bad cops. That is a bunch of uninformed BS. Again, the law comes into play. Officers have what are called Weingarten Rights, a 1975 case that guarantees them union representation during an investigation. The US Supreme Court established this right and cops are entitled to it. In fact, if a union does not represent the employee, the employee, who by the way pays union dues for this representation, could sue the union for failure to represent. In other words, the union is doing what it is required to do by law. The unions don’t get to pick and choose which officers they will aggressively represent.

Ironically, the same agenda-driven people, many of whom despise police, who think it should be easy to fire cops, are the same ones who support leniency for criminals, support second chance programs for people with lengthy criminal histories and want to get rid of jails and prisons. Are they suggesting that police officers should be treated like second-class citizens?

It was the United States Supreme Court where in a landmark decision (Loudermill v. Board of Education) ruled that a public sector job is a property right and as such, a person cannot be deprived of life, liberty or property (job) without due process. It was a game changer. Due process is a staple of our individual rights under the US Constitution. Any freedom-loving American who has a problem with that is not a defender of ordered liberty. 

I reject the claim that police unions protect bad officers. The union’s role is to ensure that officers accused of misconduct get all the rights afforded to them. Think of them like a defense attorney. Do people believe that a defendant in a court of law should not have representation or other due process rights? The union after all does not make the final decision in serious cases of misconduct. A separate entity does. Blame them. A better remedy to taking away officers’ rights is for the agency to put forth a better case to terminate. Sometimes these cases are haphazardly put together. That’s not the officer’s fault.

The beauty about the US Constitution is that the founders put in a mechanism to change it any time we the people want to. There is a process involved that has to be followed.  One avenue is to go back and petition the US Supreme Court to reverse themselves on the Loudermill and Weingarten decision that gave public employees due process rights. Cop haters know that is an uphill climb and instead want to take short cuts. 

I support the expansion of individual rights in this country, not taking them away no matter how unpleasant we may find it.

Sheriff David Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of AmericasSheriff LLC, Board member of the Crime Research Center, author of the book Cop Under Fire: Beyond Hashtags of Race Crime and Politics for a Better America. To learn more visit www.americassheriff.com

Riddle me this. Which lives matter?

Riddle me this. Which lives matter? On Saturday, August 29, I was in attendance at a peace march in downtown St. Louis. The march was organized by two St. Louis Metropolitan Police widows, Ann Dorn, whose husband, David Dorn, a retired SLMPD captain, was murdered on June 2, and Kim Kowalski, whose husband Jeff “Lead belly” Kowalski succumbed to gunshot wounds received in 1987. Jeff passed away on October 1, 2008. While there, I spoke with both ladies and saw countless police supporters. I also spoke with many active and retired police officers from the region. It was a peaceful rally at a site nestled between SLMPD headquarters and the White Knight Diner where David Dorn bought his final lunch. He would be gunned down hours later.

There was a small group in attendance carrying anti-Trump signs (declaring the event was a Trump photo-op), but while wearing pro-captain Dave Dorn T- shirts. They were silent, only holding their signs. I have no idea who they were. They walked along with the rest while carrying their signs. Note: Not one person bothered them, nor did they bother anyone in attendance to support the cause. That’s a “peaceful protest.” There was no looting or burning, assaults, not even any angry words.

Chief Hayden Of the SLMPD appeared, but apparently it was only to say howdy and grab a photo op. I learned later he declined an invite to march with the group. Why, I have no idea?. From beginning to end, it was a nice event. I spoke with many old friends, met new ones, and found myself in a discussion with a group of cops who had been shot, and cops who had been in shootings, one who had been shot on the same night Dave Dorn was killed. Another was shot and temporarily paralyzed over ten years ago, overcoming his wounds, and was in uniform working on the day of the event. We had all lived to tell our respective tales.

There were prayers and such and although there was a BLM protest scheduled for the same day, although later in the day. None of the protesters came near the peace march. At the end of the event, I went home. I received a text at 20:00 hours letting me know that two SLMPD officers had been shot in the Tower Grove neighborhood of South St. Louis, one critically. Both were taken to the hospital. One would leave alive; the other would not. The officer’s name is Tamarris L. Bohannon. A beautiful young man only 29 years old, married and the father of three young children. He had only been on the force three years. I didn’t know Tamarris, but he was my little brother. His training officer, Cedric, is also my brother.

The killer of Tamarris was taken into custody after a long standoff. Honestly, I’d be lying if I told you I was happy the bad guy surrendered. I’d much rather he’d chosen suicide, or had died in a continued gun battle with the police. Oh yeah, I didn’t mention race; so let’s clear that up. Tamarris was black and his killer, white. Wait, I’m white too! Yeah, do I give a solitary shit about this guy because we share the same skin color? Absolutely not! Fuck that guy! I hope he gets the death penalty! Dave Dorn’s murderer was black just like him. I hope he gets the death penalty as well. Fuck that guy, too!

