The Mistakes of Manistee Deputy Blake Fitch - The Ludington Torch2024-03-29T07:02:07Zhttps://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/forum/topics/the-mistakes-of-manistee-deputy-blake-fitch?commentId=4689834%3AComment%3A1341001&xg_source=activity&feed=yes&xn_auth=noThanks for the update, the co…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2023-10-29:4689834:Comment:14308032023-10-29T14:55:45.950ZXLFDhttps://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/TheLudingtonCitizen
<p>Thanks for the update, the costly update for Manistee County citizens, Tom Watcher. Imagine how much money they could save and how many innocent citizen's lives wouldn't be ruined if these officers actually were regularly trained to recognize the rights of the cattle they try to herd. Maybe Shaun Carpenter will use some of his share of the lawsuit money to go after this problem that is too prevalent in our area.</p>
<p>Thanks for the update, the costly update for Manistee County citizens, Tom Watcher. Imagine how much money they could save and how many innocent citizen's lives wouldn't be ruined if these officers actually were regularly trained to recognize the rights of the cattle they try to herd. Maybe Shaun Carpenter will use some of his share of the lawsuit money to go after this problem that is too prevalent in our area.</p> Deputy Fitch is a Great Examp…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2023-10-28:4689834:Comment:14304952023-10-28T18:25:23.277ZTom Watcherhttps://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/TomWatcher
<p>Deputy Fitch is a Great Example of What is Wrong with Law Enforcement and how bad it continues to be in 2023. The Sheriff's failed to get rid of the Trash and This is Why We The People Stand Up and Cheer when any Deputy from This Department Experiences Their End of Watch. Fitch cost the Taxpayers 375K because He Was a Retard and Mean Person who should have never been in Law Enforcement. …</p>
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<p>Deputy Fitch is a Great Example of What is Wrong with Law Enforcement and how bad it continues to be in 2023. The Sheriff's failed to get rid of the Trash and This is Why We The People Stand Up and Cheer when any Deputy from This Department Experiences Their End of Watch. Fitch cost the Taxpayers 375K because He Was a Retard and Mean Person who should have never been in Law Enforcement. </p>
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<p> <a rel="nofollow noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spvvHZw6SYE" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spvvHZw6SYE</a></p> The smaller problem is that e…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2022-05-03:4689834:Comment:13426372022-05-03T16:09:56.515ZXLFDhttps://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/TheLudingtonCitizen
<p>The smaller problem is that even if a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit does not decide to settle and goes through the full process and gets a victory, the results occur about 5 years from the LEO crime caught on tape when it occurred and it's still just a civil tort.</p>
<p>The bigger problem is that county prosecutors will reflexively defend their peers in the county sheriff's office and find any way not to prosecute them criminally when they do bad things. If they ever do prosecute them,…</p>
<p>The smaller problem is that even if a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit does not decide to settle and goes through the full process and gets a victory, the results occur about 5 years from the LEO crime caught on tape when it occurred and it's still just a civil tort.</p>
<p>The bigger problem is that county prosecutors will reflexively defend their peers in the county sheriff's office and find any way not to prosecute them criminally when they do bad things. If they ever do prosecute them, they pay a definite political price. The solution is to have special prosecutors and their investigatory agents from outside the county that have minimal conflict of interests investigate credible criminal allegations. The biggest problem is that the Attorney General's Office should already be doing this in the cause of justice, rather than the political stunts they pull when they're ran by either party.</p> > a good question to ask i…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2022-05-02:4689834:Comment:13426252022-05-02T19:08:40.237Zstk33https://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/stk33
<p>><span> a good question to ask is how does the public stop criminal activity perpetrated by law enforcement at the time it is taking place? </span><br/>A good start is <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>not</em></span><em> </em>agreeing to settle, presumably with admitting no wrongdoing.</p>
<p>><span> a good question to ask is how does the public stop criminal activity perpetrated by law enforcement at the time it is taking place? </span><br/>A good start is <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>not</em></span><em> </em>agreeing to settle, presumably with admitting no wrongdoing.</p> Update: This case has been s…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2022-01-19:4689834:Comment:13410142022-01-19T21:09:14.828ZXLFDhttps://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/TheLudingtonCitizen
<p>Update: This case has been settled according to an <a href="https://www.manisteenews.com/local-news/article/Man-s-case-fighting-Manistee-County-heads-for-16787578.php?fbclid=IwAR11qFpRQL9jlkIfQ9EXCwkBup-wbuWARAZeO9svZ1Q_UJvcUgYud83IWqw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">order by the judge</a> signed yesterday. Details of that settlement have yet to be disclosed voluntarily by the Manistee sheriff or the county.</p>
<p>Update: This case has been settled according to an <a href="https://www.manisteenews.com/local-news/article/Man-s-case-fighting-Manistee-County-heads-for-16787578.php?fbclid=IwAR11qFpRQL9jlkIfQ9EXCwkBup-wbuWARAZeO9svZ1Q_UJvcUgYud83IWqw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">order by the judge</a> signed yesterday. Details of that settlement have yet to be disclosed voluntarily by the Manistee sheriff or the county.</p> If I was looking for a deputy…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2022-01-18:4689834:Comment:13408822022-01-18T15:26:06.695ZXLFDhttps://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/TheLudingtonCitizen
<p>If I was looking for a deputy job and I had a choice as to whether I would get the job with your Sheriff Judd, who holds his deputies accountable, and someone like Manistee's Sheriff O'Hagan, who failed to address bad behavior by his deputies, I would choose the former, as I hope other diligent deputies would. One would have to think that would-be-deputies gravitate towards sheriff offices that align with their own general character, so ones that do not want to be held accountable will join…</p>
