Call Takers

 

MISC-ParkedPoliceCars (400x300)Is Baltimore burning? Perhaps the question should be: Is Baltimore still burning?

There is a good chance that policing will change in Baltimore. Officers that were proactive will probably become call takers. The risks of proactive police work now has the potential of not just ending an officer’s career but may result in criminal charges.

A call taker leaves roll call and just waits for calls for service. Answering calls rather than initiating traffic stops, talking to known criminals, or observing and investigating suspicious behavior will keep officers out of trouble with the mayor, city council members, and more importantly the States Attorney and the Department of Justice. Call taking is part of the job. So is curiosity. Curiosity has nothing to do with call taking.

Traffic stops and stop-and-talks on a sidewalk finds individuals that have outstanding warrants or information about individuals in a neighborhood that are committing crimes. Once the DOJ starts compiling stats on the race of individuals that are stopped they will demand that an individual officer’s stats be kept as well. Officers will either turn into liars about the numbers of people they have stopped and their race in the case of a self-initiated stop that leads to an arrest, or they will no longer perform self-initiated stops to avoid any problems with the city, state, and the feds.

Call takers will be productive because they will answer the calls and write their reports. Just park your police car because what you don’t see will not get you into trouble. Have a good shift.

Has call taking begun in Baltimore?

  • The city has seen 40 shootings since April 28, the day after the city’s most intense day of rioting, including 10 on Thursday alone. There have also been 15 homicides in that span, bringing the year’s total to 82 — 20 more than at the same time last year.
  • In 29 years, I’ve gone through some bad times, but I’ve never seen it this bad,” said Lt. Kenneth Butler, president of the Vanguard Justice Society, a group for black Baltimore police officers. Officers “feel as though the state’s attorney will hang them out to dry.”
  • One city leader said he doesn’t believe officers are treading too cautiously on the job, but he acknowledged that the stress from protests, rioting and federal investigations is wearing on police, as is fatigue for officers who worked 14- and 15-hour days several days in a row during the unrest.
  • Several officers said in interviews they are concerned crime could spike as officers are hesitant to do their jobs, and criminals sense opportunity. Butler, a shift commander in the Southern District, said his officers are expressing reluctance to go after crime.
  • “Lt. Victor Gearhart, a 33-year veteran who works in the Southern District, said residents with complaints about police “are going to get the police force they want, and God help them.”
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  1. Kay of MT Inactive
    Kay of MT
    @KayofMT

    Sad.

    • #1
  2. user_252181 Moderator
    user_252181
    @AlFrench

    Not just Baltimore.  The contagion will spread.  Police in other jurisdictions follow the news.

    • #2
  3. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @DougWatt

    Al French:Not just Baltimore. The contagion will spread. Police in other jurisdictions follow the news.

    The sad thing is that the good residents in the worst neighborhoods will suffer the most.

    • #3
  4. Kay of MT Inactive
    Kay of MT
    @KayofMT

    I bought a house in an old neighborhood that was on its way down. The police were my best friends, I loved them. They helped me set up a neighborhood watch program and always responded to our calls. It didn’t take too many months to finally clear our area of the riffraff. It took cooperation and respect. To think this type of help will no longer be available is truly heartbreaking.

    • #4
  5. Pencilvania Inactive
    Pencilvania
    @Pencilvania

    Philly just had mayoral primaries and Jim Kenney, the most despicable, progressive, union-mentality blowhard, won the Dems in a landslide.  (The Republican candidate doesn’t even matter – she was a registered Democrat until 6 weeks ago.)  One of his big campaign promises is to end stop-and-frisk.  Can you believe it? The city is doomed.

    • #5
  6. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @DougWatt

    Pencilvania:Philly just had mayoral primaries and Jim Kenney, the most despicable, progressive, union-mentality blowhard, won the Dems in a landslide. (The Republican candidate doesn’t even matter – she was a registered Democrat until 6 weeks ago.) One of his big campaign promises is to end stop-and-frisk. Can you believe it? The city is doomed.

    I believe it. Philly will end up on the same road Baltimore is traveling.