Now, here’s where I get a bit confused. Will my brother Tamarris get a gold coffin? Will actors and athletes (all hacks) pay for the show? The funeral cortege is a great photo-op, yes? Will someone display his name on his or her jersey? Will any companies openly declare his murder and the murders of other police officers in The United States of America as tragedies and support Blue Lives Matter while simultaneously condemning his killing because he was a young black man and black lives matter?

Will the BLM terrorists burn some random shit stuff down and steal a bunch of crap because Tamarris was black (except he wasn’t a criminal) and because his killer was white (except he’s not a cop)? Shortly after the peace march I stood in front of the police memorial dedicated to the SLMPD officers killed in the line of duty. I read the names chiseled into the red granite slab. It’s a striking statue and a very moving tribute. There are lots of names on it, and I know some of the fallen personally. There will be more names added to it by year’s end. Some were taken from us before I was born, but understand this.: They are all my brothers. Folks fail to realize that. And, the color of their skin matters not to me.

Will the ANTIFA folks come around and do their misguided thing? I’m so confused. There was no protest for Dave Dorn, or Jeff Kowalski, So none for Tamarris either? Can anyone clarify the issue for me? Asking for myself, but also asking for a friend.

Kirk Lawless is a 28 year, decorated, veteran police officer from the St Louis area. He’s a former SWAT operator, narcotics agent, homicide investigator, detective and Medal of Valor recipient. Off the job due to an up close and personal gunfight, he now concentrates on writing. He’s a patriotic warrior, artist, poet, actor, musician, and man of peace.
Contact : kirklawless@yahoo.com

Kim Klacik is Spot-On

“Guns, drugs, rats and trash are on the streets, while jobs and quality education are elusive.” – Kim Klacik

She's not lying. In her inaugural campaign video, which went viral, garnering over three million views in less than the first 24 hours online, Baltimore’s 7th Congressional District candidate Kimberly Klacik walks the real West Baltimore passing a multitude of demolished, dilapidated, abandoned and boarded-up homes along with failing businesses. Wearing a bright red dress and matching red high-heeled shoes she asks the question. “Do you believe Black lives matter? I do.” Klacik points out that Baltimore city is in the “top five most dangerous cities in America,” has “skyrocketing homicide, drug and alcohol deaths, and a poverty rate more than 20 percent.” She goes on to say “Democrats don’t want you to see this. They’re scared that I’m exposing what life is like in Democrat-run cities. That’s why I’m running for Congress, because all Black Lives Matter, Baltimore Matters, and Black people don’t have to vote Democrat. Help us win.”

While on her nearly three-minute video walking tour, she takes time to discuss police defunding with residents of West Baltimore. All are in agreement that the defunding of police or reductions in police deployment is ill-advised.

This parallels my own experience serving the good hardworking citizens of West Baltimore while working as a patrol officer. My primary area of responsibility was a five-block by six-block area located in the southwest corner of Baltimore's western police district. People were glad to see me and I became a mostly respected (not feared) member of that community. Race was not a factor in my social or enforcement interactions. The best officers, back then, worked hand-in-hand with good law-abiding citizens to do what we could to eradicate the bad and accentuate the good. We believed in the old Benjamin Franklin adage (circa 1736), “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” We were limited, of course, due to guidelines needing to be followed and limited available resources but we formed partnerships for the common good.

The fact remains that Klacik was not using props in her city walk, which is now about to exceed 10 million views. This is the real Baltimore. Urban decay is not only seen in West Baltimore but throughout many areas of the city. Even Harborplace, once the crown jewel of Baltimore tourism and its Inner Harbor, developed and built by renowned urban revitalization developer James Rouse during the William Donald Schaffer mayoral years of Baltimore City renaissance, now sits mostly empty after a number of owners, defaults and lack of maintenance has resulted in low tenant occupancy rates.

Baltimore remains a city in major crisis. From an understaffed police department, lack of confidence in police command by the rank and file and their Fraternal Order of Police representatives, a former mayor and police commissioner sentenced to jail time for crimes committed while in office, and now a State’s Attorney under investigation by the city Inspector General's Office investigating her travel and financial disclosures, Baltimore needs new blood and a better direction moving forward.

 “Real problems need real solutions.” says Klacik. Her campaign platform also includes:

• Create Working Class and White Collar Jobs through the Port of Baltimore, the second-busiest port in the country

• Reduce Reliance on Entitlements in District 7

• Make Education Work for Children and Parents by supporting school choice

• Ensure 2nd Amendment Rights 

• Increase Healthcare Options to Drive Down Costs

Will reform over privilege finally win out in this race? Democrat Kweisi Mfume, Klacik’s challenger in the general election, believes that he is next in line to take the seat which had been held by fellow Democrat, the late Elijah Cummings. Klacik is working hard to achieve her goal of ousting Democrat representation in her congressional race.

