As if the Trump Administration and its enablers in McConnell’s Court haven’t done enough to erode public confidence in America’s governing institutions, recent disclosures about the number of police officers involved in White Supremicist organizations should make the hair on the back of our collective necks stand up.
First, I ran into an article from the Philadelphia Inquirer reporting that the City of Philadelphia had pulled 72 officers off the street:
At the very beginning of June, a group called The Plain View Project—established in 2017 as a research group looking for racist, Islamophobic, and other hateful rhetoric posted and shared by law enforcement on social media—released some very harrowing results. The database they had compiled, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, included around 3,100 posts by some 330 active Philadelphia police officers. Of the 330, at least 16 were ranked officers. One of the issues with police officers’ private social media posts is that virtually all law enforcement agencies have some form of a social media policy that includes a restriction from posting things that could undermine public confidence in the law enforcement agent. The Plain View Project that collected this batch of law enforcement revelations, was led by Harvard Law graduate Emily Baker-White who told the Inquirer that she began this work because she had realized no one was aggregating police officer social media posts.
The results, published in Buzzfeed News, with the help of nonprofit newsroom Injustice Watch, was undeniable. While The Plain View Project was Philadelphia based, the disturbing posts from law enforcement were found from Dallas to Chicago to Florida, while the investigation was continuing,
The department took 72 officers off street duty during the investigation. At the time of the media report, none of the officers being investigated had yet been “disciplined,” but the Chief was quoted as predicting that such discipline would be forthcoming, and that “several” officers would likely be fired.
Meanwhile, Dispatches from the Culture Wars reports
Hundreds of active-duty and retired law enforcement officers from across the United States are members of Confederate, anti-Islam, misogynistic or anti-government militia groups on Facebook, a Reveal investigation has found.
These cops have worked at every level of American law enforcement, from tiny, rural sheriff’s departments to the largest agencies in the country, such as the Los Angeles and New York police departments. They work in jails and schools and airports, on boats and trains and in patrol cars. And, Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting discovered, they also read and contribute to groups such as “White Lives Matter” and “DEATH TO ISLAM UNDERCOVER.”
These organizations are deeply racist; they trade in anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant slogans, and a number are openly Islamophobic. Worse still, the investigation found at least 150 officers involved with violent anti-government groups.
Thanks to the ubiquity of cell phone cameras, we’ve seen unsettling documentation of police behaviors consistent with the findings of this investigation. A lot of nice white middle-class Americans have been shocked by evidence that some police behavior changes rather dramatically in neighborhoods that are racially or ethnically different from their own.
We have a lot of housecleaning to do if we are going to mount an effort to live up to our ideals and the Constitution.
I just hope the rot hasn’t spread too far, and that it isn’t too late.
“I just hope the rot hasn’t spread too far, and that it isn’t too late.”
I doubt that the Democratic Party is going to make a dent in this problem. This is a result of the CONTINUING TRANSITION by the DEVIANT ELITE toward FASCISM, which has been speeded-up by the election of DONALD TRUMP as POTUS.
It can only be STYMIED by a comparative COUNTERVAILING FORCE.
Thanks Sheila,
This is a total leadership failure given that it’s very hard to believe that those over these fools in their on-site pecking order didn’t know about this particularly since these fools were open about it on Facebook. They should be terminated and those that supposedly supervise them either reassigned or also terminated. Obviously, there needs to be an investigation of this mess beforehand but if there is any hint of a white wash during any of it there should be hell to pay.
This represents still more damage to our reputation abroad which is so important to our position in terms of being a positive influence on world events. Between this sort of incompetence and that permeating Washington, DC, along with all the blatant malfeasance emanating from the Trump Administration we just continue to slide downhill and gaining ever more speed as we do.
Meanwhile, we will be spending monies that could be used to fix this mess with increased staffing, retraining, and more humane facilities (if there are such things) on a freaking parade for our emperor to use as still another inane rally to get low the info and very confused folks that are his based to chant “lock her up” on que still again. The crazy train just keeps rolling on.
Tom,
“The crazy train just keeps rolling on.”
