2 ½ Months of Blogging has produced…

98 posts, software headaches, hardware grief and as much fun as you can have with your pants on.

Comments don’t always come from sane or sober people. I never expected everyone would agree with me or I would have been able to run unopposed for President. If I haven’t pissed each of you off at least once I’d feel I haven’t done my job.

I know I’ve gathered some loyal readers all over the USA, the UK, Australia and I even have a regular visitor in Hong Kong. Someone at the Sergeant of Arms at the US Senate (I’m assuming he or she works in a protective position) stops by daily. I’ve got a mix from the law enforcement community, gun rights activists, many news media folks and some entertainment professionals. I want to thank you folks for navigating your web browsers my way.

I’m going to include video that I produce myself whenever I can. I’m always up for story ideas from my readers. The problem I have is that I’m a one-man band right now and can’t do everything I want. This has all been made possible by the Good folks at Google who have not charged me a dime to store all these pages and host most of my video.

To make this work I’m going to have to boost my readership and somehow get sponsored. I have gotten as many as 2000 visits per day and as few as 300. I guess it grows from here. Again, thank you all for stopping by.

Naming a Chicago Street after Black Panther “Martyr”

The year was 1969. It was one of those years that Chicago hit the record books for the most cops murdered in the line of duty during any 12 month period. Cowardly sniper attacks were being committed all over the country against police officers.

It was no coincidence that the Black Panther Party was trying to promote an armed revolution to overthrow the country. The Party leaders were Clamoring for the killing of cops that they were calling pigs. Everyone had a clear understanding that cops attempting to arrest these terrorists were marked for death and that shooting first and shooting straight was important for officer’s very survival.

That cold December 1969, pre-dawn infamous raid resulted in the arrests of several Panthers, the recovery of their weapons and the deaths of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark. Hampton and Clark died the way they lived, by the sword. They were criminals and morally responsible for the deaths of all the cops through their advocating of the killings.

Unbelievably, there’s an ongoing effort at City Hall by some aldermen to honor one of these thugs, Fred Hampton. Is Fred Hampton somehow a role model for the children of Chicago? Perhaps a role model for some racist, anti-American hoodlums, but not our children. There’s something very troubling going on at City Hall when alderman are promoting hate and violence against police officers with this move.

I think it’s time for police officers to find their way down to City Hall and shame the hate mongers.

That Intriguing Ferrari Story Won’t Go Away…

L.A. County Sheriff’s officers have found themselves in an international investigation examining whether the Ferrari’s owner Stefan Eriksson possessed another exotic sports car, a Mercedes SLR that was reported stolen to Scotland Yard.

Eriksson reportedly has an extensive car collection that includes cars like that destroyed Ferrari Enzo that were not, “street legal”.
Read the latest here.

There's more here.

The dark side of Law Enforcement

There are times when politicians and bureaucrats that appoint cops order them to take action that’s in direct conflict with the United States Constitution. All cops are required to take an oath to defend and protect that Constitution.

Some cops will blindly follow orders as too many did in Germany during Hitler’s Third Reich. The Nuremberg War Crimes Trial set the standard that following orders is no excuse to escape punishment.

Hurricane Katrina was blight on America not just for a weather related disaster but also for a greater disaster, the destruction of basic American Freedom, Liberty and human dignity. Notwithstanding the relentless and unending bureaucratic blunders aggravating the human misery, some government agents began a crime wave of their own.

The former Chief of the New Orleans Police Department conspired with others to commit home invasions and armed robberies against New Orleans homeowners. Officers from the NOPD and agencies as far away as the California Highway Patrol along with National Guard troops forced their way into homes, assaulted the residents, and robbed them of any firearms they could find. I can’t bear to think what may have happened if a victim of these acts fought back killing some cop. That’s just one more reason why I don’t support the death penalty.

The lawsuits against the officers and conspirators will go on for years, Perhaps more years than this victim in the first video, Patricia Konie has left on this earth.

My friend Bob Woodruff reports on video number two.

These outrages should never be allowed to happen again.

An Update 3/1/06



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Why Are We Such Candyasses?

Strange white powder appears in some college dorm. Panic sets in as thousands of tax dollars are spent on a major terrorist investigation that’s waged by local, state and federal authorities. It seems some bonehead claimed the powder was the deadly poison called Ricin. The news media quickly brought out an army of terrorism expert-pundits to frighten everyone. They need to outlaw those damned doughnut sprinkles!