President Donald Trump has endorsed the Klacik campaign, and at the Republican National Convention Kim Klacik was named by Donald Trump Jr. as his #MAGA Candidate of the Week.

For more information on her campaign and to view her campaign advertisement along with the speech she gave at the Republican National Convention, head over to https://kimkforcongress.com/.

Joel E. Gordon is a former Field Training Officer with the Baltimore City Police Department and is a past Chief of Police for the city of Kingwood, West Virginia. He has also served as vice-chair of a multi-jurisdictional regional narcotics task force. An award winning journalist, he is author of the book Still Seeking Justice: One Officer's Story and founded the Facebook group Police Authors Seeking Justice. Look him up at stillseekingjustice.com

Policing ‘“Lawless”’ style in lawless America

It seems that every time I turn on the television I hear the word “lawless” or the term “lawlessness” to describe the horrors in the streets as cops try to hold the line and enforce the laws of the land. Policing is more complex now than ever in the history of our country.

I understand the use of the word, but I do bristle when I hear it. My birth name is Lawless. My ancestors on my father’s side came from Ireland. My grandfather was a Deputy Marshall in St. Louis a long time ago. I became a police officer in 1984 and proudly wore the badge of a police officer. I was equally proud to put the nametag emblazoned in large unmistakable letters LAWLESS, on my uniform. I’m sure some folks thought it was a joke when they saw it, and I heard comments about it on a daily basis.

The bad guys (and girls) found out quickly that the name was no joke when they broke the law and I was sicced on them. The thrill of the chase, the hunting of armed men, being a police officer was the best job. When I first came on the job I was, as the song goes, just an excitable boy. I learned quickly of the dangers of the job and was groomed by some of the fiercest, toughest teachers a cops, a young cop could hope for.

My style of policing was aggressive and relentless, but also I served with empathy and a great sense of humanity and with Christian values. I was firm, but fair. I often let the person I came in contact with decide how the interaction would play out. I’m a man of peace, but if you turn violent on me, I will respond in kind, but with a level of ferocity that will surpass your plateau, and many regretted choosing the “hard way” rather than the “easy way.” I was compassionate, kind to the elderly in the community and always approachable to the kids.

When I was assigned to a uniform car, I often spent mornings in a certain area near a certain stop sign and met lots of people who forgot to do what the message on the sign told them. One morning I met a young mother and her little boy, DJ. He loved the police. I had his mom pull over and I let DJ sit in my car and turn on the light and bump the siren. He waved every morning when I was there and his mom would stop and let us say hello. One morning she told me that DJ was having nightmares and wanted me to know that. His daddy wasn’t in the picture. I got out of my car and she let him out to talk to me. I squatted down and got to his eye level (very important when talking with kids). I gave him my business card with my personal cell phone number on it and told him if he was ever scared and couldn’t sleep, all he had to do was call me. I told his mom it didn’t matter what the time, if DJ was scared, he was to call me. His mom made a big deal about it, but that was just me, being me. I’m just a guy who happened to be a cop. He did call me a couple times and we got things settled down for him.

Stopping in a neighborhood and getting out of the car and talking to kids (or any folks for that matter) is nothing new. I was doing that when I first came on the job, as were the guys that took me under the wing when I was the new kid. With all of the “lawlessness” going on in the streets today, folks need to realize the humanity of the job; it’s a calling really. There were lots of jobs I could have chosen and made more money, but policing was the job for me. I know I made a difference in my little corner of the world. I was kind to people. During a long and storied career, I saved many more lives than I have taken, but I have done that, too. It seems like the entire country is against the police, but that’s a lie. There are way more folks who like us, need us, and whether they want to admit openly it or not want us to revert to some of the old ways of handling police work “Old school is good school.” With over 90 days of “lawlessness” in some cities where the “peaceful protesters” are actually criminals and should be dealt with as such, it makes me sad to see the police being ordered to “stand down” by bosses with little street smarts and zero balls.

Recently I saw the cops in Seattle go on the attack, breaching the “shield wall” of the rioters and arresting the group “roughly”..” The criminals opted to go the “hard way” and the response of the police made me smile. You’ll find that the “old school” style of policing will turn the tide of this politicized shit show. Remember the stick does not discriminate, mine didn’t, and it saw lots of use. These groups have no idea how skilled at violence some of us are, and we are prepared to unleash those skills to force compliance with the law. That’s how I, as a “Lawless” police officer, would operate in this real-time scenario. The majority of folks in this country want it handled that way; they need it handled that way. It’s called pain compliance, and it works. To the criminals and politicians who have hung targets on our backs, remember we as targets can, and will turn around. You should just stop now! That’s just a warning from an “Original” Lawless American!