It’s more like a RUNAWAY TRAIN. Remember the movie? Yesterday, on the 11 o’clock news it was reported that the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Department had by “mistake” destroyed the Disciplinary Report on an officer who shot and killed an African-American.
For the citizens of a country that was founded on stealing its land from people different from themselves and then writing a constitution that promised “all men are created equal” while enslaving millions of other different people to now think that they can legislate and buy themselves out of bigotry and hatred is blind insanity. All of that prejudice and intolerance is still here, ingrained in our economic, political and religious systems. And that prejudice and intolerance continue to create and maintain divisions now so deep and wide that nearly half of the population supports a mentally ill president who’s own bigotry is openly displayed… much to their delight.
Thursday is the Fourth of July and our dictator president will hold , at our expense, a dictator’s celebration in our capitol while his regime holds captive in concentration camps thousands of innocent people who’s only crime is that they wanted a better life while being brown. I don’t know how this will end, but surely it will take more than taxpayer funded education programs and admonishments from well meaning professors.
The brotherhood needs to thin out their problems. Do they have the guts to take on their racist problems?
I doubt it.
Many fit rights in with the brown shirts made famous in Nazi Germany — Fascists who are addicted to adrenaline rushes. I would venture to guess that the problem is more prevalent than any study done to date because of how the brotherhood protects itself.
I agree with Marv on this one…
“On August 30, 1977, relations between the Mayor William Hudnut III and the Indianapolis Police Department came to a head when 400-500 off duty police officers parked their patrol cars around the City-County building, turned on the lights and sirens, locked the door and tossed the police car keys into a trash can. The reasoning for the protest was over contract talks and the mayor stating he was going to end the practice of police officers being able to take their patrol cars home.”
“As if the Trump Administration and its enablers in McConnell’s Court haven’t done enough to erode public confidence in America’s governing institutions, recent disclosures about the number of police officers involved in White Supremicist organizations should make the hair on the back of our collective necks stand up.”
Will those in police departments in any city who are against the “chilling” report on this blog be strong enough to organize a protest against the lack of departmental action taken against those officers involved in White Supremacist organizations, as well as the honest officers aware of criminal actions by fellow officers, to organize an attention-getting protest such as Indianapolis Police Department OFF DUTY officers did in the above report? Their very active – and loud – protest was over personal problems within the department; the problems resulting from issues in today’s blog are life and death in too many cases.
It resulted in city-wide attention and quick action to resolve the problems, not to the full satisfaction of all, but it was resolved.
Theresa,
” I don’t know how this will end, but surely it will take more than taxpayer funded education programs and admonishments from well meaning professors.”
It’s a systemic problem, much like a hornet’s nest. You can’t deal with it without protective gear, knowledge, and experience.
The polls are rigged by the Trump administration’s DIRTY POOL. Remember Hillary?.
Trump wants opposition by Joe Biden because he knows, you know, and I know down-n-Dirty Trump will beat Biden.
Trump would need to study hard and cram if opposed by Harris or Warren (and you know Trump CAN’T study and can’t cram. Trump can only TWEET vulgarly and LIE.
Trump will LOSE “bigly” if opposed by ANY qualified woman. . . . .
. . . VICTORY for Trump is assured for Trump if Trump goes toe-to-toe with Biden,,,,
so……IGNORE the TRUMP POLLS showing Biden way ahead of his rivals any of whom can beat Trump and any of whom can lift us out of these deadly doldrums.
If we won’t do anything about officers who shoot and kill unarmed citizens, why would we do anything about those who just talk about doing it on social media?
A problem as old as civilization. Guard dogs are vicious, especially when trained by psychopathic masters.
Theresa; thank you for going directly to the heart of this problem which is the heartlessness and inhumanity ruling this country today.
Trump’s total takeover of our national holiday, our national monument to freedom, our military and the streets of the seat of our federal government , which is an act of treason on the level of Hitler as we have never seen before. Will this usurping of our national celebration of Independence Day, coupled with the manufacture of OUR weaponry by Saudi Arabia, his one foot step into enemy territory of North Korea for a photo op and the true reports of Border Patrol torture of imprisoned women and children, finally bring about the “blood in the streets” we all have feared since he took office?
