Spingola Files
The sleuth with the proof takes a look at real cases
May 19, 2012 at 1:29 pm · Filed under Battleground Wisconsin
Over the course of the past week, I received a communication from an individual—a person I will not name—who is associated with the Milwaukee County DA’s office. Based on some terse, yet pointed comments that I have made, this individual wanted to know why I wasn’t standing with assistant district attorneys by supporting the recall of Gov. Scott Walker. Apparently in possession of the Barrett campaign’s talking-points memo regarding the mayor’s failure to obtain the endorsement of the labor union representing his city’s rank-and-file police officers, this person said “residency” was the only reason that the Milwaukee Police Association has endorsed Gov. Walker in the recall election.
To set the record straight, neither I nor anyone else affiliated with SF have publicly endorsed any candidate in the recall election. In the past, I have taken the Wisconsin Professional Police Officers Association (WPPA) to task when their members identified themselves as public officials, and then cited their agencies, while making partisan political statements. I have also criticized the WPPA’s executive director, Jim Palmer, for signing a letter threatening a Milwaukee business leader with a boycott unless this citizen renounced his First Amendment right to support Gov. Walker.
http://www.badgerwordsmith.com/spingolafiles/2011/03/13/letter-from-state-police-union-executive-draws-fire/
Moreover, anyone who has taken a few minutes to view the contents of this Web site would quickly realize that the Spingola Files has a noticeable libertarian bent when it comes to matters of government surveillance—hardly an issue championed by neo-cons and right-wingers.
Back to the comments of the person associated with the Milwaukee County DA’s office.
Since I retired from the Milwaukee Police Department and now reside outside Milwaukee County, residency is not an issue that affects me.
I do throw an occasional dart, however, when hypocrisy raises its ugly head.
So why is it then that Darlene Wink, a former low-level aide to then Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, was charged and convicted for campaigning on government time while using a taxpayer funded computer network, while the anti-Walker folks (particularly this person associated with the Milwaukee County DA’s office) downplay e-mails sent by Kris Barrett, Mayor Barrett’s wife, advocating political action during her tenure as a teacher for the Milwaukee Public Schools?
This type of attitude—that the misconduct of a particular individual should be marginalized as long as this person is ‘on our side’ politically—is the cancer that is killing Wisconsin politics.
After all, there are a plethora of reasons why rank-and-file Milwaukee police officers would vote against Barrett and the Democrats.
Just a few years ago, former Governor Jim Doyle and his Democrat Party cohorts in the state legislature—with the support of Mayor Barrett—changed state law, which now gives the chief-of-police in the city of Milwaukee the authority to subjectively and arbitrary fire an officer for a rule violation, while denying this officer his or her pay absent a due process hearing with the Fire and Police Commission. In every other jurisdiction in the state of Wisconsin, a police chief can only recommend termination, at which time an officer continues to be paid until the charges against him or her are substantiated by an oversight board.
Furthermore, Doyle and Democrats in the legislature, specifically those from the Milwaukee delegation that should know better, granted early release to thousands of felons from Wisconsin prisons. Almost half of these felons reside in one of Wisconsin’s 72 counties—Milwaukee, which means, unlike the vast majority of the rank-and-file officers represented by the WPPA, Milwaukee police officers bore the brunt of the Democrats so-called criminal justice reforms.
And, of course, I related these points to the person associated with the Milwaukee County DA’s office, who basically, in not so many words, accused me of being a sellout for simply pointing out the hypocrisy of those poo-pooing Kris Barrett’s taxpayer funded use of a computer network for political action purposes, but have yet to receive a reply.
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Steve Spingola is an author and retired Milwaukee Police Department homicide detective. His new book, Best of the Spingola Files, is now available at Amazon.com.
If your group is in need of a fascinating guest speaker, consider the Spingola Files Psychology of Homicide presentation. For more information, visit
www.badgerwordsmith.com/the_psychology_of_homicide_presentation.html
© Steven Spingola, Wales, WI, 2012
May 13, 2012 at 4:33 pm · Filed under Citizen Talk
It is no secret that since the horrific events of September 11, 2001, large corporations have teamed-up with their K Street lobbyists and willing members of congress to construct an American surveillance state.