Kirk Lawless is a 28 year, decorated, veteran police officer from the St Louis area. He’s a former SWAT operator, narcotics agent, homicide investigator, detective and Medal of Valor recipient. Off the job due to an up close and personal gunfight, he now concentrates on writing. He’s a patriotic warrior, artist, poet, actor, musician, and man of peace.
Contact : kirklawless@yahoo.com

Enemies From Within: Political Activist Prosecutors Are Destroying Cities

Most police officers know that the work that goes into writing up an arrest and putting a case together for prosecutorial review involves a lot of time and effort. The level of probable cause needed for an indictment or a criminal charge at the charging stage is higher than that needed to make an arrest. Not a problem. We don’t expect prosecutors to rubber stamp every case we bring in at a charging conference. We do, however, expect a fair and honest review. If the case needs work, we expect the prosecutor to tell us what they need to proceed in court. Sometimes prosecutors’ use of discretion allows them to pursue other courses of action to resolve the case short of a criminal charge. Most cops have no problem with that either. The standard needed for proof beyond a reasonable doubt should be very high, and in some cases, options like a deferred prosecution is a better remedy. 

In my nearly four decades in law enforcement, I have always viewed the prosecutor’s office as a team member in pursuit of criminal justice and keeping the peace. Police and prosecutors being seen as not on the same team has been dealt a serious blow to order maintenance efforts however in the post Ferguson, Missouri riots following the police use of force in the justifiable death of Mike Brown.

What made broken windows policing a crime reduction strategy that led to record decreases in crime successful was that it closed the gap of police and prosecutors not being on the same page. The architect and designer of the order maintenance and crime reduction strategy was Jack Maple, an NYPD commander who began using computer generated data that precinct commanders could use to track hotspots of crime early on. Resources were directed to where crimes were happening in real time. “Put the cops on the dots,” he said. One area of weakness they discovered was where the criminal cases were slipping through the cracks. It was at the prosecution level where arrest cases went to die, so to speak. Nobody followed up on why very few cases were actually charged. Career and repeat offenders were being put back out on the street not long after being arrested. Maple wanted to know why no one inside NYPD was following through on arrest prosecutions. That was the missing link. The disconnect. NYPD brass started tracking arrest cases, and after convincing prosecutors of the need to keep repeat offenders locked away from society and neighborhoods to reduce crime, the prosecutors got on board. Criminals were now being held accountable and they knew it.

That worked for over two decades as the COMPSTAT program developed by Jack Maple swept throughout every police agency in America and those cities, too, experienced unprecedented drops in street crime. That era is over.

In 2018, a new wave of states’ attorneys and prosecutors were swept into office. They are in actuality political activists. They are criminal apologists, cop haters and progressive elites. They refuse to hold rioters and looters in Minneapolis, Chicago, Seattle and Portland accountable through criminal charging. Specifically, in Portland the state prosecutor recently announced that he will drop most of the charges filed against rioters accused of interfering with police, escape or harassment, disorderly conduct or criminal trespass according to the Oregonian newspaper. Those aren’t minor offenses.

State prosecutor Kimberly Foxx in Cook County, Illinois, which includes the city of Chicago, is another progressive political activist recently elected with the help of billionaire George Soros, another cop hater. A recent survey by the Chicago Tribune newspaper discovered that in 3 short years her office has dropped felony charges in 30% of cases which is 35% higher than her predecessor in the same time period.  The cases dismissed include murder, shootings, sex crimes and serious drug charges. Now that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who was all in with the rioters in the beginning and has since had the rioters turn on her, she now points to Kim Foxx’s lack of will to prosecute as a reason for the spike in street crimes which has seen nearly 900 people shot leaving 151 dead in weekend street violence alone since Memorial Day weekend. That doesn’t even include the weekday violence that occurs in the Windy City. Other major cities have seen the same type of increases in violent crime since progressive criminal apologists have been swept into office. Two decades of historic crime declines have been wiped out in a very short period of time.

St. Louis, Missouri state prosecutor Kim Gardner, from the same Soros-funded election class, recently released 36 people who were arrested by police during recent rioting. They were accused of throwing rocks and bottles at police, shooting at police, throwing gasoline and attacking firefighters sent to put out fires. That is not protesting, that is rioting that state and federal laws prohibit. When they are released from custody, they rejoin the fray. It makes getting riots under control impossible as waves of criminals are used to restock the supply of rioters.

State prosecutors are behaving like defense lawyers here. They are responsible for prosecution, not defense work. They took an oath to uphold the law. They represent the State and the victims of crimes. Their responsibility is to the state, not a political progressive agenda. If they want to represent criminals and unlawful behavior they should immediately resign and start or join a defense lawyer firm or the ACLU.

Sheriff David Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of AmericasSheriff LLC, Board member of the Crime Research Center, author of the book Cop Under Fire: Beyond Hashtags of Race Crime and Politics for a Better America. To learn more visit www.americassheriff.com

Defunding Police is Willfully Ignorant

There is an old saying that warns people who hate police better learn to make friends with criminals. Nowhere is that more relevant than the insane idea of defunding police and the even more inane call for abolishing police departments that is sweeping the country in large urban cities. This isn’t a serious public policy proposal. It is one of the most ill-thought-out ideas I have ever heard of. Mayors and city councils are rushing to crawl in bed with the slime from Black Lives Matter, ANTIFA and other cop-hating groups in crafting public safety policy that would hurt minority residents in low-income neighborhoods the most.

