SHERIFF DAVID CLARKE

Transcription

NY LUENOW
Summer 2015
New York’s Independent Voice of Law Enforcement
™
www.NYbluenow.com
Awareness
Radical Islamic
Threats Against
the West
Increases
Prevention
How to
combat
stress
Legal News
Baltimore Police /
Freddy Gray
Case
Exclusive & Uncensored
Sheriff
David Clarke
3
contents
NY LUENOW
™
™
Team
12
Publisher
Daniel Del Valle
Dzengis Iljazi
Editor-in-Chief
Michael J. Burke
Managing Editor
George Beck
Design Editor
Dari Izhaky
24
Copy Editor
Nicole C. Richardson
Advertising Director
John Welsh
Circulation Director
Dzengis Iljazi
writers
Bernard Kerik
Rafael Rosa
Sheriff David Clarke
Frank Generoso
Daniel Del Valle
John Welsh
George Beck
Kyle Macci, Esq.
Jason Robles
Robert (Bob) Bianchi, Esq.
Lt. Randy Sutton (Ret.)
Melinda Inzani
Lorcan Otway
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Please share and recycle this magazine.
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16
Editor’s point of view
Michael J. Burke
feature story
All Eyes on You
awareness
The Radical Islamic
Threat Against the
West Increasess
inside view
Urban and Transport
Vehicular “Traps”
Beat Them at Their
Own Game
6
8
prevention
Officers Health and
Wellness: A Few Tips on
How to Combat Stress
10
National voice
How Social Engineering
Endangers Public Safety
12
RETIREMENT
Plan and Prepare
Now for Successful
Retirement:
You Are Worth It!
14
COVER Story
Sheriff David Clarke
16
Around the Nation
Are We taking Care
of Each Other?
22
24
legal news
Climate Control Needed
with Recent Police
Cases: A Review of the
Baltimore Police/Freddy
Gray Case (s)
26
inside perspective
“Easy Targets”
The Jihadi War on Police
Has Only Just Begun
28
family time
The Essential Rules of
Successful Co-Parenting
30
history
The Black Duck
32
20
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editor’s point of view
W
elcome to the summer issue of NY Blue Now. As the summer is winding down, take some
time to read and enjoy this issue. We have a wealth of information to share with you.
In this issue you will gain insight from Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke who is a huge
supporter of the rank and file from within. All of us in law enforcement know we need more leaders
like Sheriff Clarke.
As we all know, law enforcement has been under attack for over a year now. We have been unfairly cast by some members
of the media, political class, and so-called community activist as bloodthirsty savages out there looking to kill innocent
people. This is far from the truth and many know it but never speak up. Therefore, those who remain silent compound
problems we face in law enforcement because it is ultimately these citizens who will decide where we are headed as we
move forward in this very volatile time. The silent millions that stand behind us -- the ones who respect us, those who
are fed up with the disrespect and harming and killing of our officers, seldom speak out. It baffles me that so many people
remain silent.
I believe the goodness in people is not dead, but it seems that nowadays the calls from evil people are louder. Most people
know that if it weren’t for the blue line in the street, the criminals would be in all of our living rooms.
The slander law enforcement is presently enduring is sickening to watch. The same reporters, protesters and politicians
who condemn us are the same who are the first to call us. The time has come for those of us in law enforcement, our
friends, families and supporters to find our voice. It is time to unite and start holding those who harm and slander us
accountable.
In this issue we feature articles about terrorism, health and wellness, retirement, history, legal news, and so much more!
We at NY Blue would love to hear from our readers. We will feature your comments, concerns and ideas in our letters to
the editor section in our next issue. You can reach us at nybluenow@gmail.com.
Stay safe and remember: Sisters and Brothers before all others.
Michael J. Burke
Editor-in-Chief
nybluenow@gmail.com
We’re not here to filter your message,
we’re not here to give you a one-sided argument.
We’re here to publish all views,
from any and all in law enforcement.
We’re all Blue, we’re nY Blue Now Magazine.
Pro law enforcement,
pro-truth, pro-you!
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NY Blue now | summer 2015
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awareness
By Bernard Kerik
THE RADICAL ISLAMIC THREAT AGAINST
THE WEST INCREASES
A
ccording to the federal authorities,
there have been about 70 attempted
Islamic extremist attacks on
American soil since the attacks of Sept.
11, 2001, with increasing attempts over
the past few months.
The radical Islamic terror threats
against Australia and Europe has also
seen a substantial increase over the past
several months including the capture of
five teenagers who were arrested for planning terror attacks in Australia.
Most recently, in Tunisia, 39 people
were killed when a 24-year-old opened
fire on a beachfront with an automatic
weapon. At least 30 of his victims were
British.
In Kuwait, a Saudi suicide bomber
carried out what the interior minister
called, “one of the country’s worst militant
attacks” at a Shiite Muslim mosque where
he killed 27 people.
In France, an Islamic extremist decapitated his boss, and drove a truck into
a U.S. owned chemical warehouse, setting
off an explosion and then hung his employers head on the factory gate.
ISIS, or the Islamic State has claimed
responsibility for two of these most recent
attacks, but terror experts around the
globe are confident and concerned that
these types of attacks will continue with
increased rates, with the help of social
8
media and the Internet.
By all reports, the Tunisian attacker
was radicalized over social media and the
Internet.
On June 26, 2015, the FBI and U.S.
Department of Homeland Security
issued a bulletin to local and state law
enforcement authorities, warning of
extreme concerns of possible terror
attacks over the Fourth of July weekend.
This warning is the direct result of three
different attacks on three continents, by
radical extremists that killed dozens of
people.
In the aftermath of 9/11, our intelligence capabilities and the coordination
between federal, state and local law enforcement is better than ever. However,
our local and state police departments
need to consistently train on how to address and respond to possible terror attacks in their communities. As it has been
said over and over, it’s not if there will be
another attack — it is when.
In addition to our proactive policing
and terror response plans, social media and
Internet sites that promote radicalization
and inspire others to commit these lone
wolf type attacks, must be monitored.
These radical groups are telling us
what they believe, and what they intend to
do. They are increasing their recruitment
- creating more training camps than ever
in the Middle East, Northern Africa and
Asia. No one should be surprised, no one.
The fight against this evil must
continue abroad as well as home. We
have to ensure that our local, state and
federal law enforcement agencies have the
resources, intelligence and training they
need in the years to come to defeat this
enemy.
This threat is here to stay for decades,
and until the American people come to
that realization and take this fight to the
enemy, our chances of victory are slim.
There are no diplomatic solutions
when you’re dealing with an enemy that
wants to die. The reality is, that with this
enemy, we need to kill them, or be killed –
that is the bottom line.
Bernard Kerik was New York
City’s police commissioner
during the 9/11 attacks, who
became an American hero
as he led the NYPD through
rescue and recovery efforts of
the World Trade Center. His résumé as a
public servant is long and storied, and includes honors from President Ronald Reagan, Queen Elizabeth II, and the NYPD’s
Medal for Valor for saving his partner in a
gun battle. In 2004, Kerik was nominated
by President George W. Bush to head the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The Kerik Watch
COMING
SOON
Bernard
Kerik
DDVRadio.com
Only on the Official Law Enforcement Talk
Radio Network
THE BEST IN INTERNET TALK RADIO
LAWnow
ENFORCEMENT
NETWORK
NY Blue
| summer 2015
9
prevention
Officers Health and Wellness:
A Few Tips
on How to
Combat Stress
By Rafael Rosa
M
any officers across America
are becoming physically and
mentally sick. Recent studies
on police wellness reveal that officers
are suffering from all sorts of problems,
ranging from general health degeneration
and anxiety to domestic troubles and
depression. We as a profession can
change this reality through simple stress
reduction techniques.
Law enforcement work has become
an extremely difficult and stressful
endeavor even for the toughest of officers.
Repeated exposure to elevated levels of
stress can cause all sorts of problems both
at home and on the job. For these reasons,
it is imperative to engage in activities that
promote wellness and minimize distress.
Though the following suggestions are
not meant to completely heal the afflicted
officer from stress and anxiety, at the very
least, they can be palliative and cathartic.
As stress levels increase, often officers
mistakenly believe living with stress is
an irreversible reality. This sometimes
causes officers to engage in drug use
and unfettered alcohol consumption.
Sublimating with drugs, and/or alcohol,
is never the solution to the problem. As
a well-documented reality, drug and
excessive usage of alcohol works to the
contrary and places officers in situations
they may have never thought could
happen to them. Therefore, the officer
should rely on other innocuous methods
to alleviate pain. Here are some tips that
can be helpful in minimizing stress.
Perhaps the most important activity
to reduce stress is physical exercise.
Exercise produces endorphins––a natural
chemical that eases pain and lessens angst.
10
According to WebMD, exercise is crucial
because it produces the same euphoric effects educed by morphine and other opiates. Overall, exercise is an integral part
of a salubrious lifestyle, and its gains can
be both mentally and physically therapeutic. Simply 30 minutes of exercise, three
to four days a week, is all it takes to feel
physically and mentally fit.
Music is another element that
can aid in reducing stress. The renowned
German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche
once said, “Without music, life is a
mistake.” While the aforementioned
statement is a bit amplified, the overall
message comes across nicely–– that music
truly is one of the best ways to reduce
stress and elevate happiness. A 2006 study
at Stanford University on the effects of
music on the brain found that music
stimulated the brain by sending waves
of comfort to the human body and thus
reducing stress and depression. Therefore,
when stressed, jaded or dejected, let the
power of music heal one’s weary spirit.
The healing power of nature is also
therapeutic because it allows the observer
to relax and reflect on life. Certainly, life
can be complicated and challenging, yet
a leisurely walk through a park or forest,
can be enjoyable and stress reducing.
