Showing posts with label police. Show all posts
Showing posts with label police. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Iowa City Police Receive Traffic Stop "quotas"
There is a good little story below my rant on police quotas and dangerous drivers in Iowa City, as well as a link to the full story and comments~~So here goes:
It may have been put incorrectly, but there isn't anything wrong with quotas, except it may make people more likely to hit the numbers hard early in the month so they can coast later after they've met their quotas, and no matter the semantics that is what this written policy is all about!!
I have a quick way to get your quota in not just one day, but probably less than an hour. and you don't even have to move that much, other than to ticket the offending parties. And I am not saying this as a holier than thou driver, as less than two weeks ago I received a ticket for $69.40 as I forgot to renew my registration~~he could have just warned me, but no it was a sleepy Sunday morning and I was blazing past the intersection by the rec. center downtown and 18 miles an hour, performing all kinds of "crazy" driving moves, like stopping at red lights, staying behind the crosswalk lines~~sorry Barney gave me a ticket and said I was driving well..Lucky Me!!
So on to the first guaranteed quota buster area:
Please just park on the ramp just up the road from the mall, as you try and get on Interstate 80 eastbound. You will find any number of drivers nearly run over or into the ditch by truckers in the right lane, who are blazing past our fair city at speeds of 80 to 85 miles per hour. Often they are driving side by side, and if you don't slam on your brakes you would be done for. You could either ticket them just for speeding, or even more creative would be for not moving to the left lane to allow the cars to merge onto the interstate. Just so I could give you and estimate, I watched the interstate before writing this post for 15 minutes and saw 6 near misses up there. Very Nice Huh!!
I know there are many good truckers out there, just like there are many good regular drivers out there, but the crazy, or just plain reckless ones endanger everyone. SO that would be a first recommendation!!
Secondly, if you want to meet your quota for not just one police officer, but for the entire department~~please drive with me from Dover STreet to The Mall, between 9 and 10 am, down Muscatine~~and Burlington to Riverside Drive and First in Coralville,(or as far as you are allowed to go) and a return trip between 9 and 10 pm. You will find all manner of drivers. speeding, constantly changing lanes and just missing your front bumper~~without turn signals of course as that might give you time NOT to hit them, sitting at one green light for several seconds~until you honk your horn, and then blasting through the next light as it changes RED, not changes Yellow, but actually completely Red, and they still fly through, often narrowly misses the cross traffic as it begins to move, and this is each and everyday....You also get the bikers who race across the streets at night who are wearing dark clothes and who do not have lights on their bikes, often darting across just east of the L&M gas station in the darkest area by the apartment building there so you can barely see them as they cme within inches of your auto~this is true of pedestrians in the that same block~who are always running across the street and barely being missed by vehicles.
Now I used to speed, but also received enough tickets to break me of the habit, so it can be done. I drive the speed limit, and stay in my lane unless there is road work or something that moves us into another lane that is unavoidable, and the funniest thing is I have had drivers go all the way from near the Mall to almost my side of town, and they did every stupid, dangerous move that I mentioned above, and often they get less than 2 or 3 car lengths ahead of me by the time we get to 1st & Muscatine, so I wonder is it really worth endangering everyone on the road to get home a few minutes quicker..IF your lives are that exciting that it is worth dying or killing for, then so be it~~but the rest of us may disagree, and would appreciate you giving us some respect on the road as well!!
Take Care and Safe Driving/Biking/&Walking!!! And now to the beginning paragraphs of the story by Lee Hermiston of the Iowa City Press-Citizen:
An Iowa City police official has put into writing a policy that requires day shift officers to make more traffic stops each month.
But don't call it a quota.
"That's not what this is," said Lt. Dan Sellers, author of the policy.
Sellers, watch commander for the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift, is requiring officers to make at least 20 traffic stops a month. However, Sellers said, officers must have probable cause to stop a vehicle and are not required to write a citation.
