Have fun in Vegas. Remember to put a quarter in your shoe. That way you will have it for phone call when you are broke. It also makes you walk funny and people are more likely to leave you alone.
CNN just reported that the AJC’s Officer Steve Rose is going on vacation in Vegas!!!
Good luck in Vegas, Officer Steve!!! Envy you. Vegas is better than Disney World. This whole thing reminds me of this one cop friend of mine who writes a blog and went to Vegas on R and R.
“Boxcars at Midnight. An Atlanta Metro Cop goes to Vegas”.
“Even my flight over was rough. The kid in the upright seat in front of me was, of course, the good kid. The kid behind me was the Ghost of Criminal Einstein Future I tried the half-turn with my clenched teeth to his parents, who looked like Yuppie Scum House-Flipping Socialistic Blue Staters. (YSHFSBS). Jurisdiction alone prevented me from going Full Probable Cause. The entire flight! I knew Airport Security had no way to detect that this kid could have managed to make it past private tutors, trained nannys, rabbis, priests, or any passer-by, really, so I didn’t blame them too much. I had to give one of my Dice Clay tickets away, though. But it was worth it. I was free….. in Vegas!”
end of chapter one. chapter two, Dress Down in Brown Shoes. (preview……”At the tables, Dressing Up is a problem because you stick out. Nobody dresses anymore. Why would they? I saw at least three misdemeanors before i lost my first hundred. And that was just the cigarette lady. You should have seen the shows. The dealer was fun, though, and a good dealer can really help you not notice as they win every time………….
Steve,
I honeymooned in Vegas for 4 nights…just one day too long, but well worth it. I have to say you must have gotten a bad room at Luxor though. Ours was freshly remodeled and very nice.
dectective steve for three weeks after his R and R: “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”. Rush Limbaugh now: What plays in Peoria, and prays in Iraq, brays from Limbaugh: “I hope Obama fails”. This is the twitter equivalent of a war on civics. Give peace a chance. Enough war.
This was such a cute article. Maybe next week we can get a cute article about why police decided to forgo enforcing the law in favor of becoming glamorized cashiers for the city.
Forget “protect and serve”. It’s now “find and solicit”.
Have you noticed Truth About Cops’s therapy hasn’t done much good? Thankfully he can hide behind his fake name and probably pitiful life to vent his bitterness. He’s on a geeee-haaaad for losers who finally figured out the world didn’t cater to them as they sit on thier lazy asses. Thank you though, you make the rest of us feel better about ourselves!
Through my biological father, I felt the pride of the Greatest Generation when they read “Nuts!” during the Battle of The Bulge. America went full jingo then, (but I’ll bet Rush would have called even those terms a surrender monkey octuplet nanny state thing). NUTS! Man! doesn’t that say, “please charge these positions”. Pardon our Bazooka. The Carrier beat Japan. The Bazooka beat the Germans.
The best story out of WW2 was the way the Germans used carriers to give their one battleship air cover…….no, the best story was Japanese Radar. Now we know why they blamed the Germans about Pearl Harbor. America was fighting the sins of the German and Japanese fathers. Our country works because our military missions, our religious missions, and our political missions are led by a civilian commander in chief. Theo-cultural warfare always ends in a disaster. A natural war would be one that involved pushing the Kurds out of the next valley. Thankfully, as man evolved, natural war became illogical. But man does seem to enjoy all the Shock and Awe of the Last Resort. My fellow twitterers, W freed Iraq in response to 911. That is amazing. A free Iraq! Warning:
Forget the asteroids, we’ve got our troops massing on the Pakistan border. The Taliban Troops have been in those confounded mountains long enough to give them the squatter’s rights implied in the Magna Carta, doesn’t it?
What is the mission of US troops in Afghanistan? It’s possible that Obama was forced to keep our war chief, Gates, because of some ongoing end-game that Cheney dreamed up. It’s my civic duty to vote that Obama should stop the troop buildup, pull way way back, and let Fort Stinking Desert cool off.
Un-Constitutional searches and seizures by police are just a riot! I’ll bet ol’ TJ would have been rolling on the floor – like he’s doing in his grave.
You are an ass. Perhaps a WHOLE ass which would make an……. I see if YOU can figure the rest out…….
Why do asses like yourself think that because a person works for the Gov’t that EVERY HOUR of their life somehow belongs to the Gov’t IE: you a taxpayer? Ever stop and think that maybe the AJC pays Steve for the time he spends AFTER WORK to write this little blog?
But in short, we are NOT giving our tax dollars for him to “do this.” We are giving him our tax dollars to look at an ass such as yourself, smile and be polite when he wants to tell you what an ass you are.
Nice story, nice to see something which shows some humor. A little smile once in a while is good for the soul. I don’t care what others say. Thanks for this humorous story.
Fred, you’re an blathering idiot. You want the public job, you’re held to the higher standard. Period. That’s the way it is for all of us at the local, state, and federal levels, and most of us are quite aware of it every day. It keeps us from doing things like sending emails as dumb as your posting, for example. By the way, the caps key is to the left of the keyboard, turn it off sometime..your blood pressure will go down.
How much money are we wasting yearly on shaking down productive citizens to prove that they are not doing drugs on their personal time? How many careers have been unnecessarily destroyed? How much money was wasted during prohibition ensuring that productive citizens didn’t have a glass of wine or a beer on their personal time? The drug cartels in Mexico that we get to read about in the news are there because our society is funding their payrolls from the ridiculous “war on drugs” policies that have failed for decades and we refuse to admit the direct comparison to the years of alcohol prohibition that also failed. Funny, that after prohibition was over everyone didn’t rush to become a drunkard but the government today would have you believe that if drugs were legalized we would all immediately indulge to the point of overdosing or becoming addicts. Funny but I’m not laughing.
Jane, I agree with you 100 percent! It always amazes me to see the fools who so blithely throw away their freedom, who understand neither their country’s history nor even their fundamental rights. I wish Jefferson and Washington were here to see the travesty we’ve made of our country! When will these fools begin to connect the dots? Never I’m afraid!
Janine: Get a life. The man can write in his free time. We don’t own him.
Huckleberry: I could understand your final comment to Fred if his post had been in all caps, but he merely capitalized some points in his comment to place emphasis on them. I also completely disagree with your assesment of Steve’s public position. He’s not an elected official. He’s a peace officer who writes an entertaining and sometimes informative blog in his off hours.
“…it occurred to me that I needed not to make enemies with the guy in charge of my drug test under the same theory that one should never make a big deal of food that isn’t cooked just right and demand it be returned to the kitchen until it’s done right.”
Sage advice, my friend. Never piss off someone who can make your life a living hell. Which is why most of us shuffle along and mumble “Yes dear.”
I would like to ask a question, though. How come the only people they seem to drug test is us middle aged white guys with no life. What about that purple haired freak who looks like he was hit in the face with a tackle box, what with all those piercings and all. How come he never gets tested. What’s up with that?
They do go by looks when they chose a schmoe to drug test. But their criteria is how closely the suspect resembles Barney Rubble. Look at Steve’s Rose’s latest icon-photo thing. Look at his hair! Look at his shirt!
Actually, my standard “joke” is more along the lines of I wish they’d given me more time to study. Fortunately I only get tested a couple of “random” times a year.
If this guy’s trying-to-hard, wannabe Grizzardy articles were as funny as he thinks they are, this Cleveland steamer of a post would draw more than a pathetic 17 comments.
There should be a lot more accountabitly for these over-weight government cash generators. More than a random drug test- perhaps they should be held accountable for tailgating, speeding, running red lights and issuing false tickets to innocent drivers?
Nah, just keep pretending like this is what our founding fathers had in mind: a communist police state. Hope you dolts enjoy the 4th!
Truth – Once again you lump all law enforcement officers with the few who abuse their positions. Get over it and yourself. I’ll keep enjoying the posts and hope some of the old voices come back to the comments.
