BLIND MICE ...WATCH THEM RUN

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "AS BAD AS IT SEEMS": 

I hope you are not missing the sideshow in that poor little town in Oregon, Evelyn. Those turkeys invaded the refuge claiming to remain until their demands were met. And forgot to bring essentials such as warm socks, coffee creamer, porto-potties and a just cause

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 17 February 2016 at 19:53

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No, I  have noticed. Twenty years ago ,when  O.J.Simpson was on trial, we learned about  Oregon or was it Colorado ,being an enclave for retired police. Militias had been formed and were training for when they would need to take charge of the nation. A police officer who gave false evidence in the trial was headed in that direction. 

Of more recent note, Ferguson and Baltimore and  loss of respect for law and order has made world headlines. 

Dis -satisfaction is real. The genie is out of the bottle. It was  long before Bernie Sanders and the bellicose billionaire arrived on the scene.  The puzzle  is,why people in safe,secure ,comfortable pews take so long to acknowledge the problem. 

Why is it, every time discreditable police conduct is identified, response is the same ; we

need better training. 

They've been saying that long enough for two generations of police to pass from recruitment  to retirement. York Region had a Police Chief  who invested in cadet -training for a truly professional police force. The Police Association got rid of him in a hurry. 

The problem has to do with selection, acknowledging the nature of the job and recognizing police culture.

IT'S THEM AGAINST US AND THEY NEED TO CLOSE RANKS AGAINST US.  

In Canada, no Police Chief can feel secure in authority.  

So who represents the community's best interest?

The drama surfaced once again  in Toronto last week. Better than any fiction written, the situation was brilliantly exemplified.

A Deputy- Chief of a quarter-century experience,who rose through the ranks,despite systemic racism within the force, made a generalized reference to the need for improvement in policing  in North America . He made an obvious reference to how technology could replace manpower and ten million dollar savings  could be achieved. 

He is no longer with the force. The Chief had nothing to say about the loss of a valuable resource.i guess we know why he got the job. 

 The Mayor, uncharacteristicly, had no explanation.

Twenty-five years of investment in successful TRAINING  was tossed in slavish obeisance to the  political power of the police union.

On the other hand ....a constable who pumped seven bullets into the dead body of a mentally disturbed youth, had drawn his gun thirty-three times in a given period,had been flagged three times for discipline, is still on the payroll. 

Big Mike McCormack ,  Police Association President and the lawyer provided by the Association  to the convicted officer, exited the court publicly vowing to use every legal recourse to undermine the jury decision. 

The same Big Mike welcomed the decision of an exemplary senior officer to leave the force. 

Toronto Police Association has 8,700 members. 

In my judgement, their politics clearly dominate both municipal and provincial authority. 

Life goes on but at some point, maybe sooner rather than later, as in Ferguson,Baltimore  and Oregon, respect for law and order erodes and explodes in  frustration and violence.

We live in a civilized society because of  community respect for law and order. 

We break it at our peril.