Let’s Right Some Wrongs: Facts DO Matter!

By: Joel E. Gordon

Abraham Lincoln once asked an audience how many legs a dog has if you count the tail as a leg. When they answered “five,” Lincoln told them that the answer was four. The fact that you called the tail a leg did not make it a leg.

Facts do matter and repeating propaganda does not make assertions factual by virtue of repetition of less than truthful innuendo.

In political jargon, a useful idiot is a derogatory term for a person perceived as propagandizing for a cause without fully comprehending the cause's goals, and who is cynically used by the cause's leaders. Were the waning "pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon" Black Lives Matter movements’ organizers playing the progressive left? You decide.

Law enforcement has been weathering a decline in law and order due largely to wrong-headed thought supported by prosecutors who are more akin to defense attorneys and those politically appointed feckless police leaders who had demonstrated their willingness to “take a knee” resulting in increased rates of crime in too many jurisdictions.

As policing is “re-imagined” through policy changes and via consent decrees, officer discretion has often been compromised. Yet officer discretion and a reasonable level of autonomy in the performance of duty is necessary to accomplish stated goals toward enhanced community policing initiatives. Micromanagement, Monday morning quarterbacking, and a philosophy that police are guilty unless and until proven innocent have too often taken precedence over real fairness and common sense enforcement of our laws.

While a large impact, perhaps the largest, has been felt in underserved, impoverished neighborhoods, the middle class is also being hurt from policies that attack safety, freedom and prosperity.

Americans are smart. We know that the results we see in our own lives are real through obvious consequences we witness daily whether acknowledged by the “elites” or not. Who wouldn’t truly believe what they see with their own eyes, anyway?

The recent revelation confirming that the previous media denial that the contents contained on Hunter Biden’s laptop were, in fact Hunter Biden’s, has further cast aspersions on Americans’ trust of government, big tech and the media. When at least 51 “intelligence experts,” our president, the White House press secretary and others are ensnared in the lie that the laptop was “Russian disinformation” then who can be trusted?

While short of the defined criteria of a criminal conspiracy, this was quite a scheme through deception on a massively large scale designed to influence perceptions and tip the scales on election outcomes. A report from the Media Research Center shows that the media’s lack of coverage and big tech’s suppression of certain issues and scandals surrounding Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden may have cost President Donald Trump the election.

Some of these topics include former Biden staffer Tara Reade and her sexual assault allegations against Biden, the Hunter Biden scandal, Vice President Kamala Harris’s extreme liberal voting record in the Senate, the U.S.’s economic jump in the third quarter, millions of jobs added, America’s energy independence, Operation Warp Speed successes and Trump’s facilitation of multiple peace deals in the Middle East.

One in six Biden voters polled, 17 percent, said they would have changed their vote had they been aware of these stories. The report also found that without even voting for Trump and simply refusing to vote for Biden, “These voters would have handed all six critical states, and a second term, to Trump if the news media had properly informed them about the two candidates.”

Trump has initiated a civil lawsuit.

Have any of the “experts” looked in the mirror for a moment of self-reflection? Are they incapable of recognizing when they are wrong? With the admission by the New York Times that the laptop story is true, Joe Biden is inarguably a compromised president. His own personal denials further complicate analysis of his presidency on both materiality and motive with Ukraine, Russia and China taking center stage.

And this too … is it any wonder that so many Americans want real answers on both the origin and the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic? Why is there reportedly such a deficit on knowledge when it comes to the effectiveness of natural immunity? After two years, is this even possible from a scientific standpoint or just another deception through denial and omission?

As Americans, we must insist on more from our government representatives and their appointees. Government in our United States of America was designed to serve, not control or take advantage of, you and I.

To my sisters and brothers in law enforcement, remember why you joined the fight and keep being of honorable service. You are the best of the best and with perseverance, better days can be seen on the horizon. Truth, justice and the American way must prevail. Let’s right some wrongs. See you at the polls on Election Day!

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

A Tree Fell; Did Anybody Hear It?

There is an old adage that asks, if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it make a sound? That question is a good one to ask in what I am going to analyze. It involves the acquittal of a Louisville police officer last week by a Kentucky jury on a charge of 3 counts of wanton endangerment while serving a narcotics search warrant. The jury verdict last week did not get the national news coverage that the initial story did. If that doesn’t ring a bell, then maybe the name Breonna Taylor will. She was killed after her thug boyfriend fired shots through a door to serve a search warrant. Now that I have your attention, I’ll walk you thru this.

Officer Brett Hankison was the only officer charged in the case that sparked nationwide riots, something that has become the automatic default for politically motivated cop haters before waiting for facts to be determined and released. Just like incidents going all the way back to Ferguson, Missouri in 2014 when Officer Darren Wilson defended his life against thug Mike Brown who was trying to disarm him, this has become standard operating following officer uses of force. You remember the “hands up, don’t shoot” lie that was spawned out of that incident? Hankison’s name is hardly known, but Breonna Taylor’s name has become a nationwide symbol for the lie constructed about not only police use of force, but for banning no-knock search warrants. You may have seen recent legal-based columns by me on the issue of no-knock search warrants that separate fact from fiction. The Louisville police incident has been labeled in cop-hating media as a no-knock incident even though the police have said that they did knock. There is no evidence to suggest that they did not knock before being fired upon. One of the officers on the entry team was struck by gunfire that followed a knock on the door. That fact is rarely mentioned in any news accounts.

The reporting of this incident has been so one-sided that it makes clear the anti-police bias in liberal media coverage of these incidents. In one story from USnews.com, Taylor’s name was mentioned 10 times. In another short two-page column from Yahoo News, Taylor’s name was mentioned four times. Both stories pointed out the race of the officer (white) and of Taylor (black). This is done to inflame the situation and make it a race issue. That is more explosive.

In neither column was the creep who shot through the door, wounding an officer, mentioned in post acquittal news accounts. In one of the columns I mentioned, he was only referred to as “Taylor’s new boyfriend.” His name is Kenneth Walker. He has a criminal history. Walker said he wouldn’t have fired through the door if he had known it was police. Seriously? So, it is reasonable to fire through a door because whoever knocked didn’t answer? What if had been a parcel delivery driver? What if the person knocking didn’t hear you ask the question not to mention that police serving a search warrant wouldn’t want to give up the element of surprise, something that could reasonably endanger their lives? Narcotics search warrants are a high-risk activity and drug dealers are often armed. By the way, Walker admitted that officers knocked on the door. But let’s not let facts get in the way of a good story.

Officer Hankison took the stand in his own defense and testified in part that he did absolutely nothing wrong. I agree wholeheartedly. Any reasonable officer would have returned fire here. Hankison returned fire in the direction of the sound of shots being fired at officers in the dark. Officers train in nighttime shooting with limited or no visibility. Hell yes it can be risky. Several shots ended up going through walls into adjacent apartments. There is no evidence to suggest that Hankison knew that there were other apartments behind the one that the shots came from. That shots went into another nearby residence is the fault of Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker. By the way, he should have been charged with attempted murder of police officers. He faced no such scrutiny. When officers are fired upon

unprovoked, they most certainly are legally entitled to use force to defend themselves. No one in those apartments was struck by the shots. Twenty-six people testified against Hankison, arguing that he endangered their lives by firing. None of them mentioned that they learned that Walker fired at police first and that it was his action that started this. No. Let’s excuse thug Walker’s behavior and blame everything on police. That is what I call cultural rot and dysfunction.

It is this phenomenon that causes much of the black-on-black violence in ghettos all across America. Witnesses fail to come forward when thousands of black victims are shot or murdered by a black perpetrator, and you don’t hear anything about how black lives matter. But let a cop use justifiable force, something that occurs in rare instances anyway against a black suspect, and riots with looting and arson occur. And here is another thing to ponder. Breonna Taylor dying in this incident is tragic. She seemed by all accounts to be a decent person. Her judgment, however, in choosing who to date comes into question. Questionable lifestyle choices have consequences. Let this be a lesson. With all the information available on the internet to do a background search, people should take the time to research people before dating them … but I digress.

The issue of what justice looks like came into play when after Hankison’s acquittal, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer issued a statement that said, “Today’s decision adds to the frustration and anger of many over the inability to find more accountability for the tragic events of March 13, 2020. I know for many, justice has still not been achieved.“ What the hell is he talking about? He is insinuating that justice only occurs when police officers are railroaded with a witch-hunt indictment and then found guilty no matter that no evidence is offered to prove their guilt. Let me remind this blowhard virtue signaling two-bit politician that justice occurs when due process takes place. Taylor and her family got due process through a criminal trial, not to mention a $12 million civil suit settlement. That’s justice. The jury in this case only needed three hours to find a not guilty verdict. That says something in and of itself. In our system of jurisprudence, people are entitled to due process. They are not entitled to a particular outcome they desire. That is called mob justice.

So, let’s take a look at the damage done to officers. Hankison and several other officers were prematurely fired. Careers were lost all in a rush to judgment done to appease the cop-hating mob. Their lives and those of their families have been ruined permanently. How do we put that toothpaste back in the tube? That is the only injustice that occurred here, Mayor Fischer. Serving police officers up as sacrificial lambs in these incidents when they are doing what they have been trained to do and for what they took an oath to do has got to stop. It will only stop when police executives grow a backbone and stand up to mayors and the local media and support the men and women they send into harm’s way every day to serve and protect.

Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of Americas Sheriff LLC, President of Rise Up Wisconsin INC, 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

LEGACY: WHY WE WRITE …our lasting attempts to make the world a better place.

By: Joel E. Gordon

One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to voyage through time. – Carl Sagan

It should come as no surprise that many of us with backgrounds in law enforcement find enjoyment in the act of expressing our thoughts in the written word. We spend our careers documenting everything from our activities to our investigations while justifying our actions along the way. We develop our skills in such a way as to conform to legal requirements for use in criminal proceedings and trials. We become increasingly thoughtful and insightful as we continue down our chosen paths.

According to the Strong Interest Inventory, which is used in career selection and assessment, many of those best suited to a career in law enforcement score highest in the categories of Social, Enterprising and Realistic. Social people are responsible, humanistic and concerned with the welfare of others. Those who are enterprising have a great facility with words which they frequently put to effective use in leadership roles. Realistic individuals deal in practical truths. Being service-oriented, it becomes our desire to try and make our world a better place through the sharing of our observations and solutions so that we can continue to add value to the world around us.

How many times has a law enforcement professional said that they should write a book about their experiences on the job? Some of us have done so. Others become columnists or submit articles we think will be of interest to publications such as the Blue Magazine.

In my case I have embarked down all three literary paths. I have written a book which chronicles my career, been chosen as a featured columnist for a regional newspaper and been given the honor to have the opportunity to write for Blue magazine. Those of us with literary skills have already mastered the art of police-style technical writing. That is, we endeavor to say exactly what we mean without risk of “double meanings” or misinterpretation by the reader. We then continually strive to put our abilities to their highest and best use.