<p>If I was looking for a deputy job and I had a choice as to whether I would get the job with your Sheriff Judd, who holds his deputies accountable, and someone like Manistee's Sheriff O'Hagan, who failed to address bad behavior by his deputies, I would choose the former, as I hope other diligent deputies would. One would have to think that would-be-deputies gravitate towards sheriff offices that align with their own general character, so ones that do not want to be held accountable will join an office where that is the standard protocol. This explains the differences you see between law enforcement agencies and why you won't change bad agencies without rooting out the head of the beast and replacing it with a responsible sheriff/chief.</p> I ran across some video's fr…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2022-01-18:4689834:Comment:13410012022-01-18T04:51:29.480Zstumphttps://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/stump
<p> I ran across some video's from a sheriff named Grady Judd from Polk county Florida. If we had law informant officers like him everyone except the criminals would be proud to say that the police are on our side. Too bad that there is the protect the blue mentality . He doesn't put up with that coverup BS. He just throws his deputies in jail for cover ups and violating the law. My hats off to this law man.</p>
<p> I ran across some video's from a sheriff named Grady Judd from Polk county Florida. If we had law informant officers like him everyone except the criminals would be proud to say that the police are on our side. Too bad that there is the protect the blue mentality . He doesn't put up with that coverup BS. He just throws his deputies in jail for cover ups and violating the law. My hats off to this law man.</p> When situations like this are…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2022-01-17:4689834:Comment:13409182022-01-17T17:19:13.556ZXLFDhttps://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/TheLudingtonCitizen
<p>When situations like this are caught on camera, police chiefs or sheriffs are usually quick to duck questions or otherwise refuse to acknowledge the culpability of their officer. They may even call the actions acceptable. That's unfortunate, because they can and should be able to address their officer's misconduct without condemning themselves, the department, and the city/county in their appraisal. They may actually find themselves with less liability if they truthfully denote that the…</p>
<p>When situations like this are caught on camera, police chiefs or sheriffs are usually quick to duck questions or otherwise refuse to acknowledge the culpability of their officer. They may even call the actions acceptable. That's unfortunate, because they can and should be able to address their officer's misconduct without condemning themselves, the department, and the city/county in their appraisal. They may actually find themselves with less liability if they truthfully denote that the conduct observed was not appropriate, lawful, or in any way condoned by the agency, and that it was strictly an error made by an officer who did not follow the agency's directives or training.</p>
<p>Some might say this would lower the morale of other officers and lead to resignations and staff shortages due to officers not wanting to join an agency whose superiors do not support their officers. To the contrary, this would not only offer positive PR for the agency, but make other officers realize that they should follow the duties of their office. It may actually attract good officers currently working with corrupted agencies. </p>
<p>When Deputy Fitch did his actions, then-Sheriff O'Hagan, aware of the video's contents, decided to play not to the public, but to his deputies by not throwing Fitch under the proverbial bus. I will be interested in getting a statement from the current sheriff once this lawsuit is settled or tried. </p> Well said, Willy. And the law…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2022-01-16:4689834:Comment:13408632022-01-16T13:55:30.657ZFreedom Seekerhttps://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/FreedomSeeker
<p>Well said, Willy. And the law enforcement officers who help cover up and back up bad behavior add to the growing general distrust of rogue authority. The good cops need to clean up the bad apples because it takes a lot longer to fix a George-Floyd public-relations-like mess than it does to prosecute the rotten apples and throw them out of the bushel so the rest of the good fruit don't rot. It appears that Blake Fitch and Derek Chauvin hung as bad fruit from the same tree.</p>
<p>Well said, Willy. And the law enforcement officers who help cover up and back up bad behavior add to the growing general distrust of rogue authority. The good cops need to clean up the bad apples because it takes a lot longer to fix a George-Floyd public-relations-like mess than it does to prosecute the rotten apples and throw them out of the bushel so the rest of the good fruit don't rot. It appears that Blake Fitch and Derek Chauvin hung as bad fruit from the same tree.</p> I have no doubts that Deputy…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2022-01-16:4689834:Comment:13406862022-01-16T05:19:11.208ZWillyhttps://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/willy
<p>I have no doubts that Deputy Fitch has done this type of citizen assault on many other occasions. We only heard about this situation because of the body cam recording and the fact that the person he assaulted had the guts to press charges. Officer Fitch should have been prosecuted. He was the real criminal entity on that day. So, a good question to ask is how does the public stop criminal activity perpetrated by law enforcement at the time it is taking place? Call 911-1 for an officer to…</p>
<p>I have no doubts that Deputy Fitch has done this type of citizen assault on many other occasions. We only heard about this situation because of the body cam recording and the fact that the person he assaulted had the guts to press charges. Officer Fitch should have been prosecuted. He was the real criminal entity on that day. So, a good question to ask is how does the public stop criminal activity perpetrated by law enforcement at the time it is taking place? Call 911-1 for an officer to show up and arrest the police? This was no error in judgement on Fitch's part and he was not defending the public against a potential threat. This was a disgraceful display by a power hungry, controlling and legally ignorant police officer. Fitch and all the others in charge of our society who have the same mindset are the reason there is so much distrust for authority.</p>
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