ARE YOU BEING SERVED??

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/nov/07/police-confirm-officer-involved-shooting-at-cenex-/comments/

The answer is simple “DON’T HIDE…PROVIDE”, because Spokane like almost every other City these days is made up of four distinct groups similar to the groups associated with political issues and voting.

1. Group Number ONE, the largest group, is made up of folks who are concerned about the various news reports identifying misconduct and mismanagement of the people who have the responsibility of protecting them but are at the same time not willing to believe that things are really as bad, or for that matter as good as, they are portrayed in the press.
2. Group Number TWO, is made up of folks who feel strongly that Police Officers no matter the situation can do little or no wrong.
3. Group Number THREE, is made up of folks who feel strongly that Police Officers no matter the situation can do little or no right.
4. Group Number FOUR, is made up of folks who just don’t give a damn one way or the other.

*(There is a fifth group but they are the ones that just hope cops are real lousy at catching them, so they don’t count)

Since gaining the TRUST of the Community is of paramount importance to my old organization (SPD) I am going to suggest that they and Mayor Condon approach the battle like a political campaign and target the largest group, which I am convinced is Group #1. SPD already has #2 in their pockets, there will be a few converts from #3 but the diehards will remain, and people that don’t give a damn will just continue not to give a damn.

Political campaigns always hire political strategists to run campaigns and I know they always target the biggest voting block which is the Independents who are somewhat analogous to Group #1 in this battle. Having worked as a hired gun, so to speak, in both Republican and Democrat campaigns I quickly learned there are primarily two types, the dishonest and dirty campaign that each side accuses the other of being, and the honest and upfront campaign that each side maintains they are running. My recommendation, as it always was to political campaigns, to SPD, the Mayor, and City Council is to run a campaign that for a change is “honest and upfront” because it will have the greatest impact in drawing the most folks from Group #1 into the fold, and will also help to bring in some converts from Group #3. Just forget about Group #4, it is what it is.

Unfortunately, here in Spokane citizens are at a disadvantage in this campaign because we just don’t have the fact checkers you ordinarily see during big political campaigns where fact checkers are hired by both sides and media outlets actually bring in fact checkers to research the facts. A perfect example is Mayor Condon’s false claim that crime has gone down during his administration when in fact it has gone up considerably. That falsehood I time and again pointed out but the Spokesman Review never bothered to do any fact checking as the lies were fed to them time and time again. Sure Nick Deshais wrote a fact checking piece three days before the election which has to make people wonder just how concerned some of the media is in doing their job as fact checkers and overseers of government.

Here is a short list of a few suggestions for beginning a New Honest and Upfront Campaign.

1. Quit lying about the fact that there isn’t a big problem with the SPD the extent of which you have tried to hide.
2. Quit lying about crime data, caseload data, manpower allocation, and Golden Goose money.
3. Quit lying about the OPO and the OPOC having independent investigative authority as well as it being the best thing since sliced bread.
4. Quit lying about not giving the Guild control of body cameras.
5. Quit lying about the Cotton/Straub, Cortright/Straub issue.
6. Quit lying about the need for Straub’s “Precinct Model”.
7. Quit lying about all the dollars that have been wasted by ill-conceived programs at SPD.
8. Quit lying about the problems associated with a Culture Audit (COPS/DOJ even gave you the methodology).
9. Start implementing the UOFC and COPS/DOJ recommendations instead of trying to find a way around them and with all the recent OISs start implementing the recommendation to make the Deadly Force Review Board’s findings public.
10. Bring back non-manipulated AIM data so the public can see what you aren’t doing but should be.
11.  Release the number of, and names of “Brady Cops” currently on the job that have been provided to the Prosecutor.
12. Adhere to the Attorney General’s Opinion regarding body cameras and start a legitimate process for recommending changes to RCW 9.73.
13. Ask Jim McDevitt to resign from the new Police Chief search committee based on his past history with Straub and Smith.
14. Start accepting responsibility instead of blaming everyone from Obama to Bush and beyond.
15. DON’T HIDE… PROVIDE!