Some harried and late traveler passes by an airport security gate where the low-wattage TSA monkeys are dozing off. The apes wake up and quickly initiate an airport lockdown and a national news story.

Some seventh grade school kid brings his father’s antique handgun to school for a show and tell program. Yep, even though nothing has happened the kid makes the nightly news. This lad whoever he is should quickly run out and get an agent for a book and movie deal while he’s still hot news.

A tourist poses in front of a tourist attraction for a photo being taken by yet another tourist. Officials over-react and then try to justify their silliness with exaggerated claims that the picture taking by the tourists was not normal. It’s not normal to take pictures of tourist attractions? Maybe our experts that claim to know what normal is need to visit the Internet. They should navigate to Google Images and then try to find any portion of any such landmark that not been photographed to death.

I guess we have forgotten the days when nobody was ever searched boarding an airplane in this country. The chances of that passenger whizzing by the security checkpoint being a real terrorist are even less than me winning that Powerball Lottery with that single ticket I bought last week.

I’m becoming ashamed of being an American. That’s because everyone else in the world will assume I’m a candyass.

Okay, I confess to loving that failed Bochco TV series COP ROCK.

Having been a cop and working in the criminal justice field for years, cop TV shows attracted my viewing. There were the good series like Joe Wambaugh’s Police Story, and that less believable but nonetheless entertaining offering from Michael Mann, Miami Vice. There were also the shows I absolutely hated such as The Rookies, Policewoman, SWAT and Starsky & Hutch.

The year was 1990 when people still regularly watched prime time TV. COP ROCK came from Steven Bochco, who was still fresh with the success of his show, Hill Street Blues. COP ROCK is still considered one of television's most notorious flops of all time.

COP ROCK took the viewers on a magic carpet ride from the simulated reality of police adventures to Broadway musicale fare. Gone was the reality that I never missed since TV and films seldom capture the real world of cops and robbers.

At nearly $2 million per episode, ABC pulled out all the stops utilizing the award winning musical talents of Mike Post, Randy Newman along with some really talented actors, singers and dancers. The show was well promoted and even enjoyed some nice reviews from the critics. The show won a couple of Emmy Awards after it was sent away for burial.

I guess what I liked best was the idea of lifting the grit and smell of everyday police work to a higher plane of entertainment. There’s no question as a true fan of the show I was in the minority. The ratings took a dive as the sponsors and ABC quickly dropped COP ROCK like a bad habit.

Perhaps my love for COP ROCK is simply because I like musicals such as Les Miserables, Miss Saigon and Evita. Perhaps I’ve been in enough real tangles with criminal suspects and the dysfunctional humanity in need of police attention that I don’t care to watch Law and Order or CSI. I’m not sure just what it was I just enjoyed the show.

I asked writer John Romano, a member of the COP ROCK creative team a while back, where are the DVDs? I’ll buy them! Just get them into production and market the product! Romano’s response to me was, “I’m for that.” The DVD’s never happened. I think the real travesty here is denying the actors and writers a chance to derive a little more income from their fine work.

Thanks to one of my fine friends at NYPD RANT, I have a link to some video clips from COP ROCK!

Video and the latest on that 87 million dollar UK stickup.

As I've expected the police have been busy recovering money and rounding up suspects. The odds of breaking a case where a gang of criminals is involved increases by the number of participants. This gang was too large to avoid quick discovery and capture.

Read more and watch the video here...

Still more progress 2/25/06.

Thousands of New Orleans criminals get out of jail free!

I knew this powder keg was going to explode soon. It’s not been a secret, just something nobody wanted to talk about. Hurricane Katrina destroyed massive amounts of paperwork, evidence, laboratory work needed for thousands of pending criminal cases. Additionally, thousands of displaced crime victims and witnesses won't be returning to New Orleans to testify in court.

Another huge problem is that a large percentage of the members the New Orleans legal community suffered the total loss of their offices, homes and most important, paying clientele. Many of these lawyers had to retire, change careers or move elsewhere.

If all that was not enough, the bankrupt local government simply does not have the funds to provide defendants needed lawyers handle the cases including those that came after the Hurricane.

The result of this mess is thousands of dangerous criminals must be released from custody as speedy trial and right to counsel issues force the courts to dismiss the cases. Shortly as many as 4000 prisoners including, killers, rapists, robbers, burglars and child molsters will be let out to roam the streets.