In his treatise, Nature, the American
philosopher and transcendentalist––
Ralph Waldo Emerson, believed that
nature has the power to heal the human
soul from the severities of life. Of course
the theory of transcendentalism is more
intricate than this, but the core of its
tenets revolve around this simple premise:
that nature can be the curative agent to a
person’s ills. Therefore, why not let nature
be a person’s palliative pill?
Depending on the genre, reading
books can also be an enjoyable activity
that reduces stress. Books have a tendency
to entertain readers by distancing them
from the realm of reality and bringing
them closer to a world of fantasy, fun and
adventure. Presently, there is a surfeit
amount of books available to satisfy a
reader’s interest or desire. Thanks to the
world-wide-web, the easy accessibility of
books via the Internet makes this stress
reducing exercise a very attainable and
affordable option.
To conclude, these vital, yet simple
suggestions can help the restless officer
manage and control his tensions
more effectively. As a reminder, these
suggestions are not an all-inclusive
list; they are merely provided as a brief
suggestion to help combat stress. By
implementing one (or all) of these
examples into their daily routines,
officers can gradually improve their
overall qualities of life. In the end, these
suggestions are not intended to supplant
professional or medical advice, but they
may certainly help minimize an officer’s
stress level and enhance healthful living.
Every attempt to reduce stress naturally
is worth taking. As always––stay alert,
stay alive.
Rafael Rosa has been a
police officer since 1999.
He presently holds an
associates and bachelor’s
degree in Criminal Justice,
two master’s degrees and
is a doctoral candidate.
National voice
How Social
Engineering
Endangers
Public Safety
T
en-year-old Sierra Guyton was on
a Milwaukee school playground
on a summer day when gunfire
erupted. Two career criminals were
shooting at each other. A bullet struck
Sierra in the head and killed her. The two
arrested for her killing were the repeated
benefactors of inane social engineering
experiments sweeping the criminal justice
system.
The American criminal justice system
is under siege. Soft-on-crime advocates
have recruited law enforcement executives
and naïve politicians by presenting
failed programs as “best practice” and
“evidence-based.” They use emotional
terms such as second chance, restorative
justice, criminal justice reinvestment,
and community corrections, and claim
to be a cost-effective alternative to
incarceration. This sounds appealing to
an unsuspecting audience. Politicians are
lured by dubious claims of saving millions
in corrections, and the ability to flaunt
their racial sensitivity as to the false claim
of black men snared in a racially disparate
criminal justice system.
This get-out-of-jail-free reform has
12
By Sheriff David Clarke, Milwaukee County Sheriff
no opposing viewpoint being published
or encouraged. The danger in forming
policy this way is that its proponents are
not forced to consider the unintended
consequences of their actions on families
like Sierra Guyton’s. These theories
are devoid of a basic understanding of
criminal behavior. As Thomas Sowell puts
it, with most things there are no solutions,
only trade-offs. In my view the trade-off
with this rush toward prison reform will
be more victimization, higher crime rates
and more misery for law-abiding citizens
living in the American ghetto.
The acceptance by law enforcement
executives and politicians of these
untested theories does nothing more
than normalize criminal behavior and
remove accountability for criminal
acts. The anecdotal claims of program
success resemble propaganda more than
rigorous research. They are based on false
narratives, myths and misleading data.
In City Journal (Autumn 2013),
Heather MacDonald describes how
Stanford University economist, researcher
and inmate program advocate Joan
Petersilia, told the National Institute of
Justice that proof that evidence-based
anti-recidivism treatment can have an
effect on crime is not there yet, “We don’t
have the models, we can’t replicate them,
and if we can replicate them, we can’t scale
them up.” It is almost impossible to find
a criminal who has not been offered or
participated in these programs numerous
times, like the men who killed Sierra
Guyton.
The supporters of the current reform
agenda falsely claim that jails and prisons
are filled with low-level and non-violent
offenders convicted in a failed war on
drugs. Author Jason Riley points out
that participation rates in violent crime
explain the disparity of why so many
black males are in prison. Black males
are disproportionately involved in violent
crime and this violence is predominantly
perpetrated against other black people.1
It is not the result of a discriminatory
criminal justice system. In 2006, Blacks
made up 37.5% of the prison population at
the state and federal level.2 If we released
those convicted on drug charges alone the
percentage of black males in prison would
drop to 37%, a mere half of one percent.3
Illegal drug use is a scourge on the
black community and is a precursor to
violent crime. According to Wisconsin
criminal-court judge David Borowski, the
Wisconsin Department of Corrections
reports that of the total state prison
population, only 8% have been convicted
of non-violent offenses, most of those for
heroin and cocaine dealing, not use or
simple possession.
The false claim that drug use is harmless fails to take into account the physical
and psychological danger of illegal drug
use and the violence associated with
gangs who run neighborhood operations.
John Walters and David W. Hudson of
the Hudson Institute for Substance Abuse
Policy Research point out that the number
of workers testing positive for illegal drugs
is soaring nationally.4 People want to
continue to pedal the lie that drug dealing
is non-violent. Research exists that shows
marijuana to be a gateway drug; drug use
leads to crime and violence.
Liberal elites have turned neighbor-
hoods into their Petri dish, with a volatile
mix of vulnerable law-abiding citizens
and violent predators--with a distinct
advantage to the criminal element. The
experimenters are unaffected when the
public ends up as victims when these
dangerous experiments backfire. It is
someone else’s child, spouse or friend in a
minority neighborhood that is victimized.
I find this to be immoral.
One of the most important roles
of government is to secure the personal
safety of its people. Punishment through
incarceration is an effective means of
crime control and it keeps people and
neighborhoods safe. For career criminals,
crime is a lifestyle and engrained behavior.
When career criminals are in jail or prison
they are not out repeating their criminal
behavior. Incarceration reduces the cost
of crime and its damaging psychological
impact, according to a 2010 Rand
Corporation study that estimates the true
cost of crime in the United States as $300
billion per year.5 States do not spend $300
billion per year on incarceration.
When you are soft on crime,
criminals are no longer afraid to reoffend.
When compared to the true cost of crime,
communities are safer and taxpayers are
way ahead by keeping career criminals
behind bars. Criminals who would not
have been on the streets to senselessly
take the young life of Sierra Guyton.
Riley, Jason. Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make
It Harder For Blacks To Succeed, Encounter Books, New
York-London, 2014, p.74.
2
Ibid.
3
Ibid.
4
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news.2015/jun/ 22/
david-murray-john-walters-obamas-coming-epidemic-o/
print/
5
http://www.Rand.Org. Rand Review/Spring 2012. In
Broad Daylight.
1
Sheriff David A. Clarke
Jr. is the 64th Sheriff of
Milwaukee County and
is currently serving his
fourth full term. He has
appeared on many of the
national news stations to
defend the law enforcement profession.
Tune in and listen to
The
People’s
Sheriff
podcast
Sheriff
David A.
Clarke
Every Saturday on
Theblaze.com/radio
at 11:30 am CT.
Commentary and
analysis on major
issues affecting
Americans.
13
retirement
Plan and Prepare Now
for Successful Retirement:
You Are
Worth It!
By Frank Generoso
T
he walk from the locker room to
the property room seemed to take
forever. It is amazing what you
notice when you know you will never see
a place again. The next 15 minutes or so
seemed pretty uneventful to the property
officer, but were a bit overwhelming
to me. Magazine pouch… check,
holster… check… Smith & Wesson 9mm
handgun… check. And just like that one
fall day in 1998, I found myself leaving
police headquarters for the last time as an
active officer.
I retired way ahead of time due to
an unavoidable back injury. I recall the
emotions I felt. Anger and frustration
perhaps dominated them. But, I am
grateful that I had served in a very
professional and progressive police
department. During my time on the job,
I was given many opportunities, which
included: detective bureau, juvenile
crimes, and various uniform details. It
was fun, it was great, but it was all over.
Just like that. Now what?
Like most of my brothers and sisters
in Blue, my police career was everything
to me. Everything I did revolved around
law enforcement. I took great pride in
putting that uniform on and going out day
after day. When the thought of not being
able to do that became a reality, I was
caught off-guard, as many are when they
14
separate from service due to an injury.
The first couple of years after retirement
were spent rehabbing and going through
a strenuous physical therapy program. As
I got better it was apparent that I would
need to do something with myself in the
years that would follow.
The biggest help I received during
this time came from my wife. God bless
her. She and a lot of the spouses deserve
medals. It is not easy being the spouse of
a cop, and it’s even harder to deal with a
newly retired cop on disability. Because of
my wife’s career and outgoing personality,
I was always meeting and befriending
other people outside of the law
enforcement community. This association
was vital in seeing life other than through
an officer’s eyes and perspective. I began
reading on various careers and learning
about human behavior and success. I
entered into a business partnership that
took me way out of my comfort zone.
I was selling, growing sales teams, and
learning a heck of a lot about the private
sector and business. It was all going well
but depression had entered the picture. I
missed being an officer. I never realized
how my entire identity was wrapped up
on “the job.” Some days were better than
others. Don’t ask me why but I actually
agreed to counseling. For someone who
was as prideful and independent as I was,
counseling would normally not even be
an option. But a wife and children can
sometimes change that perspective. And
it did in my case. It helped tremendously.
Eventually, things got better. It seemed
like an eternity but life did improve. I
was slowly appreciating my new life after
policing. I had a great support group (by
default) around me. And as reclusive as
I was at times, I managed to make some
good friends along the way that provided
great advice and guidance.
Like many officers, I hadn’t given
much thought to work after policing
because it was a job I loved and hoped to
do it for as long as possible. But at some
point, I knew I had to reinvent myself.
Fast forward 15 years, my career is
very different. I ended up self-employed
in the training and consulting business.
I often teach Communications Mastery
to professionals. We cover everything
about connecting with people, relating to
different behavior styles as well as conflict
resolution and customer service.
It was 17 years ago when I took that
last walk from police headquarters. Some
days it seems like centuries ago and other
times it feels like it was yesterday. I look
at some of the young officers and cannot help but wonder how far I would be
able to run with them before collapsing!
