>Well, two main complaints with the public record. > >First of all, it isn't available online. Working >downtown, it wasn't so bad to go get it and it only >cost me a quarter. The desk staff were efficient and >helpful, but it would be difficult for people not >working downtown to get this information. The data is >also available from a public terminal in the office, >so it shouldn't be hard to put online. I did have to >sign a receipt for the printout. > >It would be more difficult for people not downtown to >get this information, and even in my case, it took me >about 45 minutes to get there, get the information and >get back. > >Secondly, the information is really sparse. What is >missing from the picture is how what was presumably a >citation going to AP1 for a Disruptive Party escalated >to three people attempting to obstruct a(n) arrest(s). >Was any chemical irritant used? No medical treatment >was listed but an ambulance showed up. Is this >standard practice or were there no injuries? If there >were injuries, are injuries treated on location >reported? > >Right now the only place I can go for this information >are those who were in the house, but that perspective >was already posted to Indymedia. If I understood the >records clerk correctly, the full police report >becomes available to the plaintiffs when they go to >court. > >It is important to note that the citation was for >"disruptive party" and not "unlawful assembly without >a permit" as originally stated. This is obviously an >appropriate citation based on all accounts. > >The information should be available online and it >should have more detail. I still want to know the >officer's perspective on how the situation escalated.
Jason thanks for posting this information. This brings me to my biggest complaint about the police - and it is not brutality. I think in general, they need to work on better documentation of arrests. Better more complete descriptions -- who, what, when, where, how, would help with getting convictions for those who should be convicted and should serve prison time. I also agree this information should be available online if it is available to the public. At the same time, I appreciated Lydia Howell from Pulse posting her perspective on this list. There is real comolexity todeal with around what happened in North Mpls.Iys not about "media image" or bashing police or denal that crime exists. I've been an inne city resident (grew up in suburb) for 35 yeara & have experienced crime. But, there's something wrong woth "criminalizing whole neighborhoods--& whole races. EY: I agree. There is also something wrong with not providing police protection in high crime neighborhoods. Often the people in these neighborhoods need the police protection the most. Ms. Howell continues: If maninsream media would get off the defense & take a loook they would see it is standard procedure to tell every police shooting story from POV of police. Its disungenuous to say they WOULD have included witnesses IF not for violemce Aug 22nd. I was NOT met with ANY hostility when I went as a reporter to the Nside. Media IS important because it SHAPES workd views & opinions--& how we see/treat each other. =================================== Other reporters were beaten up. I'll agree with you, that I'd like to see reporters do more to get stories from a variety of perspectives, and not just take the police departments word on it. A good reporter on that beat, would develop neighborhood sources -- from a variety of points of view. I saw reporters doing that with this story. It was neighborhood residents who were saying to reporters, we don't want Spike Moss here, he doesn't do anything to get more permanent solutions to the problems and challenges of the area. Ms. Powell continues: In a democracy, no authority comes without accountability--but,police are the exception to this! ALL of us from ANY community should find that troubling. EY: I agree that the police should be accountable. However, I do not agree that they are the only government workers who have authority, but have little accountability. Howell continues: Various groups are calling for FEDERAL mediation w/the police to improve relations towards struggling q/poverty & crime are the legacies of racism and white supremacy we STILL have not faced and resolved.We could use Truth & Reconcilliation Commissions 9like that in post-apartheud S Africa) all over the US--INCLUDING Minnesota. EY: I'd like to know more pro and con about this mediation. I have no problem with federal mediation. The question is, what will happen from it, and who represents the "community" and how is the "community" defined? J Harmon writes regarding the racism thread: Well for cryin out loud. The exchanges between the two appeared to me as personal attacks back and forth - a sort of chicken/egg argument that can never be 'won' really. I don't discount the discussion - just the contemplation of the roots of racism part, as if there was a point in time when it started and by whom. I wholeheartedly agree that it does need to be talked about - openly and loudly, if necessary. I find it ironic that it's acceptable and perfectly appropriate dinner conversation to let even a mild acquaintence know your sexual preferences these days, yet racism remains in the closet as a sort of "Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" subject for most people, especially Minnesotans er, Minneapolitans of a pinkish-hue. JHarmon Cleveland What's your point? I think it's a positive thing when racism is discussed openly. I think it should be out in the open. However, I find alot of the politically correct bs counter to that goal. A good case in point is all the controversies over the use of the word niggardly - which means miserly. You lose me, when you say you can't use a word because it sounds like another word. Secondly, I don't hide the fact that I'm gay. It really isn't an issue with dinner time conversations, and it is not talking about my sex life. Noticed that Lt Mike Sauro has been interviewed on a number of TV stations with the Brandon Hall shooting. Isn't he the cop that the city tried to fire several years ago - and who has cost the city lots of money with lawsuits? Eva Eva Young Near North Minneapolis "You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone - not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc., but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be." --Article II of the Bill of Non-Rights. _______________________________________ 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
