The major problem with Chief Olson's tenure in office was not Robert Olson; it was mainly the mayors whom Olson worked for. Chief Olson advised Sharon that the crime problem was out of hand, and that it would come back to haunt her. It did. Chief Olson, the "good" soldier, proceeded to work as hard as he possibly could under her direction and supported Sharon the whole while. RT's problem was that he did not comprehend that Chief Olson was there to do his bidding and to police as RT directed. Instead of supplying direction, RT ineffectively decided to make Chief Olson the fall guy for policy problems. A bungled job, of course. In a weak mayor system, control of the police, the budget, and sitting on committees are about the only "real" job the Mayor has, unless he or she uses the "bandbox" with the public to influence a "strong" council in creating policy.
Since the failed attempt to oust Chief Olson, it has appeared to most observers that RT Rybak's "court jesters" have been attempting to groom Lucy Gerold for the job of Chief. Most people who have watched this activity wonder the same thing. WHY? Why not get a real police officer, with real police experience that fellow officers could respect and follow? Most able police officers spend a career working hard to become an Inspector, if they are lucky. Gerold goes through the academy and becomes an Inspector because of political favors. People go to OCS to become lieutenants, not Colonels. I wonder if Gerold ever made an individual arrest in her short career. Her political advancement over deserving officers is a slap in the face for the departments "Real" officers. Part of Olson's problem was the disrespect of the department's officers. Lucy Gerold would have even more of that same disrespect. Lucy's only distinction seems to be her political connections and her having directed CCP Safe. CCP Safe so distinguished itself under her direction that whole neighborhoods were willing to formally demand that Safe be removed from their neighborhood. This is not supposition. I attended a couple of meetings hosted by Karen Clark and Linda Berglin when this was the main topic. Many, many people asked for State help to get rid of Lucy and CCP Safe. I also attended a couple of multi-neighborhood meetings that came about from the legislative meetings that looked at strategies to remove Safe from those neighborhoods. After CCP Safe was removed from Lucy's control and placed in the precincts, those same neighborhoods are now willing to fight to keep CCP Safe. Under Gerold' s direction CCP SAFE was centrally located downtown and CCP SAFE's principal concern seemed to be about providing political cover and a political smokescreen for sitting politicians such as Sales-Belton. Individual officers and civilian workers attached to Lucy Gerold's dynasty were purposefully removed from any relationship with the communities they supposedly served. Even police officers attached to CCP Safe were afraid to give any information to the public that had not been cleared through Gerold. One even reported that he could lose his job if he gave the Neighborhoods any information. Some still report fear of Gerold's long political arm. It is scary to think that RT may be viewing Gerold' s record of iron handed control of those working under her and the use of those workers as forced political organizers as the "Right Stuff" for a Police Chief. If past history is any indication then the people of Minneapolis would be in for even more centralized command and even more alienation between the police officers and the community residents. Under such a "centralized" command structure we can expect even more lawsuits and failure of the police to become part of and supportive of the community. Such an appointment, or even serious consideration of it, would signal that RT has little concern for communities and might even indeed be anti neighborhood and anti community. Under Sharon Lubinski in the Third Precinct the SAFE officers are working "members" of the community and fully participate. Both civilians and police officers attached to CCP Safe report how much more effective Safe is since being assigned to the precincts and under the direction of "Real" police professionals. Under Sharon Lubinski CCP SAFE is a valuable tool in community based policing Many of us wonder why RT would even consider making such a fluff appointment when the Minneapolis Police Department is so troubled and so understaffed at this time. What is needed is a real cop, and the Department has several. Inspector Sharon Lubinski and Captain Mike Martin head the list for me, but there are others. If RT wants to appoint a woman as "Chief" why is he overlooking Sharon Lubinski? Sharon Lubinski is a wonderful "Real" cop, whom the officers in the department and the people in the communities respect and love (a combination that is almost unheard of). I know Sharon Lubinski has that support from many communities. (Perhaps other List members could comment on this). WHO supports even the consideration of Gerold? I know several communities who would certainly oppose such an appointment. With the City involved with Federal Mediation and searching for direction, perhaps the "Search" should look outside the Department. So they do not have to search so hard, perhaps they need some direction. They need look no further than Chief Goldberg (or is it Goldbloom?) from Charleston, South Carolina. An innovative, effective, community oriented police chief who also happens to be black. This is an irresistible combination when considering Minneapolis' current problems and policing needs. Also, as demonstrated in Charleston, he is a chief that would not stand for, or allow, the existence of criminal "containment zones" in poor communities of color. He is also someone who would have the immediate respect of both the street cops and the communities. Either Goldberg or Sharon Lubinski is an appointment that would make RT look good, and look like a very serious Mayor. Something he is very shortly going to very much need. So RT, do yourself and Minneapolis a tremendous favor and focus your search on the truly deserving local officers, OR go out and recruit a person of Goldberg's stature. The most important job of the Mayor's Office is that appointment; it deserves more consideration than a fluff political appointment. Jim Graham, Ventura Village >"To stumble twice against the same stone is a proverbial disgrace. - Cicero TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