When I finally wrote my book Still Seeking Justice: One Officer’s Story, which was published in 2014, it was over 30 years in the making before I actually took a year to write it. I did it because I wanted my story to be told. I wanted others to be able to learn from my experiences and gain insight into my life behind the badge. Beyond that, I wanted to leave a legacy for future

generations of my family, many of whom I won’t live to see, so that they will be able to share in my thoughts and life experiences and maybe gain a little more understanding into their own lives and feelings as well.

Writing both columns and magazine articles continues to be a rewarding endeavor, as well. It’s really a labor of love. Generation of ideas for topics of interest is as much fun as “putting pen to paper” and expanding those ideas into works of value to others. (I say “putting pen to paper” as a throwback concept as I use both my smartphone/tablet and laptop computer).

My fellow writers and contributors to the Blue Magazine and other publications must know of what I speak. Years ago, I decided to start a Facebook group called Police Authors Seeking Justice in light of the war against the police in my native Baltimore and throughout our nation. I envisioned a forum where police authors and commentators could share their thoughts and works while banding together as a force for good and support for law enforcement in general. It was through creation of this group that I was introduced to the Blue Magazine and many of you and have been given additional forums for my writings as a result. I am honored to have ascended to become the current Managing Editor of the Blue Magazine – the Independent Voice of Law Enforcement as well as a regular online columnist for the magazine and its readers.

I enjoy the writings of fellow brother and sister police authors. I have found that both our differences and commonalities in experiences serve as an inspiration while demonstrating the breadth and depth of our law enforcement family. I encourage all law enforcement professionals who have the inclination to author to do so. After all, there is strength in numbers and as we stand together we have many more thoughts and teachings to contribute as our world and profession continue to evolve now and into the future.

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 Mental Health And Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome

I have talked about this issue incessantly. I have referenced it in columns I have authored here in BLUE Magazine, I have talked about it when interviewed on cable news shows and podcasts and I have talked about it as a keynote speaker at various political events. No I don’t get tired about bringing it up. I will not stop beating this drum until we get policy makers and elected officials who always seek law enforcement endorsements at election time to provide funding for research and mental health treatment benefits for every man and woman who puts on the badge and uniform of their community and goes out to serve and protect.

What I do get tired of however is the deafening silence from the political class, many of whom caused these stress syndromes with their non-stop bashing of police and a refusal by others who know better to counter the hateful and destructive narrative. Too often in our twenty-four hour news cycle it becomes difficult for an en important issue to have any staying power at the top of headline news. Issues are talked about for one cycle and the it’s, an for our next story. This issue of police mental health and suicide is one of those issues. We hear a story, mainly local but sometimes national, about an officer taking their own life. Three minutes later it’s on to the next story. I don’t know if it is because news editors find it hard to talk about or to subject their viewers to or that it isn’t sexy enough to for ratings.

Unlike the liberal corporate media and others who just want to talk around the issue of police and mental health, I will continue to keep this front and center for policy makers until there is more money budgeted and more grant money awarded for research and mental health treatment for frontline law enforcement officers. It took the NFL Payers Association, the union representing professional football players decades before the league and owners admitted that there was a problem with concussions that was causing long term brain damage to players. The league paid one billion dollars in damages to settle the lawsuit. There was a plethora of research that had been done linking trauma to the head to long term brain damage. Why do I mention this? Because there is the same pattern here where departments and elected officials at the local level who are either demonstrating deliberate indifferent to this issue issue or they are in denial that something needs to be done.

In an article that appeared in the Washington Times newspaper, writer Jeff Murdoch details new information. Mental health experts are saying that the mass anti police climate is traumatizing police officers. Officers are “more likely to lead to make mistakes in potentially deadly encounters that stir up anti-cop narratives”. That’s not all.

Cherylynn Lee, a police psychologist said that, “by telling them that they are bad people, that is going to lead to trauma. When someone is suffering trauma or stress, it has an impact on the brain. It’s more difficult to concentrate and clouds thinking.” She went on to say that, national police rhetoric reduces resiliency, the term used to describe a person’s ability to adapt and recover from trauma. She now has a waiting list of officers wanting her services for treatment. She says many other clinicians are not taking new patients because they simply have no room on their wait list. This is an example of not having enough resources to treat officers earlier in their PTSD process to eliminate ingrained psychological damage. There’s more.

A Harvard University study of 5000 law enforcement officers found that: “40% have sleep disorders and that those with sleep disorders had a 25% higher risk of expressing and get and a 35% higher risk of having a complaint levied against them and a 43% higher chance of making a serious administrative error.” I find these results and figures are staggering. Does any elected official who spews this hateful anti police rhetoric?

Some cops are fighting back by suing their agencies and governmental bodies after being fired citing that they suffered from PTSD. This is something I hope continues to happen until governmental agencies look deeper into this crisis and provide grants for further study and health coverage for treatment so that this condition can be caught in earlier stages and reversed to bring officers back to health. And think of the collateral damage to a struggling officer’s family. They see that their loved one has a problem and do not know where to turn for help. Employee assistance programs are not the solution. Cops do not treat these government units. You cannot lump in law enforcement officers in with other city or county workers. No other city worker deals with what an officer does on the job and cops will not trust that the information they provide will not leak into the public or their agencies are notified due to an over reaction to not notifying someone due to some state laws requiring that certain people be notified of certain information resulting in an administrative suspension. Being stripped of of their badge and gun is a big deal to an officer. They lose their self esteem and identity.

That more research is being conducted and more data coming out is a good start but it is not enough. We need action, we need more resources. It is not enough to simple say we care, we have to demonstrate it. If not now, then when? Police suicide shows no evidence of lessening. So far in the first six weeks of 2022, 19 law enforcement officers have taken their own lives. It’s the second leading cause of officer deaths nationally.

My suggestion is that police unions, bargaining agents and Fraternal Orders of Police get involved and lead this push. They have political power in state capitals and in local government. They need to use that power for national attention on this very important officer survival issue.

Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of Americas Sheriff LLC, President of Rise Up Wisconsin INC, 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

TUNNEL VISION: Avoiding Cognitive Dissonance

By: Joel E. Gordon

Please note: this is not meant to be divisive, insulting or disrespectful but rather should serve as a reminder to some and as a wake-up call to our die-hard progressive friends.

Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When presented with evidence that works against that belief, it cannot be accepted. That would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, individuals will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn't validate their belief. For those who continue to support the Biden administration due to your own core beliefs, your level of gullibility exceeds my level of comprehension. Isn't it interesting how so much of yesterday's "misinformation" and alleged "conspiracy theory" continues to become today's fact? Everything from supply chain issues, transitory then admittedly actual runaway non-transitory inflation, to flawed ideals being portrayed as "science" and then not, to unlawful and possibly treasonous and provable spying operations at the very highest levels of government, failed military operations with denial of mistakes made, unfulfilled promises like assurance of no vaccination mandates and then announced vaccine mandates, disavowing police defunding after it was already underway while violent crime spiraled out of control, and the list goes on to include monetary support for illicit drug abuse in the name of safety and equity(?) instead of expenditure on drug rehab and treatment, etc.

Some actual headlines in case you were wondering:

· Hunger in America could get worse as supply chains tighten - CNN

· It’s Official: Inflation Is Not Transitory – Forbes

· Mask Mandates Didn’t Make Much of a Difference Anyway – Bloomberg

· Lesley Stahl Is Wrong And Trump Is Right: The Obama Administration Spied On The Trump Campaign – The Federalist

· Durham says Democrat-allied tech executive spied on Trump’s White House office – Washington Examiner

· Biden Had Firm at Center of Trump Hacking Scandal on Campaign Payroll – Washington Free Beacon

· Biden says he is ‘rejecting’ critical accounts from U.S. commanders about the Afghanistan evacuation – Washington Post · Joe Biden: COVID vaccination in US will not be mandatory - BBC

· Biden's illegal vaccine mandate is about politics, not science – The Hill

· Omicron Makes Biden’s Vaccine Mandates Obsolete – Wall Street Journal

· Pelosi: "Defund the police" not the policy of the Democratic Party – Axios

· Even Democrats are now admitting 'Defund the Police' was a massive mistake - CNN

· ‘That’s a world war’: Biden won’t send troops to get Americans out of Ukraine – NY Post

· US places up to 8,500 troops on alert for possible deployment to Eastern Europe amid Russia tensions – CNN

· U.S. deploys troops to Eastern Europe; thousands more on standby - Politico

· SF group handing out free crack-pipe kits expects to expand – San Francisco Examiner

(Yes, the original 2014 San Francisco program included plans for a free crack-pipe exchange program).

And not to ignore a vital issue of importance when it comes to the strength of our economy and national security, the squandering of a newly achieved decades-old goal of American energy independence by an attack on fossil fuels Joe Biden launched on day one of his presidency. Remember when Barack Obama voiced concerns about Joe Biden's presidential candidacy and warned allies not to underestimate Joe Biden's ability to "f**k things up?" Voters should have listened.

Even “fake news” CNN is now beginning to see the truth, as are some other liberal media outlets albeit slow to become enlightened to what many “flyover Americans” in less-populated areas know all too well. The real pandemic is those not being able to admit they have largely been wrong. Believing in an artificial level of the effectiveness of lockdowns, social distancing, masks and vaccinations all while ignoring real science on many topics such as therapeutics and naturally acquired COVID immunity subsequent to contracting COVID-19 have not been the correct answers. Too many individuals have died from post-COVID complications even among those triple-vaccinated. Forget about Anthony Fauci’s 14-days to slow the spread. What happened to candidate Biden's promise to shut down COVID-19 completely? Did you believe him?

A reminder, "conservatives" and traditionalists are not the enemy if we disagree with anyone else's views and exercise our God-given and constitutional right to express same. In fact, I and many others only want the best for the common good of our country, the world and for all its people. Truth be told, many of today’s conservatives would have been considered liberals of old and modern-day liberal/progressives would be labeled radicals by many in a not so long ago bygone era. Many must believe why risk cognitive dissonance instead “explaining things away” or rejecting new information that conflict with their existing beliefs through avoidance. I know each side believes that this applies to the other ... but let’s get real. The Biden presidency is a disaster and has placed our country in crisis. How bad will it get? Will WWIII be imminent? Will our babies, pets and we go hungry due to supply chain issues and increasingly empty store shelves worsened by trucker boycotts due to mandate protests? Our safety is already severely compromised. Law enforcement and our military are being abused and misused too, often further exacerbating our standing both here at home and abroad.

I had never seen healthy people being punished for non-compliance, as many livelihoods have been taken away, while sick individuals are being denied therapeutics and care… until now, that is. I truly never would have imaged such a situation could ever exist in our country.

America: many generations struggled and fought to keep our “home of the brave” “a land of the free.” Now is the time to see things for what they are together. Our future lives, freedoms and livelihoods are likely dependent upon it.