It seems like the faces get younger and
younger: which also means I am getting
older and older. But life is great. Not
perfect, not free from challenges and
some scary moments, but it is good.
Looking back over the years, I noticed
a pattern that definitely helped to pull me
up when I was down. I tell this story so
other officers out there can think about
planning for life beyond law enforcement.
Planning is a huge part of the process.
Here are some things I did that I found
helpful:
• I started reading on a daily basis and
eventually went back and earned my
degree. Most of my early retired days
were spent on my back at home due to
pain. But I was able to pick up a book and
learn something. I knew I would have to
prepare myself for the future, so I read.
I continue to read to this day. Reading
allowed me to expand my thoughts beyond law enforcement.
• Association was vital. Hopefully you are
fortunate to have family around you. If
not, who you spend your time with can
make or break you. There are a lot of
organizations out there where you can
meet and make new friends. Whether
it is a hobby, trade or profession, there
is never a shortage of people willing to
assist and share. But you have to take the
first step.
• Counseling was instrumental. I was able
to vent to someone that would not judge
me or be biased. He or she would listen
and give some objective advice. This
went on for a long time. And it helped.
Do not be timid in seeking help. You are
worth it. Your family is worth it. You will
be better because of it.
• I eventually let go of the past. Easier
said than done. But the past will keep
you in shackles, whereas thinking of
the future and the endless possibilities
will free you. I heard a very successful
man once say, “When your vision of the
past is greater than your vision for the
future, you are dead.” Not literally, of
• Auto Accidents
• Workers
Compensation
• Family Care
Chiropractor
Dr. Walter J. Darcy
(Certified in
Electrodiagnosis)
course, but metaphorically. Think about
it: a lot of people are “dead” mentally
and spiritually because they dwell on
the past. We all get caught up in it. I did
and I still occasionally do. But I started
focusing on the future and of all the
possibilities out there.
The road after retirement can be
a very windy and challenging one. But
there is a future out there and you too can
assimilate and become a well-adjusted
citizen. Plan and prepare now. You are
worth it.
Frank Generoso is
owner of GT Global
Performance LLC, a
sales and customer service training company
in Bergen County, NJ.
He retired from the
NYPD after 8 years
due to an on-duty injury.
• Sports Injuries
• Neck & Back Pain
• Headaches
• Sciatica & Joint Pain
Acupuncturist
James Kim L.Ac.
Massage Therapist
Eddie Caban L.M.T.
Pain Control Center
310 Merrick Avenue
Merrick, NY
516-379-3052
15
ry
o
t
s
er
cov
Sheriff
David Clarke
By Daniel Del Valle, John Welsh, and George Beck
Four time incumbent Sheriff David Clarke holds no punches when it comes to expressing
his thoughts about attacks on law enforcement. Known for his outspokenness and “keep
it real” attitude, he has gained national attention for his comments on Al Sharpton, the
Ferguson riots and his accusation against President Obama and other political leaders
for fueling the tensions between police and the black community. Despite being vocal
on controversial issues, Sheriff Clarke uses the platform of the media to get his message
across, stand up for police and make a difference. In his “no-sugar coating” interview with
NY Blue Now Magazine, Clarke talks about his national spotlight, the subculture of the
black community and the future of law enforcement.
16
NY Blue Now: Who is
David Clarke?
David Clarke: What you see is what you
get. I’m pretty straight forward. Most
opinions about me are pretty black and
white; they like me or they don’t. There
is not a lot of in between with people. I
am comfortable in my own skin. I’m not
afraid to share my opinion, and if it’s
been researched by me, I’ll provide the
supporting documentation as to why I
think I am right on a particular issue, but
I approach most of the things I deal with
from the standpoint that there are two
schools of thought. I’m just one of those
schools.
What do you like to do on your
downtime?
I listen to a lot of talk radio. I read a lot. I’m
an avid reader. I’m always commenting on
some of the stuff that is said. It drives my
wife nuts. My wife will attest to the fact
that what you see in public is the way I
always am.
What made you choose a career
in law enforcement?
My dad was not in law enforcement. He
was military. Every once in a while he
would say to me do you ever think about
going into law enforcement. Never really
gave it any thought. Before I got into this
law enforcement career, I was working for
a beer distributor. I would drive a beer
truck and make deliveries… Somewhere
it was a defining moment when my dad
brought it up again, and I thought I’d try
this.
How has your life changed
since all of this national media
attention?
It’s extremely chaotic now. My time is
really not mine own anymore. It’s tougher
to manage. Being in the public light is a
strange phenomenon. You belong to the
public; you lose a lot of privacy. For my
wife, I’m gone a lot—the last six or seven
months. I’ve been the sheriff for 13 years
now, going on my fourth term, but in the
public life, even though this here elevated
it to national, I was still a public figure
in Milwaukee County. I was getting this
public scrutiny to begin with and I’m used
to it. The national level is a lot different.
There are more people that come after
you and want to talk to you. That dynamic
is different than just focusing on the
internal operations of the organization.
It was Colin Powell who said to prepare
the organization for the day you are not
there—in this case now I’m gone a lot.
Does that hurt your
department or has it made
it better since now you
are occupied with national
attention?
Even as a public figure here I had an
elevated status in Milwaukee County. Now
it’s been raised a little bit higher, but I don’t
think the people in the organization see
that much of change. I was really detached
as the sheriff here because I represent the
public. Obviously, I am concerned about
everybody in this organization, but I
have to keep a clear line of distinction
otherwise the public starts thinking they
are not represented anymore.
Has there been overwhelming
support in the organization?
I’m getting the love from cops all across
the country. I think they have come
around and see it as a positive.
Do you give the correctional
officers the same attention as
the street cops?
You’re damn right! I made it clear. I’m
the one who brought in the corrections
officers position. When I first came here
we had all sworn sheriff deputies including
those working in the jail. The reality was
budgets were being cut and if they are
starting to cut your budget you have to
somehow do what you can to save that
money. I started looking at the corrections
officers’ position. The agreement I made
was that I would backfill all retirements
with corrections officers and start there.
We didn’t lay anyone off…
Who do you admire in law
enforcement?
Pretty simple to me. Bill Bratton. First
of all I read his book early on. I first met
him at a Governing Inc. conference in
Austin, Texas, and I knew he was going to
be a keynote speaker so I went. I wanted
to meet this guy. I just went up there and
start talking to him. I introduced myself;
I was sheriff at the time, and he was with
LAPD at the time. I was asking him a lot
of questions, so I think he understood I
was trying to learn from him… He gave
me an autograph copy of his book Turn
Around. He was just down to earth; this
guy is the king.
How does Bratton fit right now
with Mayor de Blasio?
I ran into Bratton in Washington, DC,
when he started a consulting company.
He seemed pretty happy. The pressure is
off, he is making money and traveling.
Then he gets back into the belly of the
beast and I just asked myself why. He
comes back under Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Bill de Blasio has no use for police. Bill de
Blasio is anti-police. Bill de Blasio ran on
a campaign of ending stop, question and
frisk and Bratton’s hands were tied. I went
out to see him a couple of months ago and
shadowed him a little bit. I didn’t want to
say why did you come back or what you
think about de Blasio. I didn’t want to put
him in that position, but he is not having
any fun. That’s my personal opinion, but
I sense that he is not because de Blasio
really tied his hands and Bratton knows
what needs to be done. I don’t know why
he got in— that’s his personal decision,
but I think his legacy may end up being
compromised.
Nationally, law enforcement is
experiencing a lot of negative
sentiments. In your opinion
how did it get to this point and
did you see this coming?
I only saw it coming in the post days of
the Ferguson riots. This is a political
movement. A lot of people have
misdiagnosed this thing. This thing was
seized upon by the occupying crowd as
a rallying call to arms of the anarchist
movement and they seized on this issue of
race. If you look at the data, I think law
enforcement officers use of deadly
17
cover story
force may be 300 to 400 times a year; it
varies but it’s consistent. They took a very
local issue and tried to raise the national
consciousness over this white cops
shooting black males and it caught wind
because the president of the United States
and the attorney general of the United
States gave it fuel—started talking that
we need to have a national discussion. It’s
a cycle now. You get your protesters and
people calling for cops to be charged and
fired. What’s different is the political class
got in on it this time.
What would you say to the
officers who may worry about
scrutiny regarding their job
performance?
Cops are not afraid to do their job. They
are like if I stop this car and it turns into
a deadly force situation I may be the next
Darren Wilson. That’s not afraid to do
the job; that’s a valid concern. Do I want
to have my life and world turned upside
down? Do I want to become a household
name? Now my career is destroyed. I
have a family and I’m sending my kids to
college. I’m paying a mortgage and I may
lose my career. That is a valid concern. We
saw what life without police looks like in
Baltimore. It ain’t very pretty. All these
cops want to know is that somebody has
their back, so when you get into these
ugly situations you are justified in what
you did. You want to know if that chief
executive is going to fight for you.
What would you tell that
chief or dept. head who is not
supporting their men if you
were face to face?
First of all they would have to resign.
The reason is it is a part of your job to
protect your people. With Darren Wilson,
it was kind of known before all the facts
were in he was probably in the right. The
grand jury cleared him but he still lost his
freaking job. Where is the fairness in that!
What’s happening now in these cities is
that the political class are making political
decisions, and they are succumbing
to the angry mobs out there. Certain
demographics are not looking for justice;
they are looking for revenge. We don’t
have the backing of the political class.
Someone has to have their backs. No one
was doing it and I had the availability of a
platform so I stood up—not to speak for
18
every cop in America—but I speak for the
profession.
How do you respond to
the Sharptons of the black
community who’ve claimed
you’ve sold out?
I don’t pay attention to Sharpton and
these race hustlers and race-demi gods.
When I get a chance I will deliver some
blows to them, metaphorically speaking.
Sharpton is a loser. Sharpton is one of
the most self-serving, self-indulged, selfinterested human beings I have ever seen.
