Who's Watching the Watchman?

[XLFD]

I was sent the link to this video today, and it pretty much coincided with a nightmare I had as a result from my recent visit to the City Hall.  Our City Manager, John Shay, jokingly told the 3rd graders present that the best part of his job was that he could tell the Police Chief what to do.  Joking aside, he is absolutely right; he can hire, fire, and discipline (or not) the Ludington Police chief, something no elected official or citizen can do.  By extension, the LPD could be said to be John Shay's police force, very unlike the County Sheriff who gets voted in by the people, and whose decisions are thereby accountable to the people. 

One could logically theorize that the LPD officers duties are geared further away from working for the people than it is for working for the City Manager, and this is why it was so easy for them to issue a "Letter of Trespass" with no basis to a citizen that, in a new irrational policy, kept them from entering two public buildings .  This was the germ of my subconscious unease. 

The video focuses on a citizen's right to record policemen doing their job, and the resistance of LEOs and the 'system' to allow this right.  Notice that Michigan is one of the states that has a law that may allow police to confiscate your recording without fear. 

Why do police officers object to citizens recording what happens at such interactions-- if they're obeying the law, they should have nothing to hide, LOL. 

I would love to have had a video record of the time I was stopped on my bicycle, perhaps the other side would have kept their story consistent and factual. 

 

 

[Willy]

Good post X. I always questioned the power given to police no matter where I lived. In my younger days it was a routine matter to be pulled over by police and rousted even tho we were doing nothing wrong. In later years I became freinds with a number of officers and I was amazed at the stories I heard. Everything from planting evidence to larceny and intimidation of citizens. After a while a person gets cynical about the human race when dealing with the bad seeds of society. This happens more so in larger cities than in smaller communities. The worst cops I have dealt with here in the U.S. resided in LA. Those bad boys really had an attitude.

[XLFD]

Any position of trust or power comes with the temptations of exploiting that trust and power.  Witness the young Manistee County fireman who is charged with theft of items and money, and the doctors and teachers we hear often in the news violating their profession's ethics. 

Police have one of the most difficult balancing acts imaginable, which is why we should cherish all the good ones out there doing their job professionally, and have stronger methods of weeding out the ones who abuse their authority and trust.   

[AQUAMAN]

Your next to last sentence says it all, "if they themselves are obeying the law, they should have nothing to hide". All you have to do is look at the Rodney King video again to get the meaning of what's intolerable and illegal, and what too many are afraid of. If you can't control the adrenaline and testosterone, it's time to hang the badge up, and go into real estate or security. It wouldn't be the first time a video came to the aid of citizens' rights. In the video above, it's very overboard to pull a pistol on a man with a camera in hand, and so he paid dearly for exercising his rights to be trampled on. Fine example of law enforcement gone wrong again.

[easymoney]

Things have changed my friends, gone are the days of having mischevious fun with the local law enforcement.I remember the days when my uncle, fred nankee, was chief, rather than try to catch me, him or tom love would go to my house and have coffee with my folks and wait for me to come home. Or, as teenagers we would throw snowballs at the cruiser when they sat by the city park and get them to chase us on foot, while some one else would stuff liberger cheese in the heater vent of that 57 chieftan.

In the 60's they would cut you some slack. tell you to park your car and give you a ride home, telling you to pick it up the next day. GONE ARE THE DAYS OF YESTERYEAR.

Society today is different my friends, even a small town cop isn't safe anymore. As society changes, so do law officers,

I only remember one officer being shot in Lud., at browns in the early sixties. But, you never know.

Remember, those camera's work both ways. The recordings on the police dash has cost cops their job also.

[XLFD]

Very true on all points, easy.  Yesterday's small town police resembled what was portrayed on the Andy Griffith show complete with a level-headed chief, whereas today you have those endearing policies you remember so well being replaced by a more structured system and a lot of Barney Fife's in leadership roles, the Sheriff Taylors being dumped for not following protocol.

A policeman on duty, should not have any problem with someone pointing a camera their way (as long as it doesn't resemble a weapon), as it may just help them down the line when someone claims they have used excessive force or fibbed about what the LEO actually did. 

Just as a government official should not have a problem with the public they serve looking at their public records.  But many around here do. 

[AQUAMAN]

Good memory easy, I remember Tommy Love too, great officer, and knew how to do the job the polite and correct way, probably mirroring your uncle. He used to shine the spotlight as he went by the house, sometimes toot the siren a hair too. Snow balls were made for fun..........so was linberger cheese....lol. Can't do that now for sure. When the officers hired are born and raised local or West Michigan small town, their whole perspective on the job is different, and more calming and soothing for all. That's just been lost here in Ludington for too long.