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

CONTROL THROUGH DEPENDENCY

By: Joel E. Gordon

The term drug paraphernalia refers to any equipment that is used to produce, conceal, and consume illicit drugs. It includes but is not limited to items such as bongs, roach clips, miniature spoons, and various types of pipes. Under federal law the term drug paraphernalia means “any equipment, product or material of any kind which is primarily intended or designed for use in manufacturing, compounding, converting, concealing, producing, processing, preparing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body a controlled substance.” - National Drug Intelligence Center: U.S. Department of Justice.

Now the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services is reported to be giving grants to programs that hand out crack pipes to drug addicts as part of a program to “keep drug users safe”  and as part of its plan to “advance racial equity." Yes, you read that right!

The idea is reported to be an attempt to limit infections among drug users. The $30 million Biden administration grant program, to begin distribution of funds in May, includes money for nonprofit groups and local governments to purchase 'safe smoking kits/supplies according to a report in the Washington Free Beacon. The pipes would also convince people to smoke instead of injecting drugs because injections are riskier, the report goes on to say. However, equipment that qualifies for funding includes fentanyl strips as well as syringes.

Funding for the "harm reduction" grant program is provided through Democrats' American Rescue Plan.

Under current federal law, it is unlawful to do any of the following:

·       Sell or offer to sell drug paraphernalia,

·       Mail drug paraphernalia or transport it through interstate commerce,

·       Import or export drug paraphernalia.

Simple possession of paraphernalia is not a federal crime. However, under some state laws merely owning or having these items is illegal. Typically, police check for drug residue, and if it's clear that a pipe, bong, hookah or other item was used for smoking illegal substances, a person may face drug paraphernalia charges.

Examples of Drug Paraphernalia

Federal law lists numerous specific examples of prohibited paraphernalia, including:

·       Pipes made of glass, wood, stone, plastic or ceramic,

·       Water pipes, bongs and chillums (a long, hollow pipe usually made of clay),

·       Roach clips (objects used to hold burning materials like rolled cigarettes or joints that are too small to be held by hand),

·       Miniature spoons that hold less than one-tenth of a cubic centimeter, often used for snorting cocaine,

·       Freebase cocaine kits, or paraphernalia used to smoke cocaine.

Some states have longer lists of banned items such as scales and balances intended to weigh controlled substances, equipment designed to test the strength or purity of controlled substances, materials or chemicals used to "cut" or dilute the strength of narcotics and syringes or needles for injecting controlled substances.

Both federal and state laws identify various factors that law enforcement officials must use to distinguish between a lawful physical object (e.g., a scale or a spoon) and unlawful drug paraphernalia.

In states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use, lawmakers may have eliminated certain objects from the list, such as bongs or roach clips. However, even if a state no longer outlaws these items, federal law still considers them to be illegal drug paraphernalia and forbids their sale.

Penalties for Possessing or Distributing

Punishments for drug paraphernalia are generally less severe than for offenses involving illicit drugs themselves. Under the federal statute, the maximum sentence for selling paraphernalia is three years, plus a fine. As noted above, federal law does not outlaw possession per se.

Under state laws, penalties vary. In some states, drug paraphernalia possession is a misdemeanor. While most states treat paraphernalia distribution as a misdemeanor, some punish it as a felony, for example, if it involves sale of items to minors.

What is going on here? Is an American president, Joe Biden, and his administration trying to create or allow a country full of addicted Hunter Bidens? Is the goal control through dependency? Is there no respect for the rule of law or for long established norms which evolved and were developed for the common good? Racial equity?

Had enough yet?

Sgt. Clyde Boatwright, president of the Maryland Fraternal Order of Police, said government resources are better spent on preventing drug abuse rather than making it safer.

"If we look at more of a preventive campaign as opposed to an enabling campaign, I think it will offer an opportunity to have safer communities with fewer people who are dependent on these substances."

Perhaps a prophetic Ronald Reagan may have said it best. “Either you will control your government, or government will control you.”

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

MAYDAY in Baltimore: #cityincrisis

MAYDAY in Baltimore: #cityincrisis

While still freshly mourning a lone Baltimore police officer, Keona Holley, who was ambushed and executed while sitting in her patrol car, now this…

Baltimore has lost three of the bravest among us: Lt. Paul Butrim, Firefighter/Paramedic Kelsey Sadler, and EMT/Firefighter Kenny Lacayo. All made the ultimate sacrifice. For that, Baltimore owes them the deepest gratitude and respect. These heroes of the Baltimore City Fire Department were responding to a two-alarm fire in a vacant home in the 200 block of South Stricker Street at 6:00am when the structure collapsed. A fourth EMT/Firefighter, John McMaster, remains at the hospital in critical but stable condition. This is a gut wrenching tragedy for our city, the Baltimore City Fire Department, and most importantly the families of our firefighters. There are no words to describe the pain and the severity of the losses we have suffered today. My heart is with the Firefighters, their families, and the entire Baltimore City Fire Department who put their lives and safety of others before their own wellbeing each and every day. I ask that all of Baltimore keep them in our prayers during this extremely difficult time. – Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott

Baltimore City Fire Department Chief Niles Ford: “Every day our Firefighters, our first responders put their lives on the line for the sake of others. Three Firefighters lost their lives in service to our city, and another remains in critical condition. From this moment, we will honor those we lost, for their bravery, their courage, their love for helping others and the respect they had for the Baltimore City Fire Department."

As they were working a structure fire at an abandoned three-story row house in southwest Baltimore, the crew manning Engine 14 declared a “mayday” during the fire after a collapse within the structure. Three firefighters were ultimately reported as line of duty deaths and one firefighter was transported to University of Maryland Hospital’s Shock Trauma unit with second- and third-degree burns in critical condition.

I confess I am no expert on firefighting or suppression but conversations with some trained firefighters have opened thoughts on questions that remain. Was this a preventable tragedy as an after-action review might show? Were best practices utilized? Were those on the scene aware that a previous fire at the exact same dwelling in 2015 resulted in firefighter injury?  Was this “bread and butter” vacant house fire taken too lightly as being a somewhat routine assignment, as about 15% of all structure fire calls in the city are at vacated buildings? What, if anything, could have been done differently to prevent tragedy?

It wouldn’t be a surprise if the abandoned vacant dwelling was being used as a drug house or clandestine housing for homeless. If trespassers sheltered there from the January cold, did a makeshift heat source get out of control? Of course, if law enforcement had found trespassers in advance of the fire, Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s office would have rejected prosecution of any trespassing or drug charge. Too, is no one held responsible for compliance with securing, removal or renovation of vacant properties?

We often hear about the police department and how the city mismanages the budget for it. But the fire department is in the same boat and perhaps has it worse than the police department on any given day.

So talk is cheap, as it has been said. In the coming days and weeks there will be time to evaluate and implement corrective actions as necessary for safer tomorrows.

Reduced staffing, overworked personnel with police attrition rates that exceed retention and new hires, closed fire stations and heftier workloads for law enforcement, fire and EMS crews are a liability for governments who are open to lawsuits for culpability for employee injury and death resulting from the city’s negligence. More importantly, the city of Baltimore and all government jurisdictions owe their first responder heroes as safe of a work environment as is possible. Any policy or practice that runs contrary to that primary goal of safety leaves our first responders vulnerable to unnecessary harm and government morally and financially responsible for tragic consequences.

The ludicrous defund mentality must cease. The Fraternal Order of Police and Firefighters Union must insist that it instead is necessary to fund training and ensure adequate staffing and equipment procurement and availability to facilitate first response to emergencies that are as safe as possible with each and every call for service and alarm sounded. Nothing less is acceptable to our first responders, their families, and our communities who rely on these brave women and men each and every day and night.

May our heroes be protected; our families comforted, and may those paying the ultimate sacrifice rest in everlasting and eternal peace.

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

Memo To The Political Class: Do Something, Dammit

Calendar year 2022 begins much like it ended in 2020 and 2021. Police officers continue to be ambushed and gunned down in areas all across the nation and violent crime continues to surge not only in large urban cities but in suburban areas as well, and still elected officials continue to wring their hands as to what is causing it and how to mitigate it. 

In New York City in one week, two officers were killed in the line of duty while another two were shot and are expected to survive. In Houston, Texas, three officers were wounded in a shootout, with one dying. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, my hometown, a sheriff’s deputy and a city of Milwaukee police officer were shot and are expected to survive. According to the National Gun Violence Archive, in the first 24 days of 2022, gunmen opened fire on cops 22 times, killing three. Another four officers have been ambushed in vehicle attacks. Even two police K-9s have died in the line of duty. According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 2021 was the deadliest year on record for law enforcement officer deaths.

There is no doubt that there is a correlation between the animus coming from Democrat elected officials, Black Lives Matter and Antifa and the assaults against police. These groups have turned police into villains. That steady drum beat of hate with little counter narrative from people other than myself on a national level has eroded the respect and trust for police. This vilification has manifested itself in the violence against police that we are seeing.

I have two remedies that could go a long way in restoring respect for police. Keep in mind that this hate for police didn’t start overnight and it won’t turn back in the other direction overnight, but if we enact public policies today, we can start the arduous path back toward a return on a focus toward officer safety. The first is for Joe Biden to stop with his inane idea of police reform and call for making it a capital federal offense for murdering a police officer with the death sentence handed out upon conviction. Also, there should be no more than a two-year window for the defendant to exercise appeals. This would ensure consistency nationwide, since some states currently do not have the death penalty.

The second remedy is for people in Congress and every state legislature to pass a resolution condemning any more hateful rhetoric toward police. Then we would have all of these two-bit politicians on record as to their position of support or non-support of police.

Next, I want to turn toward the continued escalation of violent crime across America. It is predicted that the upward trend in street violence that we have seen in both 2020 and 2021 will continue. For a snapshot, five people were shot, killing one, in Washington D.C.; three people were gunned down in Chicago including an 8-year-old girl, and six people were found shot execution-style in a Milwaukee residence known for drug activity. In Philadelphia so far this year, there have been 90 carjackings after 750 carjackings in 2021. Milwaukee saw a record year in car thefts with over 10,000 incidents. In New York, subway crimes of homicides and rapes doubled in 2021. Just because the calendar year turned from 2021 to 2022 does not mean that cities get to start at zero in reporting as if all the crime that happened the previous year and all of the victims it claimed didn’t happen. As I said earlier here, these are trends that will continue if not abated. 

The most startling thing to me is that there has not been one law enforcement executive who has put forth a comprehensive plan or strategy to combat this street violence. All I hear from the feckless city officials and police executives are platitudes. They express concern, condolence and calls for the violence to stop as if on that command alone the perpetrators will change their behavior and turn over a new leaf. They talk about looking for root causes and reinvesting in cities, which is code language for spending million more in taxpayer dollars that will lead to nothing. Police executives continue to embark on the fool’s errand of community policing. They erroneously believe that regaining and rebuilding trust with minority communities will lead to lower rates of crime. This whole community policing craze was first spawned in early 1980. We have spent billions trying to rebuild trust to no avail.  This is foolhardy. Besides, the law-abiding people already trust and respect you. Get a clue.