Unfortunately, Americans seem more concerned with the finalists on Survivor or Snooki’s latest meltdown than the incremental creation of a technological iron curtain that rivals that of China.
The same can be said about the majority of the American mainstream media—the so-called Fourth Estate. It wasn’t long ago that television news magazines, such as 60 Minutes, kept a watchful eye on overzealous politicians and government bureaucrats.
In 2012, however, local television news wastes its resources searching for dirty restaurant kitchens or standing in the middle of a blizzard reporting the obvious—that it is snowing outside—than keeping tabs on state and local governments.
And the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, well, sadly, they’re more concerned about the contents of plastic or winning Pulitzer Prizes for bashing one of the few institutions in town that actually performs well (the Milwaukee Police Department) than the civil liberties of the citizenry.
Many would argue that, when it comes to the development of a virtual surveillance state, the American mainstream media is more of a lapdog than a watchdog.
There are some exceptions. Washington Post reporters Dana Priest and William Arkin’s series Top Secret America documents the expansive nature of domestic surveillance. Some in the know believe the cost could exceed $350 billion.
Other organizations, such as the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and the Rutherford Institute, have challenged the federal government’s anti-transparency agenda championed by both Republicans and Democrats, many of whom receive campaign contributions from political action committees and/or individuals affiliated with the new security-industrial complex.
Late last week, the Washington Post reported that a federal appeals court denied a request from EPIC (www.epic.org) to see communications between Google and the National Security Agency (NSA).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/appeals-court-wont-order-public-release-of-google-nsa-communications-following-cyberattack/2012/05/11/gIQAxcyAIU_story.html
At the same time, many local law enforcement agencies are using or are preparing to use biometric iris scanners to identify individuals. Police officers can now use an app on an I-Phone to scan a human iris.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/20/us-crime-identification-iris-idUSTRE76J4A120110720
And in Leone, Mexico, iris scan experimentation is being conducted with the hopes of importing this technology for even broader use in the Untied States.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avCEEVPWHRU
Locally, Wisconsin privacy advocate Miles Kinard’s magazine exposé, American Stasi: Fusion Centers and Domestic Spying, highlights some of the intrusive technologies of the surveillance state and the corporations, such as Locheed Martin, that stand to make billions of dollars spying on the daily activities of law-abiding Americans. Kinard points out that, while big brother advocates point to security as their goal, the agenda of the surveillance state might include using personal data to reduce public discourse.
http://www.amazon.com/American-Stasi-Centers-Domesitc-ebook/dp/B006YZQFL8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336926093&sr=8-1
Just ask ‘Joe the Plumber’ about information from government databases being used against those who dare challenge a politician.
Meanwhile, what is the headline in today’s Sunday paper? That some of the income generated by executives of private companies might not get fully reported. Go figure.
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Steve Spingola is an author and retired Milwaukee Police Department homicide detective. His new book, Best of the Spingola Files, is now available at Amazon.com.
If your group is in need of a fascinating guest speaker, consider the Spingola Files Psychology of Homicide presentation. For more information, visit www.badgerwordsmith.com/the_psychology_of_homicide_presentation.html
© Steven Spingola, Wales, WI, 2012
May 6, 2012 at 5:58 am · Filed under Citizen Talk
For the last 43 years, Madison, Wisconsin has hosted the Mifflin Street block party in early spring. What started as a drunken, dope-smoking protest against the Vietnam War has morphed into a pretext to get intoxicated and blow-off some steam prior the start of final exams week.
In 1969, Madison’s current mayor, Paul Soglin, represented the Eighth Ward on that city’s Common Council. Arrested twice during Mifflin’s inaugural debauchery, Soglin, now 67, serves as an example of an aging radical turned curmudgeon.
Like the block party’s original participants, today’s Mifflin Street attendees consume alcohol to excess, thumb their noses at law enforcement, and make casual observers wonder if this 20-something generation lacks a basic moral compass.