In these troubled times, it is even more important to be aware of your surroundings, conscious of who you let have access to your home, and so very careful of where you are. Most cars now automatically lock the doors once you start moving, but it should be something everyone does to help secure themselves against carjacking. For too many people, it is easier to steal what you have rather than earning a living. I appreciate your pointing out these items of common sense, Lt. Steve, and it amazes me to no end that so many people just don’t think! Keep up the good work!
Steve jokes about cutting up the boxes but this is a vital step. If you leave whole boxes out on the curb, then every person who drives by knows exactly what you just got. Cut the boxes into strips and put them in trash bags. If you can’t do that, cut the boxes at the seams and and turn them inside out. Or cut them up and take them to a cardboard recycling dumpster. When carrying purchases in from the car, use trash bags to conceal what you have. Don’t let someone see the nice box from the Apple store. Dress it in a Hefty. Laundry baskets work well too: put folded clothes on top of the item you are hiding. Nobody is going to think twice if they see you carry that into your house.
I am glad that I live out in the boonies (is that still a word?) We do have crime but we don’t have to be quite so frightened when we make a purchase. I guess our criminals haven’t figured that they could just follow you home, yet. I prefer the way the world was when I was young.
Anybody else read about all the city’s taking the stop light cameras out. One of the reasons mentioned in the article was that a new state law mandated that an extra second of yellow light which reduced the number of citations.
Also cited in the article was a city manager saying that they budgeted for a certain number of citations and now that the number was reduced, they couldn’t afford the camera service.
Just what most of us already knew, a large part of the stop light camera program was about generating revenue.
About being aware: My friend (in another state) heard from a guy she sort of dated in high school…back when we were in the 10th grade. When he stopped calling her, that was the end of their relationship…she did not collapse or beg for an explanation. Out of the blue, after 30 years, he contacted her, not via the internet or facebook or other social network, nor via a mutual friend, but thru the telephone – her home business, which is in her husband’s name. Her home number has caller ID, but the business does not. And, he called when her husband was at work. The guy said he needed closure and wanted to know why she did not pursue him after he stopped calling. He’s thinking this after 30 years?
He went on to say that she was a tough person to track b/c she was not on any internet registry and the home phone, etc. was listed in her husband’s name. So, he hired a private investigator. He’s in another state, hundreds of miles away, but knew pretty much everything about her, where she worked, where her kids went to school. He was wondering what happenend to “them”? It was as if he thought she would have been flattered to know that he hired a private investigator to find her. The whole thing is creeeepy. Now she is constantly looking over her shoulder and almost expects to see him waiting outside her door or at her car after work or after a swim meet or dance recital, etc. She doesn’t even know for sure that he lives where he claims to live, he could be around the block from her.
In my renting days, I did have trouble with apartment staff physically accepting a rent check (versus leaving it in the box). I lived in several different chain complexes (e.g. Post), and this was always the case. The staff members generally refused to physically take the check, and if they did, they would refuse to sign a receipt. I had a check go missing about once every year, so it was a big concern for me. The only way I could find to get around it is to mail the check to the office certified mail with return receipt, which is like $4 a month.
Hmmm…regarding employees refusing to accept payment…seems to me there used to be a law that said something to the affect that if you made good faith effort to pay a debt and it was refused then that debt could be considered paid. I’m not a lawyer, it’s just something I recall reading in years gone by…
To Lee re: red lights. they were budgeted to make enough to pay for themselves, not to provide excess revenue to the city. Just like any business, if it’s costing you more than it returns it needs to go. The part you leave out is that accidents did in fact go down at those intersections. I guess it comes down to how much the city/county is willing to pay for that safety.
you know, where i work, i have to hear the same corny joke a million times a day from people who think they’re the only ones to ever think of it, and expect a courtesy laugh…i’ve made a game of seeing how many seconds i can give them an unamused, blank stare before they realize i obviously didn’t hear them, and repeat their joke.
Pinko, first of all, law enforcement is not a “business.” Also cited in the article was the fact that citations went down when lawmakers mandated an extra second of yellow light at intersections that had cameras.
Common sense stuff, add a few extra seconds of yellow light, add a few extra seconds between the time the light changes red on one side and green on the other, and you eliminate all but the most flagrant red light runners.
Fact of the matter is that these companies sold the municipalities on the red light cameras on a large part of the revenue generation.
Most flagrant red light runners dont know they’ve gone through a red light, they’re texting or otherwise occupied. I see very late red light runners all the time. They don’t see the read light at all. They’re fumbling around. It’s impossible to remember to scan an intersection for cars barging through red lights every time you approach one but that would be the only defense: You stopping for a green light.
Perhaps a big light that reads, CAMERAS ROLLING! whenever the light turns red.
PinkoNeoConLibertarian, please recheck your facts. In most intersections the number of accidents actually went UP because of people slamming on their brakes when they noticed the light was about to turn red. This is several seconds before the other light would turn green and even more seconds before the other cars would start to move.
What’s up with all the hatin’ on Lt. Steve? He’s a good guy in the neighborhood, subject to drug tests, serves us well while trying to find some humor in the situation… I’ve been busted by the damn red light camera on Holcomb Bridge, and the SSPD for tag problems. But Lt. Steve and the SSPD are the good guys stuck with a certain system. I hope he keeps bloggin’.
An illegal alien reported being able to live in the Atlanta metro area without any fear of being (rightfully) arrested and deported by the police. The alien’s wife immediately began downloading anchor babies at a record pace. The police provided a variety of excuses but remained unwilling to enforce the law.
A mother of four was issued an imaginary citation because the police officer was short and had a hard time getting girls in high school. The woman deprived her kids the following month so she could pay the unreasonably high fine for the crime that was never actually committed. The police officer was somehow still able to look at himself in the mirror the next day. Just another day on the job for this chubby hero.
A man reported being robbed at knife point in a parking lot. The police weren’t really concerned, because they had already met their monthly quotas and were fully aware that thier motto is no longer “protect and serve”- they’ve traded it in for “entrap and solicit”. The man thankfully wasn’t harmed, and the police officers didn’t even have to interrupt their fourth dinner of the evening.
Should we change the holiday from “Independence day” to “Communist Police State day”?
I’ve got one of those big dog thunder problems too. The only thing that helps mine is letting him (all million pounds of him) sit in my lap on the couch (or lay on me in bed). It’s a hassle, but not as much as the two man hazmat jobs!!!!
Please do yourself (and your dog a favor). Get him a prescription from your vet. When the big boomers come in, a little happy pill works wonders. Your dog will be happier and it costs a lot less than shampooing carpets.
When I was a kid, we had a dog that would throw himself against the back door whenever it thundered. We finally decided to let him become a house dog, thinking that would help. Nope. If it thundered, especially at night (when everything seems to be scarier, even thunder and lightning), he would throw himself against my bedroom door and then hide under my bed. It got to the point where he’d just come in there and sleep under the bed, regardless the weather. Of course half the time he did it to hide from one of the cats that always terrorized him. For the record, the dog was a German Shepherd mixed with Lab, possibly Boxer, butcher, baker, and candlestick maker.
I have seen some scary lightning in the past. I remember while at A.H. Stephens Park for a weekend event one Summer, there was some wicked lightning that forked across the sky, and looked like an electrified oak tree. An old house we lived in had an aerial mounted on top (we lived out in the middle of the middle of nowhere), and whenever lightning struck, it seemed to light up all around the outside and inside of the home. Another time when I worked for K-Mart, I had seen a lightning bolt do battle with a transformer across the street. The lightning bolt won.
I almost forgot. I once had a dog that when it thundered, he barked. He didn’t try to hide under a bed or anywhere, nor did he have accidents. If it thundered, he barked. I think he thought it was another dog nearby that was barking, and he felt like replying.
I can not believe all you people posted and missed the most important part of this story. Dipping into Crown Royal is the best part of thunderstorms. Please people, get your priorities straight!
A dog drinking Crown Royal in a thunderstorm! (Shaken, not curred). The old 45 recordings of the dogs barking Jingle Bells is the only way to get a Rottweiler to go full Scooby Snack in a Rhunderstorm. Also, Bugs Bunny in Drag cartoons will do the trick, but only in a thunderstorm.
My lab hides under my bed and takes my shoes with her. Wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t a king size. I have to crawl to the middle of it to get my shoes back.