Marv; don’t bother disparaging the Democratic party again today, we all know your views on our failure to live up to your unspecified requirements as a party or what actions are needed in your view due to your illustrious past in our court systems. “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Neither can a divided party; it is the lack of tolerance which is the basis of racism and bigotry which Theresa so wisely stated in her comments.
How can you deal with any problem if the INTELLIGENCE is flawed? We’re dealing with a deadly INTELLIGENCE GAP which I have been warning about, to no avail, for years on this blog. Until this is plugged and secured, we will continue as Tom has just stated:
“……. to slide downhill and gaining ever more speed as we do.”
As we all know, most of the officers on the police force anywhere are white. There seem to be very few people of other races who are interested in entering this profession, which is unfortunate.
The racial disparity that exists in law enforcement creates a lack of understanding and a lack of trust between those who are there to “serve and protect” and the people that live in the neighborhoods that they patrol.
Since the beginning of the Iraq war many young veterans who served their time were unable to find suitable employment and have been quickly accepted into law enforcement jobs. They are viewed as disciplined and they already are trained to handle weapons. The unfortunate thing is that many, if not most, of them come out of the military with a different mindset about how to handle or manage people who might be breaking the law. They have a tendency to be extremely physical and aggressive.
While there are also older officers who also have a tendency to be overly aggressive and angry, their issue is most likely plain racism.
I don’t know what it will take to fix these problems. The job itself requires the ability to be strong and aggressive, if necessary. It also requires them to make quick, spur of the moment decisions at times. NYC has had several recent suicides of police officers. There have always been officers who have turned to doing crime themselves while on the job. We all know that none of them get into the profession with the intention to get rich.
I was married to one of these assholes. They definitely change after a few years on the job and it is not typically for the better.
The internet, as it is now constituted, does not offer enough information, in itself, to make successful STRATEGIC DECISIONS when it comes to dealing with the RELIGIOUS RIGHT/FAR RIGHT attempted COUP.
Excellent point Peggy Hannon. Why, indeed, would we address the White Supremacist/police issue on social media when we only give lip service to documented police atrocities during arrests?
We obviously need better screening programs to avoid hiring thugs as police officers. Then we need to be able to quickly and effectively get bad cops off the streets and make sure they don’t wind up becoming somebody else’s problem like pedophile priests being transferred from parish to parish. And we need the good police officers to not provide cover for the bad cops who really make policing more difficult for the good officers. Unfortunately, the police unions are not our friend in this endeavor. It is difficult to even discipline bad cops, much less get rid of them because of union activism and union contracts. Perhaps if the unions had responsibility to pay out the damages in civil lawsuits against municipalities for the actions of rogue cops, they be more proactive about weeding them out. Maybe if the unions had to vet and vouch for members before issuing a union card, as well as be financially liable for any wrongdoing on the part of members, then we could start to see some of these problems go away. And ultimately citizen review boards should have the final authority in disciplinary actions, including firing, regardless of what the union contract with a municipal authority says.
Of course, this goes right along with the recent news of border patrol folks secret social media posts…
Coups are DYNAMIC, they move. The Democratic Party is STATIC it doesn’t move. Partisan political organizations such as the Democratic Party are no deterrent to an attempted coup as represented by the TRUMMPENSTEIN MONSTER.
The contest becomes something akin to the Boston Celtics being contested by a team consisting of one-legged basketball players.
So we end up being defended by the likes of the Southern Poverty Law Center and its partner the Anti-Defamation League which has been continually controlled by the Israeli Mossad since, at least, 1970. Are we nothing more than a COUNTRY OF FOOLS? I hope not.
The Police have a difficult job. We have the “gun cultural” which allows civilians to purchase military grade weapons with virtually no control. It is not a surprise that these weapons would find their way into the hands of criminals or the mentally unstable. The anxiety level for the cop on the beat must be near the red zone on duty day after day.