In other words, little has changed, although one could argue that the old cliché ‘meet the new boss, same as the old boss’ rings ironic, as the 24-year-old, 1969 Paul Soglin probably never envisioned himself as the establishment figure in-charge of the block party’s ultimate demise.
After the 2011 Mifflin Street block party—marred by the outrageous conduct of a handful of out-of-control hooligans—Soglin sounded the alarm to end the event.
“Some students,” wrote New York Times reporter Drik Johnson, “say their mayor is suffering from an affliction that might be called “baby boomer amnesia,” a condition that young people say is common among parents of a certain age.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/us/11mayor.html
In recognition of his “baby boomer amnesia” syndrome, Soglin appeared to retract some of the comments that he made post-2011 Mifflin. Instead of actually taking a stand on the issue, however, the mayor appears to favor regulating the block party out of existence.
In years past, once party goers—sometimes 10,000 strong—flooded the two-city blocks, police would close down the 400 and 500 blocks of W. Mifflin Street with barricades. City leaders now insist that the roadway remain open. Law enforcement will deal with partygoers who dare overflow into the thoroughfare with citations. Moreover, for the first time, renters and property owners can post ‘no trespassing signs’ on Mifflin Street dwellings; whereby, police can take action against individuals loitering or simply standing on a portion of such properties.
These rules, of course, are specifically designed to hamper the Mifflin Street event and, incrementally, regulate the block party out of existence. These new mandates mark a change in Soglin’s status from aging-hippie/old-fart to Madison’s party-crippling Czar.
Some speculate that by 2015 the Mifflin Street block party will be verboten.
Unfortunately, this year’s 2012 event has snared a celebrity causality—University of Wisconsin tailback Montee Ball, who, in the 2011 season, tied Barry Sanders’ all-time NCAA Division I record by scoring 39 touchdowns in a single season. Some college football prognosticators list Ball as the leading candidate for this year’s Heisman Trophy.
What dastardly deed did Ball allegedly commit in a city that once prided itself as a proponent of civil liberties? He had the gall to stand on a porch, knowingly or unknowingly, where a property owner had posted a ‘no trespassing’ sign.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/uw-running-back-ball-ticketed-at-block-party-b359ujn-150303145.html
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and WTMJ radio and television sports reporter Trenni Kusnierek quickly relayed the details. In many instances, the JS and WTMJ refuse to identify an individual until they are charged with an offense. However, the saga of a star athlete being in the wrong place at the wrong time was apparentely too juicy to pass-up on a slow news weekend.
In the future, Montee might choose to play hard-Ball—pun intended—with news outlets too willing to report something that is really not newsworthy. SF suggests that Ball refuse to provide interviews and/or sound bites to news gathers too intent on making a mountain out of a molehill.
And Ball probably is not the only student to get caught in the tangled web weaved by Madison’s grumpy-old mayor who, in his golden years, suddenly favors “a sense of order.” As the ‘do as I say, not as I do’ generation of hippies slowly sets-sail for the geriatric ward, karma is not a concept they seek to ponder.
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Steve Spingola is an author and retired Milwaukee Police Department homicide detective. His new book, Best of the Spingola Files, is now available at Amazon.com.
If your group is in need of a fascinating guest speaker, consider the Spingola Files Psychology of Homicide presentation. For more information, visit www.badgerwordsmith.com/the_psychology_of_homicide_presentation.html
© Steven Spingola, Wales, WI, 2012
April 30, 2012 at 10:02 pm · Filed under Citizen Talk
Last December, SF discussed the introduction of unmanned drones over American airspace.
http://www.badgerwordsmith.com/spingolafiles/2011/12/11/predator-spy-drones-hoovering-above-your-town-soon/
Now, John Whitehead, the leader of the Rutherford Institute—one of this nation’s prominent watchdog organizations for religious rights and civil liberties—details the intrusive nature of drones in his commentary, The Empire Strikes Back: the Attack of the Drones.