What I find interesting is that these tone-deaf politicians do not have the support of the residents who elected them. They need to be reminded that the number one priority of local and state government is to secure the personal safety of its citizens. No other priority of government even comes close.

Here are a few examples. A city councilwoman in Denver proposed replacing their police department with a largely unarmed peace force that she said would prevent crime by taking a “holistic, anti-racist, public health-oriented approach.” If you can decipher that babble, please let me know what it means. My response is, yeah, OK. Let me know how that works out, lady. This comes as Denver is on pace for its deadliest year in more than a decade for homicides. Milwaukee, where I live, will see its police department budget cut by 10%. Milwaukee has the highest homicide rate increase in the country, reporting that murders are up 125%. The Los Angeles Police Department just saw its budget cut by $140 million. This as the city is experiencing a spike in shootings and a 250% increase in homicides to start the month of June. According to Minneapolis Police Department crime data, there have been 2,170 stolen vehicles this year through July, a 46% increase over the same time period in 2019. The New York City Council has proposed a $1 billion cut in the NYPD budget. New York City has seen a 23% increase in murders and in June, shootings increased by 123%. Burglaries in the Big Apple have increased a staggering 118% so far in 2020. Minneapolis, the city where a one-off police incident was used as the excuse for nationwide rioting by cop haters, has seen murders increase by 95%. In one two-week period this summer, 32 people have been shot in street violence. Robberies and auto thefts are also on the rise. This while the city council announced that the police department would have its budget trimmed by $1.5 million.

This irresponsible budget cutting is compounding matters as police departments face record numbers of retirements and resignations. Officers are citing a lack of political support and for being unfairly maligned for failed public policy decisions by those same politicians that led to so many of the problems officers deal with on a daily basis. Retirements are up 411% in the NYPD and 156% in Milwaukee. Seattle, Portland and Minneapolis are also seeing spikes in retirements and resignations. That institutional knowledge and experience going out the door all at once is not easy to replace.

Nowhere is there support for having fewer officers on the street. Nowhere is there support for fewer resources for officers to succeed in their primary mission of keeping the peace and preventing crime. Not in Seattle, not in Portland, not in Minneapolis, not in Milwaukee, Chicago, Los Angeles or New York. Polls and surveys indicate how residents feel. A recent Gallup Poll showed that 81% of black Americans do not want police departments defunded. In fact, the poll showed that they want more police protection. A Marquette University poll conducted in August showed that 78% of Wisconsin residents polled do not want police departments defunded. This begs the question: Who are these spineless politicians catering to anyway? They certainly are not listening to their law-abiding residents.

It is having a traumatic effect on businesses, too, as some owners have decided to close up shop in retail areas in Minneapolis, Chicago, Seattle and Portland, cities that have seen rioting and looting continue unabated. One Fox News story headline read like this, “Seattle Business Owners Close Shop As City Moves To Defund Police: Safety Became Paramount.” Another news headline said, “Chicago Chamber of Commerce president calls for serious response after downtown looting devastates businesses.” One jeweler with a store on the upscale Magnificent Mile shops area indicated he’s had enough and is looking to move. He has resorted to arming himself for his own protection. Have these absent-minded politicians considered the impact on the city tax base if businesses pull out because they no longer feel safe for themselves and their customers?

The system is blinking red. Weak-kneed politicians seem oblivious as their cities burn and are ravaged by violence and looting. We are reaching a tipping point, a point of no return as the war on cops continues. If they don’t reverse course immediately, we will see the thin blue line, as we in the business call it, be turned into a thin blue thread.

Sheriff David Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of AmericasSheriff LLC, Board member of the Crime Research Center, author of the book Cop Under Fire: Beyond Hashtags of Race Crime and Politics for a Better America. To learn more visit www.americassheriff.com

NYC Artist Scott Lobaido Planning ‘The Mother of All Marches’ at Manhattan City Hall Saturday Aug. 22

Scott shows the Blue Magazine the letter-turned-art during a Zoom interview.

Scott Lobaido is several things: a brilliant patriotic artist, a native to New York City and a military and law enforcement supporter.

Oh and one more thing … he’s been fighting Mayor de Blasio’s tyrannical rule for years now and wants to prove it on Saturday, Aug. 22 in a strongly supported march to City Hall.

In a recent show of support to law enforcement, Scott brilliantly painted a Thin Blue Line in front of a Staten Island NYPD precinct stretching across Hyland Blvd. Shortly thereafter, he draped a large image of Mayor de Blasio holding the severed head of the Statue of Liberty along an overpass.