Nothing will build trust in minority communities faster than showing them that you can keep them safe from the criminal element. Nothing will build community trust faster than to show business owners that you will protect their property from thefts and burglaries. That means suppressing crime. Business owners watching their businesses looted and then set on fire during a riot doesn’t instill community trust especially after front-line cops were given stand down orders. Neither does a mother finding out that her child was killed after being struck by an errant bullet in a drive-by shooting.

Restoring trust starts with going after and harassing known criminals. Leave everybody else alone. If an officer does not know who the perpetrators of disorder are, and who the career criminals are on his or her beat, then they aren’t worth a damn as a cop. Notice that earlier here I mentioned that 6 people were found shot execution-style in a “known” drug house. My first thought was, if the people living in that neighborhood knew it was a drug house, then why didn’t police? And if police did know, what were they doing to shut it down? It has always been an important element of successful policing to know your beat, up and down, inside and out. In fairness to front-line officers today, they do not have the resources nor the time since the defund police movement to effectively dedicate themselves to routine patrols and surveillance ops, and even if they do make an arrest, George Soros-funded prosecutors are not prosecuting criminals.

Here the plan for any police executive who wants to become the next Bill Bratton of law enforcement executives. Here is the plan for any city mayor who wants to become known as America’s Mayor a la Rudy Giuliani.

Reinstate broken windows policing. All police activities will have one objective: crime reduction. Focus on order maintenance activities. If you do not know what that is then get a copy of Bratton’s book titled, TURNAROUND: How Americas Top Cop Reversed the Crime Epidemic. Read it, study it. Copy what he did. Come up with a written comprehensive crime reduction strategy. Come up with a plan to succeed. The plan has to have measurables so you can track how well you are doing or not doing. The stuff that is yielding results, do more of. The stuff that isn’t, do less of. Have a solid information-sharing process. Information needs to move up, down and across the entire agency. Your resources are finite. Let the mayor know what you are doing. If he doesn’t approve, then go rogue and do it anyway. Dare him to fire you for trying to restore law and order in all the chaos. Let the local media know what you are doing ahead of time. Notify community stakeholders. You’ll need their support. Let the city council know and tell them you’ll need more resources. Tell them to reverse no-bail policies so you can keep repeat offenders locked away. Team up with state probation and parole offices for a full-court press against the scumbag criminals with home and vehicle searches. Notify the local United States Attorney that you’ll need grant money to lighten the load on property and business taxpayers and that you are sending career violent offenders to be prosecuted at the federal level for more certainty in prosecutions and longer sentences.  

Now that you have informed everybody of what is coming down, execute the plan. Hold commanders accountable for results. Check on their progress frequently. Forget that community policing initiative BS. Am I clear?

Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of Americas Sheriff LLC, President of Rise Up Wisconsin INC, 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

Live by the sword; die by the sword?

By: Joel E. Gordon

Quote by Baltimore City Prosecuting Attorney Marilyn Mosby in July of 2021 about one of the many criminal complaints she has brought involving Baltimore City Police Department members: "These indictments demonstrate our commitment to ensuring one standard of justice for all - regardless of one's race, sex, religion, or occupation."

Marilyn Mosby, who rose to national prominence in 2015, has been a frequent target for criticism of violent crime in Baltimore since her failed prosecution of the officers she charged in the death of Freddie Gray after he was arrested by the Baltimore police. She was accused of prosecutorial overreach for charging the officers. None were convicted of any criminal wrongdoing. Since that time, she has continued to earn a reputation for criminally charging police officers while protecting law breakers.

In June of 2020, Mosby dismissed more than 600 pending criminal cases and announced that her office would no longer prosecute many misdemeanors for crimes she deemed low-level, including drug possession, prostitution, trespassing and select other offenses.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan called the Baltimore state’s attorney a “big part of the problem” with skyrocketing violent crime in that city. “We have a prosecutor in Baltimore City who refuses to prosecute violent criminals and that’s at the root of the problem,” Hogan said.

In fact, if you are charged with a violent crime in Baltimore, there’s a one in four chance your case will be dismissed.  Mosby released that data in a recent letter to the governor, who ordered a review of her office

But that is not the only claim to fame attributable to Mosby, who is now facing four counts of federal charges of her own alleging perjury and making a false statement on loan applications for two separate properties in Florida.

From unpaid federal taxes and a tax lien to using campaign dollars for personal use, Mosby has a history of questionable financial dealings and hasn’t always been transparent about information pertinent to their ethicality.

Federal prosecutors have been investigating the anti-cop state’s attorney and her husband, Nick Mosby, who is president of the Baltimore City Council, subsequent to a Baltimore inspector general report in February of 2021 that brought into question the state’s attorney’s travel, gifts and personal businesses.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) subpoenaed all of the couple’s financial records including their tax returns, bank statements, credit card statements, loan documents and canceled checks, The Baltimore Sun newspaper reported.

Mosby is accused of lying about experiencing COVID-related hardship on an application where she asked to withdraw $40,000 from her Baltimore City retirement account. The indictment claims that she did not actually have any financial hardship due to coronavirus, as required.

She is also charged with making false statements to influence a mortgage company, in connection with homes in Florida. She allegedly failed to disclose that she owed "significant amounts of federal taxes."

Calls are growing for Mosby to temporarily step aside or resign, as she is under indictment facing the four federal charges.

Mosby said she is innocent and she intends to fight these charges. "I have done nothing wrong," she said at a news conference. Mosby says she will not be distracted from doing her job as city state's attorney and is strongly refuting the federal charges against her.

While criminal defendants are always certainly considered to be innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and to a moral certainty, federal indictments are to be taken seriously. Data published by the Pew Research Center in 2019 highlighted how federal prosecutors have a 99.6% conviction rate. To put those numbers in perspective, U.S. attorneys filed 79,704 cases in 2018. Of those, only 320 resulted in acquittals.

In the meantime, Baltimore remains a city in crisis under siege. Mosby, who considers herself a “progressive change agent”, must not escape accountability for her own actions, business dealings and contributions to the increases in lawlessness within the city of Baltimore.

Will this indictment lead to ineligibility for her to continue to serve as the state’s attorney for Baltimore city? Let’s hope that justice will be served honestly, swiftly and decisively and for the common good of Baltimore’s merchants and law-abiding citizenry who need relief from a rapidly deteriorating environment currently devoid of actionable policy shifts resulting in a return to a better, safer and more desirable Baltimore.

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

An LA Tragedy

The following happened on December 23, 2020. Experienced officers know how this goes down. Police received multiple calls regarding a man in a Los Angeles area Burlington retail store. The 911 calls ranged from a man with an object that might be a bicycle lock who was attacking customers to one where the man in question had a gun.

Suffice it to say that this investigation has a long way to go and not all the information and facts are available, but we can make some observations and comments based on the post-incident news conference conducted by the LAPD Chief that I watched and listened to. He released the body cam video and 911 calls that came in and walked the media through the incident. Yes, it was pandemonium at the scene. People could be heard screaming in the background of the calls to the dispatcher. Others had barricaded themselves in locked offices and others frantically fled the store. Police were dispatched with a patchwork of what information was available at that time. This is par for the course in law enforcement. Cops have to work in the environment of the unknown. And they do a damned good job of it. That comes with experience.

When officers arrived, you can imagine what they found. People running around like chickens with their heads cut off. That’s understandable. What happened in the early moments is important. I’ll get to that shortly. Officers are trying to slow everything down, collect as much information as they quickly can and then process what they know and what they don’t know in order to make decisions as to how to proceed. To take language from the Supreme Court case Graham v Conner on officer use of force, “Things happen under circumstances that are tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving.”

Here are just a few of the unknowns that these LAPD officer had to quickly consider. Are there people injured and in need of medical treatment? Where in this large retail store is the suspect? Is he armed? Does he have hostages? Is the suspect high on drugs, intoxicated or mentally deranged? Where have customers barricaded themselves?

Officers came into contact with the suspect, who had a large metal bicycle type lock in his hand. Keep in mind that one of the calls that came in said the suspect was armed with a gun. He was commanded to drop the object in his hand. He did not comply. One of the officers made a decision to deliver rounds from his firearm at the suspect who undoubtedly posed a threat. Whether he should have used another level of force from the force continuum is a decision the officer on the scene gets to make and just like from the Supreme Court on officer use of force decision cited earlier in this column, it advises not to review these from the lens of 20/20 hindsight. It also says that in an objective test of reasonableness, the officer’s decision to use force has to be judged on the facts known to officers at the time, and what they learn later is irrelevant, which is why I took the time to lay out the case. One media report from CNN pointed out that the officer fired shots at a suspect who did not have a gun. I took to social media to call this uninformed goof out, reminding him that the Supreme Court case on officer use of force does not say that officers can only use deadly force if the suspect is armed with a gun. It asks under the objective test whether the officer faced a reasonable threat and if the force used by the officer was reasonable under the circumstances. It’s not a subjective standard of what somebody else would have done.

The suspect died after being shot. But it doesn’t end there. A 14-year-old girl who was in a store dressing room was shot as one of of the rounds fired by the officer pierced through a dressing room wall and struck her in the chest. Anybody who has used a retail store dressing room knows that the walls are nothing more than drywall. Drywall is not by itself going to stop a round from a firearm. She died at the scene in her mother’s arms. My initial thought was, “Oh, crap,” except I used an expletive.

This was nothing more than a tragedy, a terrible unfortunate tragedy.

Now, what to do about the 14-year-old unintended victim. Under most state laws, there are what is called defenses to prosecution. Those include mistake-an honest error, necessity- an act to prevent something worse from happening, adequate provocation-circumstances that deprive a reasonable person of self-control and finally privilege-immunity give to a person because of their position. In my opinion and based on my experience of having investigated police use of deadly force incidents, privilege and necessity should be taken into consideration in the death of the 14-year-old. She was obviously not the intended target of the officer. Sure, officers should take into consideration other people in the area, but that cannot be the overriding consideration. Other things have to be considered as well. Civil court using tort law is the proper place for this tragic case, not criminal court.

As for the review of the case, there are about four tribunals which will look at this officer use of force, including civilian review boards. That is too many. What if the determinations come into conflict, then what? You have to wonder about the objectives, especially with inexperienced on law or police tactics of civilian review boards and who sits on those boards.  Then there is the politics that will undoubtedly seep in here. The officer is black and the 14-year-old is of Hispanic descent. It didn’t take long for carnival barker Al Sharpton to insert himself into the situation. He lives in New York. This happened in California. California is not without its own political exploiters. He became the self-anointed family spokesman. It is guaranteed that with this clown involved, he will turn this into a situation about race.