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/the_empire_strikes_back_attack_of_the_drones
SF encourages its readers to write their congressional representatives and request that federal lawmakers pass strict regulations concerning the use of drones over American airspace.
Drones make use of infrared technology—intrusive heat sensors than can monitor the movements of Americans inside of their homes. Drones can also hit on Wi-Fi connections and intercept Internet data.
Americans who appreicate the small tad of privacy we have left need to get involved and try to put this genie back in the bottle before it is too late.
UPDATE: On May 7, the Rutherford Institute released this video regarding the use of drones in the United States.
https://www.rutherford.org/multimedia/on_target/the_empire_strikes_back_attack_of_the_drones/
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Steve Spingola is an author and retired Milwaukee Police Department homicide detective. His new book, Best of the Spingola Files, is now available at Amazon.com.
If your group is in need of a fascinating guest speaker, consider the Spingola Files Psychology of Homicide presentation. For more information, visit www.badgerwordsmith.com/the_psychology_of_homicide_presentation.html
© Steven Spingola, Wales, WI, 2012
April 29, 2012 at 1:07 pm · Filed under Battleground Wisconsin
With this summer’s state-wide recall elections quickly approaching, two major police unions have made their endorsements in the race for governor.
The Wisconsin Professional Police Officers Association (WPPA), an umbrella group that represents officers from smaller police agencies, has endorsed Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. This is an interesting decision, especially since Barrett figuratively put a gun to the leadership of the Milwaukee Police Association (MPA)—a group whose members were exempted from Gov. Walker’s Act 10 budget repair bill—and threatened furlough days for Milwaukee police officers if they refused to accept Act 10 provisions.
So how can Barrett advocate for the repeal of Act 10 and then demand than his city’s police officers, who received an exemption, comply with the provisions of this act for the purposes of trimming millions of dollars from the City of Milwaukee’s budget?
“At a news conference at WPPA headquarters,” Real Clear Politics reports, “Barrett insisted he supports collective bargaining rights for all public workers. He said he made the request to expand the law to Milwaukee police and firefighters because he realized Walker was trying to “divide and conquer” public workers and he couldn’t afford to pit city workers against one other.”
But other labor leaders are suspicious of Barrett, as they believe the mayor gladly used the provisions of Gov. Walker’s budget repair bill. One of the state’s largest public employee unions released a video highly critical of the Milwaukee mayor.
http://fox6now.com/2012/04/09/afscme-video-attacking-tom-barrett-was-over-the-top/
Moreover, one has to challenge the wisdom of Jim Palmer, the current WPPA Executive Director. Why would a police union endorse Barrett—a politician who insists that police officers, who received an exemption from Act 10 by Gov. Walker, lose their exemption? Why not endorse Kathleen Falk, who has made a quid pro quo deal with state unions to repeal Act 10 or support Gov. Walker, who exempted Palmer’s members from Act 10?
Some of you might recall that Palmer from this prior SF post.
http://www.badgerwordsmith.com/spingolafiles/2011/03/13/letter-from-state-police-union-executive-draws-fire/
On the other side of the coin, the two public safety unions that know Barrett best—the Milwaukee Police Association and the Milwaukee Professional Firefighters Association—have endorsed Gov. Walker.
“Gov. Walker has a strong record of supporting public safety with an unwavering commitment to first responders,” said Michael Crivello, president of the Milwaukee Police Association.
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/capitol-report/capitol-report-milwaukee-public-safety-unions-again-endorse-walker/article_6f06c8f4-7d08-11e1-907d-0019bb2963f4.html
As the recall election quickly approaches, it remains to be seen how these law enforcement endorsements will affect the outcome. However, if the last state Supreme Court race is a barometer, a few hundred votes might decide who wins or loses.
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Steve Spingola is an author and retired Milwaukee Police Department homicide detective. His new book, Best of the Spingola Files, is now available at Amazon.com.
