Jay - I've had little personal experience with the police in Minneapolis. But I can tell you that using Chicago cops as a good example won't fly. In my younger years I've had run-ins with Chicago cops, and I've talked to others who have also had the same experience. Chicago cops are probably the most arrogant in the country, with the possible exception of those in southern California. It sounds to me like forced residency is far from a panacea.
Mark Anderson Bancroft ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jay Clark" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, August 26, 2002 10:28 PM Subject: Re: [Mpls] residency > I am in favor of requiring people joining the Minneapolis police force > to > live in the city. > > When I organized in the Jordan neighborhood, I would hear people > complain > regularly how, when they reported a crime, a police officer would tell > them > what do they expect, they live in north Minneapolis, or why don't they > move > out to the suburbs. > > I used to live in Chicago, which has a residency requirement for police > officers and fire fighters. > > I organized on the northwest side, in a predominantly Italian > neighborhood. > > It was also one of the neighborhoods with a disproportionate number of > police officers. About 1 out of 10 houses had either a police officer > or > fire fighter. I worked with about 400 of these homes total out of a > population of about 10,000. > > I never once heard a Chicago police officer badmouth the city of > Chicago, > either on or off the job. > > I also never heard of a police officer or family in my neighborhood be > the > target of revenge for a criminal the officer had offended. Chicago > avoided > this problem by always assigning the police officer to a district other > than where he\she lived. > > I am sure that there were some police officers that would have preferred > to > have lived in the burbs. But I never heard police officers cursing out > the > neighborhood they lived in. those who detested the idea of living in > chicago probably stayed out of the Chicago police force, and I for one > think it was an effective screen for keeping out some bad apples. > > Only very rarely did police officers get asked by neighbors to perform > their job off-duty. Police officers would sometimes get asked questions > by > their neighbors. > > residents did feel more safe for having the off-duty officers in the > neighborhood, and felt it helped strengthen house values. > > For those police officers who don't like residency requirements - teach > your fellow police officers to stop badmouthing the city and the people > you > get your paycheck from. If you can. This is where much of the support > for residency requirements comes from. > > I am sure that not every police officer shows this disdain, and many > officers living in the suburbs have never murmered a disrespectful word > about Minneapolis. However, these stories are endemic in north > Minneapolis, and helps drive a wedge between the police and the people > they > are supposed to serve > > I once asked someone working in the police department what could be done > to > reduce the comments like "why don't you move out to the suburbs." She > told > me that this was an urban myth, and doesn't happen. I hope the rest of > the > police department takes this more seriously. > > Jay Clark > Cooper > > I would not be effected by any residency requirement > _______________________________________ > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