    • #6
  7. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @DougWatt

    Kay of MT:I bought a house in an old neighborhood that was on its way down. The police were my best friends, I loved them. They helped me set up a neighborhood watch program and always responded to our calls. It didn’t take too many months to finally clear our area of the riffraff. It took cooperation and respect. To think this type of help will no longer be available is truly heartbreaking.

    Kay all call taking will do is keep a lid on a neighborhood. Call taking will not offer physical or emotional improvement to a neighborhood.

    • #7
  8. Nick Stuart Inactive
    Nick Stuart
    @NickStuart

    Doug Watt:“Lt. Victor Gearhart, a 33-year veteran who works in the Southern District, said residents with complaints about police “are going to get the police force they want, and God help them.”

    The people of Baltimore have what they have because they vote the way they vote.

    A sobering thing when we consider what the American people have voted for twice, in 2008 and 2012.

    • #8
  9. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    Few government employees have ever lost their jobs for doing nothing. Plenty have lost their jobs for trying to do the right thing. The decision is perfectly rational.

    • #9
  10. Fritz Coolidge
    Fritz
    @Fritz

    Former LA homicide detective (and OJ Simpson nemesis) Mark Fuhrman predicted on Fox News last evening the same trend in Baltimore policing as described in this article.

    Reactive posture instead of proactive, forward posture is the very antithesis of community policing, and the results will not be pretty.

    • #10
  11. captainpower Inactive
    captainpower
    @captainpower

    Misthiocracy:Few government employees have ever lost their jobs for doing nothing. Plenty have lost their jobs for trying to do the right thing. The decision is perfectly rational.

    Do you know of this personally, or is this just some kind of aphorism?

    • #11
  12. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    captainpower:

    Misthiocracy:Few government employees have ever lost their jobs for doing nothing. Plenty have lost their jobs for trying to do the right thing. The decision is perfectly rational.

    Do you know of this personally, or is this just some kind of aphorism?

    I prefer the term “epigram”.

    ;-)

    • #12
  13. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @FrontSeatCat

    Doug, Your picture looks like the artwork of author Michael O’Brien who wrote the book “Father Elijah-An Apocalypse”, one of the most intense novels I’ve ever read, and I’m not even Catholic. http://www.amazon.com/Father-Elijah-Apocalypse-Michael-OBrien/dp/0898706904

    I am all for bad cops being weeded out, but this is all going in a very bad direction. I almost feel like, if it continues, and officers are not allowed to do their job, that it will be an excuse for the current administration to impose a “civilian” police force – which Obama spoke about, resulting in further eroding freedom and imposing more “control”.

    I cannot imagine being a police officer nowadays – it is a war zone in most cities, and they put their lives on the line day and night. Many probably have PTSS like soldiers coming back from war.  Lack of respect for authority and what we just saw in Waco with the bikers should tell you that civility is quickly unraveling, even disappearing.

    Even the recent law in CA of not suspending unruly students because of the supposedly “racial” implications seems like we are rewarding bad behavior and intimidating police, teachers, clergy, etc. to where they cannot do their job!  The teachers in Atlanta rigging tests is another example. Wrong is becoming right and visa versa. Like the radical Muslim issue, some things don’t ever appear to be getting better – How about placing the blame squarely on the perpetrators?

    • #13
  14. Darth Vader Jr Inactive
    Darth Vader Jr
    @NedWalton

    Hmm, could this be a prelude to a national police force. I believe that Obama spoke of one during his first campaign.

    • #14
  15. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @DougWatt

    Ned Walton:Hmm, could this be a prelude to a national police force. I believe that Obama spoke of one during his first campaign.

    If you are concerned about the federalization of your local police force I would suggest that the DOJ is on that path.

    • #15
  16. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @DougWatt

    Front Seat Cat:Doug, Your picture looks like the artwork of author Michael O’Brien who wrote the book “Father Elijah-An Apocalypse”, one of the most intense novels I’ve ever read, and I’m not even Catholic. http://www.amazon.com/Father-Elijah-Apocalypse-Michael-OBrien/dp/0898706904

    By the way I believe that there are four books in the Father Elijah series. All great books and well worth reading.

    • #16
  17. DocJay Inactive
    DocJay
    @DocJay

    I would not be proactive anymore if I were a cop in such a violent place without public and private support for law enforcement.