There is another issue that needs to be pointed out here. The last few years have been filled with cop-haters and politicians, although I repeat myself, suggesting that social workers and mental health professionals be sent to cases where some deranged person is involved instead of police. How would that have turned out in this circumstance? I can tell you right now that people educated in social work or mental health experts are not clamoring to be used on these calls for service. They are being offered up as sacrificial lambs. It sounds like a good idea, but it’s foolish and not well thought out. Truth be told, they do not want any part of dealing with this danger.

We will have to keep an eye on this review. It is sure to garner national interest.

Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of Americas Sheriff LLC, President of Rise Up Wisconsin INC, 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

What a Sad Way To End 2021 For Police

The start of each New Year brings promise, hope and a renewed sense about the future. For that I am grateful. There are several instances involving policing to close out calendar year 2021, however, that leave me wondering. As you know, just because a calendar date page turns does not mean that the timeline of life stops and starts anew.

The people who benefit the most and thus are looking forward to this calendar year ending are the mayors of all the cities who have been saddled with skyrocketing violent crime rates. They get to set the meter back to zero as if all the murders, the people shot in nonfatal shootings, the robberies, drive-by shootings and the women raped didn’t happen and they won’t have to hear about these anymore. If January shows a slight decline in these Part 1 crimes, which it usually does because of cold weather, these elected officials and police commanders will shout that crime is down in those cities.  You know the game, but that is not what this column will focus on.

 Two incidents occurred in December involving law enforcement that leave me sad and shaking my head.

 The first is that a Baltimore police officer was shot in the head and killed while sitting in her cruiser on a city street. Keona Holley is a 39-year-old mother who leaves four children behind. The two black suspects then shot and killed another man after murdering Officer Holley. I will point out that the officer is black for the Black Lives Matter crowd. Over 60 officers have been killed in the line of duty in ambush attacks in 2021. That is a 28% increase in ambush-style shootings over 2020, and that year saw an increase. I don’t hear any elected officials talk about this nor offer a solution like they did in pushing for police reform that included defunding police, ending qualified immunity for cops and banning no-knock search warrants along with other things that weaken officer safety. These creeps find more political value in locking arms with cop haters in hating on law enforcement officers.

The second incident is one that I find tragic to begin with and then compounded by a prosecutorial decision. You probably know of this incident as it garnered nationwide media attention. Brooklyn Center, Minnesota police officer Kim Potter was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter in the death of Daunte Wright. She now faces a maximum 15 years in prison. Potter who is 49 years old, is a 26-year veteran of the police force. She since resigned. She was a field training officer and while on patrol with a recruit officer saw a vehicle with expired registration tags and an air freshener hanging from the rear-view mirror which is a traffic violation in Minnesota. Suffice it to say that the air freshener violation is pretty petty, but that is up to the legislature to fix. So, we can say that the expired tags is a legal justification to stop the motorist for an investigation. What followed is what too often happens in these situations with a young black motorist. I have never sugarcoated anything in my columns and will not start now.

After another backup cruiser arrived, it was learned that Daunte Wright was wanted on a warrant. He was told he was being taken into custody, and instead of complying with an officer’s lawful command to arrest him, he bolted back toward his vehicle. Any officer can tell you that the inside of a suspect vehicle is a serious danger to the officer’s safety. Weapons can be secreted inside a vehicle and the suspect can escape, leading officers on a high-speed pursuit that places officers in serious danger. Officer Potter made a decision to use her Taser as Wright struggled with officers. She grabbed for what she thought was her Taser and instead inadvertently grabbed her firearm. She yelled “Taser, Taser” which officers are trained to do to alert an officer engaged in a struggle with a suspect so that the officer doesn’t get struck with the Taser round. She pulled the trigger on what she thought was her Taser and a gunshot sounded. Realizing what she had done by mistake, she immediately blurted out words to the effect, “I think I shot him.” That excited utterance alone demonstrated her frame of mind as to her intent to deploy her Taser and not her firearm. She simply made a mistake. There are three legal standards involved here that a prosecutor not motivated by politics or animus toward police should have considered.

The first is that the US Supreme Court has said in use of force by police that ensuing reviews should not be viewed through the lens of 20/20 hindsight, because these things happen under circumstances that are tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving. The second is that her immediate excited utterance, which is a legal standard, shows her lack of intent to use her firearm on Wright. The third is that it is reasonable to conclude that although tragic, this was a mistake, an honest error by the officer. In most states, mistake is a legal defense for prosecutors not to criminally charge a person with a crime. The other defenses to prosecution are coercion, privilege and adequate provocation. Keep in mind that the decision to prosecute Officer Potter was made by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, an avowed cop hater. That matters here.

 In my estimation based on my nearly 40 years of law enforcement and having investigated these officer use of force incidents, this officer should not have been charged with intentional manslaughter. This is a situation where the civil court system is the appropriate place to litigate this. Tort law was created for situations where somebody was damaged, in this case a death occurred but no intent of a crime exists. But not cop hater and domestic abuser Keith Ellison. He couldn’t resist.

That thing I mentioned earlier that seems to happen in the overwhelming number of incidents where a suspect ends up dead from an officer’s use of force is that the suspect resisted arrest. It is a suspect’s actions that causes an officer to fear for their own safety or for other officers and thus, in this case, the need to defend other officers.

The moral of this story is for officers not to make traffic stops. Traffic stops are a high-risk activity. They also yield a treasure trove of uncovering more serious criminal activity like people wanted on serious felony warrants. Guns illegally possessed and illegal narcotics can be found. I get it. I believe traffic stops to be an effective crime-control tactic. Officers have to ask themselves, however, if it is worth it when the original premise for making the stop is a traffic violation that will result for the most part in issuing the violator a citation and letting them go. Government officials like these as a revenue-generating stream. It is inappropriate to use law enforcement officers as revenue generators.  Officers risk their lives and careers, as Kim Potter did, and people resisting arrest end up dead over an expired registration tag violation. This is the balancing act officers are asked to make on a daily basis.

This results in officers not being as aggressive as they need to be for effective policing. It has a direct result in escalating crime rates all across the country as criminals do not fear aggressive police action.

Don’t blame the police for this, though. Blame the war on police. Blame Black Lives Matter. Blame the political class.

Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of Americas Sheriff LLC, President of Rise Up Wisconsin INC, 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

FROM WHERE I SIT

The Blue magazine is always honored to present new and exciting editions throughout each year as the national “independent voice of law enforcement.” Our acclaimed writers from coast to coast provide insights as only our stellar team can do. This is independent journalism and commentary at its finest by people in the know; most who have real-world front line experience to draw from. Unlike so many media sources with “progressive” agendas based more upon emotion than fact, and too often with a rush to judgment, we always keep it real.

In Blue magazine you will find frequently published commentary by our nationally known contributors such as Bernard Kerik, David Clarke, Tom Homan and Michelle Malkin along with works by equally powerful writers such as Pat Ciser, Kirk Lawless, Chris Amos, Joe Pangaro, Deon Joseph, Wes Wise, Eric Caron, Ron Camacho, Leonard Sipes, Jr., Joel Shults and so many more!

For those reading this who have not yet submitted an article of interest to law enforcement for possible publication, we are always welcoming additional contributors to become a part of our army of team members. https://www.thebluemagazine.com/submissions

On the heels of my promotion to managing editor of Blue Magazine, after receiving so many accolades with statements like “law enforcement needs you,” I was reminded of the real truth ... I need law enforcement. When word slowly spread that I required hospitalization for COVID late in the year, the outpouring of care, concern, prayers and support was beyond overwhelming promoting my recovery which had been, early on, brought into question by my medical caretakers who thankfully utilized available treatments in a most effective manner. Thank you to all friends and family for your immense barrage of encouragement which in an equally large way helped propel me to overcoming what had been mistakenly believed to be my unlikely recovery.

As we move past a most difficult 2021 for so many, those of us who survived the pandemic and all of the other obstacles faced that put longevity in question, we must remain united and dedicated to the causes of freedom and justice in honor to our sisters and brothers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. By standing strong together, we can work to overcome the many forces working against us. We continue to need one another, as always, to forge ahead in a positive fashion. We will be proven to be on the right side of history, and the days of reckoning are surely just ahead. Do what is possible to stay strong, healthy and safe and remember, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

Here’s to safety, good health, and a positive turning point in 2022 and beyond!

Joel E. Gordon
Managing Editor – The Blue Magazine

WAR ON COPS IS NOT EVEN OVER

I am continually reminded that the assault on what I believe to be the most significant domestic institution in America, the institution of policing, still rages. No civil or orderly society can thrive or be held together without the men and women who put on the uniform of their community and go out to serve and protect.

I do a lot of public speaking all across America and every chance I get I continue to remind the good law-abiding people in these communities how important it is to loudly support their local law enforcement officers and agencies. I remind them to be not afraid of placing a Back the Blue sign in front of their homes or to display the Thin Blue Line flag outside their homes. Every time I see these I say to myself, there is a courageous person.

I was at a support rally in Strongsville, Ohio recently and while speaking to the Chief of Police there he told me of a movement by the local chapter of Black Lives Matter had gone to the mayor and asked that a wooden Thin Blue Line flag hanging on the wall in the lobby entrance of the police department be removed because they felt it was divisive and harmful to police community relations. I am not making this up. I gave you the name of the city. Call and ask the Chief if you don’t believe me. The Chief said that the mayor suggested that he consider removing it but he was not ordered to take it down. When it was my turn to speak, I told the people in attendance at the support police rally that if I was the Chief, I would meet with the head of the Black Lives Matter chapter and after listening briefly out of courtesy I would then tell that person that the flag would be removed over my dead body. I would then say, “Now get the hell out of my office”. Obviously, the crowd roared in approval. Now that would be leadership, that would be a morale booster to the frontline officers. We don’t always get that however. I previously wrote in this publication about the University of Wisconsin police chief who caved to Black Lives Matter and ordered that her officers could no longer carry any items like coffee mugs or pad folios on duty that depicted a Thin Blue Line flag. She called it divisive,  saying that it did not represent the values of the department. Sometimes the enemy resides among us in the form of feckless law enforcement executives.

Let me give you more examples that the War on Police is alive and well.

Recently in San Francisco, a restaurant refused to serve two San Francisco police officer in uniform because they were armed and the staff found the firearms to be threatening. Yes, you read that correctly. Police officers in uniform carrying service weapons are threatening. When news of this story broke, the owners doubled down saying that the officers were politely asked to leave because the restaurant is a, “safe space and the weapons made them feel uncomfortable.” He indicated that the officers could come back out of uniform and unarmed and that they would be served. Would these nitwits find it welcoming if masked hold-up men brandishing guns came in to rob the place? Would they politely tell the hold-up men to go put their guns back in their car and then the money would be handed over? Outrage against the restaurant soon followed and after calls for boycotts, the owners reversed course and apologized calling it a mistake and an unfortunate incident. They said, “these are stressful times and we handled this badly.” Ya think?

Now that might not be the biggest indicator that the War on Cops continues but what I am about to talk about next is a sobering and more serious reminder.