I think he is despicable. First of all the
guy is not even a reverend. He is a selfproclaimed reverend. I don’t know if you
know anything about his reverend status.
It’s fake; it’s phony. No man of the cloth
would ever act like him. He is a disgrace
to the divinity class. Race is an explosive
issue in this country and he always likes
to put a camera and microphone to his
face to spew his vulgar rhetoric, his racebased rhetoric. He is a racist and he has
turned it into a way to support himself,
but he exploits other people’s misery like
a leech. He latches on to these situations,
and he uses these people who are griefstricken at the time and he uses them to
get anything he can out of the situation.
He puts nothing back into it then he gets
out of town. That’s the kind of person he is.
What advice would you give
to another black leader who
shares your beliefs but is
concerned to speak up because
of the potential pushback from
members of their community?
Be not afraid; fear not. They got to get over
that especially if they are in a position
where they have a voice and a platform.
I realize it’s hard. It’s not easy for me, but
I don’t care. What are they going to do?
If you are in position like me who embrace mainstream values like hard work,
responsibility, reliability, and you are in
the position where your voice can make
a difference, shame on you if you don’t really exploit that for the overall good. You
can’t think of yourself all the time. It is
hard. There is no doubt about that. You
have your friends to think about. You can
be an outcast in your neighborhood but
who cares.
Now that you have seen a lot
of the national mainstream
media, and you’ve been around
a lot of the journalists has your
impression changed a little bit
of them?
No. Coming up as a lieutenant and
detective, I was in charge of these crime
scenes, and I had to give a media briefing.
I always had an attitude anyway that you
can’t trust them. When I say that I don’t
mean with a broad stroke. I have some
local ones here I trust, but overall you
have to realize their role is different and
if they have to, they are going to throw
you overboard. I have found the more
conservative news entities are a little more
inviting. I don’t care if they don’t like me,
but they have the platform that I need
because I don’t have my own platform, so I
have to use theirs. The liberal mainstream
media isn’t as inviting because they don’t
want my message. I’ll go anywhere in
the media if they happen to invite me. If
I want to get my message out to defend
cops, I have to have a platform, so I thank
them for that.
In the news there has been
a lot of cop bashing. How
would law enforcement let
the world know that cops are
hardworking, decent people
who are being portrayed in a
negative image?
That’s the thing about our profession. In
the early days of this cop hating we didn’t
have a voice to counter that message: we
are racist, blood-thirsty. We didn’t have a
counter narrative which is why I stepped
up and tried to be that counter narrative.
The liberal mainstream media really
doesn’t want to hear the real side of us
because they fan the flames of that Hands
Up, Don’t Shoot cop bashing. They don’t
have a problem painting us with a broad
stroke. What I suggest to cops continuingly
is screw all of them and do your job. Go
out, serve the community, follow your
training, policies and constitution and do
what you know to be the right thing.
Do you think because you are
a minority you are getting the
national attention?
I have some leverage that other people
don’t have. I realize I can say some
things that others can’t. I can talk about
sensitive issues that my counterparts who
are not black can’t. I get that, but such is
life. There is still ways of getting around
these limitations, but don’t worry about
the limitations. We all have strengths and
if people aren’t stepping up because of
whatever then shame on you.
You have criticized the
president of the United States
and the attorney general. Do
you have any fear right now
about your future?
No. I realized once I started taking on the
attorney general and the president of the
United States I was in the deep end of the
pool. It is dangerous in the deep end of the
pool. Again, I feel in my heart I am doing
this for the right reason. I’m in a position
to make a difference. I don’t want to leave
this looking back saying, “I wish I would
have…” when I had the chance to make a
difference. All I want people to think about
me when all this is said and done… I want
people to know I was here.
You are the cops cop. Do you
lose any sleep at night and are
you concerned you may be a
target?
It’s a possibility but I don’t think about it
too much. I’m very cautious, but again, if
you fear too much it’s debilitating. Maybe
it wouldn’t allow me to be forthright with
people and voice my opinion strongly on
the American police officer; it might piss
this person off. I got over that shit a long
time ago. I used to be afraid of a lot of
things in life. It came a point in time when
I said to myself you are missing a lot of
opportunities because you are afraid. I just
learned to not let that stuff get in the way.
In law enforcement today what
is something you feel could be
improved?
We have to do a good job creating
relationships with people. We have a
tendency to keep the public at arm’s length.
What I learned as an elected official is you
have to get out and interact with people.
You got to get out there, shake hands with
people and introduce yourself. I tell people
all the time, everyone you come in contact
with and you have your uniform on, you
have a chance to give an impression of
the organization as a human being. Take
as many opportunities as you can to let
people see our human side.
positively in their communities. They
don’t stay consistently in the workforce.
They are government dependent. So you
have these generation of kids growing up
as offspring of this underclass, growing
up with no male role model to help them
develop emotionally as well as physically.
What I mean by that is installing values
and virtues, making sure their kids are
being educated and engaged in school.
You have these young males growing
up without fathers, at least 70 percent
in single parent families. Fathers are
responsible for the socialization of young
boys and to teach them how to become
young men. These kids are growing up
with no values, and they are going to
gravitate to something. That is why you
need that male role model.
What would you say to single
mothers who are raising their
sons but not instilling values
and virtues?
We have to have effective parenting.
Another blown opportunity to raise
young kids. We are all for the church but
the church has been marginalized in our
society. The church took care of a lot of
these social skills appealing to the good
nature of man. It’s a mess right now; it is a
disaster. If I had the answer to that I would
be giving lectures charging $100 thousand
dollars a lecture. I think what we have to
do is break it down into workable pieces
and try to fix one thing at a time.
Do you believe our leadership
in this country is turning a
blind eye and not working on
trying to solve this problem?
Is there something wrong
with some minority youth,
particularly within some
subcultures of the black
community?
What we are dealing with today is
a subculture—not the general black
population—not by a long shot. It’s a
subculture called the underclass. They
live by different values than you and I live
by. They live by different values than the
average black person lives by. Kids out of
wedlock are growing… They don’t raise
their kids’ right. They are not engaged
19
cover story
We have to get away from this notion that
government can solve all these problems.
Government is contributing through policies and funding things that are not working. We need more money for schools but
the schools continue to not educate the
kids. Well, what are you giving them more
money for. We don’t have a lot of courage;
we don’t have a lot of moral convictions
for individuals in these positions. They
are more worried about their own sustainment than they are of the people that they
serve. A lot of these politicians are capitalizing on the dysfunction. These people
aren’t about solving problems. They are
about protecting their own existence—
talking a big game but not backing it up.
We took a poll and the
question keeps coming up if
you will ever consider running
for the president of the United
States.
No. Never. (laughing) I know better. I’m
flattered by that but that’s a thankless job.
Is there something else you
would like to do beyond this
position in the future?
Well, why do I have to look beyond? I take
one day at a time. I live in the moment not
for the moment.
The next time you run for
office how is the support of
your officers?
I try to leave the organization out of it
because elections are tough for sheriff ’s
officers because it divides them—
especially if you get someone in on the
inside to run against the seating sheriff;
it could really tear an organization apart.
People take sides; it get ugly and then
when it is over if the insider wins and
knocks the incumbent out now you have
incumbent’s support from part of the
community and organization that is left
with a bitter taste in their mouth and vice
versa. I keep them for the most part away
from me.
What’s your favorite baseball
team?
Chicago Cubs.
Favorite movie?
True Grit.
What does your wife do that’s
your pet peeve?
She is constantly changing the house
around.
What is your strongest and
weakest quality?
A belief in myself and I have a sharp
tongue. I just say what I feel and don’t even
worry about what people think about it.
Sometimes you have to watch that.
Who do you think is going to
be the next president?
It’s too early to tell.
What’s your favorite football
team?
Dallas Cowboys.
Who’s your favorite president
and why?
George Washington. Can you imagine
being in that position trying to pull this
nation together? We almost didn’t have a
nation over the constitution. You couldn’t
get the constitution ratified today. It was
tough back then. You had to bring them
through the war taking on the greatest
military force in the world—at the time
Great Britain—take them on and had to
bring the nation together. I got another
one, Abraham Lincoln, following the civil
war. Can you imagine the country almost
coming apart at the seams and having to
bring it back together?
Do you have a favorite TV
show?
South Park.
Do you have a favorite actor?
Denzel Washington.
What’s your favorite curse
word?
“Fuck. Because it’s very versatile. You can
say ‘that was fucking great’ or ‘what the
fuck did you do that for?’ It’s very versatile.
We at NY Blue Now are committed
to asking questions that humanize
people. Whether someone on the
local level or national level, we keep
it real and ask questions that show
we are all human. Sheriff Clarke
was a good sport, answered every
question, and shared some laughs
with us. Thanks for keeping
it real, Sheriff.
A special thank you to Director
of Support Services,
Fran McLaughlin for helping us
make this interview a success and
for the great photographs!
20
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feature story
All Eyes on You
By Daniel Del Valle, Kyle Macci, Esq., and George Beck
I
n our modern world, officers are in
a sense the new celebrities. Their
every move is tracked, video recorded
and quickly offered on social media and
other outlets like YouTube. Sometimes
the video goes viral and within minutes
nearly every media entity across the globe
is covering it. All officers know the new
motto to live by is: “All eyes on you.”
Recently, we have seen hordes of
people across the country filming officers
with their cellphones. It doesn’t take
long to find hundreds of these videos
on the Internet. They stem from simple
interactions where an officer was issuing a
motor vehicle summons to arrests that get
physical, and in a small number of cases,
force that was unjustifiable. Sometimes
the unjustifiable force is based on an
appearance when viewed only in the
prism of the snapshot version of events
offered by the cellphone camera. In other
words, sometimes the video captures the
entire situation, other times it doesn’t.
And yes, there have been cases where
the officer’s conduct was questionable
and other times egregious. Nobody is
22
denying law enforcement officers are
imperfect. They’re as flawed as every other
community, but in our modern times
there is no room for error. Every officer at
one point or another will make a mistake.
