Black Expo A Success…Think Global, Act Local.

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http://www.theindychannel.com/news/28584527/detail.html?treets=ind&tml=ind_12pm&ts=T&tmi=ind_12pm_1_12000407182011

I agree the plan worked. The goal of no violence and keeping the peace worked and even though it’s never popular to say the boss’s plan worked but it did. It shows that when the people running the city actually want to do something, they can make it happen. And yes the administration was very appreciative of all the officers that worked on their canceled day off and they told the troops. There were many officers that were working behind the scenes but the kudos go to the uniforms that were out there standing the corners, directing the pedestrian and vehicle traffic and also the uniform groups that monitored the young crowds when they let out of an event. The city owes the uniforms a huge thank-you. They did a great job. There were more white people attending the expo this year which was good to see in this 21st century.

Still there’s one area that goes ignored every year and it’s not the responsibility of the city police. During the concert at Legion Mall, there are vendors that pay the expo for space to sell anything from food to purses, clothes, musical CD’s, and movies. Why is this a big deal? Well about half of them are committing felonies by selling fraudulent items and pirated music and movies under popular name brands. The vendors that were selling these items are usually from a foreign country that funds terrorism. They have no identification, and are very quick to pack up and leave when they are exposed selling these fake goods.

Once again, why worry about this? Because it’s organized crime (possibly global) profiting off an Indiana state endorsed event. The Expo is not to blame for this but they were made aware of this last year. In order to produce these goods, an underground company is making them somewhere and not claiming them as stock. All the items sold were done with cash and no receipts are given out. That’s red flag number one. In Indiana, you have to charge sales tax and I am pretty sure none of these vendors paid the sales taxes that would go back to the state which brings me to my next point. The Legion Mall is on state property which  is the jurisdiction of the Indiana Sate Police. Several of those troopers work there for this event and get paid indirectly by the same taxes that the vendors do not charge the customers or pay to the state. They are also ripping off the poor people of the state since tax money provides them certain services. In defense of the state police, they don’t have units that deal with fraud and forgery in the counterfeit merchandise area. However the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has a unit that are pros at dealing with this kind of thing and I’m sure would help since they are already working that weekend.

The expo went the smoothest it ever has but let’s not stop there. Police the vendors by inspecting the merchandise. If the merchandise is counterfeit, confiscate it early and start an investigation. Pass a law where they can estimate a flat sales tax rate for the vendors to pay since most of them are cooking the books somewhere to not pay or avoid paying the taxes altogether. Just because it’s not disrupting the peace doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be enforced.

“I Just Love Kicking Doors In….”

http://www.wibc.com/news/Story.aspx?id=1457512

When I was a young cop, I, along with a couple other officers, caught a burglar after a foot chase. Back then I was still trying to figure out why certain people do things and didn’t realize that there were those that are just plain evil out there. I asked this burglar, who we caught kicking in the door of an old woman’s house, why he did it? I knew who he was and this was not his first burglary. I can still see his face telling me, “I just love kicking doors in.”  He also told me that it didn’t matter if it was an old woman’s house or not.

Fast forward about twenty years. This same person kicked in a old man’s door and killed him. Later he would be chased by police again but this time he shot Officer Jason Fishburn in the head forever changing his life. When I heard who did it, it didn’t surprise me. It was the same burglar Brian Reese that I had chased twenty years before. I had spoke to Officer Fishburn but did not know him well. Sadly, since he was such a piece of dung that the system continued to set free, I know Brian Reese better. I realized that I’m one of a handful of cops that know both.

Reese gets to rot in prison for the next 60 years for this action which means he will probably get to die with a bunch of other wonderful men around and I will be retired or even gone myself before ever having to hear his name again. The punishment did not fit the crime here but it never could.

Officer Jason Fishburn has been denied a full pension by the State PERF board when it was recommended that he receive 90 percent of it. Officer Fishburn is going to have difficulty living day to day for the rest of his life due to being shot in the head. The board never even met Officer Fishburn in person.  This a where people like the  Baptist Ministers Alliance of Indianapolis should prove that they are concerned about God’s children and make noise for this child of God who is in need right now. Instead they want to be loud mouths about how bad the police are because they have a captive audience in town at this time of the year and it’s almost election time. They supposedly are serving One that has given his life for them. Well Officer Jason Fishburn is still here but believe me, he gave his life for his community which included the loud mouths and even the waste that shot him.

Retired Sergeant Bowswer sent an E-mail to the Indiana PERF and I am reposting it here with an E-mail address which to send it. Please feel free to copy and send it also:

Please know that the citizens of Indiana are very displeased with your arbitrary and capricious decision to deny Officer Jason Fishburn his full medical pension. Officer Fishburn was gravely wounded in the course of his duties; he was shot several times, including in the head, by a fleeing felon.

Officer Fishburn will never recover to full function of his body and mind after this grievous injury. His only desire was to return to his duties as a police officer, but that will never be possible.

Yet, without even meeting Officer Fishburn, you cut his pension to the lowest amount possible. I know you would hide behind political answers if I asked you to explain why you made this decision, so I won’t bother.

Just remember, people are watching to see if you are going to correct this extreme miscarriage of justice.

Thank you for your attention

questions@inprs.in.gov

 

 

Caylee Anthony Is Still Dead

October 3rd, 1995 I was in my apartment with my future wife and another good friend. After only a couple of hours of deliberating, O.J. Simpson was found not guilty of murdering Nicole Brown  and Ron Goldman. I remember the feeling that the system failed and let us down. I was one of those that hoped that O.J. Simpson early on in the investigation did not do it. He was one of my favorite ball players growing up and everybody liked him. Still as the evidence grew then, as I still am, became convinced he was guilty.

Yesterday that same feeling came back when they found Casey Anthony not guilty of murder. Weird dynamics happen with juries and I’m sure they were exhausted from listening to all the testimony. Still they found Casey Anthony not guilty and there is a dead girl that she didn’t report missing that is still dead. Everybody wanted DNA and fingerprints. Well that isn’t going to be found on a rotting girls body especially in a swamp. People have been found guilty with a lot less evidence than they had in this trial. Circumstantially Casey did it. That’s all they needed to prove. These television shows like CSI are causing people (like the jurors) to expect miracles with these cases to prove the accused guilty.

The defense showed the jury that the family was dysfunctional. Every family, including mine, has some dysfunction in it. That was probably the easiest thing to find to play on the jury’s doubts. I don’t believe the father molested Casey Anthony. Another problem with trials is lawyers get to bear false witness as they did by throwing this out to the court. This was never proved but the poison statements still were floated around the court room.

I was surprised by the verdict as was the defense team in this case as they were in the O.J. case. Being declared not guilty by a jury does not mean a person did not commit the crime. As I said to my future wife and friend after the O.J. verdict, this story will not end well. Casey Anthony will get out soon and enjoy some stardom. She may even get a book deal. However, she is going to end up in a bad place ultimately since she has chosen to walk that path. She can now party as much as she wants since she does not have the burden of raising that little, dead girl anymore. I guess her plan worked.