In 2021, a total of 60 law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty by gunfire cross 45 states according to the National Fraternal Order of Police. That is a nearly 30 percent increase compared to the calendar year 2020. Additionally, 314 officers have been shot since the beginning of this year. One hundred and nineteen officers have been shot in 95 separate ambush-style attacks resulting in 28 of the total gunfire deaths. Ambush attacks on officers have increased 130 percent in 2021 compared to 2020. An FOP union leader attributes the increase in ambush style attacks on a growing hostility toward law enforcement.

Those figures might not make the liberal corporate media raise any eyebrows but I find them staggering. I realize that the same cop hating media outlets no longer report it as breaking news because it reflects poorly on Democrat politicians who have supported defund and abolish police departments. There is no doubt in my mind that there is a correlation between fewer officers available and not having enough resources and the increase of these deaths even if indirectly. This same progressive corporate media still reports as breaking news every time a white police officer shoots a black criminal, even one who was armed and posed a grave threat to the officer at the time. Reporters are rushed to the scene to stick a microphone in the face of cop hating people who have no facts and start unverified rumors. The murder of a police officer doesn’t get that attention from the same criminal apologist progressive news agencies.

I recently attended a support police rally in Champaign, Illinois. I met the widow of Champaign Police officer Chris Oberheim who was shot and killed in the line of duty back in May. That would make him among the 60 who have been killed in 2021. Officer Oberheim leaves behind four daughters in addition to his wife, Amber. I met one daughter who is engaged to be married this summer. She will not experience her father walking her down the aisle. This isn’t the first time I have met a law enforcement officer’s surviving spouse or child. It’s gut wrenching. Every time I think about an officer killed in the line of duty I am reminded that, there but for the grace of God go I. Seeing the pain and grief in their eyes is numbing for me. The outpouring of support that Amber Oberheim is getting from the Champaign Police Department and the community is reassuring to me. We owe it to the survivors of officers killed in the line of duty. They gave everything.

Because we aren’t hearing about officers killed in the line of duty on national news because of liberal media indifference to it doesn’t mean it’s subsiding. Me saying that the War on Cops hasn’t let up is not embellishing things.  

Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of Americas Sheriff LLC, President of Rise Up Wisconsin INC, 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

SO, THIS IS HOW IT FEELS

After watching the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse conclude with a not guilty verdict, there are several observations I want to touch on. You may recall that in the summer of 2019 Kenosha, Wisconsin Police were sent to a call for service concerning a domestic dispute. Police confronted a suspect named Jacob Blake. Blake who is black, was wanted at the time on a warrant for sexual assault and he had a restraining order out against him obtained previously by an ex-girlfriend who had called police on the day of this incident.

Police confronted Blake and attempted to take him into custody. He resisted and at one point broke loose of one of the officers who had grabbed his arm to handcuff him. Blake continued to refuse to comply with the officer’s lawful command to take him into custody. You know where this is going, right? Yes, where it always does. Blake went to a vehicle and now he had a knife in his hand and attempted to get inside. The car had two small children inside, children who were not his. Officers continued to give Blake commands that were ignored. One of the officers, fearing for his safety after seeing the knife, shot Blake. Any officer will tell you that a suspect crawling into a vehicle poses a grave threat, as weapons can be and are secreted inside automobiles. People made a big deal that Black was shot in the back. He was shot in the back because he turned his back away from the officers while holding a knife. Officers are trained to use deadly force to stop the threat. Where the bullet strikes is irrelevant. In this case it was the suspect’s back because it was the mass area that the suspect presented to the officers. Blake survived but today is confined to a wheelchair for life having lost the use of his legs. The city paid out millions in a lawsuit settlement. They shouldn’t have. Blake’s own actions caused his current state. We are in a period of time, however, where municipalities settle out of moral preening and sympathy. The officers have been cleared of any wrongdoing and the use of force has been ruled justifiable. So why then did the city of Kenosha settle instead of backing its officer’s actions? Well, you know why. Virtue signaling. The officers are white.

So, let’s move to what happened after that. You guessed it. Several days of rioting and looting along with fires being set to private businesses and government property. Kenosha police were overwhelmed at the start and basically stood down as rioters had their way. They were ordered to stand down. Small business owners watched in horror as their businesses were destroyed. The National Guard was requested. Gov. Tony Evers moved slow and only after harsh criticism he reluctantly gave Kenosha 250 Guardsmen. That wasn’t enough and after more nights of rioting he relented and provided 250 more for a total of 500. It was too little, too late. Damage estimates were put at $20 million.

Enter Kyle Rittenhouse. Seventeen years of age at the time he went to Kenosha, Wisconsin to help businesses protect their property. Verified reports showed him cleaning up graffiti that had vandalized buildings. One night he was walking the riot-ravaged streets with a semi-automatic rifle to protect himself. What reasonable person wouldn’t feel the need to go armed to protect themselves in riot conditions? I would. Some have questioned why he would have gone there to begin with. That is a reasonable question. The answer is because no adult would do it and more importantly because law enforcement was late to respond with adequate resources to defend life and property. The governor of the state, Tony Evers, refused an original plea for the National Guard. He reluctantly agreed only after he was eviscerated in the media about his slow response as a city in his state was under siege with rioting, and even then he only initially authorized 250 troops. This is where I want to go.

We have witnessed time after time cities being burned and looted as law enforcement is ordered by police commanders to stand down. Apparently, the thinking is that if law enforcement does what they have taken an oath to do-protect life and property, it might further infuriate the situation. Yes, there are actually politicians and law enforcement executives who naively believe this crap. What they fail to understand is that in the absence of state authority (police) to provide public safety, the social order collapses. When this happens, the individual becomes their own authority. They have no other recourse than to provide safety for themselves, their families and their businesses. The result is not pretty, either. This lawless environment left Rittenhouse with no other recourse when he was attacked by an armed adversary who pointed a gun at him, fired a shot while others knocked him to the ground as one attacker beat him over the head with a skateboard. Ask yourself this. If you were in that same situation and you had the capacity and wherewithal to respond in an attempt to save your life, how would you have responded? 

As I previously said, Kyle Rittenhouse was recently acquitted by a jury on all five counts including two intentional homicide charges. This was a politically motivated charging, as it was evident from the early part of this case that self-defense was necessary and reasonable for Rittenhouse to survive the attack.

I would suggest that Rittenhouse was a victim of state indifference to living up to their duty and responsibility to protect people and property. I have said over and over again that tying the hands of frontline officers in riot situations is a failed strategy and inevitability leads to more injury, death and property destruction. These are the same idiots who continue to focus on police reform as if policing is the problem that needs to be fixed. Policing doesn’t need to be reformed, politicians and their feckless police executives do. 

 Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of Americas Sheriff LLC, President of Rise Up Wisconsin INC, 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

JUSTICE: WHO’S TO BLAME WHEN OUR SYSTEM BREAKS DOWN?

By: Joel E. Gordon

Cicero was a Roman orator, lawyer, statesman and philosopher. During a time of political corruption and violence, he wrote on what he believed to be the ideal form of government. His views on justice:

“For there is but one essential justice which cements society, and one law which establishes this justice. This law is right reason, which is the true rule of all commandments and prohibitions. Whoever neglects this law, whether written or unwritten, is necessarily unjust and wicked.”
― Marcus Tullius Cicero, On the Laws

Back to the modern era…

In addition to answering calls for service, much of my time as a police officer entailed letting the community get to know me and working toward preventing criminal activity in my area of responsibility through my presence and community engagement. It’s the way policing should be done.

When crime does occur, it’s easy for the public to blame the police. In reality, when crime occurs it is the responsibility of the police to bring criminal investigations to a conclusion which may or may not result in criminal charges. We are required to work through an ever-increasing mandated maze of rules about engagement, arrest and seizure of evidence to make cases that are valid to the court. Then it’s up to our prosecutors through our legal system to bring or validate charges and up to our judges to adjudicate same. When will we start to hold our prosecutors, judges and any elected officials accountable for their actions?

How often have we all been aware of a violent criminal offender being let loose on society prematurely resulting in further violence and criminal acts? Now more than ever with bail reform and early release initiatives it seems to be all too commonplace.  It is why the police seem to arrest a small percentage of the population most of the time for serious crimes over and over again, placing all in unnecessary danger.

As a former Baltimore City Police Officer, I have experienced this first-hand and early in my career, too. Take the time I forcibly arrested a man for breaking his girlfriend’s ribcage and then, once I was on-scene awaiting EMS response and taking investigative information, the same suspect returned to the scene and attempted to stab me. Once in jail his violent rage continued and he broke the cellblock toilet. He was charged with all three crimes. At trial, the judge found him guilty. Sentencing was for 90 days for assaulting his girlfriend, 30 consecutive days for breaking the toilet and a concurrent 30 days for trying to stab me with his knife. The prosecuting attorney turned to me in open court and said “Officer, isn’t it nice to know you’re worth as much as a toilet”? The man had a lengthy criminal arrest record including numerous crimes of violence and assaults on police in both Maryland and the District of Columbia. He was somehow released after 15 days in jail on these three charges and promptly threw another police officer down a flight of stairs at the same location where I had arrested him… and so it goes on and on.

I had a district court judge in Maryland say in my presence that all defendants were guilty in his eyes if arrested by the police. Conversely, I have heard a Maryland district court judge say in court that all police officers are liars meaning no case can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The cases before these judges were not judged on merit. They were all pre-judged!

Another problem we all face is the reliance on government from revenue generated from court proceedings. Both here locally and elsewhere I have seen instances in municipal and smaller town mayors court where decisions on innocence or guilt appeared to be rooted in revenue collection goals. Case facts seemed to be deemed irrelevant and legitimate mitigating circumstances were either ignored or denied. Fine collection was all that seemed to matter.

We need to hold our courts accountable for ensuring that all live up to our rights and responsibilities, that our security and safety is not unnecessarily compromised, and that just outcomes are brought in all cases before the court.

Our system of justice is by design the best the world has ever known. In practicality, our system is only as good as the people serving within it. Innocence until proven guilty, common sense and justice should prevail. If only our courts truly reflected the motto of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation… “That guilty shall not escape nor innocents suffer.”

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

Hope is not a Strategy

By: Joel E. Gordon

In a twist to the notion of taxation without representation after 37 businesses representing the one of the city’s more vibrant areas paid attention to the city’s reaction to violence, including shootings that injured three people in Baltimore’s trendy Fells Point – described as one of the “crown-jewels” of the city - business owners there signed a letter threatening to not pay taxes if city officials did not provide additional resources for what they described as long-standing problems, including crime, trash and traffic.

“We have reached our breaking point. Our elected leaders have closed their eyes and ears and turned their backs on our community for long enough. We are fed up and frustrated, and we now realize that nothing will change unless we demand action.”

“When it comes to prostitution, public urination and defecation, and the illegal sale and consumption of alcohol and illicit drugs on the streets, we know these crimes are not as serious as the carjackings, shootings, and homicides that have become routine,” the letter read. “But, as this past weekend proved, a culture of lawlessness rarely remains confined to petty offenses and invariably leads to the kinds of violence and tragedy we witnessed late Saturday night.”