The next day Scott Lobaido received a “Cease and Desist” letter from Mayor de Blasio’s cronies in the Department of Transportation.

“When I hung the big banner of de Blasio holding the severed head of the Statue of Liberty over the highway … the story went worldwide. The next day I got the letter about the blue line.” Scott tells Blue.

Scott feels that he is being targeted. Weeks ago, de Blasio himself painted 5th Avenue in a desperate attempt to gain popularity and ride the wave of anti-police sentiment.

The letter was then turned into a piece of art by Scott and sold at auction for over $6,000, all of which was donated to the NYC Cops and Kids Boxing Club.

Scott tells Blue, “If he (Mayor de Blasio) wants to defund the police, I am going to FUND the police.”

His feud with the misguided mayor has been around long before the current war on police. And Scott has another trick up his sleeve that he’s calling “the mother of all marches.”

Image taken from Scott Lobaido’s website.

On Saturday, Aug. 22, Scott is planning to hold a massive rally outside City Hall in Manhattan.

Scott told BLUE, “I’m having the mother of all marches at City Hall.” He continues, “Take back your country! As Captain Perry said in the Battle of Lake Erie, ‘Don’t give up the ship!”

According to Scott’s website, www.ScottLobaido.com, there’s an impressive list of guest speakers; CEO of Guardian Angels Curtis Sliwa, actor/comedian Joe Piscopo and many more.

Scott’s not just calling on law enforcement to attend -- he wants people from all walks of life; nurses, small business owners, teachers, civil servants -- anyone who makes up the heart and soul of New York City.

“This is simply THE RALLY to represent New Yorkers who are getting slaughtered by this City’s horrible administration. Get involved or don’t bitch about it!” Scott said on his website.

There’s still time to register and attend this event. Just go to his website and click on the Save NYC Rally and enter your information. You can also take a step further and offer to volunteer. Bonus for Staten Island residents -- transportation is provided.

If you can’t make it but want to show support, Scott’s team has created a GoFundMe page where you can donate. The link is also available on his website.

Scott has had law enforcement’s back long enough and made it a point to tell the Blue readers, “You don’t see it, but we got your back, thank you very much.”

Now it’s our turn to show support for him. Go to the website, register and I’ll see you there!

To watch the full unedited Zoom interview with Scott Lobaido, go to www.eddiemolina.com

Eddie Molina was deployed to Iraq as a Platoon Leader- one of the most challenging roles in modern warfare. His experience and education made him a leadership professional and he blogs about it on his website. In his spare time, he submits articles for the law enforcement, first responder and military community to keep them informed on important issues facing America today. His book, A Beginner's Guide to Leadership, is expected to be published in September 2020. For more information, go to his website at www.eddiemolina.com

When is enough, enough?

On Aug. 9, 2014 M. Brown won a stupid prize for playing a stupid game. It cost him his life. Officer Darren Wilson did his job and a community burned because he survived. If Officer Wilson had been killed, there would have been little mention of it. His memory would have been softened by time. There would have been no looting, no burning, no protesting.

The death of M. Brown elevated him to martyr status and the illegitimate BLM baby was born. And with it came the mayhem and destruction. It was a real show. It was also the beginning of the open hatred of police officers and the blatant disregard for law and order.

M. Brown was not Emmett Till, an innocent boy lynched for a Jim Crowe-era infraction in 1955. That was horrible and sickening. As a veteran police officer, my opinion of that event remains unchanged. It was 100% wrong.

My opinion of what happened to George Floyd also remains the same, 100% wrong.

But, some folks refuse to admit is that M. Brown had a pivotal role in his own death. George Floyd too, played a small role in his own death. Both were engaged in criminal activity and that led to their respective interactions with the police, and subsequent deaths. I agree with what happened to M. Brown, I don’t agree with what happened to George Floyd.

The country is now upside down because of the attention brought on by the death of Floyd. Everybody the world over seems to know about it. The left-wing folks are fanning the flames, the media in my opinion is encouraging a race war. They want it. The left wants it. The very notion of defunding the police is the most sinister plan perpetrated against our republic since its inception (yes, we are a republic).

They’re not quite finished with M. Brown yet. His death still serves a purpose. It is a rallying cry for “Justice.” It’s a misguided cry. Justice was meted out. It just wasn’t the outcome the pre-BLM movement (waiting in the wings) had hoped for. Or was it? 

M. Brown was probably as close to Emmett Till as anyone was going to get, and if you don’t believe that this race-driven storm hasn’t been pre-planned for a long time, you’re a idiot! The coalition of BLM and ANTIFA is not a fluke. Their orchestrated attacks were fairly organized at first and are getting a little better as they pick up a head of steam.