The other difficult job for the police is dealing with the results of massive income inequality. The chasm is enormous between a baby born in an upper class neighborhood vs a poor neighborhood. We have a “McJobs” economy that vast numbers of people are born and raised in, with few opportunities to advance. Higher education or trade schools to better yourself is contingent on if you can afford it. Healthcare is rationed – once again if you can afford it.
Our police were never officer friendly in the poor neighborhoods, the police whether they realize it or not are enforcers for the 1%. The police have to deal with all the anger and hostility of a economic class system.
The result is the police are now a paramilitary force. More force is necessary to maintain the “peace”. Our huge prison system is part of the class warfare – economic inequality system.
So far we have been dealing with the symptoms of rotting core disease not the cause. Perhaps like in real medicine the best we can do short term is deal with symptoms but ultimately we have to deal with root causes.
We won’t of course when Republicans have overwhelming power seemingly given to the Party by we the people. So these newly revealed symptom reveal nothing new but make an order of magnitude more urgent the cure that we must be united enough to implement – purging Republicans from government. We will lose some good ones but at the moment there is no way to support them and solve the problems that they collectively promoted.
Pay close attention to the offerings of the DNC now for President. Carefully listen to how effective they would be if WE give them the power to. Listen carefully for signs of susceptibility to power giving way to corruption among our candidates like what drove Republicans to the dark side.
We can do this. Together.
Monotonous,
As you have so well pointed out, the police aren’t the deepest problem, it’s the 1%. If we’re afraid to deal with them, we should be “good sports,” give up, and help create the outward harmony, at least, of Nazi Germany.
The sheriff in Weld County, Colorado has refused to uphold a law regarding “red flag” rules for gun ownership. This right-wing radical has determined that he is more powerful than the duly elected legislators in our fair state. He has decided which laws he will uphold and those he won’t.
These haters are not just on social media like Facebook. They are everywhere. I have encountered at least two retired FBI agents who are racist and sexist to their cores. They fear and hate the “other”, are unable to reason, refuse to accept the laws and refuse to accept the Constitution as their guiding document. AND as with today’s recruiting pool, these former FBI people were recruited right off the Vietnam battlefields. Today’s pool comes from the other wars we fight based on lies: Iraq and Afghanistan. To these guys, there is an enemy, the enemy is a target and the target must be killed. Full stop.
As many of us are now aware, the COUP DE’ETAT is in “full swing.” Our only chance to change its direction is to communicate, as best we can, the END GAME as led by the TRUMPENSTEIN MONSTER. It’s FUTURCIDE. Who wants that?
Vernon, what is rather odd is a sheriff who refuses to enforce the law, that would probably protect his employees.
I have read similar stories concerning sheriffs around the country. Since sheriffs are elected the gun lobby would be more than willing to oppose a “gun control” sheriff.
One other thing Vernon, the military would be a fertile ground for recruitment since “the other” is the enemy as those of us who were in the military were taught. The Band of Brothers can be a Band of Bigots.
I was a City Manager or Departmental Consultant for city managers for 20 years. Police Officers are people and Police Departments are organizations that need management. Its as simple as that.
Demonizing and stereotyping of law enforcement personnel is all about the “other” again.
If you want an example of poor leadership and management performance that leads to tragic consequences, look at South Bend. Buttigieg is clueless.