“The trash that piles up every week drifts into the Inner Harbor and hurts the environment, attracts rodents and fosters disease, and stinks up the streets and damages the beauty of our wonderful waterfront community. Every neighborhood, residential and commercial, is entitled to regular and reliable trash removal.”

“Frankly, it’s pathetic that we have to ask for these basics.” “But this is where we are.”

The businesses advised the city that they would be putting their taxes, permit fees, and other funds withheld into an escrow account that would be released once the city had met their demands.

“Many of us have obtained expensive liquor licenses and are subject to routine code inspection,” the letter further read. “We are carefully regulated and pay taxes on the proceeds of our liquor and alcohol sales. Yet, there are individual vendors in Fells Point illegally selling large volumes of alcohol, marijuana, and a range of other illicit substances directly in front of our establishments with no consequences or penalties.”

The response was swift. A town hall came at the request of Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson, who sent a letter to the mayor and Police Commissioner Michael Harrison asking for the meeting. Three state delegates and City Councilman Zeke Cohen echoed his request. In addition to the meeting with residents, they demanded “a comprehensive plan for Fells Point that not only aims to deter violence, but that also addresses the other conditions.”

Mayor Brandon Scott convened the virtual town hall before about 700 participants and the police department announced detailed plans to flood the area with officers, along with a promise to start enforcing laws such as open container violations that have long been ignored. But this in conflict with State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s policy not to prosecute what she considers to be low-level crimes.

Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced at the beginning of the pandemic that her office would stop prosecuting lower-level crimes such as open container violations, public urination, defecation, prostitution, and alleged low-level drug possession offenses. The business owners said in their letter that the lack of enforcement of the petty crimes has led to a violent situation in the neighborhood, and they demanded city officials have the police department take action.

Mosby responded to the criticism from the Fells Point business owners and defended her policies. “Having the police respond to the Harbor for an open container makes absolutely no sense when we have an increase in non-fatal shootings and homicides,” the prosecutor said. “It’s about resource allocation. You can’t have it both ways. We want to deploy our officers in a way that makes sense for trying to change the trajectory of violence in our city.”

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott released a statement shortly after he received a copy of the letter.

“Mayor Scott shares the business owners’ frustrations over the violence across the city, and has ordered the Baltimore Police Department, Department of Public Works, and Department of Transportation to work collaboratively to address it,” the statement read. “The Mayor is working tirelessly to hold people committing violence accountable, remove violent offenders from our streets, and identify illegal firearm traffickers so Baltimore residents can enjoy a night out without fear of endangerment.”

Yet, while Fells Point received a greater reaction from government officials than other less affluent areas of the city have traditionally experienced, Mayor Scott himself, failed to even attend the highly touted virtual town hall which was promoted in response to the Fells Point business owners threats of action against the city. Scott’s office issued a statement that said the mayor had a previously-scheduled commitment.

Richard Vatz, rhetoric professor at Towson University, said Scott’s actions spoke louder than his words and displayed an apparent lack of leadership. “I think when the chief administrative officer of the city decides not to go to a meeting that implies it is not his number one priority. There’s no way to get around it. By saying ‘we hope to see you there’ he implied that he’s going to be there and when he’s not, the inference is that he doesn’t care very much. It’s irresponsible to imply you’re going to be there and then not be there.”

Other, less affluent areas of the city who have been plagued with the same concerns for decades paid attention to the city’s overall reaction to the demands in trendy Fells Point. Community leaders across the city for the most part said they weren’t criticizing the Fells Point business owners for their demands, but the city for its lack of response elsewhere.

“We don’t get any kind of response like that,” said Marvin L. “Doc” Cheatham, president of a Neighborhood Association in West Baltimore. Cheatham said the majority of the city’s homicides are Black victims and their killings are occurring in Black communities.

“What if we stopped paying taxes?” he said.

The city of Baltimore has surpassed 300 homicides in 2021 once again for the seventh consecutive year in a row. "You've just had the pastor of St. Leo's pistol-whipped. This poor woman stabbed to death in a church in east Baltimore. No, there is no place safe anymore," said former Baltimore City Police commissioner Ed Norris.

"I don't even know how to respond to some of the things being said. We're hoping things get better and no one is doing anything about it. I have a bulletin for everybody - hope is not a strategy."

Is there any solution to improve Baltimore’s future? The federal government made a commitment to step in on crime wave issues as they see it but if ineffective, uncaring and ill-advised, often conflicting policies, rule the day it is clearly not very likely, if not impossible, until major leadership and philosophical changes occur at every level.

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

MEMORY LANE - Today Like Yesterday: "Mount Street Blues"

By: Joel E. Gordon

If you are an old timer like me, chances are certain television shows and the portrayal of their characters became a positive influence in contributing to a desire to become a law enforcement officer. Shows such as “Adam-12” and “Hill Street Blues” are two such shows. Among the most impressive character portrayals are of the salty old first-line supervisors; the hardest, most influential and one of the most critical assignments in any department. During the best and worst of times, we all have memories of supervisors who became our rock who could always be counted upon. Some of us went on to emulate their example paying it forward.

Upon my graduation from the police academy on to my West Baltimore assignment there was a local TV promotional ad that aired frequently on Baltimore television comparing the fictional crime-ridden Hill Street Precinct to “Mount Street Blues” our real Western District police station located at 1034 North Mount Street. It still is located there.

We, in fact, had a salty older police desk sergeant on my shift who kept us and others straight and on the path to order and righteousness. He kept both young and old in line along with arrestees and anyone else who crossed his path. A rock and steady, in control, influence.

“Adam-12’s” Sergeant “Mac” MacDonald played by William Boyett famously once had an opening line telling an overly confident and opinionated rookie Officer Jim Reed “You’ve been on the job for three weeks! You don’t have an opinion!”

Sgt. Phil Esterhaus, played by actor Michael Conrad, was another such character. When it was announced that Sergeant Phil Esterhaus had passed away, the moment of truth at roll call was scripted this way… PHIL ESTERHAUS PASSED AWAY THIS MORNING. CAPTAIN HAS A FINAL ITEM FOR YOU. GOOD MORNING, FOLKS. [ALL] GOOD MORNING, CAPTAIN. AMONG SERGEANT ESTERHAUS'S EFFECTS WAS THIS LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE PEACE OFFICERS OF THE HILL STREET DAY SHIFT.

"PERHAPS YOU THOUGHT YOU'D HEARD THE LAST FROM ME, "BUT I DESIRE TO TURN YOU OUT ONE LAST TIME "BEFORE ASSUMING THE DUTIES OF MY NEW ASSIGNMENT. "THERE, I'M SURE WE'LL ALL BE DOUBLE-SHIFTING TOGETHER AGAIN. "I HOPE NOT FOR A LONG TIME. "ITEM ONE: "THE SHEDDING OF CROCODILE TEARS IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. "HOIST A SHOT OR TWO, IF YOU MUST. "THEY'LL LOOK THE OTHER WAY, BUT NOT WHEN YOU'RE ON DUTY. "UM... "ITEM TWO: LET US NOT FORGET IN THEIR BEREAVEMENT "THE LOVED ONES OF OUR DEPARTED FELLOWS. "LOOK IN ON (my wife) GRACE ONCE IN A WHILE, MY FRIENDS. "ITEM THREE: "REMAIN MY KIND OF COPS. "FIND SOMETHING OF WORTH IN EACH PERSON, "SOMETHING TO CARE FOR IN EACH SITUATION. "DRESS NEATLY, SPEAK POLITELY.

"YOU HAVE DECLARED YOUR FAITH IN SOCIETY. "KEEP THAT FAITH. "IT WILL KEEP YOU. "ITEM LAST: "THOUGH THE HILL IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED THE WASTE BASKET "OF THIS CITY'S LAW ENFORCEMENT MINIONS, "I HAVE FOUND ITS DENIZENS TO BE THE FAIREST, "MOST COURAGEOUS, AND HARDWORKING "I'VE BEEN PRIVILEGED TO KNOW. "GENTLEMEN AND LADIES, IT HAS BEEN A RARE PLEASURE. "NOW PICK YOUR BUTTS UP AND LET'S ROLL, "AND REMEMBER, ALWAYS, LET'S BE CAREFUL OUT THERE."

Amen to that. Those about sum up the dedication of those who serve areas like the Hill and Baltimore’s Western. May the genuine spirit of those who care continue to be a shining light to all who take up the cause of law and order for the common good in cities across the U.S.A. during these most difficult of times.

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

I have spent the better part of the last five years warning people that the inane public policy course many woke Democrats had the country going down would have catastrophic consequences for mainstream Americans. The Democratic Party went on a jihad against things like law and order as they crawled into bed with slimy characters from Black Lives Matter and Antifa who incessantly bashed the police and heralded criminals as heroes. They pushed things like defunding and even abolishing the police, eliminating bail for repeat and serious violent criminals and eliminating the use of jails and prisons as a crime control tool. They pushed removing police from schools, although I agree that police should not be used in schools as hall monitors. It absolves teachers from their responsibility to control student behavior and parents of their responsibility to discipline and control their child’s behavior. What does it say about the ineffective parenting going on today when we have to resort to using the criminal justice system to control children? But I digress.

The seeds of hate sown by these straight-up cop haters are not just taking root but are shooting up above ground and now that naïve voters are waking up to see what has sprouted, and it isn’t pretty. Crime rates are rising as criminals control large swaths of public spaces along with businesses having to stand idly by as thieves brazenly remove their merchandise from the shelves and not run but simply saunter from the store without paying. Normal people have watched news reports of this, and although they shouldn’t be shocked, they are.

What has happened in numerous cities and states in the recent elections could be seen as a bellwether, as voters went to the polls to push back and repudiate these insane progressive policy changes.

An example of the sea change was in the Commonwealth of Virginia, where voters elected a governor who ran a campaign with law and order as a major piece of his platform as he pounded away about the rising crime rates in the state. In Minnesota, a place that could be considered as ground zero in the war on cops, the voters convincingly rejected a crazy idea of replacing the Minneapolis Police Department with some Public Safety Department staffed by social workers. This as violent street crime including murders have risen exponentially in Minneapolis. Clueless Democrat politicians overplayed their hand. They thought they were on a roll with all the cop bashing.

Where they erred was in thinking that the general public’s emotional distress over the death of George Floyd would stay permanent as they continued to push extreme public policy shifts. That emotional overreaction never lasts. People eventually settle down and come to their senses as more information about a traumatic incident is revealed. As the public learned more about Floyd’s character, they still thought the way he died was horrific but they learned that he was geeked up on fatal levels of fentanyl, was passing a counterfeit bill to buy more drugs, was with his supplier at the time of passing the bill and that he did time in prison for a home invasion burglary where he held a loaded firearm to the stomach of a pregnant women threatening to shoot her.  When they learned all of this about him, many realized that we should not be making crazy public policy shifts in our attitude about crime and violence over what should reasonably be seen as an anomaly in police behavior.