And I have to disagree with the most important point. I feel the spelling of Lynyrd Skynyrd is most pressing. I’m equally concerned that this story posted 2 days ago and nobody else seems to have caught it. What kind of Southerners are you?
We had a yellow lab named Biscuit who hated thunder and lightening. She would get in the crawl space under the house and turn the light on (pull-chain). We never could get her to turn it off again when she came back out.
The only thing that freaks out my lab is the beeping of the smoke alarm…when we test the batteries. He loves to be outside during a storm, will sit by the door for hours, waiting to be let out. Even though it’s been 11 years, my husband still has not gotten over the fact that I had the dog neutered and blames all of this dog’s quirks on that. My sister has the sister-dog and she starts shaking long before the storm even hits. She’s like a storm-tracker.
My dogs have always been weinnies, but so am I. Even more so now because lightning hit my house last year and caught it on fire. Missed me by 4 feet. Now the dogs seem to blame me for the thunder and run AWAY from me when it storms. If I could, I would get under the bed and stay several months.
It’s not easy to do the low boom bass voice in the old man ribbah song. But every true American man can do it! Find the range within which you can hold the long slow notes and let er rip. Guaranteed to force your wife to let you go play golf. Just sing it earnestly, as if you truly believed it matters if you screw it up. Guaranteed.
Ollld Maan Ribbahh………
That or whistling should get you out of the house.
BTW: let’s not make this incident more worthy of condemnation than the rodney king video
The cell phone is the bane of mankind. I wont own one, but I do have a fake child’s cellphone that I keep in my pocket to pretend to be talking into whenever I see a hot chick. Then i kinda mosey on over and say stuff like, “Keep looking for Fluffy. Your kitten is too precious to give up. Keep looking. I’ll be over to help you find that poor little kitten as soon as I can.”
Works every time. Using that gag, I’ve gotten fur-balled at least fifty times.
Steve you’re taking me back with the Jonny Beckman reference. I remember watching him on 11 alive. Even met Guy Sharp a few times at Northlake Mall at the Glass Oven. Man that was one heck of a bakery. Ah the good ole days.
Chris I’ve never tried the whole “I’ll be over to help you look for your kitten in a little bit” trick. I’ll have to try that sometime. Oh and just curious was there a slight inuendo with the term “fur-balled” at the end?
You’ll be surprised at who’s on facebook now. It’s not just for tweens and teenagers anymore. My in-laws are on it, as well as my dad. They have found old high school and college classmates. You should do searches for your high school, etc. Most have group pages now that you can join. Its a lot of fun!
You can always Un-friend people if you wish, you are not stuck with anyone. It is a pain though because you get to see what all of your friends are doing, do I care if Michelle took her dog for a walk, NO, do I care if Lisa’s kids are sick. As long as they don’t throw up on me I am good. It does have it’s good points though so enjoy.
Believe it or not, I do know all of the people on my friends list. They are my family, classmates and church friends. I am enjoying keeping in touch with folks I no longer get to see very often. I have actually found some of my neighbors that moved away from the neighborhood when we were kids. I have found classmates that for whatever reason did not make class reunions. It has been a lot of fun. And Yes, these people are not 12 years old and are intellegent acting.
I refuse to be on any social networking sites. The friends that I’ve had over the years are still people that I communicate with.
Sorry, but I don’t want people I went to high school with or previous neighbors, co-workers, etc. contacting me. If they were friends before, they are still friends today.
I see these sites as a waste of time. Sitting in front of a computer chatting and “tweeting” is something that I’m not interested in, but to each his/her own.
Mr. Happy doesn’t sound very happy at all. In fact, he sounds more like Mr. Grumpy. I joined Facebook a little less than two weeks ago and I’ve found it to be quite enjoyable. I’ve reconnected with people I knew in high school and college, and best of all, I’ve been able to see current pictures of them and their family. It’s been great fun. And, incidentally, I’m 47.
I have been on FB for about 3 months, much to the horror of my teenager, at first. I have had a lot of fun catching up and reacquainting myself with former classmates…all the way back to elementary school. Unfortunately, some people think it’s fun to post class photos from during the “awkward stages.” It’s not. Many of us did not save those pictures for a reason. It’s interesting, however, to see how people are doing and where they are in life, and to see the metamorphisis that at least one person went through. Looking forward to the next high school reunion.
Mr. Genuine: Do you have an older sister for me on Facebook? My profile: I like to tweet, blog, and surf the information superhighway, yeah, that’s right, I’m hi-tech.
Facebook? Just another way to kill time once the piggies have filled their monthly quotas. Maybe I should set up a facebook for people that have been ripped off (multiple times) by cops.
Any thoughts on actually enforcing the immigration laws, as opposed to hiding out and entrapping people on the side of the road?
Naw, let’s start a facebook and write a half-azz article about it. Cops aren’t heroes anymore, they only exist to generate (dirty) revenue.
That’s why it’s so funny to hear the morons that call Hannity talk about the constitution- we haven’t observed the constitution in this country for a hundred years!
Do you think the “founding fathers” envisioned this kind of Communist police state? You idiots just pacify yourselfs, keep watching American Idol- because it’s too late now. You think it’s funny until one of these portly “officers” decides to ruin your life and create hardship for you in the interest of generating government revenue.
Forget “protect and serve”. Cops now follow the slogan “find and solicit”.
“Call it what it is.” – Well OK – This crybaby stuff is SO OLD. Relax dude. Check out the Rants section of craig’s list, get it off your chest, and come back when you have a nicer attitude.
What a person does on thier private time is thier own business. I’m sure LT Rose (like most people)knows that if his posts show up while he’s on the clock it can easily be proven.
I’m on Facebook due to the prodding of my current graduate school classmates. I’ve had ex-girlfriends find me. Good thing they still look good! I don’t just accept anyone so you can definitely ignore the people you do not want to be friends with. Kind of like “The truth about cops.” I hope he never needs a cops assistance because they might find out who he is and take their time getting there to help (of course I kid, maybe).
Truth About Cops lost another barback job and wants everyone to know how bitter he is about getting a ticket. One-percenter he is. Train’s a-leaving loser.
Truth: That’s harsh. “Any thoughts on actually enforcing the immigration laws, as opposed to hiding out and entrapping people on the side of the road?”
Try floating that line to the families of those officers killed in Pittsburgh and Oakland.
In Detroit, in 1971, my 1964 Chevy Belair was stolen by a guy who lived down the street from my fraternity house. He was arrested and I was notified to be present during his trial. I was in the courtroom when his case came up and court-appointed lawyer got the case thrown out. I left the courtroom, and got on the elevator, which happened to be occupied by the guy (my age) who stole my car. We ignored each other during the six floor descent to the parking garage, where we both went our separate ways. (Now, I didn’t know this guy, but I saw him in court, so I knew he was the guy. It was only later that I realized he lived near me.)
A couple months later, the same guy stole my car again. I didn’t bother reporting it this time, and sure enough, my car was returned to the parking spot in front of my fraternity house in the morning. There were the same brand of empty wine bottles in the back seat as I noticed before, but otherwise, no damage. So, an uneasy truce evolved where this clown would occasionally (about once a fortnight) steal my car late at night for a joyride, but he’d return it soon enough.
He never once put any gas in it, so I controlled him by only putting in fifty cents worth of gas at a time. (about two and a half gallons in 1971).
True Story.
Postscript. The carjacker from hell finally stopped stealing my car. The keys were never left in it, but if you know anything about the 1964 Bel Air, then you’d know you didn’t need a key: the hooded ignition assembly was easily forced with pliers. I finally traded the old car in on a 1967 Olds Cutlass, (a fine, fine car, my fine friends).