The policy went into effect at the beginning of February.
Please continue to the full story via the link and leave your comments!!Have A Great Evening!!
LINK TO FULL STORY AND COMMENTS
Monday, May 14, 2007
Two Good Arrests, But Officers Injured
I have just finished an excellent story in the Iowa Press-Citizen concerning six people who were arrested after a melee in which two officers were injured.
Please read the whole story in the paper or online, but the short story is that Iowa City Police were called to 921 N. Dodge for a domestic abuse situation. They arrived and after arriving the situation escalated and resulted in an attempt to arrest James Michael Willis, 27 of that address. He pushed officer Laura Wood down injuring her back. Another officer , Matt Hansen, was punched in the face and other officers were injured in minor ways. The following people were arrested for interference with the officers as they tried to arrest Mr. Willis: Demetrius James Bledsoe, 26, same address, Antonio Maurice House, 27, of 913 Willow St., Kimberly Rachel Willis, 24, Adam M. Melcher 31, and Lakisha D. Thomas, 24 of Coralville. Miss Willis was also arrested on escape charges as she fled after being handcuffed and was found 15 minutes later a few houses away.
I went to the reader comments after reading this story and it looks like most of them were favorable toward the police reaction in the situation. In fact, one of the comments was by the person who called the 911 complaint in and he said the man arrested was screaming about killing everyone in the residence, he was using the N word even though he is African-American. In the story it says he was yelling about killing white people when the police arrived, so the situation was bad and while it seems that this young man’s friends like him a lot, as evidenced by their stupidity in trying to interfere with the police, it is also illegal as they now know.
From all of the reporting I think they should be happy that someone did not get shot, because being attacked by several assailants at once would in my estimation make it imperative to stop the violence as quickly as possible. I find the restraint used by these officers as evidence of the high quality training that they receive and the discipline with which they control their emotions. I know that it their job, but think about yourself, if you were in a situation that put you in grave danger would you not react on emotion and not rational thought, it would be “flight or fight time”.
So congratulations to the police on this incident and perhaps it will educate some people not to attack the police. I know a few officers and find them to be good people who do a hard and sometimes dangerous job for and they get too little respect for it most of the time. I quibble sometimes about the occasional speeding tickets which I have received, and that they could be doing something better, but in reality everything that they do to keep the rule of law upheld is the true and right thing to do. These young people better wake up and realize that breaking the law is wrong for anyone, no matter their age or their race, that is what civilized society is all about.
So remember kids alcohol or other substances, loud voices, mingled with threats of bodily violence, will invariably bring a knock at your door by the police, how you respond can get you either a warning or if you choose to be stupid, a night in jail, followed by charges, fines , and perhaps even serious jail or prison time. Worst of all if you escalate it too far, it could have ended in serious injury or even death. May Officers Wood and Hansen get well soon.
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Eleven peace activists who claimed they were justified in staying in the federal courthouse after hours because they wanted to end the war in Iraq were found guilty of trespass by a Linn County judge.
“While wanting to end the further loss of lives is a goal of the utmost importance, the
Court does not find that this goal amounts to justification for the Defendants' actions given the completely speculative nature of the outcome in this case,” Magistrate Judge Jill Ableidinger said in a written order issued Monday afternoon.
She tried all 11 together on April 25, each on a single simple misdemeanor trespass charge.
Ableidinger said the defendants didn't know if Grassley would speak to them, secondly had no way of knowing that a conversation would cause him to act and lastly that if the Senator did what effect, if any, the action would have on saving lives.
Frank Cordaro of Des Moines, a former Catholic priest and seasoned activist, expressed disappointment in the judge's decision. It's been his experience that the judicial branch of the U.S. government sides with the executive branch in war making, Cordaro said. His first arrest dates back to a 1977 protest at the Pentagon.
About two dozen protesters waited outside the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley, which is on the second floor of the federal courthouse in Cedar Rapids, on Feb. 26 hoping to talk to the Senator by phone to convince him to push for an end to the war.
