by Ajai Dittmar
I was born in Cedar Rapids, but my little brother was born in Fort Hood Texas where my father was stationed when he served in the United States Army.
My godparents still reside in Texas where my godfather has served as a police officer for more than twenty five years. My mother has also worked as a police dispatcher sometimes I went to work with her.
One of the most important things I took away from my experiences from living in Texas is an exclusive understanding about what life was like behind the ‘blue curtain’.
For those of you who don’t know what the ‘blue curtain’ is- it is best explained as the unique subculture of Law Enforcement Officers and their families. They have each other’s backs and some will cover for others simply because of this unique bond and to protect the department’s reputation.
Issue:
A formal written request for an outside investigation is being formulated as I speak by a group that was created in December 2010, called copwatchers, this group has 61 members from all walks of life who are concerned about the conduct of the CRPD. Several members have contacted the State Ombudsman requesting that an outside investigation be conducted.
Even though we have the second largest city in the state members of the copwatcher group were told by the Ombudsman’s office that they do not have the resources to conduct such an investigation. The Ombudsman office suggested we talk about these issues at a public City Council meeting.
Our copwatcher forum conducted a survey asking what issues people thought needed to be addressed. The top three concerns pertain to public relations, internal affairs, and policy on high speed pursuits.
While we like the idea of a citizen review board we would like to know who would pick the members what kind of people would be sought to serve and how would we know that chosen members are not related to people who serve in law enforcement.
The majority of our group feels that it is unethical for the police to investigate themselves.
For example when the ‘sleepy’ officer was identified Sgt. Hamblin said
“Whatever results from any internal investigation, the results are not likely to be made public”. She continued to say that “if an employee of any private company gets disciplined, those details aren’t usually shared with co-workers. The same rule applies to police officers.”
Since when have the police had the privacy of a private company? Do we not pay their salary?
Who holds the police accountable when the police don’t hold themselves or each other responsible for their actions?
When the unidentified CRPD k-9 Officer was caught at the bar in Marion he was not charged with an OWI even though he was clearly intoxicated. The Cedar Rapids police was notified about this incident the same day it happened yet it took 20-days for it to become public.
Hamblin declined to say if the officer had already been interviewed, saying it was a confidential personnel matter. She said investigators would be talking to any witnesses they can.
Hamblin was quoted as saying “Any time there’s an incident with an officer, we investigate it just like a criminal matter, not because it was, but because there are things that are against our policies,” Hamblin said. “We hold ourselves to a higher standard.” Aren’t criminals listed in the newspaper within days after they break the law? Why is it that they are not held to the same standard as the public? Do they not live by the same rules the rest of us are obligated to abide by?
This is just the tip of the iceberg.
I have a great deal of respect for people who chose the path of a public servant and do my best to respect people who have sworn to uphold the United States Constitution. I have my degree in criminal justice. I have taken both law enforcement and corrections courses and I graduated with honors and have to say that it is my opinion the public’s opinion of the police will not change nor will our city will become a safer place until these critical internal issues are resolved
RE: police emloyment vs. private employment
I want to comment on the comment by the police spokesperson that the results of internal investigations in private companies aren’t made public. In the same vein, if an employee of a private company murders someone, beats someone, makes a “human error” like kicking down the wrong door, tases people in wheelchairs, steals money or items necessary to the company’s efficient operation (such as “evidence”), locks teenagers in a van for 12 hours, or, oh I don’t know, any of the thousands of other things we see police get away with everyday, that employee would be fired immediately. Private employees who are held accountable in their jobs don’t get the benefit of “paid administrative leave”, “desk-duty”, an investigation by one’s best friends, or any of the multiple evasions of accountability police afford themselves.
Couldn,t agree more with Greg Beaman.Many/most cops are now the biggest threat to themseves and all civilians.Wakeup out there the fox never was good at watching the hen house.
Thank you for posting this.
Whenever I hear the police will be doing an “internal investigation” I always think its the same thing as Tom Hagan investigating the Corleone Family or Eric Prinz investigationg Blackwater, or Jim Bakker investigating PTL (I could go on for days).
http://www.npetlaw.com/Ralstonv.Harrelson.PDF
I know some exemplary police offecicers.In the 1980s an officer named Dan August in CR actually tried to help me and comfort me when I was having a horrible time with a rebellious teenager.The city council tied his hands as to what all he could do.Hope he is still living and now enjoying some sort of retirement.
The other one is Guy Sorensen.You may not believe it but he is actually an honest cop who hates to write tickets.He prefers to speak to a person not talk at them as a supreme being.He has never been tempted to be dishonest.He is an outstanding man and cop who currently works in Harker Heights Texas.He understands what it is like to be human.
I know there are other honest cops out therewho aren`t blue Gods on power trips.In this time of Godlessness in the world it is just awfully hard to find the good ones.They will be the ones we see in Heaven.Guess where the others will probably end up?
I’m still reading the story, and I hate to point out a non-issue, but it seems as though you’re saying Fort Hood is the 2nd largest city in TX, when Houston enjoys that destination. It goes Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio I believe. Sorry if I misunderstood.
@ dee martin – I’ve long held that cops fit into two distinct categories.
The first category are dedicated, committed, professional public servants. Men and women who feel a calling to protect and serve their community. Maybe they come from a long line of police officers, maybe they were in another profession and had their lives saved by a cop so they decide to become a police officer, or maybe a cop is just all they ever wanted to be.
The second category are those who become a cop because it’s the best paying, easiest job they can get, or they have no self-esteem and so they want to hide behind a badge that most people respect and the rest can be dominated into respecting, or they were picked on as kids and now they’re on a permanent power trip (especially the ones who do it in their own home town if that town is a tiny, crappy little berg), or maybe they’re just bigoted, racist assholes who want to beat up on and punish minorities.
As a kid I would have told you that maybe 80% fell into the first category and only 20% into the second. But, unfortunately, I think we’re at about 50/50 today, and maybe even 60/40 to the bad.