Well here I am agreeing with Jim Mork again. It is preposterous to think Minneapolis has the worst Police Officers around. What it is really is the hyperbole of a few people with axes to grind against Minneapolis Police officers. The FACTS are that Minneapolis Police Officers are some of the most highly respected and sought after police officers in the nation. Not idle speculation but fact. Recruiters from other cities are constantly seeking our officers.
That having been said, do we need better, more respectful, professional cops? Most certainly! Not because it would be nice, but so that they could more easily put the bad guys behind bars and make a safer city for us all to live in. The ridiculous statement that one person makes on list that he "(still have yet to be treated respectfully by any on duty Minneapolis street cop) or any officer for that matter" is an example of close-mindedness that ranks just as high as a cop who thinks all people from the inner-city are criminals. Both are working from something shy of a full deck. With this type of attitude he probably never will either. Respect is a two way street, if that person started with a little of his own I am sure it would be returned. I have had run-ins with police officers in the past on several occasions. On at least two occasions when threatened with arrest I asked the police officer to please do so, that I really needed the money from a false arrest settlement. In almost every situation if the officer is talked to in a respectful manner with the absolute assurance to the police officer that nothing but professionalism will be tolerated then the police officer treats you with that professionalism. Do we need better trained, more professional officers? Of course! Remember these are mostly suburban and small town people with two year educations and possibly some military background. They need to receive that education and respect so that they can have time to absorb what life in Minneapolis is all about and start thinking of inner-city people as "their people". This is one reason it would be nice if an extra priority and advantage were given to hiring our own young people (who have grown up in the inner-city so already know it, and think of its people as "their own people") as police officers. If there is a 100 point scale used for hiring at least 10 of those points should come from having grown up "IN" Minneapolis. It would not guarantee that the person was knowledgeable, but then a college education does not necessarily guarantee a person is knowledgeable and a good cop either. Dennis is so right. The concentration of poverty and social problems into poor minority communities is overwhelming. It is also discriminatory and illegal. But it seems to be hard to get this fact through to some of the good old boys and girls who are our City Fathers and Mothers. If a nice, non impacted white neighborhood objects then a project is not built there. Even if it complies with zoning and other laws a "good" white neighborhood can stop a project with minimal objections. But an impacted neighborhood can NOT stop a project even if it violates numerous ordinances and zoning rules. It is a matter of POWER and who has it and who does not. The poor minority neighborhoods clearly do not have it! The wealthy developers and NON-Profiteers have friends in high places and they need to make a profit somewhere. If they can not build in "good", non-impacted neighborhoods then they have to go make their profits on the backs of poor minority neighborhoods. Politics in Minneapolis is a constant juggling act between the interests of the powerful neighborhoods and the need to make profits for ones powerful developer friends. Though since the election is getting closer the politicians do seem to be coming around to catching the neighborhood interest ball a little more often. We in Ventura Village certainly wish they would have followed the law a little more closely and had the same interests when they deprived our Neighborhood of "equal protection under law" to help PPL break the law. Instead they approved of a project that violated City Ordinance and paid for that discrimination with tax payer dollars. They paid by subsidizing breaking their own laws then and they will surly pay more when a Federal Judge brings them to justice. Funny how the powerful can fight to make poor communities (the victim) into scapegoats. Even supposed liberal democrats do not seem to see the hypocrisy when they label poor communities "NIMBY" when those communities plea for the City to stop breaking its own laws and further "concentrating poverty". FINALLY SOME GOOD NEWS!!!! Famous Dave Anderson was unanimously approved by the Senate Committee to be the head of the BIA and Under-Secretary of the Interior. Franklin Avenue has experienced Dave's different lives. From a life of alcohol to a life of helping young people and being a benefactor. Dave Anderson shows that people through faith can rise to make a difference in their community. Dave pays for and runs a program to give direction to young people from our community where once he experienced the alcohol. List members might want to visit his program on the first floor of the new Many Rivers Building on Franklin. Dave Anderson never forgot where he came from and Dave is an example to our young people that hard work, drive, and yes even faith can change lives. Now Dave has the opportunity to change the BIA, an institution that has not really looked out for the interests of Native people in the past. I am sure they are not prepared for the whirlwind that is Dave, and that Dave will surely bring into their midst. Jim Graham, Ventura Village >"We can only be what we give ourselves the power to be" - A Cherokee Feast of Days >"The people are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." - Thomas Jefferson REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! 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