They were participating the Occupation Project, part of the Voices for Creative Non-Violence campaign, which is an effort to stop the war in Iraq.
Grassley was on a plane to Washington, D.C. The war protesters waited, hoping to speak with him by phone. They were repeatedly asked to leave. An hour and a half after the courthouse closed to the public, Cedar Rapids police were called in to arrest the 11 who remained in the hallway.
Ableidinger said they could have attempted to contact the Senator earlier, or waited until the next day.
Sentencing is set for July 6th in Linn County District Associate Court and they face up to 30 days in jail.
In addition to Codaro those convicted include:Andrew Alemeo,19,of Cedar Falls Joshua Casteel, 27, of Cedar Rapids; Megan R. Felt, 20, of Iowa City; Timothy L. Gauger, 36, of Eugene, Ore.; David A. Goodner, 26, of Iowa City; John P. Hornbeck, 25, of Iowa City; Ryan D. Merz, 20, of Maple Plain, Minn.; Conor A. Murphy, 29, of Madison, Wis.; Rosemary M. Persaud, 47, of Iowa City; and Justin N. Riley, 19, of Crystal, Minn.
So we have had two good outcomes in two different stories dealing with law breakers, which shows that no matter what you think your goals are you do not get to violate the law and expect to get away with it.
I am proud of Senator Grassley not caving in and actually talking to these whack jobs. I know if you really want to stop the war in Iraq why don’t you hop a plane and talk to your Al-Qaida buddies and ask them to stop killing our troops and the Iraqi citizens. I am sure if you are so in touch with your feelings about stopping the war, then you really need to go to the source and I am sure you can hold hands in brotherhood with the terrorists, they’ll agree, the killing will stop and then our troops can come home.
There see it really is that easy, isn’t it? Oh right, No it is not! I hope you enjoy your jail time, it will be easier if you pretend you’re the victim’s! Right, I already know that you do, but you are wrong, the victim’s are the poor citizens of Iraq and our troops being killed by your terrorist brethren, or in the story our fine police officers, who were only doing their jobs.
Please read the whole story in the paper or online, but the short story is that Iowa City Police were called to 921 N. Dodge for a domestic abuse situation. They arrived and after arriving the situation escalated and resulted in an attempt to arrest James Michael Willis, 27 of that address. He pushed officer Laura Wood down injuring her back. Another officer , Matt Hansen, was punched in the face and other officers were injured in minor ways. The following people were arrested for interference with the officers as they tried to arrest Mr. Willis: Demetrius James Bledsoe, 26, same address, Antonio Maurice House, 27, of 913 Willow St., Kimberly Rachel Willis, 24, Adam M. Melcher 31, and Lakisha D. Thomas, 24 of Coralville. Miss Willis was also arrested on escape charges as she fled after being handcuffed and was found 15 minutes later a few houses away.
I went to the reader comments after reading this story and it looks like most of them were favorable toward the police reaction in the situation. In fact, one of the comments was by the person who called the 911 complaint in and he said the man arrested was screaming about killing everyone in the residence, he was using the N word even though he is African-American. In the story it says he was yelling about killing white people when the police arrived, so the situation was bad and while it seems that this young man’s friends like him a lot, as evidenced by their stupidity in trying to interfere with the police, it is also illegal as they now know.
From all of the reporting I think they should be happy that someone did not get shot, because being attacked by several assailants at once would in my estimation make it imperative to stop the violence as quickly as possible. I find the restraint used by these officers as evidence of the high quality training that they receive and the discipline with which they control their emotions. I know that it their job, but think about yourself, if you were in a situation that put you in grave danger would you not react on emotion and not rational thought, it would be “flight or fight time”.