But don’t make mistakes that are criminal.
Officers are expected at all times to act
properly. Don’t let emotions overcome
reaction.
A quick view of the many videos
flooding the Internet will show another
trend: In many cases, abuse and outright
hate is vehemently shouted at officers
while they are acting in the performance
of their duties. Welcome to the new world
we live in. Kick a cop, punch a cop, spit on
him or her, and call them every profanity
in the book. It’s not what officers signed
up for, but it’s now reality.
Officers know the appropriate response is to remain calm and alert should
the verbal assault turn physical. But they
are human and not robots. They fear like
every other person. Yet, their human component is largely ignored. They are often
portrayed as “part of a system” of injustice
where the majority of law enforcement is
violently seeking to hurt innocent people.
This kind of thinking leads the public to a
false sense of security that the world is absent of extremely dangerous people, and
it’s the police who are the ones to fear.
How did we get to this point?
Technology and
Law Enforcement
Nothing
has
affected
law
enforcement in the last decade more
than technology. In such a short period,
many technological advances have
revolutionized the profession. This has
caused law enforcement to quickly adapt
and adjust to meet the demands of the
modern world. We have reached a point
where an officer’s every move is secondguessed, and at times it seems they can’t
eat lunch without being recorded on a
camera phone. It all happened so quickly.
Not that long ago, many veterans
remember hand writing incident reports
or inking prisoners and then typing their
biographic info with a typewriter. They
remember having to pull over to call
headquarters on a payphone, or radio the
desk officer to run a license plate. Even
further beyond those days, many retired
officers recall not having a single computer
in the stationhouse. But with technology
on the rise, the older methods are quickly
becoming obsolete.
Today, nearly every police cruiser
is equipped with a computer. Prisons
and jails use high-tech equipment to
monitor inmates. Recent advances in
cellphone technology have modernized
communications and the way in which
officers interact with the public. Other
advances include MVR’s, body cameras,
Tasers, and the list goes on and on.
But technological progress can have
both positive and negative impacts on
the law enforcement profession. Take for
example cellphone cameras. It would be
pretty hard to find somebody in America
without one. Many cellphones are
equipped with a camera, video recorder,
and smartphone technology that basically
has made the device a handheld computer.
Yet, video cameras are not new.
They began over a century ago with the
production of silent films. Over the
20th century, advancements in video
camera technology eventually led to Sony
producing the first consumer camcorder
in 1983. Initially, video cameras were
expensive and reserved only for those
who could afford the luxury. But recently,
new technology has placed affordable
cellphone video cameras in nearly every
person’s pocket.
It seems nowadays many citizens
using their cellular phones are constantly
recording officers. A recent recording that
surfaced of an NYC detective hollering at
a motorist is an example of how all eyes
are on the police at all times. In a flash,
people in every corner of the world know
the officer’s name, home address, and all
other personal details. A news van camps
outside their home and life as they knew
it has changed forever.
Mass and Social Media Can
Move at Lightning Speed
The power of the mass and social
media should not be underestimated.
Within seconds after completing a traffic
stop or other interaction with the public,
cellphone video taken by anyone, whether
or not they were directly involved in the
incident, can be uploaded and within
minutes go viral, where news agencies
from around the globe will feature the
story. It can happen in minutes.
Some have argued this has
increased the accountability of law
enforcement, since their actions can now
be memorialized in audio and visual
representation. In some respects, this
argument is correct. If a rogue officer is
intentionally out there harming innocent
people, then to capture his or her conduct
on film would be beneficial to society.
But incidents where officer misconduct
is blatant and purposeful make up an
overwhelmingly small minority of the
total. The majority of officer and civilian
interactions are peaceful. There are far
more incidents of hyped-up and inaccurate
videos out there on social media and the
Internet where the account of the incident
is often one-sided and designed to depict
officers as brutal savages. It’s also the bad
apples who get all the attention.
But video cameras are also good for
law enforcement. They have vindicated
officers from false accusations. Take for
example the recent apology by “Empire”
actress Taraji P. Henson, who claimed the
Glendale Police racially profiled her son
during a traffic stop in October of 2014.
Her account clearly changed when the
video showed otherwise.
“I would like to publicly apologize
to the officer and the Glendale Police
Department,” the “Empire” actress said in
an Instagram message. “A mother’s job is
not easy and neither is a police officer’s.
Sometimes as humans we overreact without gathering all the facts. As a mother
in this case, I overreacted and for that I
apologize. Thank you to that officer for
being kind to my son.”
attacked and assaulted with bystanders
choosing to video record rather than
render aid. Clearly this is not always the
case. There are many good Samaritans
out there who help an officer when he or
she is being attacked. But those preferring
the cellphone camera over rendering aid
have many in law enforcement wondering
why. Have we reached a point where an
officer being attacked, injured or killed is
acceptable?
We as law enforcement know the
truth. So, let’s focus less on the anti-law
enforcement sentiment that is getting
all the attention right now and more on
remaining safe and making a difference
in a difficult world. The overwhelmingly
majority of officers are good, decent
human beings who do the job with honor
and pride.
In closing, the best way to understand
the ever-evolving law enforcement profession is to remember why one chooses
a career in law enforcement. It’s to help
others, and make society a safe, stable
and peaceful place to live and raise a
family. Law enforcement is a difficult
job, but it’s important and necessary. A
society without law enforcement is one
that nobody would want to live in. These
basic fundamentals have been part of
the profession since its inception. So
as technology continues to change law
enforcement, let’s keep adapting and
adjusting, use it to our advantage, and
most importantly, remember why we
chose a career in law enforcement: to leave
this world a little better than we found it.
Looking Ahead
As we have seen, technology can
have both positive and negative effects.
But one thing is certain: Technology has
revolutionized the profession and in many
ways enhanced it. Therefore, remember at
all times that law enforcement officers are
in many ways like celebrities constantly
being hounded by paparazzi. Surreptitious
recordings of police are trending right
now, whether they tell the entire story
or not.
What puzzles law enforcement is that
nowadays there are videos of officers being
23
inside view
URBAN AND TRANSPORT
VEHICULAR “TRAPS”
Beat
Them at
Their
Own
Game
By Jason Robles
I
’m growing impatient waiting for the
corrections officer to bring up the
violent home invader who wants to
proffer and I’m sure will talk about how
innocent he is. As the elevator door opens,
I’m not surprised to see that he doesn’t
look like much. He’s kind of typical and
not much to speak of. He sports the
obligatory gang tattoos, skin fade and
slow stroll which seems is issued to every
drug dealing, stash spot robbing home
invader from the Washington Heights
area of Upper Manhattan. The cage swings
open and I take him into custody to walk
him across the street to the New York City
Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor.
After he signs his “Queen for a day,”
his lawyer steps out and he immediately
begins to minimize his role in every violent
act of torture he has participated in while
involved in his “compania” robbing drug
dealers. He chronicles the methodology
they used to locate, identify and rob drug
dealers for money, drugs and guns. As I
take my notes, I am always surprised to
see how calmly and nonchalantly they
recant these gruesomely violent acts of
terror and torture. Even though he wasn’t
much to look at, I was wrong. He is a beast,
a cold-blooded calculating predator. My
partner and I are going to have to verify
and run down all of these leads and find
these victims who don’t want to be found.
24
A daunting and arduous task at best.
As he claims he’s done, he stands
up, pauses and says there is one more
thing. He recalls a “job” they did where
he acted as the surveillance/security car
waiting outside for members of his crew
while they hit a stash spot. He remembers
they posed as police officers and stole
several kilograms of cocaine from a local
dealer. He said he followed their vehicle
away from the scene and remembers the
crew being stopped by uniformed NYPD
officers. He watched the motor vehicle
stop develop and also watched them get
arrested and the vehicle impounded. He
states he later went online and searched
the court records, which showed they were
only charged for narcotics possession, and
not for weapons possession for the guns
they had. As he stands up to get cuffed he
says “the guns are in a stash.”
I’m excited because in my experience
I know 90 percent of police officers are not
trained to look or search for a stash, clavo,
trap or any other word used to describe
an aftermarket concealed compartment.
I was hedging my bets those guns were
still in the vehicle. Based on what he
said, we find the case, which happened
approximately three years earlier. A record
check reveals the vehicle was impounded,
and once the case was adjudicated, the
registered owned never came back for
the vehicle. Not surprising. This was a
good indication the firearms were still in
the vehicle. A year later the vehicle was
sold at an NYPD auction to a civilian.
Further records show the original auction
purchaser kept the vehicle for a year and
sold it (we later find out on eBay) to the
current owner who lives in Brooklyn.
We travel to Brooklyn and ring
the doorbell of the registered owner. A
sweet elderly woman answers the door. I
identify myself and ask her if I can take
a look at her vehicle. She kindly offers to
show us where the vehicle is and we walk
several blocks to where the car is parked
on the street. She hands me the keys and I
unlock the door on the passenger side and
just look. I’m looking for abnormalities
and inconsistencies. I’m looking for what
doesn’t seem right. I know that in this
particular vehicle these compartments are
constructed where the airbag is. I drop the
glove box, look into the void behind the
glove box and up under the dashboard. I
can see the airbag is intact so I know it is
not there. With the owner’s consent, I take
my upholstery tool and pry off the plastic
trim around the radio. There is nothing
constructed behind the radio. I do not see
relays, carpeting, insulation, spray glue,
aftermarket switches, trunk locks or linear
actuators which are the usual indicators of
a concealed compartment.
Moving onto the passenger side floor,
I peel back the rug from the front to back
and there it is: the aftermarket speaker
wire. I know I found a trap for several
reasons. The first being the location of
the wire, running down the center of the
vehicle. This is not common. Second is
the typical copper and nickel speaker wire
used by every sound shop along Jerome
Avenue in the Bronx, the motherland
of trap builders. Many of the shops that
build these traps use speaker wire because
it is cheap and readily accessible. Third,
the wire is running to a seat that is not a
power seat. It is not heated and does not
have any stock electronics. The next step
is to put power to this wire and see what
happens.