This could not come at a worse time since only a few months ago New Orleans police aided by out-of-state officers such as the California Highway Patrol went house to house and unlawfully confiscated thousands of law-abiding resident's firearms at gunpoint. Despite court orders few if any of the guns were found or returned to their owners. Now the victimized people of New Orleans will have to deal with the worst predators without their firearms.

87 million dollar UK stickup soon to be a big budget feature film

Even before this case is solved, and I predict that it will, agents and filmmakers are already scrambling to fill the various roles.

This is about that kidnapping of a security manager and his family to facilitate the UK’s largest ever heist, in Tonbridge, Kent, which is located some 20 miles southeast of London. The hold-up was pulled off this week by a ruthless, armed gang in a country where the laws have made sure only criminals can have guns.

Sweden's Securitas AB, the world's biggest security firm has suffered a disastrous public relations nightmare over their failure to prevent the loss of this fortune from their facility.

Visions from Chicago’s, St. Valentine’s Day Massacre surround this story as in that case the perpetrators donned police uniforms and used a phoney police vehicle in the looting of the depot. The robbers are said to have worked with military precession as they engaged in heavy lifting, moving the cash bundles for over an hour.

If only there was a role for a middle aged, ex-Chicago cop turned, turned private eye, actor just like me in this soon to be made big dollar production…

An uptate and you're going to ask me, how'd I know? Yep the long arm of the law grabbed someone already and soon they'll all be in the bag!

Read the latest as of Feb 24.

Paramount, Grammnet

Malibu’s crashed Ferrari owner is a wild and crazy guy...

This morning, the L.A. Times provided in inside view of the business affairs of Stefan Erikssen, of Bel-Air, the 44 year-old Swedish ex-convict who walked away from the million-dollar wreck of that Ferrari Enzo. Many of us wonder where someone acquires the kind of money it takes to be able to ride down Pacific Coast Highway in that kind of style.

Tales of a counterfeiting conviction, the development and marketing of a must have, hand held, gamer’s gizmo and the failure of a business promoting the thing.

Do you want to see some of latest and greatest police equipment?

The four-day Las Vegas SHOT SHOW is over but my readers can take a coveted look at some if the really great products designed to keep both cops and law-abiding civilians safe. I was privileged to fondle, examine and photograph all the hardware I covered in a special blog just for this show. Click here and take a look!

Sensational buzz phrases that make good cops look stupid.

The victim was shot execution style. What does that phrase mean?

To me it sounds like they took the victim blindfolded to a stake in the ground, first offered him a cigarette then a squad of Riflemen shot him dead. Too often what it really means is that the person who uses that phrase while describing a homicide exaggerates and can't be believed.

He was shot at point blank range. Go ahead define that term if you dare!

I remember watching a defense lawyer destroy a cop’s testimony on a murder case. Tell us officer, what’s the definition of the term, point blank range that you just used?

I watched the homicide detective react like a deer caught in the headlights. He stuttered, coughed, babbled and finally confessed he was just not sure what that meant. I watched as members of the jury laughed out loud. That came back to haunt the detective again in the defense lawyer’s closing argument to the jury. The jury acquitted the defendant who later sued the police department and received a settlement.

Taser Stun Guns And Other Demons

I’m all for cops having the right tools for the job. I’m not so sure the Taser stun gun is right for anybody.

I’m not worried about the deaths blamed on this device or cops using them for eliciting confessions from suspects.

I’m concerned this one shot gizmo with a 15-foot range has been over-ratted by an aggressive marketing campaign.

The right clothing will stop this thing cold and the user does not get a second chance. Of course there is always the possibility the thing will fail altogether.

I was really dismayed when United Airlines wasted lots of money getting these Tasers as a anti-hijacking weapon for their pilots. Every airline pilot should be trained and armed with a handgun. Those refusing to do so should be invited to leave and go flip burgers somewhere.

As a firearms trainer the only use I can see for the Taser is to deal with an unarmed person who refuses to submit to an arrest. Of course an officer with proper backup can accomplish a difficult arrest without injury to himself or the suspect under most conditions.

I don’t want to outlaw these devices but I don’t want cops forced to carry them either. Such is the case in Houston, Texas where allegations surfaced that Chief Harold Hurtt and his wife had a financial interest in the Taser company.

I hate the thought of civilians watching a controlled demonstration of the device and then believing the Taser will keep them safe from violent criminals. The Taser is not an alternative to a firearm.

