Bad idea! There is no reason to poll any officers no matter what their color or gender. It sets a terrible precedent.
This is a mayoral appointment which must confirmed by the City Council. It does not require the support of the police officers. When the mayor appoints a director of public works, or finance director, or city attorney, or any other position, we don't poll the people in that department about who they want to lead them. When the Governor appoints more than 20 commissioners who must be confirmed by the Senate, there is no polling of the people working in those various state agencies as to who they want as their boss. Certainly, the police federation and individual officers can make their opinions known as can any citizen about this or any other appointment, but to suggest that a poll of officers be given any weight is way out of bounds. Jim Bernstein Fulton -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ed Fesler Sent: Monday, December 29, 2003 9:52 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Mpls] Should African American Mpls Officers testimony influence selection of New Chief? Yes, definitely! The two officers testified that there is a pattern of institutional racism in the MPD. Do African American and female officers have to prove themselves more than white men do? I strongly suspect the answer is YES! I would like to know who African American officers would prefer as police chief. I am very curious about whether African American officers agree with the McManus nomination-or would they prefer an African American chief? I'm just guessing, but my guess is that African American officers would be very happy to have an African American chief. A poll of all African American officers would carry a lot of weight. It should be a confidential poll conducted by a major news organization, so the officers would not worry about job-related pressure or political unpopularity. I would like to know who female officers would prefer as police chief. I suspect most female officers would be thrilled to have a female police chief. HOW ABOUT A POLL? I would like to see the Star Tribune or Pioneer Press do a poll of all police officers. They could ask the officers who they would prefer for police chief. They could restrict the choices to the five or six candidates that the selection committee had to choose from. Maybe they could add Robert Olson to the list. It is very important that there be an accurate breakdown of the officer's opinions by race, ethnicity and gender. The city would probably have to cooperate in allowing such a poll-providing temporary confidential access to a list of officers. The Police Federation might have to agree to it, for contractual reasons. Would the city allow such a poll? Would the newspapers do it? They might not agree with the results. Maybe the officers could rank the candidates in order. It would be very interesting to see the results. If the McManus nomination is rejected, it is almost certain that the next chief will be an African American man or a white woman. Right now, based on what I've read, I would put Sharon Lubinski and Charles Moose at the top of my list. If hard-core critics of the police don't want an African American chief maybe that is a good reason to be in favor of an African American chief. Ed Fesler [EMAIL PROTECTED] Corcoran --- Shawn Lewis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I'm asking this question because I believe it is > very > important one. The statements made by not one but, > two African American officers who have the rank of > lieutenants should not be ignored. Do you agree or > disagree? > > Shawn Lewis, Field Neighborhood > If you are wondering what the two African-American officers said, here is a link to a message in the Archives posted by Shawn Lewis: "African American Officer's testimony during Federal Mediation" http://www.mnforum.org/pipermail/mpls/2003-December/029692.html __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/ 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! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls 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! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