I cut each wire individually and strip
the ends. Using a Sequence Bypass Tool
(SBT) hooked to the vehicle’s battery, I tell
the Sergeant to stand back avoiding any
possibility of a booby trap, which is rare
but possible. Touching the alligator clips
of the SBT to the exposed wire I hear that
sweet sound. It is the low hum of a linear
actuator opening. This sound tells me the
sequence the installer devised was successfully bypassed.
Looking at the back of the passenger
seat I can see the bottom of the seat has
opened, revealing a hinged trap door
accessing a void constructed under the
passenger seat cushion. Inside the void
is my prize. Several loaded handguns
used in the home invasion robbery
three years earlier. They are hidden in a
typical “urban” trap. These traps have
been discovered or have traveled through
virtually every village, hamlet, town, city
and province in the Americas.
There are two basic types of concealed compartments in vehicles, which
are referred to as “Urban” and “Transport”
traps. Urban traps are smaller traps
constructed in the vehicle, usually within
the driver’s immediate reach. These traps
are constructed to hold smaller amounts
of narcotics, currency and handguns,
extensively used by street/mid-level
dealers, gang members and outlaw
motorcycle gangs. These compartments
usually employ an electronic locking
device such as an electronically activated
trunk latch, window motor or electronic
linear actuator, which is mistakenly
referred to as being hydraulic. These traps
are usually opened and closed through
a sequence of standard switches in the
vehicle such as the rear defrost, cruise
control and passenger window switch
being activated in the same order to open
the compartment through a series of
relays. Many of these are reverse polarity
motors allowing the operator to just
reverse the switch to close the trap.
Transportation traps are usually
constructed in large vehicles and often
referred to as cross border traps. Large
vehicles are used to transport larger
quantities of illicit contraband, provide
a more comfortable ride and afford the
manufacturer large voids to construct
large compartments. Unlike the urban
traps, many of these vehicles need to be
brought inside a garage or warehouse to
access the compartment because it may
have been sealed in with fresh body work
or undercoating. Many are constructed
into the subfloors, wheel wells or roofs of
passenger vehicles such as pick-up trucks,
minivans and SUVs. That being said these
vehicles can also possess the same urban
traps.
Palestra Group International (PGI)
provides a one day Introduction to Concealment consisting of vehicular and residential compartments. PGI also provides
a two-day Advance Concealed Compartment course designed to take the student
from the visual pat down, through the
roadside interview and to the location,
identification and breeching of concealed
compartments. For more information
please visit www.palestrgroup.com.
From the New York Times Bestselling Author
From Jailer
to Jailed
My Journey from Correction and Police
Commissioner to Inmate #84888-054
I
be happening with what really
n this hard-hitting, raw and oftentimes
politically incorrect memoir, Bernard B.
happens behind prison walls. He takes readers
Kerik, former head of the New York City
deep into what he calls the “wasteland” where
Department of Correction, America’s Top Cop and
inmates are warehoused and treated like animals,
decorated 9/11 hero — and Federal Prison Inmate
abused by those with power and authority, and
#84888-054 — lays it all on the line. He details
deprived not only of their freedom but of respect
his stunning fall from grace that whipsawed him
and basic human dignity. Even those whose
through the criminal justice system, landed him in
crimes were nonviolent—tax offenders, doctors
prison for 3 years and 11 days, and now fuels his
who overbilled, commercial fishermen who
unwavering and deeply personal fight for
caught too many fish — suffer draconian
criminal justice reform.
sentences that leave them without hope.
In an ironic turn of events, Kerik’s
Kerik exposes the willful, devastating
highest honor of being personally
collateral damage the prison system
chosen by President George W. Bush
inflicts and the consequences
to lead the Department of Homeland
to American society. He makes a
Security sparked his downfall.
compelling case for reform and calls
for wholesale change that will make
This retired New York City Police
Bernard B. Kerik,
Commissioner was himself handcuffed, retired New York City America “smart on crime” and forestall
Police Commissioner what he calls “the erosion of the very
shackled, and — for a time — held in
fabric of our society.”
solitary confinement.
From Jailer to Jailed is more than a powerful
Bernard Kerik offers a riveting, one-of-a-kind
memoir: it is an impassioned and singularly
perspective on the American penal system as he
insightful rallying cry for criminal justice reform
details life on the inside with the experience of
in a nation Bernard Kerik devoted his life to
an acclaimed Correction Commissioner from
serving and protecting.
the outside. He compares what is supposed to
Get Your Copy Today —
Available at Bookstores Everywhere.
25
legal news
Climate Control Needed with Recent Police Cases
A Review of the Baltimore Police/Freddy Gray Case (s)
By Robert (Bob) Bianchi, Esq.
without regard to the truth in my opinion.
O
nce again the climate for police
throughout this nation is continuing
to be troubling in its tenor.
I am extremely unsettled about the
Baltimore case, as it now seems that the
elected officials are now pandering to
groups who attack the police regardless
of the actual facts or law of a particular
case. This makes the police extremely and
unfairly subject to becoming acceptable
social (and now legal) scapegoats for
issues that are not of their making.
As a Certified Criminal Trial Attorney who has been a prosecutor and defense attorney for over 26 years and has
tried numerous murder cases, here are my
thoughts:
1
This case is complex. However, it was
investigated and charged in only 19
days. This is nearly an impossible timeframe if the investigation is being done
thoroughly and with the diligence to ensure success at trial. This says to me that
this was a pre-determined and rushed
decision - - one designed to appease the
community instead of achieving justice.
2
Any prosecutor of skill knows that use
of the Grand Jury is a must to properly
investigate a case. The subpoena power,
ability to compel witnesses, get some
officers to possibly testify to “lock in” their
testimony, and for many other reasons, is
imperative. By filing these charges, she
lost a critical ability to use the Grand Jury
effectively in this way to determine the
truth. The Grand Jury will only be used
now as a “play tool” for the prosecutor,
merely a rubber stamp for her decision,
26
that basis alone.
3
7
4
8
The prosecutor admitted at her very
unprofessional press conference that
based upon the investigation she does
not know how, when, or who caused
the injuries to Mr. Gray! What? This is
essential to prove any homicide case.
Was Mr. Gray injured during arrest, in
the police van, during medical treatment,
did he have an alleged spinal cord surgery
the week before? Was he injured by police
reckless disregard to Mr. Gray’s life, Mr.
Gray’s own acts, or a combination of
these events?
The prosecutor states that she only
received the autopsy that day! The fact
that it indicates it was a “homicide” only
means that the death was not the result of
a suicide, natural causes, or by accident.
It is not a legal conclusion whatsoever, a
fact the prosecutor (who has very little
experience and no homicide experience)
should know. To rely upon that finding
as a legal conclusion is breathtaking.
Additionally, in a case where the manner
of death is so convoluted, a more detailed,
perhaps another autopsy, is warranted.
To get an autopsy the same day you file
charges says to me this was another rush
to judgement and not a deliberate attempt
to get it right.
5
Failure to provide a detailed arrest
affidavit tells me there is a problem
with the prosecutor’s proofs. She had
an extensive press conference and she
indicated that it would be unethical
for her to answer questions about the
evidence. This is true. The only problem is
that is exactly what she did with evidence
that she claimed supported her charges
[a serious ethical breach] but refused to
supply evidence that seemed to challenge
her conclusions. Only at that point did she
decide to invoke the ethical prohibition
for her to discuss evidence. Very telling in
my opinion.
6
This case was overcharged and my
feelings are there will be not guiltys on
Press conference - Her speech was
wrought with political overtones, which
is an ethical violation for a prosecutor.
She admitted and made clear that she was
listening to the voices of demonstrators
“across the nation.” Huh? She is only to
look at the law and facts without being
persuaded by public opinion. This is a very
basic concept in the area of prosecutorial
ethics. It was an amazing admission that
again tells me this prosecutor is not up to
the job and has lost her objectivity.
After her press conference, she did
media shows that had nothing to do
with her official duties, but rather, were
PR stunts for her to justify the charges
she filed and to assert her belief of the
defendants’ guilt. Holy cow, this is an
egregious violation of a prosecutor’s
ethical rules. Cases are to be tried in a
court of law upon evidence, and not in the
court of public opinion.
These police officers are now criminal
defendants, and as such, are entitled
to a process that is fair, unbiased, not
prejudiced, and done in accordance with
due process and the Rules of Professional
Responsibility for Prosecutors.
To me, the Prosecutor was thinking
about votes (or some other inappropriate
factors), and not the integrity of the
judicial process.
Robert A. Bianchi, Esq.,
served as the Morris
County Prosecutor from
June 22, 2007 through February 8, 2013. The New
Jersey Supreme Court has
awarded him the distinction of being a Certified Criminal Trial
Attorney, with less than 1% of the attorneys (approximately 250 attorneys) in this
State who are so qualified. Mr. Bianchi is
a nationally recognized TV Legal Analyist
on many networks and regularly appears
weekly on Fox News Network.
training
LIKE A GLOVE
A
By Jay Martinez
s of 2014 there has been a 68
percent increase in police-related
shooting deaths. Furthermore,
ambush-style attacks on officers are
becoming more prevalent. No officer
wants to be involved in a shooting and no
officer wants to die. So if you want to live,
take firearms training seriously and never
let your guard down. We have to re-group
and circle the wagons and introduce our
departments to modern combat shooting
principles. We have to trim the fat and get
razor-sharp with our intent, so we can
stop the bleeding!
This is what we are encountering
nationwide:
• National police shooting statistics: threat
is- 5-7 yards and closing (not retreating),
3 seconds, 3 rounds.
• 3 out of 5 officers are killed with their
own weapon. Protect your weapon!
