Tim -- Thanks for commenting on the posts of Rich McMartin and Jack
Ferman. What really scares me is that there are probably many others in
Minneapolis who would echo their sentiments. And the sad truth is that I
might have been among them if it hadn't been for my move this past year
to the Phillips neighborhood. Prior to that move I lived in SW Mpls. and
didn't have a clue as to what was coming down in "poorer" neighborhoods
in Mpls. From that sheltered vantage point I simply couldn't 'connect
the dots,' so to speak. CODEFOR is just the sort of Orwellian policy
that we must be vigilant about because of the legitimacy it lends to
police actions that are abusive -- which have, and do, occur, regardless
of whether Charlie Stenvig -- or Charlie McCarthy in St. Paul, now THERE
was a character who loved taking the law into his own hands! -- or Chief
Olson is on the watch. There is a young black "salesman" who stands on
the corner of 16th Av. and 25th St., near where I live, almost every day
-- late at night and in the early morning hours -- looking for and
waving down those who look the most likely to be interested in his
product(s). Because I've seen him and his associates on or near that
corner for many months now, I'm perplexed as to how he continues to get
away with what he's doing without getting busted. I assume that either
a) he's an undercover cop, b) he has bought off the neighborhood MPD
patrols, and/or c) he has bought protection from someone else in the
MPD. Yet, right down the block from my home, there is a single mother
with 5 daughters ranging in age from toddlerhood to teenager, whose home
was literally broken into by five MPD cops who refused to show their
badges, and who, in fact, claimed they did not have their badges with
them because they were doing CODEFOR work, nor would they show a search
warrant when asked for one. They said they had received an anonymous
call about the home at this address being a front for drug dealers --
simply not true. They ransacked this woman's home for over an hour, all
the while making terroristic threats, terrifying her and her children.
And I want to assure you that this sort of action by the MPD is not rare
in my part of town. Why does this happen in Phillips? Why does it NOT
happen in the Linden Hills or East Harriet neighborhoods? Connect the
dots... poverty = powerlessness = easy prey. These people, for many of
whom English is a second language, are the least likely to understand
the U.S. justice system, least likely to know their rights as citizens,
and least likely to have the financial means to go to court to sue their
case against an organization that claims to "serve and protect" them.
Needless to say cynicism abounds in my part of town regarding the agents
of civic obedience. Wake up my fellow citizens of Minneapolis: the truth
is that ALL of us have seen a steady erosion of our civil rights over
the last decade, but it has been in small enough increments and in
"other parts of town" so perhaps we have not noticed like we would if
there are had been an all-out assault. AND, it's taking place in
neighborhoods that many people find easy to ignore. Am I saying that
real crime does not exist in Minneapolis? No. Am I saying that a
consortium of actions and services need to be brought to bear against
the underlying causes of a lot of this crime? Yes. Is one of those
actions CODEFOR? A resounding NO is my answer. My urgent, my fervent
hope, is that enough of us will wake up, in time, in all the various
racial communities, in all the various faith communities, in all of the
various social service communities, to help our neighbors, and
ourselves, reclaim not only our rights, but our dignity, and our lives.
Jenny Heiser
East Phillips
Ward 6-8
timothy connolly wrote:
> A couple comments relative to posting by Rich McMartin
> and Jack Ferman.
>
> I too remember the days of Charle Stenvig. Just
> another evening I ran into the Police Chaplain, Terry
> Hayes, at GJ's on Hennepin. I was surprised to see him
> there with some officers. I would have thought he was
> long since retired.
>
> I remember that he used to hang out around midnight at
> the old Fair Oaks Motel with the guys from the
> infamous TActical Squad soaking up free coffee and
> pie. They never paid much attention to me. I was just
> the guy who cleaned the kitchen and cafe. But I paid
> attention to them or rather the things they said. A
> cruder, more racist bunch of knuckle draggers...well
> you get the picture.
>
> I remember how they laughed telling stories of how
> their dogs, Rex or Caesar,etc., took bites out of this
> and that niggers ass down at Lake Calhoun. Mind you
> this was on 4th of July night. Ah, America! Ain't it
> great. Some things don't change much.
>
> Our police force is still overwhelmingly male and
> caucasian and I suspect has many of the same attitudes
> which might explain anecdotal evidence of profiling
> which appears to have increased under Chief Olson's
> reign.
>
> I get a kick out of comparison's to Stenvig and
> comments like "he's probably one of best or second
> best chiefs in history. That's called damning with
> faint praise, sort of like saying Hitler was better
> than Stalin.
>
> As to Rich McMartin's comments relative to Lyndale
> neighborhood and its improvement I must point out that
> CODEFOR did not come on line until 1998 and by then
> murder and crime rates had already dropped from the
> all-time highs of '94-'95.
>
> The fact is that the carnage of crack addiction and
> the ensuing wars and turf battles, like most things,
> came late to Minneapolis. Years before the coast
> cities saw what exploded in Mpls i the mid-nieties.
> The fact is that crime statistics throughout the
> country have dropped over the last eight years and
> sociologists of all stripes don't seem to be able to
> agree on a consensus as to why they rise and fall.
>
> Sure drugs are a factor as is law enforcement but for
> the Chief or anyone else to point at CODEFOR and say
> "this is the reason" is just a bunch of hooey!
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! Photos - Share your holiday photos online!
> http://photos.yahoo.com/