For a alternative to a firearm, I’d suggest a good knife such as the full sized Gerber Applegate-Fairbairn, combat folding knife. A knife will always work, never run out of ammunition and is far more effective a close range than any handgun.

Here's a strange Taser story from Feb 23.

Million-Dollar Ferrari in Spectacular Malibu Crash…

Be sure to click on this picture to see this baby right!

This was the hot story in L.A. this morning, as L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies were scratching their heads trying to figure out who was going to get a pocket full of citations.

Early claims were that the car was traveling at 200 miles per hour. The suspected occupant was hardly scratched but remembered how to dodge and duck when the tough questions were hurled at him. So far, no citations have been issued.

Now the insurance company involved can raise all our rates to pay this claim.

Hit this link to see two news videos and read more!

Here's an update...

Somehow I suspect this guy deserved his fate...

This is how one chase ended on a highway. In hindsight running from the police was a really bad idea. This video is not for the faint of heart...

Who and where is that Beer Looter from Hurricane Katrina?

Hurricane Katrina did not give ua anything to smile about except this guy. I think he needs a top notch agent! He could make the rounds of the late night and even morning TV shows. Perhaps he could swing a huge commercial deal with his favorite beer maker.

That grin he has on his mug is absolooterly priceless. Since AP published this fellows likeness folks everywhere have taken to photoshopping the "beer looter dude" into new and really comical scenes. There’s even a Beer Looter Dude movie now!

It’s Time To Adopt A Retired Cop.

I borrowed this photograph of a Hollywood casting director’s dream of a perfect actor to play a retired Chicago cop. I once met John Mahoney several years ago at a “Frasier” wrap party that Kelsey Grammer invited me to attend at Paramount Studios. It’s no coincidence that Mahoney is a Chicago boy.

I recently got involved in the defense of a criminal case involving a retired cop who will soon be 80 years old. This old warhorse had a venerable 35-year career with the Chicago Police Department with the awards and letters making anyone proud of his service. He had suffered a stroke several months before the event that brought him a charge under California law of, Brandishing a Firearm. It’s only a misdemeanor. Dishonor is the only real penalty that’s possible for this well liked oldster.

In a nutshell the old copper observed suspicious behavior and took some action. Nobody was hurt but the alleged “victim” has a lawyer and is really only looking to get rich with a lawsuit against my client. This case will boil down to the matter of intent. There was no intent to do harm, only good and I expect the pending court case to go in the old guy’s favor.

This has caused me to ask, where are the services for our retired cops? I can’t help but think that you can only be tossed against the concrete so many times by the bad guys to take on symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. How many times of getting shot, or shot at before a cop’s veneer begins to crack? How much anti-police hatred does it take to damage a true hero?

After you’ve had enough and put in your retirement papers, who’s there to gives a rat’s ass about your emotional well-being? We all know that too many cops can never adjust to retirement. Divorce, death of a spouse, drinking and loneliness plague more of these officers then anyone will ever admit. Oprah Winfrey has yet to make retired cops a CAUSE CELEB project. Somehow I doubt that she ever will.

I can’t begin to face the thought of the far higher than average suicide rate for retired cops. What this means is that every working copper in America needs to go out and adopt a retired cop. Check in on him or her, especially the ones without nearby families. Remember they were once young, brave, vital cops just like you.

The Four Lads And Their Stories

When I was high school age in the mid-1960s, the small Honda motorcycles were in vogue. My job at The Pup In The Ruff, hot dog stand at Montrose and Broadway (It’s still there being run by my old boss Jake Siegel who looks younger than I do.) allowed me to have enough money to by a really nice 90 cc bike.

I knew some other lads my age with similar bikes and we hung out together hoping not to get into too much trouble with the cops. There were about a half dozen of us, younger versions of Marlin Brando or at least we thought so. Our clothes and haircuts were right out of West Side Story. We hung out around Nelson and Sheffield. The ones I remember were brothers, Tom and Jerry. One of the other guys was Jose, a Puerto Rican who had a way with the girls. Jose had a 90 cc bike and used it like a stealth fighter plane.

I remember Tom and Jerry’s dad telling Jose he was not going to live long because of his driving. That caused a macabre bet to be made. Tom and Jerry’s dad had a $50.00 bill in his wallet. He was by no means a rich man but he pulled it out and ripped it in half. He gave half to Jose and put the other half in his wallet. The bet was if Jose was still around in six months he could have the other half. The handshake was made. Jose was decapitated in a horrible accident within a month or two.