If your group is in need of a fascinating guest speaker, consider the Spingola Files Psychology of Homicide presentation. For more information, visit www.badgerwordsmith.com/the_psychology_of_homicide_presentation.html
© Steven Spingola, Wales, WI, 2012
April 18, 2012 at 10:21 pm · Filed under Media Interviews
Yesterday, WUWM aired an interview I did with Lake Effect’s Stephanie Lecci regarding America’s post-9/11 surveillance state. We discussed the use of drones, the expansion of intelligence fusion centers, infrared technology, the spread of facial recognition software, as well as the ever-evolving state of the law pertaining to surveillance.
To hear the interview, please visit the following link:
http://www.wuwm.com/programs/lake_effect/lake_effect_segment.php?segmentid=9105
BOOK UPDATE: to learn more about intelligence fusion centers and the role of the local police in the surveillance state, checkout privacy advocate Miles Kinard’s magazine exposé: American Stasi: Fusion Center’s and Domestic Spying. The article is climbing the charts at Amazon.com—listed at #3 at 5 p.m. CST.
http://www.amazon.com/American-Stasi-Centers-Domesitc-ebook/dp/B006YZQFL8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334787921&sr=8-1
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Steve Spingola is an author and retired Milwaukee Police Department homicide detective. His new book, Best of the Spingola Files, is now available at Amazon.com.
If your group is in need of a fascinating guest speaker, consider the Spingola Files Psychology of Homicide presentation. For more information, visit www.badgerwordsmith.com/the_psychology_of_homicide_presentation.html
© Steven Spingola, Wales, WI, 2012
April 14, 2012 at 3:29 pm · Filed under Citizen Talk
Earlier last week, Milwaukee talk-radio host Jay Weber discussed Gov. Scott Walker’s support of a bill to collect DNA when a person is simply booked—not convicted or even charged—for a felony offense.
One of the callers to Weber’s show, who opposed the bill, cited the movie Minority Report—a film featuring a futuristic group of investigators charged with apprehending suspects based on an ‘foreknowledge’ of their crimes. The same caller also noted that—like the ‘mark of the beast’—the government might someday require the installation of tracking devices in all new born children.
The “mark of the beast” is, of course, a reference to the Book of Revelations, Chapter 13 versus 16-18, which reads:
“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six (i.e. 666).”
In a sense, the government no longer needs to install tracking devices in newborns. In today’s America, most parents provide such tracking devices, called cellular telephones, to their children at early ages. As of September 2010, eighty-two percent of adult Americans owned a cellular telephone.
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Cell-Phones-and-American-Adults/Overview.aspxed
Seizing upon the opportunity to monitor, locate, and identify potential suspects, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies routinely use cellular technology against its users.
A high-profile hit-and-run case from the Twin Cities highlights the role cellular tracking technology plays in criminal investigations.
On August 23, 2011, at about 11:10 p.m., Amy Senser, 45, the wife of former Minnesota Viking Joe Senser, was en route to pick-up her daughter from a Katy Perry concert in downtown St. Paul. The criminal complaint alleges that as Mrs. Senser took an exit ramp off the interstate she struck and killed 38-year-old Anousone Phanthavong, who was standing outside his stalled vehicle in a construction zone. The impact knocked Phathavong nearly 40 feet. Prosecutors allege and Senser’s defense concedes that she left the scene. The next day, Senser’s attorney contacted the authorities to report the accident, although he alleges that his client did not stop because she did not believe she had struck a person—a defense under Minnesota law.
But it did not take long for investigators to hone in on their target’s cellular telephone data.
Amy Senser’s phone records show that she called her daughter at 11:08 p.m.—two minutes prior to Phathavong being struck—and was talking on the telephone when the accident likely occurred. Investigators further subpoenaed tower data from Sensor’s cellular provider, which, prosecutors claim, indicates that the woman drove around for nearly an hour after the accident.
While prosecutors have not charged Amy Sensor with any alcohol violations, her attorneys have filed a motion to “bar prosecutors from asking witnesses about Senser’s drinking habits or using any “testimony about impairment, DWI references or other testimony that Defendant was under the influence of alcohol or drugs” on the night of the crash.”
http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_20390139/amy-senser-hit-run-case-she-was-cellphone
Nonetheless, prosecutors believe that Amy Sensor’s cellular telephone records paint a portrait of panicked driver.