• Officers lack a warrior mindset when it
comes down to fighting with their weapon system and having gross familiarity
when dealing with movement, malfunctions and basic tactics such as: gravitating toward cover, tactical and combat
reloads, low-light encounters, weapon
handling skills; transitioning from primary to secondary weapons system (if
applicable).
• Officers need to be more prepared to
render aid to one’s self and partner.
Recently, I spent an entire month
on the range training police officers in
firearms, mindset, equipment and the
finer details of prevailing within the
parameters of a deadly force, firearms
encounter. Furthermore, I focused a great
detail of attention on debunking various
myths and inconsistencies within firearms
training. We trained like warriors in every
phase and were rewarded with positive
muscle memory investment.
The skinny is simple: You are either a
target (paper) shooter or a combat shooter.
Think of it like this: When you go to the
gym, are you the type to do some basic
weights, and a few minutes of walking
on the treadmill while reading the sports
page? Or are you that person who needs a
barf bag every session? I am talking about
the one whose training begins with a four-
mile run and an additional 20 minutes on
the elliptical, followed by circuits of pullups, box jumps, heavy bag strikes and ball
slams! Clearly, how you train can make a
huge difference in results.
With this in mind, you must step up
and make combat shooting principles fit
like a glove.
As we progress forward in pursuing
the true essence of a combat shooter, we
realize that two urgent matters are working
scientifically against us. First, action
beats reaction. So, what can place us on a
parallel plateau of action? The only thing
that can compete with action is moveable
reaction. Muhammad Ali would pick his
opponents apart, because he floated like
a butterfly and his jab stung like a bee.
The only defense was for the opponent
to bob his head like a floating apple in
order to slip his jab and counter. A soccer
striker will beat the goalie in a penalty
kick situation if the goalie sits there and
does not employ a proactive solution by
gauging and moving strategically.
Tick Tock does not mean a diner that
serves disco fries. Tick tock means time
is being shaved off of our projected three
seconds to stop an armed threat. Mental
chronometry refers to an analyzing
period. During that period the officer
will impress upon their nervous system,
to shoot or not. Now we are left with an
unflattering 2.6 seconds to deal with the
threat. So by the time you say, Texarkana,
Texas or Polly wanna a cracker, you better
have moved, draw stroked (the act of
un-holstering and punching out your
weapon) and engaged your threat with
surgical precision with as many shots as it
takes to stop your threat.
The threat is only 5-7 yards away on
average during a police confrontation
(literally 5 ½ paces away from you).
Always remember NFL football players
can cover 40 yards in approximately 4.5
seconds or faster. The threat can reach out
and cut you or shoot you in approximately
1.25 seconds. Movement allows us to
derail the plans initiated by the antagonist
by encompassing OODA loop. The
attacker has to re-track his prey, because
movement has now snafued his action.
As a combat shooter you need to
develop the muscle memory of creating
that supreme grip while the weapon is in
your holster. Next, you need to perfect
upholstering your weapon and punching
it straight out onto your projected threat.
Punch out means exactly that you do not
un-holster and “lasso” (go around in a
semi-circle), “rainbow” (from the top to
the threat), or “anteater” (down and up on
threat).
Remember, if you are not taking firearms training seriously, if and when the
time comes down to seconds to decide if
you will live or die, you will be pressed on
time when every millisecond counts. Furthermore, a combat shooter has to practice point shooting. They cannot afford
to line up sights and close one eye during
this exchange and from such an intimate
distance. Officers need to master trigger
squeeze, not trigger pull, jerk or slap.
A combat shooter knows that once
fired, you must assess and cover the threat
with your finger on the trigger so you can
engage subsequent rounds in order to
stop the threat, if needed. Remember, a
combat shooter always remains concealed
in movement. So keep moving! Once the
threat has subsided, index and bring that
weapon to a disciplined high compressed
ready (holster only when clear, no speed
holstering). Lastly, communicate your
actions and your requests to central
communications, by speaking calmly (the
secret is to breathe deeply and slowly).
Follow your PD’s protocol thereafter.
In 2015, we cannot afford to train
halfheartedly. We must place some
oomph and hot mustard behind it. A
note for trainers: Psychology is part of
the understanding of what our officers
will endure once they have to engage
their weapons during a deadly force
confrontation. Prepare them by giving
them a module or two that is indoctrinated
with the science of combat psychology
and physiology. We must prepare officers
to survive. If you have any questions,
please contact me and visit my company’s
training website at warningorder.net.
Chance favors the prepared, never stop
training and stay safe. Ooo-rah.
27
inside perspective
“EASY TARGETS”
The Jihadi War on Police has Only Just Begun
By Lt. Randy Sutton (Ret.)
B
eing a cop has always been a career wrought with danger.
The “War on Police” has seen
an increase on many fronts recently.
Armed criminals, gang members
and other traditional enemies of law
enforcement have become emboldened
by the perception of weakness of the
police. This has occurred because
political leaders have begun dictating
enforcement decisions leading to
increased deaths and injuries to those
on the front line. The surrender of
leadership in the wake of rioting in
Baltimore and Ferguson, coupled with
media and political exploitation, after
high profile deadly force encounters
which have led to increased public
distrust of law enforcement is sucking
the spiritual life out of America’s police.
Meanwhile, thugs are stepping up their
efforts to extinguish the physical lives
of those sworn to protect and serve. The
pummeled police are reeling as a result
and now in what appears to be the perfect
storm of “police peril,” the Muslim Jihadi
threat has become a stark reality.
The police shooting death of selfprofessed Jihadist Usaamah Rahim in
Boston must serve as a grim reality check
to every single law enforcement officer in
this nation that you are a target, and in
the chilling words of Rahim himself, an
“easy target.” If individual officers are to
have the greatest chance of survival in
this ever-increasing atmosphere of threat
and danger, not only is it necessary to
increase their personal vigilance factor
but to reinforce how important it is to
embrace the concept of “warrior policing.”
Unfortunately, this is diametrically
opposed to President Obama’s “softer
policing” stance, which is already trickling down to some law enforcement
agencies whose sycophantic leadership
is hell bent on embracing the same new
age thinking which led to the impotent
police response and ultimate destruction
of lives and property in Baltimore.
The “warrior mindset” that is essential
to surviving potential deadly force
encounters is not a call to “militarize.” It is
simply the realization that every personal
interaction that occurs during the shift
has the possibility of an accompanying
threat, and the law enforcement officer
must be willing and able to transition
from “officer friendly” to tactical warrior
seamlessly. This requires a commitment
from the police agency to properly train
and equip its personnel properly and also
a personal commitment on the part of the
officer to diligently train and maintain
the “will of the warrior.”
Physical threat is and always has
been part of the law enforcement job
and it is a risk that all who wear the
badge accept. But when I hear political
leaders, community activists, clergy
and media suggest that violence against
police is “what they get paid for” (as I
heard numerous times during coverage
of the riots when deadly objects like
rocks, bottles and bricks were used to
injure police), I am not only angered but
saddened. I am saddened because if we as
a people, one people in a nation of many
races, cultures and religions do not value
the lives and safety of the country’s law
enforcement officers, then we as a nation
divided will ultimately pay a terrible price
in terms of lives and freedom.
Randy Sutton is a 33
year Law Enforcement
veteran and the National
Spokesman for ‘THE
AMERICAN COUNCIL
ON PUBLIC SAFETY.”
www.defendingtheshield.
org. He served ten years in the Princeton
New Jersey Police Department and 23
years with the Las Vegas Metropolitan
Police Department retiring at the rank
of Lieutenant. He is recognized as one of
the most highly decorated officers in the
LVMPD history, having awards for Valor,
Community Service, Exemplary Service
and multiple Lifesaving awards. He has
trained thousands of Law Enforcement
Officers in the United States on the subject
of “POLICING WITH HONOR,” and has
been recognized by the President of the
United States while receiving the “POINTS
OF LIGHT” award. He is the author of
“TRUE BLUE Police Stories by Those
Who Have Lived Them,” “A COP’S LIFE,”
“TRUE BLUE To Serve and Protect” and
“THE POWER OF LEGACY, Personal
Heroes of America’s Most Inspiring People.”
His web site is www.thepoweroflegacy.com.
Books by
Randy Sutton
Available on
Amazon.com
Contact Randy at www.thepoweroflegacy.com
and follow him on facebook
Randy Sutton News Personality.
28
family time
The Essential Rules
By Melinda Inzani
of Successful Co-Parenting
C
o-parenting, sometimes called joint
parenting or shared parenting, is the
way parents work together to raise their
children. It’s an effort to reach the common
goal of a well-adjusted child. Parents, who
are no longer living together, are divorced/
separated, or no longer in a romantic
relationship will transition to co-parents.
Transitioning from an emotionally intense
relationship to an unsettling, unfamiliar,
and at times painful interaction with your
once significant other can be difficult. But
for the health of your children, successfully
making this transition is necessary. Open
communication, empathy, patience and
multiple supports are necessary for coparenting to work.
The co-parenting process involves
each parent to be respectful, polite, level
headed and overcome built-up resentment.
At this point, your child’s emotional and
physical health and well-being are what’s
at stake. There is no greater concern. If
conflict remains there are multiple negative
impacts, such as children being at risk for
serious and lasting emotional harm, more
physical health problems, lower academic
performance, a greater likelihood to engage
in antisocial or delinquent behavior and
lower self-concept/esteem when parents
are in conflict.
Basic Rules of Engagement:
Negative statements, complaining and
blaming the other parent only hinders the
process and negatively impacts your children. Remember your children can read
you, so if you are using body language,
facial expressions, or other subtleties to
express negative thoughts or emotions,
you are not fooling anyone. Putting
aside your negative feelings is in the
best interest of your children. Children
learn through modeling, by respecting
authority, themselves and others. This all
starts at home. Commit to positive talk
between parents as well as discouraging
disrespectful conversation about the other
parent by your children. Each parent has
30
strengths and traits that are different and
important. Looking for opportunities to
praise each other’s parenting ability is the
start of a new foundation. The goal is for
the children to have a positive relationship
with both parents. Children see themselves
as half their mother and half their father.