Tom, Jerry and myself became cops. Tom was hired by the CPD I went to the Sheriff’s Police (later to the CPD) and Jerry wound up as a uniformed, CTA policemen. I would not see much of Tom but Jerry would stop by and visit me at my part-time security job at the Trailways Bus depot downtown.

Jerry dropped a couple of bombs on me. One was to confess he was addicted to heroin and weeks later that he was arrested, got canned from the CTA and was facing a prison term. I begged Jerry to get help somewhere.

I can’t imagine what went wrong? Jerry had a brother and two married parents. A single, welfare mom raised me as an only child. I always thought Tom and Jerry were really lucky. So sadly, I watched Jerry fall apart. He was so upset that he disgraced his family. Soon I heard Jerry died from an overdose. I guess it was a way out of his problems. Jerry was in his mid-20s.

Tom went on to his way to a great career got married and became President of The German American Police Association. I’ve lost touch with him long ago.

Four lads and two of us died really young. I guess I should be grateful I did not have those demons to deal with. It must have been a roll of the dice.

What About That Ugly Video Game?

You know the one I’m talking about! It’s the one where the bad guys score points by killing cops.

Let me make it clear I don’t want to see killing cops made fashionable or in any way legitimate. I’ve seen too many murdered cops on Cook County Morgue autopsy tables.

I can never get the face of Joanne Crowley out of my mind as I passed the folded American flag to her at her husband, Pat Crowley’s funeral in the fall of 1976.

This poor widow was now burying her second Chicago policeman, at the very same church! Just a few years earlier, Joanne Crowley’s first fiancee, Tom Kelly was also murdered in the line of duty.

Officers Kelly and Crowley were great cops and good friends who were gunned down by the most vicious of Chicago’s criminals. I dare not to think of the emotional toll these senseless murders have taken on that fine woman. The sound of Joanne Crowley constant screaming during Pat Crowley’s wake and funeral will haunt me for the rest of my life.

So what do we do about that filthy video game? The knee jerk response is to legislate a ban on this disgusting game and anything like it. That will never influence the mindset that created this evil idea. Demands to shut the game down as always will fuel the sales and popularity of this product doing a disservice to all cops.

In the process of banning that garbage video game we take another bite out of our own freedom. It’s not worth it! Heroes Like Tom Kelly and Pat Crowley worked for our freedom and not against it. Giving in to the temptation to ban protected speech won’t protect cops.

Keeping violent criminals behind bars is the only remedy for this kind of culture.

The Chicago Police Department reminds me of Maxwell Smart!

Do you remember Maxwell Smart from the TV spy-spoof series called Get Smart? The late actor, Don Adams played the lead role. His scene scripts often went like this:
Cmdr. Drury: Smart, you appear to be in pretty good shape, do you work out?
Maxwell Smart: I jog one hundred miles every day! Would you believe it? One hundred miles!
Cmdr. Drury: I find that hard to believe.
Maxwell Smart: Would you believe fifty?
Cmdr. Drury: No!
Maxwell Smart: How about two push-ups and a deep breath?

It seems that the Chicago Police department have since revised their claims about yesterday’s gun raid. Officer Kristina Schuler told the Chicago Tribune that instead of seizing 300 guns they actually only have 276.

They’ve now named the gun collector at the heart of the story as, James R. Patrick, 63. Gone are the claims he was selling his collection to street gangs. Those claims were the basis of probable cause needed to obtain the search warrant from a judge. My guess is the “tips” to police were manufactured but the judges appointed by the gun-hating, Mayor Daley don’t seem to care.

Chicago police officials are still are claiming (I think hoping is a better word here) that they believe he two of the firearms might violate federal law. I predict that ATF authorities will examine those two items and Patrick will be vindicated.

So far the results of this major raid and arrest were predictable based of the CPD’s gun enforcement history.

The gun-collector James Patrick is only facing the pissy-little charges from the city’s Municipal Code that carry a maximum penalty of up to $500 or imprisonment of no more than 90 days.

This case will take years off Patrick’s life, as the City of Chicago moves to destroy a significant portion of his life savings and Patrick’s good name in the process. So much for the Constitutional Right, to Keep and Bear Arms in Mayor Daley’s Chicago.