And, of course, even if a conscientious cellular telephone user turns off their GPS location finder, the data stored on the computer of a cellular provider triangulates a device’s location between towers. This information is generally stored for up to a year. Some privacy advocates claim the only way to avoid tracking is to turn a cellular telephone off and to store the computer—because that is what a cellular telephone really is—in the trunk of a vehicle when traveling.
http://www.amazon.com/American-Stasi-Centers-Domesitc-ebook/dp/B006YZQFL8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334416464&sr=8-1
If the ‘mark of the beast,’ as mentioned in the Book of Revelations, is a tracking device found in an individual’s right hand, then 90 percent of cellular telephone users, including myself, have been tagged.
In the interim, while the concepts portrayed in the movie Minority Report are likely decades away, for those who believe that freedom equals an expectation of at least some level of privacy, that movie’s sequel, Majority Report—where we are all followed, and our thoughts duly noted via smartphone apps, electronic transactions, and Internet usage—is, unforunately, now playing everwhere.
UPDATE: Privacy advocate Miles Kinard’s magazine expose’, “American Stasi: Fusion Centers and Domestic Spying,” has soared to #4 at Amazon.com’s list of legal ethics books.
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Steve Spingola is an author and retired Milwaukee Police Department homicide detective. His new book, Best of the Spingola Files, is now available at Amazon.com.
If your group is in need of a fascinating guest speaker, consider the Spingola Files Psychology of Homicide presentation. For more information, visit www.badgerwordsmith.com/the_psychology_of_homicide_presentation.html
© Steven Spingola, Wales, WI, 2012
April 13, 2012 at 1:50 am · Filed under Book Review
Decades ago, when I began my career in law enforcement, the local police were proudly the local police. Officers patrolling the city of Milwaukee took pride in knowing their squad areas—sometimes referred to as beats. Information was shared at roll call, with members of the detective bureau, and/or the Criminal Intelligence Division (CID), known amongst police haters as ‘the red squad.’
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the federal government has used billions of dollars in grant money to incorporate ‘first responders,’ formerly referred to as the local police, into America’s new, Orwellian surveillance state. Some experts estimate that between $350 to $500 billion was spent to create ‘intelligence fusion centers’ and dramatically expand the capabilities of the super-secret National Security Agency (NSA).
I think it is important for law enforcement to have a forthright dialog concerning the surveillance of the populous absent a reasonable suspicion, which is why I encourage SF’s readers to read Miles Kinard’s revealing magazine exposé, American Stasi: Fusion Centers and Domestic Spying.
http://www.amazon.com/American-Stasi-Centers-Domesitc-ebook/dp/B006YZQFL8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334279532&sr=8-1
To facilitate this discussion, I asked retired Milwaukee Police Department Captain Glenn Frankovis to review Mr. Kinard’s article. Glenn was kind enough to provide the following response.
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MAGAZINE ARTICLE REIVEW
Title: American Stasi: Fusion Centers and Domestic Spying
Author: Miles Kinard
Genre: Ethics and Law Enforcement
While I certainly recognize the concerns expressed by privacy advocate Miles Kinard that the authorities can “cross the line” and abuse their authority—especially in such sensitive matters as surveillance—there are some whose intentions are evil and others whose intentions are good (but not always, shall we say, within the strike zone). It’s a difficult balancing act for those who are trying to do the job by the rules, and it gets more difficult as the seriousness of the situation increases.
Those of us in law enforcement recognize, from experience, that exigent circumstances decrease the time you have to wait for a magistrate to make a decision about what you can and cannot do, and even then that magistrate may be someone who has no concept of working the corners of the plate (strike zone). Many of us have worked for and around people who think anything less than a pitch right down the middle of the plate is not complying with the letter of the law/rule, as well as their inability to get through an intersection with four-way stop sign, if another vehicle is present that causes a complete breakdown in efficiency and effectiveness. Most, if not all, of the great military leaders recognized that indecision can and usually does cost lives. The same can be said in law enforcement. I’m sure that one can probably even find a situation where two great leaders had conflicting ideas as to how to solve the same problem, yet it takes someone willing to make a decision and in a crisis there is no time for debate. SCOTUS decisions on the use of Deadly Force by lawmen have recognized that when justifying their decision not to second guess someone who had to make a split second decision based upon the facts in front of him at the time.