You may wonder why I was so cool about my stolen car. Well, I’ll tell you why. In 1970, my 1961 Comet broke down in a Detroit neighborhood that some would kindly label as being on the wrong side of the tracks. I left it overnight and returned to find it completely destroyed; all the windows smashed, the tires slashed, the engine and battery and hoses all damaged. Wires all ripped out and strewn everywhere. Seats carved up. The reason I was in that particular neighborhood was because I worked at Chrysler, and was giving three co-worker-denizens of that particular neighborhood a ride home. One was constantly snorting blow. One would wave his pistol around inside the car to prove what a player he was to his two buddies; and one was this quieter guy who kept back-seat driving with one word comments about how I took this turn or that lane change etc. So, as I stood there, assessing the damage to my car, some rotund fifty-something woman came out of her house and started yelling at me, “You better get this car out of here! I’m not gonna look at this eyesore all day.” I waved and said, “I’ll call a tow truck”. She went back inside. I didn’t report it because I had purchased the car for only 50 dollars three months earlier, ($300 today), and I could always use my nanna’s car to get to work. Afterward, at work, we never spoke to each other again. I was transferred to a different part of the factory, and didn’t really see the three ride-sharing car-poolers anymore.
What I had surmised in 1970’s Detroit was that America was facing something called “Citizen Nullification” of all law, and that our social evolution as a country was lagging behind our economic and legal evolution. Now, I wasn’t one for being noble, but I instinctively knew that the transportation problems of one little person didn’t amount to a hill of beans in that crazy city…..but today I wish I had just signed over the title to my Bel Air’s joyrider. I know I didn’t get a penny for it anyway, because the white salesman-thief ripped me off when I traded for the Cutlass. (But used-car sales tactics are legal, and joyriding isn’t.)
RIght?
Today, with cool historical perspective, I hope both GM and my old Detroit acquaintances are fine.
Post-Postscript: I got the ‘64 Bel Air from my girlfriend’s dad, who was a mechanic. This girl, named Esther, looked like Sophia Loren, (pure Sicilian). How I let her get away is the real tragedy here, not the stinking cars.
I think she broke up with me cause I didn’t have a cool-enough car. I hated the seventies, man.
I can somewhat believe the last story you put up about the brother using his sibling’s name while racking up traffic violations. My ex-fiance had a friend show up out of the blue saying she had an emergency and needed to barrow a car. Foolishly, my ex allowed her to use her jeep. The so-called friend wound up getting pulled over by Cobb County’s finest and given a ticket for running a red light and no ID. Bad thing was my ex was already fighting a suspended license & no proof of insurance in court and wasn’t supposed to be driving period. Thankfully, I was able to get her a decent lawyer that was able to step in and get the charges reduced and it didn’t wind up coming back to bite her. Moral of the story though, if a friend you haven’t seen in a while suddenly shows up asking to barrow your car, it’s probably not a good idea to be so agreeable.
Oh funny sidenote, a PI showed up a few days later trying to track her down because apparently she had taken up identity theft for a living and had hal shal I put this politely… Screwed some other people in the same way and worse. What’s that old saying, Keep your enemies close and your friends closer? Have a Happy Easter Steve!
Steve,
I’ve gotta say I’m impressed. From what I’ve read of your work on here, I didn’t peg you for the Facebook or social networking type. Try and look at it though as what you do in here when you talk to us and post your stories. Except on illegal substances. As far as the part about getting friend requests from people you don’t know or seing pages that have 100+ friends. I can tell you from having my own page, the 100+ crowd are people that kill time by playing cheesy little game aps on there. I have I think 30+ so-called friends but most are from the games that I kill time with on there. Not to mention most are over in Europe so I really don’t want to get too close to them anyway. Except the hot Italian girl. Wouldn’t mind meeting her when I go to Italy in May for my sister’s wedding. Out of all the so-called friends I have on my Facebook page probably 10 are people I talk to each week. and maybe 1/2 of them I see every once in a while. So basically to make youre earlier point in a much longer wordy way, They should probably put a section together for People I Don’t Care About, But Use For My Game or Other Pointless Purposes.
Truth: While I support your 1st amendment right to express yourself, I have 4 words for you and please take them to heart and as personally as you’d like. Ready?
… SHUT THE HELL UP!
Man I feel better now.
Sorry about the H E double hockey sticks Steve. Won’t happen again.
I just thought of something. You of course know that you can be arrested for doing some really stupid things on the Internet that really don’t need to be mentioned because they’re so grotesque. But I was just thinking after I read Truth’s post more thuroughly. Could we maybe charge him with cyber disorderly conduct? Just a thought. Probably unconstitutional or something. But hey it made me smile at least.
Entertaining as always. Sadly, I replaced the Dodge Ram 2500 diesel with a little 2-seater convertible. I can’t help as much as I used to be able to. But anyone can pretty much stop and drag a branch off the road. Come on people, it’s 45 seconds out of your day.
Have fun in Big D! Nothing them Good Old Texas boys like better than having some fun with grown men wearing grass skirts and coconut shell bras!
Thanks to Georgia Power for getting my power back on (a little over 24 hours!) and for everyone who cleared the roads and took care of things. Y’all did a great job!
A tree clobbered my house during the storms. I have Allstate Homeowners Insurance. I will report how smoothly the claims process goes.
The man who has a tree growing in his lungs has filed a storm damage claim with his own insurance company. Apparently the tree in his lungs was knocked over by the storm too, and clobbered his spleen. Now that’s a strong storm!
Sounds like some folks go full Tommy Bahama when they gets to Narcoritaville. Then it seems like they get so high they end up going full Terra Cotta Warrior. Now that’s stoned, my friend. The best way to sober those folks up is to feed them reality sandwiches, with unenforced drug violations on the side, and a separate plate for the “are we having fun yet”.
I’m sad at your suggestion “asking a lot of questions and they’ll probably hang up”.
Couldn’t we think of a more sophisticated solution?
We could have an automated system with a number to call (9010101 for example), the automated machine would log our phone number and find out who and from where came the last call received.
If there is a pattern, the “pranksters” trying multiple potential victims, some of these immediately calling the special number, the system will flag the calling number and beep the adequate service/department, catching these people in time and putting them at their right place (jail?).
Of course, that will not work forever, forcing the bad guys to work their imagination and become smarter, who knows, they may end up honest successful script writers in Hollywood!
Meanwhile, sadly, your suggestion is still the best, as usual!
As much as I feel for the couple, there’s probably not a lot we can do short of bringing back public hanging. There are sharks out there so the only way to stop them is to use caution and good sense.
I am not sure what you mean when you write “The customer was not happy and insisted the device didn’t work at the time it was supposed to work”. The device works; now whether it works at a time it suppose to work is up to the customer.
The ladies reading the blog should checkout babeland.com…there is an item that not only works when you want it to, it apparently learns what you like! I’m thinking the men are going to have to work a little harder now. Sorry guys!
Can you return butt plugs? What about those exotic japanese dingo balls all strung together? What about ping pong balls that can be fired from an asian woman’s you know what? I’m just trying to raise some money in this slow economy, that’s all. Do you have to clean these things up when you take them back? I lost the original wrappers. I’ve kept the instruction videos though. I mean, Officer Steve opens up more questions than he answers every single time he writes. I hate that. Like, do some research, or stfu.
So I have a question….storm hits 8:45AM, tree from next door hits car directly blocking road travel both ways. ‘totalled’ car is towed away 10:45, police office arrives at 11:00 am, puts up yellow tape about 1/4 mile down street obviously to deter traffic. I get in my car 11:45AM exiting my driveway away from tree to go take care of some business, i approach yellow tape hoping nice police fellow would raise tape to let me out, but instead i receive a scolding from overzealous, high school looking rookie who says i should not be traveling thru the area. he actually placed his hand on his gun like he was going to shoot the tree out of the way for me. I was astounded. He literally said that he did not know how long it would take to open the road and that we had to stay in our homes until then!! Well the road goes both ways, my friend. learn a little tact and common sense……my new young safety officer. Steve the question is, are we under house arrest when a storm blows through?
Not to mention how much better cop reality shows have gotten since the introduction of the taser. =) If every officer using them has to be shocked by them, that pretty much shows that the department is confident in their safety. The criticism seems unfounded based on a small percentage of people tased that already had pretty serious health conditions. I think the lesson here really is, ‘if you have had triple bypass surgery, it is not safe to break into a liquor store and then brandish a knife at the cops who come to lock you up’.