antifa, portland,cops allow street fights? border cops with FB open slander on congresspeople,and the migrants? police is pseudo enforcement,is really a head bashing. seems local commetees have asked to see the schooling cops get,and they get a no from governors. alls i can relate is munich,late 1920s ,and somewhere its history,not repeating,but allowing to be bought forth again,in plain sight.. if the millenials are our next gen to govern,we need a education of past indiffrences,and some sit down discussions beyond a beer of two. AOC is hammering the right with what they need,a good old fashioned behind the woodshed. only on FB and social media,as accepted do far. being from jersey,i can relate to AOC, and her voice. we never grew tired of defending the less,as we are no more than…the republicans have obvioulsly generated a total withdraw from governance and become a outright facists. seems thier orgs and pacs,only seek out pro wall street assholes,and allow them,and them only to be groomed. is there a word,or words to dicribe a form of treason,with the take over being capitalism being the hostage? and enslavement of the workingclass,to fulfill the needs of the wealthy,under the guise of world domination? china and india,and russia are developing a pact without trump, but xi,modi and putin see authoritarianism as the goal, and the people here havent a clue,what that means…best wishes, please remember why, we have a independence day,again…
Brilliant Bannon and ‘Dark Money’ others groomed Trump well. Before they chose him, they spent many years putting their cronies in places of power in our government via gerrymandering or whatever else. Regardless of whether or not these selected officials care anything about a party or if they are just all about self interest, it’s obvious they have been waiting for just the right time to show their true colors. Those who oppose the powers that be have no chance if they continue to play by the rules because those rules no longer apply. Don Lemon’s interview with ex CIA Michael Hayden pretty well said it all: Hayden said “this country can only be saved by the people.” As we all know checks and balances are not checking or balancing. Period.
THE NOVEL TRUTH:
My book, “Who Is Johnny Pistolseed” is about dealing with bad cops and the life-threatening challenges involved. The novel is available on Amazon.com.
https://www.amazon.com/Who-Johnny-Pistolseed-Larry-Kaiser/dp/1725689316/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Johnny Pistolseed may not really exist. Or he may. Whatever the truth, Johnny Pistolseed is a mysterious, highly-skilled Augmented Reality technician, who saves killer policemen’s worthless lives by dubbing guns into their murdered victim’s hands in cop-cam videos.
Pistolseed is set in Indiana and California, and brings back the lovable characters from my Joseph’s Easel series. In it, a crisis of justice arises in Ak-wy-yeth, Indiana when a deputy sheriff shoots and kills Billy Redcrow, a friend of fifteen-year-old Culture Duboreaux. Coincidentally, Gran-Cognac, the artist protagonist of the novel and mentor of Culture, is working on a suite of paintings that deals with gun proliferation in America, so investigating the dubbed gun possibility fits precisely with his present research.
I rely on humor and sarcasm and extensive research to examine the real life possibilities of this alarming subject, while my book’s unusual characters encounter the whims of fate and powerful enemies.
And yes, I do suggest that there is a real Johnny Pistolseed who dubs guns in cop-cam videos.
Maywin,
“Those who oppose the powers that be have no chance if they continue to play by the rules because those rules no longer apply. Don Lemon’s interview with ex CIA Michael Hayden pretty well said it all: Hayden said “this country can only be saved by the people.” As we all know checks and balances are not checking or balancing. Period.”
Terrific! Couldn’t be said better.
ML,
Correct. Thanks for the corroboration.
WADR – several sheriffs here in NC have refused to cooperate with ICE on rounding up immigrants – two were actually elected on that issue in 2018. Let’s not fall into calling law enforcement “the other” enemies.
It is true; we are in the midst of a coup – slow moving and relatively bloodless as coups go, but a coup all the same. I used to believe that we were immune to coups because the military and the police force would step in to stop it. I am so naive. The forces that defend the Constitution are only as good as their members, and they’re just as infiltrated with fascists, misogynists, and their ilk as the population. Yes, we have met the enemy and they are us.
If you want to see how quickly things can deteriorate, look at pre-World war 2 Germany. Germany got its eugenics idea from the United States and England. And let’s not forget ledensraum, the right of the white privileged landowner to take land for righteous purposes. See American manifest destiny, it was used as the blueprint by the Germans.
I am afraid that the thought of “has the rot spread too far” might be misplaced. My understanding is that the history of the police force as an entity is grounded/founded in racism-it has been said to have grown out of (first) efforts to catch those escaping slavery, and then those who were now “free” whom the state (whites) still wanted to control. (supported in sources such as: https://plsonline.eku.edu/insidelook/brief-history-slavery-and-origins-american-policing)
Uncle Gordo (G. Gordon Liddy) said it best: “Remember when they come for YOU… headshots!”
This nation is G0D-Damned, say goodnight…