With respect to whether or not such technology and surveillance—as outlined in American Stasi—should include local police departments, as opposed to federal agencies, larger police departments, such as the NYPD, not only have the manpower to spare for ‘intelligence fusion centers’ but also have a much greater responsibility to conduct such operations, especially since their jurisdictions have been targets of previous terrorist attacks. Smaller Police Departments, such as the Milwaukee Police Department, can utilize this technology, although I would argue that their focus should be on solving/preventing criminal activity, as cities like Milwaukee are less likely to be targets of opportunity for foreign terrorists. That may not be enough for the feds to invest the money and technology in a city like Milwaukee if they want the primary focus to be on foreign counter intelligence/surveillance.
As for the subject of “abuse”, I understand the need for “detached” oversight in 4th Amendment cases, especially where consent or articulable exigent circumstances are not present. However, I tend to evaluate such “oversight” by the particular magistrate exercising that “oversight,” much as I would evaluate an officer’s performance evaluation more on the supervisor writing it than on the officer himself, absent any other supporting documentation.
With the problems we’ve experienced with hackers and other cyber terrorism, I wonder if this is even something that can be controlled. I imagine it’s not unlike the discussion that preceded splitting the atom and first detonation of the atomic bomb in 1945. At what point does limiting law enforcement weaken our ability to locate and identify those with the technological expertise to do the very thing that raises this concern we now debate? This may well be the uncontrolled chain reaction.
In conclusion, I tend to lean toward these enhanced surveillance techniques with the understanding that there are sanctions in place for obvious abuse. At this stage of the game I’d rather deal with the enemy I know. Given the rapidly changing times we are in, especially after 9-11, I can see no other alternative. We simply must stay ahead of whatever enemy is out there whether it’s foreign or domestic.
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Glenn D. Frankovis served with the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) from 1975 to 2004. During his career, he served on the MPD’s Tactical Enforcement Unit and later commanded Districts Five and Three on Milwaukee’s north side.
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I strongly encourage SF’s readers with various points of view to contribute in the comments section.
Steve Spingola is an author and retired Milwaukee Police Department homicide detective. His new book, Best of the Spingola Files, is now available at Amazon.com.
If your group is in need of a fascinating guest speaker, consider the Spingola Files Psychology of Homicide presentation. For more information, visit www.badgerwordsmith.com/the_psychology_of_homicide_presentation.html
© Steven Spingola, Wales, WI, 2012
April 8, 2012 at 2:34 pm · Filed under True Crime
Like a spectator at a gladiator fight in the Roman coliseum, I have sat back and watched the finger-pointing unfold in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida.
With his budget shot down 414-0 in the House of Representatives, his approval numbers in free fall, and a portion of his health care legislation of the verge of being ruled unconstitutional, President Obama wasted little time weighing in on Martin’s tragic death, even though the federal government arguably has no jurisdiction in the matter.
And, of course, the usual suspects—Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton—could hardly resist jumping into the fray. Jackson would rather talk about an unjustifiable intervention by a self-declared neighborhood watch captain than a love child.[1] While Sharpton—damaged goods in the minds of many after the Tawana Brawley debacle—is always on the lookout for ways to raise his profile.[2]
It is, however, the recent remarks of Bill Cosby—a celebrity whose candid comments regarding bigotry and personal responsibility have opened a dialogue on race relations—that are, unpredictably, off base.
Yesterday, Washington Times columnist Deborah Simmons noted that Cosby believes that “the gun” was the impetus for Trayvon Martin’s death.
“We’ve got to get the gun out of the hands of people who are supposed to be on neighborhood watch,” Cosby told Simmons.[3]
True, guns do not belong in the hands of some people. Individuals convicted of felonies and/or domestic violence, those abusing drugs, and persons suffering from mental health issues are ticking time bombs when a firearm is figured-in to the equation.
