>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.
So what is the problem - if no one likes Olson and he is dumped what
makes anyone confident the next chief would be any better. My point is
the MPD has come a long way. Did I infer anywhere that the MPD is
perfect - I do not believe so.
>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!
>>
>> __________________________________________________
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>
>
John Ferman
Harriet Avenue
Kingfield Neighborhood
Minneapolis
Ward 10 Pct 10
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