This is central to keep in mind when the
other parent disappoints the children, in
spite of the shortcomings, the parent still
loves the child. It is helpful to connect
the idea that your children’s relationship
with their parents will influence other
relationships in their lives.
Communication is key. It is necessary
for 18 years, if not longer. There are many
ways to communicate: telephone, letters,
face to face conversations, text, e-mail and
even through lawyers. Common issues
that arise are: school related issues such
as homework, detention, and punctuality.
Other areas involve clothing, computer/
gaming time, bedtime, curfews and choices
of snack foods. When possible, directly and
politely communicate with the other parent. Understand when children become
messengers, it puts them at the center of
the conflict. Gaining information through
them is not helpful in the long run.
Research shows when children are in the
middle it may cause them to question their
own strengths and abilities. In addition,
exposing children to conflict has shown
to promote feelings of insecurity and
helplessness in children.
Maintain good boundaries. Explaining to children what is going on is one
thing, but discussing how hard your life
now has become is quiet another. Children
need to know that parents are willing to
listen without judgment. A child may feel
confused, guilty, sad, shocked, abandoned,
and may begin to self-blame, but acknowledging these feelings as normal is instrumental in the process. Another boundary
issue to avoid is filling the missing void of
your former partner with your children.
Your need for companionship is real and
needs to be addressed. This is imperative to
both your recovery as well as your children.
Supports are available; friends, family, support groups and therapy are just a few. Educating yourself about what is available as
well as your children’s needs related to their
development is necessary for success.
Consistency with rules can be beneficial. Children will frequently test boundaries and rules. As parents providing a united
front during these times benefits everyone.
Children in homes with a unified parenting
approach have increased well-being. Children need to have a sense of peace and security, where love and acceptance is available to them through this process.
Resiliency is an indispensable quality.
Bouncing back may seem like an uphill
battle but is it essential. Teaching children
that in life there are rough patches, but with
support, and finding the good in every
thing and event, encourages a positive
outlook on life. Perception is a huge part of
this rule.
As you can clearly see, in cases of
divorce or separation, becoming a successful
co-parent is absolutely essential to raising
emotional and physically healthy children.
Of course, at times this can be tremendously
challenging, and you may find yourself in a
situation where defeating thoughts surface.
But, remember there are many parents
who have successfully transitioned to
productive co-parents. Understanding the
basic rules of engagement and practicing
them even while the other parent may be
complicating interactions is paramount. By
consistently remaining calm and focusing
on the best interest of the children, will
help the children fell less pressure. Our
children deserve both parents working
together to ensure they develop well and
enjoy a wonderful life.
Melinda Inzani is a clinical social worker who
has worked with multiple
populations. She has authored numerous articles,
provided trainings and
has consulted and lectured
all over the United States. Melinda has built
a successful practice in Midland Park, New
Jersey. She is dedicated to the communities
she serves and has volunteered her time to
several outreach organizations. For more
information contact Melinda Inzani, LLC at
201-704-6749.
One Stop
Service Center
Law enforcement discount
91-12 188th Street
Jamaica, NY 11423
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31
history
The
Black
Duck
By Lorcan Otway
H
ere in the United States, as in
most modern nations, we are
caught between two concepts,
which define civil society
but have the potential to be forever in
opposition, moral certainty and liberty.
Often moral certainty is at the core of a
society’s legal system from the beginnings
of complex civil society, while the notion
of liberty is relatively new. In the United
States, organized crime often has been the
pressure valve, which has kept us from
erupting into widespread revolt when
our moral certainty has offended large
numbers of people by challenging their
sense of liberty.
We could, if we wanted, dive into
this question on matters on any side
of the political divide and find similar
expressions of moral certainty and
outraged liberty on the questions of gun
control, drug use, abortion, opposition to
war, opposition to slavery, prostitution or
expression of sexual love for those of the
32
same sex. However, the 18th Amendment
gives us a safe environment to examine
this issue, as most of America today, is at
least relieved by the passing of the 21st
Amendment and the general acceptance
of a right to buy, sell and most happily,
drink alcohol.
The passage of the 18th Amendment
came about through a complex social
compact between groups as diverse as
the Ku Klux Klan and former abolitionist
conductors on the Underground Railroad.
For many different reasons, this complex
grouping of Americans felt that the road
to an American Utopia lay in removing
alcohol from U.S. society. What resulted
was an often joyous anarchic orgy of law
breaking and a boom and bust economy
for organized crime as well as a systemic
corruption of policing agencies in the
United States.
Judge Learned Hand, the great New
York jurist, member of the Bull Moose
Party once said that the basic concept of
rights is well described by the freedom
we all share to swing our hand. That right
ends where one’s hand meets another
person’s face. This balance may often
describe the liberty interest in any action
the state seeks to control. However, where
the other citizen’s face begins and the right
to swing one’s hand becomes regulated
is not always a narrow black line. The
breadth of that line is often broadened by
the political interests of those seeking to
express their moral certainty through law.
A good example may be the realpolitik
behind the Suffragette involvement in the
Temperance movement. Many women
in the movement for voting rights for
women understood the vital role the
saloons played in the political dynamic in
19th and 20th century U.S. cities. Street
gangs were employed to organize political
support for the incumbent parties at the
expense of those progressive radicals
who believed that women should have
equal voting rights. So, many feminists
joined the temperance movement under a
banner of saving the home, while in fact,
being inspired by a hope that the power
of the old boy system would be broken
by the destruction of the saloon as the
organizing forum where the ward bosses
and rank and file gang members met.
In the first weeks of Prohibition the
New York Times, which endorsed Prohibition, announced that the policeman’s
job became easier with the end of public
drunkenness. However, over the course of
(continued on page 34)
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history
(continued from page 32)
the next thirteen years, it became increasingly obvious that the Times was less than
accurate in their reporting or predictions,
and by the end of Prohibition in 1933,
the Times wrote that the Department of
Justice put the human cost of the efforts
to enforce Prohibition at 270 deaths, 92
federal agents and 178 civilians. This is
likely a very narrow accounting of the
real numbers of police in general and
civilians in the violent mayhem of these
times. This number certainly excludes
the civilian deaths, for example, which
resulted from the “Chemist’s War” where
the government sought to mandate the
poisoning of industrial alcohol and the
speakeasy chemists sought to remove the
same, perhaps resulting in thousands of
deaths by drinkers.
One of the incidents which helped
to bring about the 21st Amendment and
the end or perhaps more accurately the
reform of prohibition, as today we do
not have an unregulated right to buy, sell
or drink alcohol, was the “Black Duck”
incident.
The Black Duck was a rum runner.
She would race out 25 miles to sea to Rum
Row, where the rum fleet lay. Every mile
or less patrolled a small coastal freighter
or fishing schooner, laden to the hatch
covers with alcohol. Flying the Union Jack
and in international waters, they were
fully in their rights to sit and wait to sell
cases of whisky, rye or gin to the fast boats
which would dash out to them. Back then,
a case was six bottles swaddled in a burlap
bag, mostly sewed up in Nassau in the
Bahamas.
The Black Duck was a well-known
vessel, untouchable as she had a V Hull
which raised her up over the swells at 32
knots, driven by two aviation engines from
WWI. Her opposition were deep displacement lumbering vessels which could do,
on a good day, 17 knots. But what gave her
wings was a strong Fourth Amendment in
an America, which still held dear the right
to be left alone. The police had to catch
her in the act, period. Well, this game
of cat and mouse was more a cartoon
of The Road Runner and Wylie Coyote.
But it was a good-natured game. During
the day, the rum runners would raft up
together in a long line side by side, with
the coast guard vessel to the extreme outboard, rafted up to the others. Typical of
the day, was the story of the young coastie
who calls down to the rum runner, “Got a
cigarette?” The bootlegger tosses him up
a pack. The coastie takes one and tosses it
back saying, “Thanks, see ya tonight!”
“I hope not!” calls back the rum
runner with a wave.
That all changed in May of 1930. A
coast guard petrol boat lay in a narrow
channel of Narragansett Bay. The Duck
came roaring down at her, full speed. The
coast guardsman hit her with a search
light then raked her deck with machine
gun fire, killing the entire crew except
for the captain. She swerved off into the
dark, only to limp back out of the dark a
short time later to surrender, her decks
drenched in blood and her last living crew
member badly wounded.
The public were outraged. It stuck
at the U.S. concept of fair play. Only a
few decades before, lawman, Wyatt Earp
had grabbed the instigator of the events
leading up to the shoot out at the OK
coral and threw him out of the line of
fire, because that man was unarmed at
that shoot out. Worse yet, the cargo of the
Duck began to turn up in speakeasys in
New London, near the coast guard base.
The feds put an agent on scene to guard
the warehouse where the cargo was kept.
He was found one night, drunk and firing
his service weapon into the night sky. It
made Time Magazine and it was then only
a matter of time before Prohibition was
put in its grave.
Liberty won out, the balance tilted in
that direction for a short period of time
and then the pendulum swung again, but
that is another story.
Lorcan Otway is the curator
and founder of the Museum
of the American Gangster,
located in New York City,
at 80 Saint Marks Place in
a former Speakeasy, where
as a nine year old child, he
with his father found two million dollars in
gold certificates. His father gave it all to the
wrong gangster.
Lorcan became a photojournalist, boat
builder, musician and Juris Doctor and
came to the conclusion that there is no such
thing as the “wrong gangster.” “Whichever
gangster you happen to be with when you
find 2 million, is exactly the right gangster
to get every penny.”
He is presently writing a book about
the finding of the money – “The Girl in the
Safe.” He owns and runs Theatre 80 Saint
Marks, and William Barnacle Tavern.
American Correctional Officer
Intelligence Network
Brian Dawe
Executive Director
PO BOX 1175, Thayne, WY 83127
Phone: 307-883-9707 • Fax: 307-883-9708
email: ACOIN1@aol.com
34
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Transcription

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