Yet if Cosby had taken the time to research the background of the shooter, he might conclude that, had the system done its job, “the gun,” at least lawfully, would not be an issue.
“Charged with resisting arrest without violence,” in July 2005, the Los Angeles Times reported, “he [Zimmerman] avoided conviction by entering a pretrial-diversion program, something common for first-time offenders.”[4]
Zimmerman’s former girlfriend also filed a domestic violence injunction against him. Zimmerman countered with his own injunction, although it appears the police did not investigate.[5]
Had the system done its job by placing Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, on an extended period of probation for the incident outside a central Florida night spot, the court, in all likelihood, would have prohibited him from possessing firearms while serving his sentence.
Ironically, Jackson and Sharpton continually take the criminal justice system to task for its treatment of minority offenders—often times encouraging prosecutors to send those charged with acts of violence, such as fighting with law enforcement officers, into diversion programs.
In the Zimmerman’s case, it appears that a Florida prosecutor bought-in to the charlatanism of the Jackson/Sharpton school of justice—the ugly results of which are now in plan view for all to see.
Unfortunately, Bill Cosby chooses to blame “the gun” instead of Jackson and Sharpton—the hucksters of criminal justice diversion, who then go on to incite the populous when those sentenced to the same diversion programs they advocate for predictably reoffend.
Some might call it a conspiracy of sorts, while others, rightfully, the revolving door of ignorance and the politics of self-pity.
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Steve Spingola is an author and retired Milwaukee Police Department homicide detective. His new book, Best of the Spingola Files, is now available at Amazon.com.
If your group is in need of a fascinating guest speaker, consider the Spingola Files Psychology of Homicide presentation. For more information, visit www.badgerwordsmith.com/the_psychology_of_homicide_presentation.html
© Steven Spingola, Wales, WI, 2012
[1] “Jesse Jackson Confesses to Love Child,”
www.guradian.co.uk. January 18, 2001. 7 April 2012.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/jan/18/2
[2] Kennedy, H. “Rev. Al Shrapton: I Won’t Apologize for Handling of Tawana Brawley Case.” www.articles.dailynews.com. May 19, 2011. 7 April 2012. http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-05-19/local/29579330_1_tawana-brawley-group-of-white-men-racial-tensions
[3] Simmons, D. “Simmons: Bill Cosby Weighs in on Trayvon Martin Case.” www.washingtontimes.com. April 7, 2012. 8 April 2012. http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/apr/7/simmons-bill-cosby-weighs-trayvon-martin-case/
[4] Muskal, M. “Trayvon Martin Case: George Zimmerman, Mystery Gunman.” www.latimes.com. March 23, 2012. 8 April 2012. http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-george-zimmerman-20120323,0,6326075.story
[5] Sieczkowski, C. “Who is George Zimmerman? Florida Shooter has Checkered Past of ‘Vigilantism’ and Domestic Violence.” www.ibtimes.com. March 23, 2012. 8 April 2012. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/318716/20120323/george-zimmerman-florida-shooting-trayvon-martin.htm
April 1, 2012 at 12:37 pm · Filed under Citizen Talk
Tomorrow evening (April 2), SF is traveling to Illinois State University, located in the city of Normal, where I will present the Psychology of Homicide—an hour-an-a-half seminar that explores the motives and mindsets of predatory killers. Sponsored by students majoring in the field of psychology, the event begins at 6 p.m. and is open to the public.
For more information visit and click on April 2:
http://events.illinoisstate.edu/cal/event/showEventMore.rdo
If your organization is interested in sponsoring a Psychology of Homicide presentation, please send an e-mail to livia@badgerwordsmith.com
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Steve Spingola is the author of the recently released book Best of the Spingola Files, Vol. I, available exclusively at Amazon.com (see the below link):
http://www.amazon.com/Best-Spingola-Files-Vol-ebook/dp/B006YZCG6Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333283176&sr=8-1
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