And in another upon further review moment, numerous school systems are reversing course about removing police officers from schools as gang violence and other fights are rising inside schoolhouses and weapons are making their way inside. Here are a few examples. In Desert Springs, Nevada, local lawmakers who pulled police from schools reversed their decision and renewed the contracts.  In Santa Cruz, California, public school officials returned to having a cop in schools after a student was fatally stabbed on campus. The same has happened in Rochester, New York, Washington D.C. and Alexandria Virginia after one superintendent cited an escalation in “disciplinary infractions.”  We can safely read that as dog whistle and wordsmithing for violent behavior. You don’t need a police officer called in for “disciplinary offenses.”

A National Police Association official said that programs placing police in schools became one of the victims of the ridiculous defund the police movement. As I mentioned previously, I think it says more about our schools becoming less about education as schools resemble juvenile detention centers housing uncontrollable miscreants. Then we dump it on police. Then, when police have to use force to remove some uncontrollable teen from a classroom, everybody wants to know why force had to be resorted to. It’s because the goof wouldn’t comply with the officer’s lawful command to peacefully leave. I always ask why the parent wasn’t called first. Let them have to come to school and handle their unsocialized misfit.

The question is whether this trend will continue into the future and across the country or will the next police use of force incident that goes viral stop the reversal of this madness. Only time will tell.

Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of Americas Sheriff LLC, President of Rise Up Wisconsin INC, 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

Cops Go From Hero To Villain

In the early days of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic when everybody was running around like chickens with their heads cut off, American law enforcement officers with calmness and courage risked their lives and well-being, and that of their families, when they answered the call to serve and protect. This was at a time when not much was known about the virus or its transmission. This was at a time when Dr. Tony Fauci confidently proclaimed on a top-rated Sunday night news show that he was not worried about COVID and that there was no need for people to run out, buy and start wearing surgical masks. More importantly, it was well before testing was available and keep in mind there was no “vaccine” available. I’ll get to that later.

Nevertheless, our police officers went to work as other government employees including public school teachers and elected officials locked themselves in their homes and got paid to work from home. In the private sector, businesses were ordered closed, putting private sector employees out of work with no pay unlike government workers. That quarantine-like bubble of protection wasn’t available to police officers. They couldn’t strictly socially distance themselves from crime victims or suspects. You can’t handcuff an arrestee from six feet away. If first aid was required of say a gunshot victim, that could not be done from six feet away. At the time there was no concern about the well-being or safety of police officers. In fact, they were heralded as heroes for their bravery and selfless service.

That was then, this is now.

 Now a so-called “vaccine” has been developed. Bear with me for a moment as I look inside what is being called settled science on COVID. The people using this term have an agenda. There is no such thing as settled science. A Harvard College professor once reminded me that science doesn’t prove, it only probes. Keep in mind that settled science once believed that the sun rotated around the earth. First of all, it isn’t even a vaccine by medical definition. A vaccine makes you immune from getting a virus or spreading it. It was rushed through clinical trials to market. There is still a lot that is not know about what really is by medical definition a therapeutic. That means you can still catch the virus and spread it and you have to continue to get periodic additional shots to protect you. A recent news report said that several weeks ago, 40% of all COVID-related reported deaths nationally were of people who had been fully “vaccinated”. There is still a lot that is not known about this therapeutic like its long-term side effects. Now something called a delta variant has emerged that is resistant to the therapeutic. In addition to this, reasonable people are asking questions like how long will they have to keep getting jabbed and injected with this therapeutic. The bottom line is that we have not been told the whole story about things and it makes people rightfully suspicious. So-called experts keep moving the goalposts. Ok, enough of that.

Then there is the legal question about government’s authority to force an individual to inject anything into their body as a condition of employment. I don’t care about the efficacy of what is medically best for people. It is still a freedom and liberty issue, and those decisions should be left to the individual to make.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot continues to threaten Chicago police officers with suspensions without pay and termination unless they take the jab. Her order further reduces the ranks of an already depleted force as violent street crime continues at record rates. She had no concern for their health as they continued to perform their duty in dangerous conditions in the early days of the pandemic. Many saw them as heroes. Now their organizations and political class officials are showing their thanks by seeing them as the bad guys in all of this. That is an odd way of thanking them. Making matters more untenable is that feckless police commanders are willing to enforce these city policies. Lightfoot should attack crime and criminals like she does Chicago police officers. Crime rates would drop exponentially. She should attack her useless state’s attorney Kimberly Fox, who refuses to charge repeat criminal offenders or ask for substantial bail in these cases.

So now law enforcement officers are at a crossroads between freedom to choose or losing their careers as local government officials are threatening them with the loss of their livelihood if they do not give in to forced “vaccination.” Some agencies have already terminated and suspended officers without pay, and some have voluntarily resigned. This makes their families collateral damage as many officers are the primary income source for things like mortgages, putting food on the table and tuition for their children.

Thankfully, police unions are showing resolve in this fight.  The Chicago FOP president has told officers to hold the line against these forced injections. In New York, NYPD officers organized a large protest march against forced medical orders. This is a good sign.  These labor organizations possess leverage in this fight against these thankless politicians and should start flexing their muscles by using it.

Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of Americas Sheriff LLC, President of Rise Up Wisconsin INC, 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

When Handed A Gift-Take It

Recently, the law enforcement profession won a victory over an attempt to yet again reform this profession. Before this latest attempt to fix that which is not broken, we had to endure what former President Barack Obama labeled the Twenty-First Century Police Reform Project. It was an overreaction, a knee-jerk response that was nothing more than a politicization of a single incident. To use a baseball analogy, it was a swing and a miss. That call for reform you may recall came after the Ferguson, Missouri, Police Department incident in which thug Mike Brown committed a strong-armed robbery (a felony) of a convenience store clerk before attacking and attempting to disarm Officer Darren Wilson. Wilson used deadly force to save his own life. It was ruled justifiable. Soon after began the War on Police. This was the catalyst used by cop haters nationwide that ignited a wave of anti-police rhetoric that continues to this day.

I opposed that attempt to reform policing then and continue to do so to this day. I said at the time that that they were working on the wrong thing. I said that the problem was not policing, the problem was with the ghetto. All the urban pathologies that afflict ail large urban centers are self- inflicted. These ailments are exacerbated by failed urban progressive policies that lead to ineffective parenting, fatherless homes, school failure, not consistently staying in the workforce and poor lifestyle choices by young people like teen pregnancy, joining gangs and drug abuse. Instead of rooting out the dysfunctional behavior and cultural rot, it is much easier for two-bit politicians to go for the low-hanging fruit. They blame the police. This spawned the calls for reform, the calls to defund and my favorite, the calls to re-imagine policing (whatever that is).

Without a lot of forethought, this task force assembled by Obama produced a document that was supposed to fix policing, yet here we are again trying to fix what is not broken. These people never learn. These are all rare incidents. Police use of force incidents have decreased over the years. You don’t overhaul a profession based on anomalies. No reasonable person would. No other profession would tolerate it.

So here we are after another police use of force in Minneapolis, we find politicians looking to score a few cheap political points by bashing the police. Many cities began taking away tools that police need to quell riots and disturbances, tools that were needed to quickly disperse crowds in order to keep the peace and restore law and order and that police need to protect themselves from injury and death. And then there is the granddaddy of them all as they say. Congress, under a so-called bipartisan bill ironically called the George Floyd Police Reform Bill. Now we have the federal government sticking its nose into what is a local issue, a state’s rights issue under the U.S. Constitution. The belief theoretically has always been that states have a vested interest in public safety and controlling crime. Every state has its own unique issues as to public safety. There are cultural differences as well. Rural policing is different from urban policing. What people will allow under these circumstances is different, too.

First of all, no bill at any level should have this convicted felon’s name attached to it. This is the same creep who did prison time for an armed burglary in which he held a loaded firearm to the stomach of a pregnant woman, threatening to kill her. He is the one who was geeked up on fatal levels of fentanyl when he died. He had just attempted to pass a counterfeit $20 bill to buy more drugs, causing the police to be called in the first place. Memorializing this goof stains the legacy of other black Americans that we can be proud of, people like Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. No Republican lawmaker who claims to support the police should have wanted their name attached to support of this anti-police bill. Chief among the items listed in this bill was a provision that would strip police of qualified immunity that prohibits suing police in civil court personally for acts that they could not have known at the time they used force were a denial of civil rights. Fortunately, this killed any chance of the bill becoming law. It was a win for law enforcement. Some in law enforcement, however, shamefully disagreed.

After the bill was killed, several law enforcement entities attacked GOP Sen. Tim Scott on how negotiations broke down. It is worth noting that two leading Democrats were pushing eliminating qualified immunity. They were Sen. Cory Booker and U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, both of whom are straight-up cop haters.

What is noteworthy here is that two law enforcement entities were pushing for passage of the bill, the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. They issued a joint statement that read, “Our organizations remain steadfast in working with all interested parties who are willing to take a fact-based approach to enact effective and lasting change, to avoid a patchwork of state laws that do not provide uniform standards and guidance to the policing profession.” The statement went on to say that it would have, “strengthened the law enforcement profession and help improve the state of community police engagement without compromising management and officers’ rights, authority and legal protections.” Cops know bullshit when they hear it. This statement is complete bullshit. This is antithetical to state’s rights and promotes a one-size-fits all approach leading to that slippery slope of federalizing local policing. Additionally, nothing is ever “fact-based” in this anti-police environment.

If you want to know why these two organizations support passage of the George Floyd Act, all you have to do is follow the money. The FOP and the IACP are whoring for dollars. They are looking for federal grant money to supplement their shrinking budgets. They are willing to prostitute themselves and their agencies for money from Washington.

The problem with that approach is that any money given out by the federal governments comes with strings attached. There is no free money here like some misguided law enforcement executives believe. The federal government would love nothing more than to control local police department policies, and this is how they will do it. If you take the money, you must do whatever the feds say. This is a slippery slope and not worth the federal money. Things like data collection requirements will tie up officers with unnecessary report filings. This is time away from preventive patrols and results in higher response times, not to mention that this provides the ammunition to spin and misinterpret the data and hammer the police about the racial component of things like traffic stops and arrests. This will provide an opening for a

Federal Department of Justice pattern and practice investigation and a forced consent decree allowing the feds to take over the agency.

Do the FOP and IACP not understand what is going on here? Instead of a letter disputing GOP Sen. Tim Scott(R) about the failure of this bill to pass, they should have commended him for standing strong against eliminating qualified immunity protection for front line police officers. Not allowing this bill to see the light of day is a win for every law enforcement officer who takes to the streets risking their lives in service to their community. This reminds me of an old saying. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Take the victory and run.

Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of Americas Sheriff LLC, President of Rise Up Wisconsin INC, 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