The new prosecutor of St. Louis County, Wesley Bell, based his campaign heavily on the “reopening” of the already adjudicated attempt at charging Officer Darren Wilson with a crime. Although the grand jury refused to hand down an indictment against Officer Wilson, and the Justice Department’s investigation reached the same conclusion, Mr. Bell made no bones about wanting a chance to charge the police officer in the death of M. Brown. He won the election and garnered the support of the community, especially the black community, whom he bamboozled with his primary intention.

Still, Bell tried to get Officer Wilson. He wasted taxpayer money, conducting a five-month-long investigation into the shooting of M. Brown and in a despicable display of disappointment, held a press conference, wherein he claimed there was no evidence to charge Officer Wilson with any crime. He seemed sad and disappointed that he couldn’t send Officer Wilson to prison for doing his job. It seems like everything in the St. Louis is based on race. 

My personal opinion is that Wesley Bell has been itching to prosecute a police officer to appease the folks of color, and a white police officer would be exactly what he is hoping for, and that, to me, makes him a racist cop-hater. He shows up at many of the officer-involved shooting scenes and I’m pretty sure he salivates at the prospect of indicting a cop. To me, his actions seem way too personal.

If Mr. Bell isn’t in the job to put criminals in prison, he has other options. If he thinks being a cop is so black and white (no pun intended), he can resign as prosecutor, go to the police academy and become a cop. He knows the law. He seems to be in good shape and has good people skills. Easy-peasy, I’d gladly be his field-training officer and welcome him into our world, “my world” the one with the fields of gray in which we dance.

And hidden in the rushes, there lurk people who wish us dead, who try to make us so, and some who are successful at their endeavors.

On the anniversary of M. Brown’s death this year, the BLM folks projected an image of Officer Wilson on the side of a large building in Clayton, Missouri (the county seat) as a mock “Wanted” poster calling for the arrest of Wilson. Maybe Mr. Bell saw it? I’m certain he did. 

Mr. Bell might see this column. Maybe not. If he does, would someone please ask him if he’s going to try Bonette Kimbrelle Meeks as a “death penalty” case for the execution-style murder of Officer Michael Langsdorf on 23 June 2019 (Asking for thousands of friends)? I hope his investigation into that case is as intense as the rehashing of the justifiable homicide of M. Brown. If he’s going to weigh-in personally, I’d like to hear him refer to Meeks as a murdering savage. He should try that case personally. If he does, I’ll be there!

As far as prosecuting Officer Wilson, it’s never going to happen. That horse is dead, quit beating it. Enough is enough

Kirk Lawless is a 28 year, decorated, veteran police officer from the St Louis area. He’s a former SWAT operator, narcotics agent, homicide investigator, detective and Medal of Valor recipient. Off the job due to an up close and personal gunfight, he now concentrates on writing. He’s a patriotic warrior, artist, poet, actor, musician, and man of peace.

Contact : kirklawless@yahoo.com

The Cancel Culture is Unreasonable

Cancel culture is the practice of withdrawing support for public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered offensive or objectionable. When a person is canceled, they are no longer supported publicly.

The goal of the cancel culture is often to try to take away an individual’s organization’s or a culture’s public platform and power. Here are some examples of how this being done:

• Amid the debate over America’s monuments, numerous statues of figures with historical significance have been destroyed or removed to appease the cancel culture crowd. Defacing, vandalizing, relocating or removing public memorials is one of the significant manifestations of the cancel culture that seeks to punish individuals for past actions or views ranging from unjust to merely out of step with certain views of today.

• New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit seeking to dissolve the National Rifle Association (NRA). The lawsuit seeks to do away with the gun rights political advocacy group because of what she alleges were “years of illegal self-dealings” that bankrolled a “lavish lifestyle” for the group’s leadership using the organization’s funds for personal gain. This is used as justification for abolition of the entire organization which supports Second Amendment rights.

• The Seattle City Council’s budget Committee passed a series of amendments, cutting the budget for the Seattle Police Department. One of the ways they’re saving money is to significantly cut the salary of Police Chief Carmen Best, Seattle’s first black female police chief, signaling their lack of support for her. On efforts to defund the police and reduce personnel, Chief Best has said “The idea that we’ve worked so hard to make sure our department was diverse, that reflects the community that we serve, to just turn that all on a dime and hack it off, without having a plan in place to move forward, is highly distressful to me.” As a result, Chief Best has tendered her resignation effective Sept. 2 of this year.

• A mural at George Washington High School in San Francisco depicted scenes of slavery and of violence against Native Americans. The artist named Victor Arnautoff, wasn’t celebrating those things. Quite the opposite: He wanted to expose America’s complicity in those crimes. Nonetheless, it offended some progressives who thought high school students might be triggered by the truth, so the school decided to get rid of it.

• Less than 48 hours after a valuable, multi-purpose vehicle was utilized in rescues during tropical storm flooding, the administration in Upper Darby Delaware decided to remove this asset never to be used by the Upper Darby Police Department again. This short - sighted decision by elected officials is another example of politicians being swept away by the cancel culture in defiance of public safety and common sense.