    • #17
  18. Ricochet Moderator
    Ricochet
    @OmegaPaladin

    captainpower:

    Misthiocracy:Few government employees have ever lost their jobs for doing nothing. Plenty have lost their jobs for trying to do the right thing. The decision is perfectly rational.

    Do you know of this personally, or is this just some kind of aphorism?

    As a government employee, I am aware of this, and I have plenty of anecdotal evidence.  For obvious reasons, I cannot go into details, but there is a significant possibility that the previous person to hold my position suffered such a fate.

    • #18
  19. captainpower Inactive
    captainpower
    @captainpower

    OmegaPaladin:

    captainpower:

    Misthiocracy:Few government employees have ever lost their jobs for doing nothing. Plenty have lost their jobs for trying to do the right thing. The decision is perfectly rational.

    Do you know of this personally, or is this just some kind of aphorism?

    As a government employee, I am aware of this, and I have plenty of anecdotal evidence. For obvious reasons, I cannot go into details, but there is a significant possibility that the previous person to hold my position suffered such a fate.

    That’s good enough for me.

    I wonder if there is a collection of such stories anywhere.

    • #19
  20. Ricochet Moderator
    Ricochet
    @OmegaPaladin

    captainpower:

    As a government employee, I am aware of this, and I have plenty of anecdotal evidence. For obvious reasons, I cannot go into details, but there is a significant possibility that the previous person to hold my position suffered such a fate.

    That’s good enough for me.

    I wonder if there is a collection of such stories anywhere.

    It’s hard to track things like that down, as there is always another reason.   No one is publicly fired for doing the right thing, it is just that any infraction becomes a firing offense.  Private sector example: A manager who wanted to get fired at Walmart began distributing signs talking about unions.  When the management found out, he was fired for taking one extra minute on a lunch break.

    • #20
  21. captainpower Inactive
    captainpower
    @captainpower

    OmegaPaladin:

    captainpower:

    As a government employee, I am aware of this, and I have plenty of anecdotal evidence. For obvious reasons, I cannot go into details, but there is a significant possibility that the previous person to hold my position suffered such a fate.

    That’s good enough for me.

    I wonder if there is a collection of such stories anywhere.

    It’s hard to track things like that down, as there is always another reason. No one is publicly fired for doing the right thing, it is just that any infraction becomes a firing offense. Private sector example: A manager who wanted to get fired at Walmart began distributing signs talking about unions. When the management found out, he was fired for taking one extra minute on a lunch break.

    reminds me of the problem with administrative law and the regulatory state.

    Get on the wrong side of government and they will come after you.

    They did it for Al Capone with taxes, and they can do it to you if you register a blip on the radar.

    http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/08/by-the-way-the-guy-who-made-the-youtube-video-that-didnt-cause-benghazi-just-got-a-year-in-jail/

    • #21
  22. user_138400 Member
    user_138400
    @JoAnnRogers

    In more than a few jurisdictions, a significant portion of the police budget is consumed by former employee pensions and benefits. (Thank you again Democrat policy) A new habit of policing for money in the form of tickets or fines is also undermining the moral authority of the police in general. So yes,the incentive will be on speed traps etc and a whole lot less on foot patrols….. where danger lurks.

    • #22
  23. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @DougWatt

    Jo Ann Rogers:In more than a few jurisdictions, a significant portion of the police budget is consumed by former employee pensions and benefits. (Thank you again Democrat policy)A new habit of policing for money in the form of tickets or fines is also undermining the moral authority of the police in general.So yes,the incentive will be on speed traps etc and a whole lot less on foot patrols….. where danger lurks.

    Each state probably has different laws pertaining to the distribution of fines. I have linked to Oregon’s laws. Fines collected by the county and municipal courts are sent to the Oregon Department of Revenue and a portion of the fines are returned to the county and the cities where the fine was imposed. It is not the most exciting reading but it provides some insight in how the revenue is distributed.

    As far as moral authority is concerned police departments take direction from either a mayor or a city manager. Laws are legislated by the state. Unfortunately most voters do not pay attention when electing mayors, city commissioners, county commissioners, and state legislators. 17 million viewers tuned in for the Bruce Jenner interview so I’m not holding my breath until the day comes that voters wake up either at the local, state, or national level.

    • #23
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