I did a paper on this recently, comparing guns a tasers for personal defense. The arguments for a taser were convincing, but it’s very telling that cops carry a taser in addition to a gun.
I would bet that if the families of the people killed by cops as they were posing a lethal danger to the cop had the choice these families would choose that the cops tase their loved ones rather than pull the trigger of a handgun.
I would guess that cops carry a taser and a gun because they typically run up on more than one or two “bad guys” when a handgun is needed as once the cartridge on a taser is used it’s over. Another cartridge must be put into the taser gun.
Tasers are okay if used properly. There have been many cases of officers using these devices improperly. Especially on a person that is unarmed. A person that is possibly irrational and can’t calm down doesn’t need to be tasered into submission. This can kill a person. I have a pacemaker/defibrillator, I can’t imagine what a taser would do to me. Some people argue, well, the person should just listen. Well, you have to take into consideration the state of mind of the person. There may be a mental illness. There is no reason to taser, beat, or shoot an unarmed person that might just need a minute to calm down. Police training is key. Please, please, train these officers on what is too much and means of containing a person besides trying to electrocute them to death.
Ed, people with the type of heart condition that would be effected by a taser are not as obvious as a bypass patient. These are people with electrical abnormalities in their heart. Many people do not even know they have the problem, a taser can cause the heart to misfire or set off someone who has a heart arrhythmia. I was born with mine. I could die suddenly without a pacemaker and implanted defibrillator, I’m sure a taser would really mess me up. The manufacturers “claim” they are safe. The officers should also carry defibrillators and be trained to resuscitate.
This is Atlanta, we have so many thugs waiting to rob, home invade and car jack you they fight over victims. You can carry a taser but for myself I like a Sig 9 mm on my person, a GLOCK 9 mm in the truck and a couple of 12 gauge shotguns at the house. We’ll be leaving this city as soon as I retire to a place a lot safer, where elected officials have your safety in mind and they do more than name a street downtown after some dead person that means nothing to me. You use your taser, I’ll use my Sig. It’s all good as long as the good guys come out ahead.
Tasers have just turned into an amusement toy for police to get out their violent agressions on innocent citizens without the complicating paperwork that killing them outright would lead to. Dozens of people are being killed by the random and unwarranted use of these devices. So long as they are considered as “non-lethal”, it is little more than a free license to abuse the use of them.
When kids are being tased at schools you know the problem is out of hand.
Free market solutions to security and protection, an end to the War on Drugs, and a restoration of the constitution and Bill of Rights would go a long way to making everyone in our society safer but none of those things is going to happen if we have to count on those in power to implement them.
It is no surprise that a cop sides with this horrible weapon and it is no surprise that the beer guzzling, pizza eating fans of “cops” and other pro-government force shows applaud the use of these devices. It is unfortunate that our country has turned the wrong corner on it fast decline into a police state.
Mr. Liberty, I guess you have no problem with all the thugs running around this city willing to kill you for a few dollars. I suppose it’s all the cops fault that you can’t turn on your televison without seeing some punk kid in dreads arrested and his sorry momma crying how the cops done got her son. It’s all make believe I suppose. Mr Liberty, I bet the world will smell better to you when you pull your head out from your arse.
Tasers at school? That is exactly where they need them. When you get a 14 year old kid that is 6′4″ and 250 lbs out of control. Taz his butt. Or a mouthy teenage girl with no respect – taz her butt. It will only take a few times and all those bad little kids will be scared into behaving once again. In fact give one to each and every teacher. Get out of line, get tazd… Speak out of turn, get tazd. No homework – 2 tazes…Behaviour Problems will be gone in no time….
Mr Liberty….You obviously have been very shielded in life. You MUST have never been exposed to the criminal elements of our society. These are NOT individuals that you can sit down and have a tea party with to discuss things. In many cases you are dealing with animals pure and simple. If these were gentle law abiding citizens, the police would not have to be there in the first place. The world is dangerous. I want the cops to have every bit of technology available to bring these criminals down. I don’t care how……..
I’m not sure I agree with some of the posts about arbitrarily tasing unruly kids but then again maybe I’d feel different if I were a teacher and had to deal with some of them. My husband has been through taser instructor class (he’s not a cop) and has been tased two times with no effects afterwards. Again if I were a criminal or someone out of control due to any reason (God forbid) I would rather the cop taser me than shoot me dead. Dead is dead. I have a conceal carry license and do carry a gun but also my C2 Taser. Sometimes there’s no reason for deadly force if you don’t have to use it.
Melinda is another prime example of a misled American brain-washed into fearing her neighbors by the corporate media. Quit supporting the police state out of misplaced fear.
If we use the number of people in the US from the article of 303,824,640, and round up the numbers associated with Taser deaths from +/-360 to lets say 400, that gives us a ratio of .00013% of the population would die during a taz. More people will die of AIDS, Cancer, and heart attacks!! I am not looking for people to die…but we really need to put the number of deaths associated with tasers in some actual numbers we can relate too! How many people have police officers shot in the last 2 years? Do the benefits justify the risk?
I do agree that I wouldnt use them on children…but lets be realistic…teach kids to fear tasers and guns and maybe there would be less criminal acts.
I would rather an officer have a taser than a gun when some drugged out creep attacks them with their bare hands. Get them the help they need and save some peice of mind that someone didnt die when it could have been prevented with a taser.
Whats the ratio of taser firings (personal or law enforcement) to the number of deaths?? Anyone have that answer…
Tasers could, conceivably, in some imaginary world, be a force for good. Let me know when you find that planet. Back here on Earth, they do much evil. They’re used to torture on a daily basis. They’re used on those that fail to obey, such as diabetics in comas. They’re used on children. It’s laughable to claim that they replace guns (the oldest taser lie); they’re used about 100 times as often as police ever used their guns. The other lie is that they’re perfectly safe (seriously, that IS the claim with respect to internal risk factors such as cardiac or similar). People (not criminals) are dying.
Whether the recipent of a taze has a weapon or not is a moot point. I’m 6′6″ and 300 lbs. If I wanted to, I could really hurt someone (like, by sitting on them). My girth is not unique. I’ve been in fights with guys literally half my size, and they gave me a run for my money!! We’ve all seen fact stranger than fiction.
That said, should I be stupid enough to fight an officer, they have 2 choices: glock me or taze me. Hum. Hit me with a billy-club: my blubber cause a recoil the likes no one has seen!! Spray me with pepper: yum! How quickly can a half-dozen cops arrive at the scene and bail-out the one fighting me?? (BTW, I’m not going to fight a cop my size!) Again, the lone officer has 2 choices- glock or taser. I choose the latter, personally. Show me someone who choses the former, and that person has never been on the wrong end of an arrest.
Should they be used on students: well, is the student aggressive enough to warrent the taze? They’re crying on Oprah, but cursing and combative when confronted.
Here’s something I learned the hard way, don’t screw up, and if you do, don’t get caught. And if you do get caught, don’t fight the police. And if you do fight the police, pray the officer has a taser. And if they do have a taser, you live another day to write posts on some AJC blog.
Excited-do you have a link to the person that was tased in a diabetic coma, I find that hard to believe. Actually there’s a lot of your post I find hard to believe do you have anything to back up your claims? Whoopee you are absolutely right on.
yay, whoopee! let’s embrace the police state and unquestioningly obey the commands of increasingly violent and militant police (even though anybody with half a brain realizes most cops lack the competence to make such decisions and in reality function as little more than armed tax collectors for their respective counties or municipalities). by the way, i’m 7′5″ and weigh 420 pounds.
In reference to Melinda’s post: until “d.e.f.a.c.s.” starts allowing teachers and parents alike, to discipline children as needed without fear of going to jail, or having them forcibly removed from their home to possibly be placed in a foster home in which the conditions may be far worse,There will be no improvement in youth violence.I for one will not spare the rod “when absolutly needed” and my 5 children are all modle citizens.
ps: I have been tazed…About 10 years old.Dad said how about reaching back behind the fridge And unplugging it for me!220 volts, my hair grew back in a few weeks!