So congratulations to the police on this incident and perhaps it will educate some people not to attack the police. I know a few officers and find them to be good people who do a hard and sometimes dangerous job for and they get too little respect for it most of the time. I quibble sometimes about the occasional speeding tickets which I have received, and that they could be doing something better, but in reality everything that they do to keep the rule of law upheld is the true and right thing to do. These young people better wake up and realize that breaking the law is wrong for anyone, no matter their age or their race, that is what civilized society is all about.
So remember kids alcohol or other substances, loud voices, mingled with threats of bodily violence, will invariably bring a knock at your door by the police, how you respond can get you either a warning or if you choose to be stupid, a night in jail, followed by charges, fines , and perhaps even serious jail or prison time. Worst of all if you escalate it too far, it could have ended in serious injury or even death. May Officers Wood and Hansen get well soon.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Eleven peace activists who claimed they were justified in staying in the federal courthouse after hours because they wanted to end the war in Iraq were found guilty of trespass by a Linn County judge.
“While wanting to end the further loss of lives is a goal of the utmost importance, the
Court does not find that this goal amounts to justification for the Defendants' actions given the completely speculative nature of the outcome in this case,” Magistrate Judge Jill Ableidinger said in a written order issued Monday afternoon.
She tried all 11 together on April 25, each on a single simple misdemeanor trespass charge.
Ableidinger said the defendants didn't know if Grassley would speak to them, secondly had no way of knowing that a conversation would cause him to act and lastly that if the Senator did what effect, if any, the action would have on saving lives.
Frank Cordaro of Des Moines, a former Catholic priest and seasoned activist, expressed disappointment in the judge's decision. It's been his experience that the judicial branch of the U.S. government sides with the executive branch in war making, Cordaro said. His first arrest dates back to a 1977 protest at the Pentagon.
About two dozen protesters waited outside the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley, which is on the second floor of the federal courthouse in Cedar Rapids, on Feb. 26 hoping to talk to the Senator by phone to convince him to push for an end to the war.
They were participating the Occupation Project, part of the Voices for Creative Non-Violence campaign, which is an effort to stop the war in Iraq.
Grassley was on a plane to Washington, D.C. The war protesters waited, hoping to speak with him by phone. They were repeatedly asked to leave. An hour and a half after the courthouse closed to the public, Cedar Rapids police were called in to arrest the 11 who remained in the hallway.
Ableidinger said they could have attempted to contact the Senator earlier, or waited until the next day.
Sentencing is set for July 6th in Linn County District Associate Court and they face up to 30 days in jail.
In addition to Codaro those convicted include:Andrew Alemeo,19,of Cedar Falls Joshua Casteel, 27, of Cedar Rapids; Megan R. Felt, 20, of Iowa City; Timothy L. Gauger, 36, of Eugene, Ore.; David A. Goodner, 26, of Iowa City; John P. Hornbeck, 25, of Iowa City; Ryan D. Merz, 20, of Maple Plain, Minn.; Conor A. Murphy, 29, of Madison, Wis.; Rosemary M. Persaud, 47, of Iowa City; and Justin N. Riley, 19, of Crystal, Minn.
So we have had two good outcomes in two different stories dealing with law breakers, which shows that no matter what you think your goals are you do not get to violate the law and expect to get away with it.
I am proud of Senator Grassley not caving in and actually talking to these whack jobs. I know if you really want to stop the war in Iraq why don’t you hop a plane and talk to your Al-Qaida buddies and ask them to stop killing our troops and the Iraqi citizens. I am sure if you are so in touch with your feelings about stopping the war, then you really need to go to the source and I am sure you can hold hands in brotherhood with the terrorists, they’ll agree, the killing will stop and then our troops can come home.
There see it really is that easy, isn’t it? Oh right, No it is not! I hope you enjoy your jail time, it will be easier if you pretend you’re the victim’s! Right, I already know that you do, but you are wrong, the victim’s are the poor citizens of Iraq and our troops being killed by your terrorist brethren, or in the story our fine police officers, who were only doing their jobs.
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