Great campaign strategy…right? I can’t wait to see what the Las Vegas Odds Makers come up with for odds of this strategy being implemented. My guess is around 10/1.

I’m wondering exactly what reading comprehension level a columnist has to write to for people that make vitriolic and nasty comments like these to understand anything. Whether the columnist is Conservative or Liberal it must be difficult to write at such a low level. Interesting also is some of the people making these comments are in fact “on the dole”, but more about that later.

This recent story in the Spokesman Review really brings forward many unanswered questions.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/nov/04/new-details-emerge-in-police-sexual-assault-case/

Perhaps the most glaring question is why the SCSO, Spokane County Prosecutor, Rob Cossey, and the reported victim are allowing the case to be scrutinized, analyzed, and in a sense tried in the press? Exactly what is the motivation for all the publicity? These are questions the media should be asking themselves, as well as key figures including the Sheriff and Prosecutor but for some reason apparently have no inclination to do so, or aren’t reporting on it if they are.

Unfortunately for the female officer her name is widely known in the Spokane Community simply because the SCSO, Spokane County Prosecutor, Rob Cossey, and others involved apparently didn’t feel the need to have the search warrant affidavits sealed in this case. I can understand Cossey not objecting because in the end all the publicity may well help his client from the standpoint of demonstrating to a jury that the SCSO Investigation was motivated by something other than getting to the truth and may have been the product of some political agenda or desire to demonstrate just how great the oversight process is in Spokane.

For those that don’t recall I dealt with some of the issues here, but this second information release needs some more scrutiny.

https://examplepro.me/2015/10/29/sr-sexual-assault-story-a-new-perspective/

To be clear the SCSO and Spokane County Prosecutor had the option to have the court file sealed but for some reason decided not to. The obvious question reporters should be asking both Knezovich and Haskell is “Why”. It is pretty easy to anticipate the answers “It’s all about transparency and the public’s right to know.” Any seasoned investigator or investigative reporter knows that is the answer they will get and would have this follow-up question ready. “Why is transparency so important in this case and not important in cases of Officer Involved Deaths?” Pretty easy stuff really.

Corruption?

Most people aren’t aware of an investigative tool available to the Spokane County Prosecutor that was put in place years ago specifically to investigate Corruption and Organized Crime that tool is the Special Inquiry Judge Proceeding (been there done that). Granted the last two times the public is aware of in which the SIJ was utilized “The Great Massage Parlor Caper” and “The Carlile Murder Case” The Prosecutor and Law Enforcement blew it by releasing secret information from the SIJ, so there is no guarantee they would get it right this time.

BTW, the Spokesman Review covered extensively “The Great Massage Parlor Caper” in the beginning, but not a peep since. What ever happened to all those people charged and the property seized SR?

Back to the SIJ.

The disadvantage in utilizing the SIJ is that it is supposed to be done in secret so the public doesn’t get to know what went on unless someone is charged and the case goes public. That of course means WE have to rely on the integrity of the individuals involved and the system. I know…I know; I’m just stating the facts.

The advantage is witnesses called before the SIJ can be forced to testify or go to jail including cops. They can also be charged with perjury if they lie in their testimony.

Another advantage is that the SIJ was designed, as every Prosecutor knows, to protect innocent people from being subjected to public disclosure of unsubstantiated and untrue allegations of criminal conduct.

The obvious question of course for the media to ask both Knezovich and Haskell is; “Why did you choose not to utilize the SIJ, which would open the door to forcing cops to provide evidence while at the same time protect everyone involved?” Chances of that question being asked are almost nil.

Obstruction?

The media accounts without reading the affidavit seem to portray the possibility, but a search warrant affidavit is a long, long, way from establishing whether or not “Obstruction” actually occurred and where it occurred.

Malfeasance?

See Above!  🙂