You know what else kills people? Peanut allergies! The deadly allergies kill about 100 people per year! We should ban the peanuts.
As for taser deaths, according to Dr Hugh Calkins (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD) in this article here: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/587624
There have only been about 300 in-custody deaths in 650,000 applications of the TASER..
As far as I’m concerned, considering the stupid things people do to tempt fate every day, a 1 in 2166.7 chance isn’t bad odds.
As for “resisting the police state” it’s the job of the police to maintain order. You have a right to peaceably assemble and you don’t have a right to resist arrest. If you’re under arrest you get a day in court, that’s when the “fighting the power” is supposed to happen.
I’m sure you are aware, but others may not, that there is no requirement to have any form of ID upon you, *unless* you are the one driving a motor vehicle. If you are a passenger, or just walking down the street, you aren’t required to have ID on you, nor are you required to show it to any government agent, even if they demand it.
My husband is a police sergeant and had to be tased today in order to be able to certified to carry a taser. Even though it pained me for him to have to go through that, he helped me understand it is tool that he really has needed in many cases during his work. I wish all departments would issue them to their officers.
By the way, I really appreciate all you ladies and gents do to keep us safe. Thank you!
It’s not a matter of offense. It’s a matter of hurting pork producers because people are idiots who would rather make assumptions instead of locating reliable information.
Tiggster requested the number of folks that have been hit with a TASER device. Jusat over 1.5 million. Slightly over half of those were police officers taking a voluntry hit to be allow to carry. The rest were citizens resisting arrest (ok some will argue not resisting enough, but were you there?) Interestingly none of the police officers died as a result of being exposed to the TASER. Also interestingly enough none of the deaths blamed on the TASER have been proven to be caused by the TASER with the exception of falls and fires (both catagories unintended results of the force used). When someone dies after a TASER exposure, the headlines the very next day suggest another “TASER death”. It takes the medical examiner a lot longer to determine the true cause of death, but that headline does sell papers.
BIG 10-4! When we got certified on Tasers, we all had to “ride the lightning.” All I can recall was “WHEN IS THIS S–T GOPING TO END!” It was only 3 seconds but seemed like an eternity. If there hadn’t been two officers supporting me, I’d have collapsed into a puddle on the ground!
If you think Tasers are non-lethal and police use them only as a last resort, Please Google Otto Zehm. Cororner ruled a homicide. No one has been charged with the killing. My daughter knew the man.
Here’s the best part. People die every year from the flu. While I understand the need for precautions why isn’t there something on the news every day of the 30,000ish people who die every year from the flu. That way when we have a swine show up there would not be as much panic based on the blown out proportion of media coverage.
The time to worry is when some friends say “I saw you on tv last nite and maybe you should consider suing your undertaker for malpractice…” then start to worry about the looks. Until then, have fun, enjoy life and think Skynard!!!
A few things that irritate the hell out of me when it comes to paying for purchases with a bill larger than the total, or giving the cashier enough money to get back change (coins):
1. Getting back a rounded-out number of change. For example, if my total was $13.29 and I pay $15, I’d get back $0.70 even. I usually go back for the extra penny.
2. My bill is $13.02, I hand them a $20, and they ask “Do you have a couple of pennies?” If I did, I probably would have given them to you, but more than likely I wouldn’t think to do it.
3. Not getting back any change (coins). Period. This irritates me the most. I raise hell when this happens, and on one occasion have threatened to go to the Better Business Bureau.
You’re supposed to serve me, not I you. If I’m supposed to get change back, I expect every penny.
A proud certified operator of the X26, I rode the full five seconds and survived. I have done my research and believe the “Thomas A Swift Electric Riffle” is one of the best tools one can use to quickly calm a situation. The point is not to cause pain but to avoid a very difficult and painful situation for both the responding officer and the person being hit. The discomfort from being “tased” is gone, if not immediately then soon after the current stops. Is it fun? NO, but a lot better than a throw down on the side of the road which can cause serious permanent injury or death to the officer, suspect and innocent bystanders. All departments should issue and promote the use of this device to avoid serious conflict.
hilarious but true. haven’t thought about ADAM_12 in years. there’s probably alot of readers who have no clue what ADAM-12 is or about,
thanks steve for the memories
Great article, Steve! I think you enjoy all of the acronyms as much as I do. I’m just waiting for the day something is introduced that can use the initials “EIEIO”.
I think the most-absurd and funniest thing about all of the Swine Flu hoopla was hearing that China was halting all shipments of American pork products into their country to prevent contamination. Unfortunately it’s hurting many of the pork farmers and companies from the sudden drop in demand and revenue. Ahh, you just can’t make this stuff up.
Helpful or not, what the heck does this information have to do with crime? I’m not trying to be a jerk, but come on! What’s next? Ranting about the different types of flour involved in baking while complaining about “them new contraptions called mixers” and tossing in random references to Julia Child, Ginsu knives, and the FDA? Just stay on topic. You’re tagline is “A neighborhood watch’s look at criminal Einsteins and the cops that figure them out.” Use your creativity to expand that viewpoint, or at least change the title and understood subject matter of your column. Otherwise, you’re downplaying and ignoring the importance of the insight you could be sharing with us.
Tasers are used instead of the stick, not the gun. Consequently workers comp claims and time off the job have fallen as well. I bet if the female officer pulled the .45 on Bluto instead of the taser he would have stopped advancing.
Over 300,000 people on probation or parole in Georgia (more than who voted for the Governor in his primaries). Over 50,000 people locked up in Georgia. None of these over 350,000 people have the right to vote, btw.
Nearly 3 Million people in jail in America with nearly 10 million people on probation or parole.
Headlines today say suburbs are a magnet for the drug cartels.
As much money is being spent on the War on Drugs as the Iraq War, 90 Billion Dollars Nationally.
One thing drug prohibition has prohibited is reasonable regulation of drugs.
Another thing drug prhoibition has accomplished is the removal of millions from the voting roles which is probably the drug war’s intent anyway.
The Drug War is the most deadliest, costliest, and most futile unproductive War America has ever fought.
The definition of Bigotry is Unreasonable, Prejudiced, and Intolerant.
The Drug War is totally based on Bigotry.
In the case of the War on ’some’ Drugs, the prohibition laws cause the most harm and crimes.
Sam – part of that tagline is “the cops that figure them out”. Lt. Steve often shares his views on other things in his life and observations in general that have nothing to do with law enforcement. Most of us find these humerous and look forward to what might come out of his head next. Stick around and you’ll get more of the police blotter type reports.
With digital TV you can actually feel Jack Webb’s resentment towards the punks of the 60s and 70s, and if you were around during that time, you would feel repentant for any wrongdoing you did. And if you’re a punk of today, you’d straighten up in a heartbeat, which can actually be heard through digital broadcasting.
Not only would you hear the hatred in his voice, but you’d feel it. It’s like the Scared Straight program, but without actual human interaction.
Another tip for severe storm safety: If the sirens begin to go off, and your dog howls, howl along with him. He’ll think it’s the Great Big Dog In The Sky (isn’t that the title of a song?), and you don’t want to appear to be a non-believer. Heathen.
As for alarms, even car alarms can be set off by a storm, if the vibration from the thunder is severe enough to cause them to go off. I remember living in an apartment complex a few years back, and whenever it thundered, a few car alarms went off. Of course, this happens if your alarm’s sensitivity is set to “butterfly’s sneeze”.
Patrick – Calling criminals dumb is not redundant. There are unfortunately a lot of very very smart criminals. It’s just the dumb ones that get caught.
Steve – Come on, you can’t tell me that no one was caught doing something stupid in the past week. I love reading about the dumb ones.
Loved the music review. Reminds me of the nonsensein the art world. Here is a link to a blog about the Chinese Menu for Art Critics. It works well for many things including music. http://www.celebrateart.com/category/just-for-fun/
I guess one option would be to pass on all the different variations of the “Pigeon Drop” that folks still continue to fall for nowadays. Don’t fret though, the criminals will be back to their ol’ antics soon enough.
Attention! Please don’t use emoticons. I am afraid of them, especially the one that looks like the face of a guy nursing a gas bubble, like the one above. I’m scared, man.