The Pushback

Robert Unanue, the CEO of Goya, the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the United States, was targeted by the cancel culture mentality. After Unanue said we were all “truly blessed … to have a leader like President Trump,” social media erupted with negative reactions accompanied by pictures of Goya products in the trash, along with oaths to never buy these products again. In spite of the calls for a boycott, Goya sales have reportedly surged of late.

The popular grocery chain, Trader Joe’s,  famous for its organic, gourmet, and imported foods, came in for some unwelcome criticism recently when The New York Times, followed by other news outlets, focused attention on a petition condemning Trader Joe’s for its “racist branding and packaging.” The petition, launched by a California high school student, declared that the company “perpetuates harmful stereotypes” by labeling some of its international foods with international names. Championing inclusiveness, while defeating the cancel culture, Trader Joe’s pushed back against this accusation of racism. Trader Joe’s intent was just the opposite in its marketing effort to promote other cultures and present international foods as accessible and appealing. No changes have been made.

If knowledge is power, learning from our past mistakes through an understanding of history, having the right people and equipment in place at critical times and maintaining freedom in support of our rights is important, truthful and just, then the cancel culture surely is senseless and in so many ways detrimental to our future success as a society. The cancel culture now poses a real threat to our intellectual freedom. We, as Americans, must work to retain the right to respectfully disagree while making room for divergent views. Isn’t this, in part, a result of the diversity in America that we hold so dear?

As members of the “Great American Melting Pot” we must individually and collectively realize the benefits from our traditions and cultural heritage as we celebrate the American way of life fought for and desired by our ancestors.

Joel E. Gordon is a former Field Training Officer with the Baltimore City Police Department and is a past Chief of Police for the city of Kingwood, West Virginia. He has also served as vice- chair of a multi-jurisdictional regional narcotics task force. An award winning journalist, he is author of the book Still Seeking Justice: One Officer’s Story and founded the Facebook group Police Authors Seeking Justice. Look him up at stillseekingjustice.com

Mayor de Blasio doesn’t understand the criminal mindset and because of it, is empowering thugs

Mayor Bill de Blasio thinks he’s a hero to New York City, when in reality all he’s doing is skyrocketing crime and empowering thugs to commit brazen and heartless crimes. The focal point of his problem is that he doesn’t understand the criminal mindset; their thought process, their distorted logic and rationale, their lack of empathy and their inability to comprehend consequences, all of which knows no color.

I have worked in a state prison system for nearly 20 years, dealing with convicts day in and day out. No, not all of them are hardened criminals or heartless thugs. But a large majority of criminals share the same mindset and thought process and de Blasio has no clue what that personality is like.

The most common mistake I saw in new correctional officers was they assumed criminals can understand logic, rationale and action/consequence.

The average criminal refuses to take personal accountability for his actions. In his twisted logic, if he believes he is the victim then it is OK to lash out, even violently. He truly believes it’s not his fault and the circumstances “made him do it.”

Example: Say a thug is cut off by another vehicle and runs into a curb, causing damage. The thug then chases after the other driver, only to catch up with him and viciously beats them up.

Someone with a criminal mind would truly believe he is right in his actions to attack the other driver. He was “forced to take action” and, “It isn’t his fault” that the situation ended as badly as it did.

Similarly, people without a criminal mindset may also chase someone down and attack another driver in a fit of rage. The difference is remorse. Once the aggressor comes down from their road rage, they’ll feel remorse and wish they could take it all back.

Thugs do not feel remorse. They will carry on forever believing it wasn’t their fault and they were forced into the situation. Moreover, they blame the system for charging and incarcerating them which, in their minds “isn’t fair.”

For most of you readers, this may not make sense to you because, like the rookie correctional officer, you’ve been dealing with logical, rational people your entire life. But I assure you, this is the average convict’s thought process.

What de Blasio is doing is giving anyone with a thug mentality a reason to feel victimized. In their minds, it’s OK to respond and react to that violently. And because thugs lack empathy, they don’t understand how their actions are affecting innocent people.

Right now, thugs are damaging property, attacking people, (especially cops since de Blasio painted them as public enemy number one) and painting graffiti, all under the victimization umbrella, so it’s “not their fault.”

If the mayor were to spend a few weeks living with these “thug” types, he might be able to better gauge the consequences of his messages and how all that manifests into crime and criminal activity. He is costing people their lives and livelihood!

The police are not New York City’s problem. It’s the mayor’s ideology, political agenda and the empowerment of thugs who WILL react to it violently because in their minds, they have no choice!

Eddie Molina was deployed to Iraq as a Platoon Leader- one of the most challenging roles in modern warfare. His experience and education made him a leadership professional and he blogs about it on his website. In his spare time, he submits articles for the law enforcement, first responder and military community to keep them informed on important issues facing America today. His book, A Beginner's Guide to Leadership, is expected to be published in September 2020. For more information, go to his website at www.eddiemolina.com