Nothing wrong with writer’s block, Officer Steve, unless you torture readers with it, (you know, the way you just did). Don’t worry. There are cures. Try the salve. Try reading a book. that always helps me. Try playing with your dog, looking in the mirror for an hour, or even counting backwards from 1 million to zero. Other writer’s block remedies include drinking a glass of water from the back of the glass upside down, tying a string around your bicuspid and then attaching the string to a doorknob, paying a hooker to scare you, and of course, watching Aunt Bea stunt doubles have sex.
However, in your case, I don’t think anything can help you. You’re just going to have to endure till it goes away. Of course that begs the question, “How will we be able to tell when the writers block leaves you?”
Jklol. (In truth, writer’s block is no laughing matter. I feel your pain, sir.)
Even the threat of the taser has been enough here in our little department. We had a guy one night whacked out on God knows what, but when he saw those little red dots on his chest from the 3 tasers trained on him, his 4 remaining brain cells fired in synchronized fashion just long enough for him to realize that he really didn’t want to do the taser dance and fall to the ground.
On the downside, tasers are now available to John Q. Public in some areas. I see this as a problem. At the first sight of a bad guy brandishing a taser the officer is not going to have a choice but to have Mr. Glock do the double-tap center-mass boogie on said bad guy. The officer CANNOT take the chance of getting tased and relieved of his/her sidearm.
Steve, please give fellow AJC staffer Maureen “blame teachers first, blame students never” Downey a clue about her last column on end of year school hijinks.
Please inform her that two of her son’s friends weren’t arrested for tossing a water balloon, they were arrested for not following a DIRECT ORDER from a law enforcement official.
Let her know that a real world exists outside her liberal bedwetting myopic worldview, and when you disobey a DIRECT ORDER from a law enforcement official, consequences can occur.
Hey Steve, I went to see Styx, REO Speedwagon, and .38 Special in Houston, TX last night. Tommy Shaw in Styx seems to shrink more every time I see them. REO was good, the lead singer seems a bit more feminine than I remember and his hair is white now. .38 Special was the best, they still sound great. The choral harmonies were rockin’. $9.50 beers suck. Does that qualify for a music review? How is your brother doing? I think he is better looking than you.
Hey Steve…maybe you could comment on this. I noted that the Sandy Springs PD is looking into a house being rolled and a swastika being spray painted on a tree. Investigation into a hate crime. What the hell is a hate crime….are not all crimes hate crimes….you don’t commit a crime against someone because you like them. What a country
you know it would be amazing if the sandy springs police would spend as much time actually doing their jobs as this guy spends on his stupid column. when it still takes them about a half hour to respond to an alarm or a phone call, it makes glad the 2nd amendment is in place for my own protection. get out on the streets and do what i am paying you to do. not this garbage.
When I absolutely must ask a question via email at work, I phrase it so I get a simple “yes” or “no” answer. Without fail, I get paragraphs from this same guy every time…and the question is never answered on the first go round.
Investigating it as a vandalism. Determination if or not it’s a bias catagory is determined once we find out more. I’m not sure what determines it. I’m the PIO meaning I don’t know anything but I’m good at asking. In this case, I got a lot of different answers.
Lt. Steve,
The older you get the more useless stupidity you will notice in the world. It has always been there, but it becomes more apparent as you get older. I’ve been part of it, you’ve been part of it, but now we get to observe what our parents did. How did they put up with us? How will we put up with the current generation? Much patience and humility is required.
Reach out is just another silly, childish “feel good” term.
“Hate Crime” was developed by the black community in order to prosecute for a person supposedly commiting a crime based singularly on racism. Seemed like a good idea until some black defendants began getting slapped with “hate crimes” then Jesse, Al and USELESS LOWERY, of course, thought differently.
Lt. Steve-Here is another phrase you need to write about..”No Problem”. Whatever happened to You’re Welcome? If I get “No Problem” as a response to my thank you in any job situation, I immediately come back with, “Of course it is no problem, it is your job!!!” There again, it takes more sylables to say no problem than thank you. So I think you could certainly pursue this phrase further.
Isn’t the prosecution of a “hate crime” the same as prosecuting someone’s thoughts? We will punish them for the murder, and punish them even more because of the thoughts they had at the time of the murder? Sounds a little fishy…has anyone ever challenged the Constitutionality of hate crime laws?
Who are we trying to impress with all of these new “buzzwords?” Whatever happened to just “telling it like it is?” or “stating the facts?”
I wonder if everyone used their creative talents and obvious time on their hands towards solving the world’s challenges instead of creating buzzwords, what would happen. Maybe that’s why I like New Yorkers. They tell you exactly what they think, not filling their sentences with fluffy stuff and buzzwords.
No, prosecuting someone for commiting a “hate crime” is not the same thing as prosecuting someone’s thoughts. They are being prosecuted for ACTING ON THOSE THOUGHTS. Big difference.
I used to have the same problem that fk has. When I first joined the company I’ve been with for over seven years, I never got a straight answer to a question I had. I would ask if I need to do this or that, or how to do this or that, and they would give a long, drawn-out explanation about how we should do something if it’s one thing or another, instead of getting straight to the point with a simple “yes” or “no”, or being more direct with how a task should be performed.
Angela: “Telling it like it is” is an admirable trait. Unfortunately, it went out the window along with common sense a long time ago when the dumb masses decided they needed everything sugar coated and politically correct. Absorbing the truth even in it’s simplest form somehow became a tabu.
Lt. Steve: I’m with you sir. I haven’t hear the term reach out around my social group yet(Although I hang out with a bunch of 30+ people so I may not) and none of them have used that buzz word yet. I imagine if I spend some time around my younger sister and her crowd though I’ll probably hear it more than I would like. The other thing I’ll say Steve is you can’t really apply logic to a buzz word like you did with “reach in.” It kind of falls under “why do we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?” Regardless, I am a firm believer in the K.I.S.S. rule and would much prefer someone to say “call” as well.
No designating something a hate crime is prosecuting the thought. Prosecuting the act would be going to jail for murder, adding 10 years because of a bad thought (or the perception of one) is prosecuting the thought. Judges often have the discretion to shorten or legthen a sentence based on the perceived viciousness or callousness of the crime. Legislating “hate” crimes is simply a way for the pols to pander to a certain demographic.
To all the officers out there, thank you for your honorable service to our community. I know that there are some bad apples out there, as there are in any profession, but most of you deserve our respect and gratitude. You definitely have it from me.
Instead of fighting it (buzz words), have a little fun with it.
Before your next meeting, get everybody to ante up $1 and select the total number of buzz words they think will be said. The person closest to the actual number gets the pot. You can call it, “Buzz Word Bingo.”
Just be sure to remind everybody not to stand up and yell “BINGO!!!” when they win and not be too obvious with counting the buzz words when they are spoken.
Other than that, y’all have fun but be careful, good jobs are hard to find…
I took a digital photo of my analog tv. I was watching a vampire movie at the time so it didn’t show up when I tried to prove I owned it to Allstate. Fortunately, I had a backup analog photo of my digital tv, but I was watching a Werewolf movie at the time. It looked like a big, square chia pet, so the insurance investigator told me if I didn’t stop bothering him he’d charge me with fraud.
I hated that full moon.
In the future, I’m hiring an off duty cop to do police sketch artist versions of my stuff. Lets hope Serpico isn’t playing on the TV at the time…….
When I was a kid I etch-a-sketched a picture of my bike, so when it got stolen, my dad showed the picture to the insurance guy. The insurance guy sent me a paint-by-numbers painting of a check for 50 dollars…..
According to a June 16th, 2009 article from Reuters titled, “NYC drivers named America’s most aggressive”, Atlanta is third on the list of angriest and most aggressive drivers. We also have had an influx of speeding and tailgating New Yorkers. But they have stiff competition with Bo and Luke Duke from Hazard county driving school
Imagine a new traffic system where cars are programmed not to hit each other, or anything else. These cars can also be programmed to keep proper distance and regulated speed. And imagine these vehicles not polluting the air and not causing cancer or global climate change!
We have the technology, but we need the political will power. Are we wise enough? Is our current system of transportation a display of freedom or anarchy? Is it really freedom that kills 40,000 plus people a year and the leading cause of death of our children? Or is it just plain stupidity for not using our technology to make a better world? 3 million injuries on America’s roads every year only add to our Health Care crisis.
We invaded Iraq with no legitimate reason in response to 911 and spent trillions of dollars killing hundreds of thousands of people – and we’re not done yet – including sending more of our own people to die than died in 911. Why can’t we summon the political will to do something better like Health Care or a safe transportation system?
In the 1950’s when corporate tax rates were 90% and our domestic jobs, and middle class income, were protected by tariffs and fair trade, America had the best middle class and infrastructure development in our history.
Have cutting those corporate taxes and lowering trade barriers really given us a better middle class or infrastructure? Why have we departed from what works?
We’re living on decaying 1950’s infrastructure and many people tell us we’re too broke to do anything about it, until it comes to illegal wars in Iraq and culture war prisons, of course! We’ll put our children in debt to our greatest unfounded fears but our best hopes and dreams are dismissed as socialism? Give me a freaking break from that backwards crap!
It is time for us to care less about building culture war prisons and bombing third world countries in some latest dark age crusade and lets begin to build the America that our current technology and best good will towards mankind can dream of, including a way to drive to the ball game in peace without putting the whole family in danger of the biggest terrorist we’ll all face, next to disease, and that is your neighbor on the road.
And I must add, Mr. Rose, that the 1950’s style police traffic enforcement is about as productive as the 1980’s style war on drugs. It’s time to get more wise, less violent, and produce the results the name Peace Officer implies.
Thank you for your comments about “reach out.” I’ve come to almost hate that phrase. It’s so totally unnecessary. Maybe next time I hear it, I’ll actually reach out … my arm & hand, that is. Rather like, “you know?” I really do want to respond, “No, I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”
Buzzwords just get in the way of authentic conversation.
No doubt, GBC. Thieves may get some stuff if I’m not home and they can disable my dogs, but when I’m home, they will get a belly and face full of lead.
This list of the latest crimes against society are not just a symptom of the Bush economy which floundered under the weight of Cheney’s unjust and unnecessary war in Iraq, but they also accompany a mindset of citizens who harbor a complete and total lack of respect for the law.
Chris Broe, i’m going to go ahead and assume that you’re an idiot who was educated (using the term loosely) in a government school. Please refrain from sharing your ignorance with the rest of us.
Ryan, don’t blame Chris’ ignorance on the public school system. Some people are just plain dumb regardless of educational, religious, or socio-economic backgrounds!
All ya’ll must have one of dos hi falutn jobs wif benefits. I think what the man is trying to say is regardless of all prejudices a lot of people are loosing jobs. It doesn’t excuse the behavior, but I can’t remember the last Iime I went hungry without options or my kids didn’t have something to eat or a roof over their heads. Rational people do crazy things they would never do when that note is hit. A lot as a result have too much idle time and of course an idle mind is the devils playground.I see Mr. Broes post as engaged but brash. What he’s sayin simply is that without partisan views….Yeah…America was cold blooded robbed by the last administration and it is affecting people…including our own friends and families. I can’t think of anyone I know who doesen’t know someone it hasn’t.
Just be thankful, and by the grace of GOD consider yourself lucky it’s not you!
I dont think its theft to feed the kids, animal, granny or Paw Paw. Im thinking its theft in order to get that next hit of crack, or get some street cred or something equally as foolish.
There is definitely no fast lane on GA 400, but I do laugh everytime I pass by the sign that says it’s the “Hospitality Highway” – I mean, REALLY?!?!?!?!?!
Wish Doraville had the same rules for take-home cars. It infuriates me to see a Doraville police car doing 90-100 MPH on I-75 northbound in Cherokee county with apparent impunity.
There are two take-home police cars in our n’hood. Drivers see them & automatically slow down, even if a police car is just parked in a driveway. It’s great b/c the n’hood had such an issue with speeders.
Everybody knows that at this point that the only role police in this area have is to dole out speeding tickets, or right-on-red, or bogus stop sign tickets, in order to generate revenue.
If they could write each other speeding tickets, the recession would be over. In Canton, the city police regularly drive roughly 70 miles an hour over the speeding limit.
Anybody ever see the short, stubby little fellow that drives the drug truck in Canton? Don’t know how much drug work he does, but you can find him camped under a bridge everynight looking to fill that quota.
Our brave, bold police. Their mothers must be so proud of the way they can generate revenue under the guise of law enforcement. What heroes.
Motor vehicle theft? More like theft by taking. Is your department trying to have part 1 crime stats?
14,000 in cash? And no forced entry? Thats BS or illegally gotten gains. Sounds like missing property or false report to me or a chalk up to the game…will you’ll just take any reports?
Ok, Stevie, now you’ve got 4 negative comments about your useless blogging! Doesn’t that tell you something, and mean anything to you? Come on! Get off your computer and start doing your job already. The community of people you’re supposed to be protecting will appreciate it.
He is doing his job; his second job. You see, some people are actually motivated enough to do two jobs. Steve chooses to blog during his free time from the force and I’m sure that the AJC pays him. Now, if you’d like to pay Steve to work more I’d advise you go to the next budget hearing and tell them that you are willing to have your taxes raised for that to occur.
Awww hush Brian. Blogging is not a job, but a useless pastime. A recently deceased aunt of mine worked three jobs at once, so don’t you dare say Steve is motivated enough to BLOG. This cop needs to focus on ridding our streets of crime.
I love the message from home saying the rottweiler got out! So hilarious! I can totally relate, I have a rottie and i love when people ask me at the dog park or at a public function if he is mean! hahah “yes, thats why I brought him, because i want a lawsuit!” haha so hilarious! I love it!
oh, well, I have no problems with Steve blogging, but I do have this one question for the cop… A few days ago, my cell phone was stolen from inside of my car, the phone is a blackberry which has a gps device which can be easily traced, I filed a report, but yet, the police department doesn’t really care to locate my cell phone, (which would be very easy if you just activated the gps and tracked it), it is a phone that costs me lots of money, if you factor in the monthly payments and the actual cost of the phone. Now, if I were to steal a 1.00 candy bar from a store, and it gets captured on thier CCTV system, why in the world would the law enforcement angency care to arrest me?? It seems to me, that you cops are just revenue collectors for our policed state, rather being here to SERVE and PROTECT!!
yeah, tj, that’s just what me and emily think. sorry about your phone – maybe your post will make the cops in your area start searching for it. or maybe they’ll just twitter about it with their buddies…
1. If you think this blog is worthless, why are you reading it?
2. I believe Steve is the PIO (Public Information Officer), not a patrol officer. So, fighting crime is a secondary duty. Steve, please correct me if I am wrong.
3. If a phone has GPS, why don’t you contact your service provider and have them trace it? Any reason they would not be able to track it?
Lt. Rose is simply trying to educate the public about all the crud police officers put up with which keeps them from focusing on their primary task of putting butts in jail. With that let me try to explain a few other things. Cops work traffic (write tickets) because it keeps accidents (fatal ones too) low, and because cars often contain criminals with dope or stolen property or wanted fugitives…It’s not our job to take care of your property. we do what we can to solve crimes and find stolen items but if people would stop being volunteer victims by leaving valuables in the open and no locking their doors (car and home) it would prevent a great deal thefts…And finally CSI is not real. No we can’t get a finger print off the bottom of a rock in your swimming pool. No we can’t locate a cell phone if it’s not turned on and probably wouldn’t go through the expense of it unless it’s a major crime. TJ, your stolen cell phone probably isn’t connected to a major crime, probably isn’t turned on, and GPS only gives the holder of the phone its position. I know it sucks getting things stolen (we’ve all been victims at some point) but that’s life.
I know a lot of people don’t like Police Officers because for the most part the only time you interact with one is when you’re having a bad day (whether it is because you’re a victim or a suspect. And sometimes we do stupid things that cause people to dislike us but most of us truly just want to help people. So please keep a few things in mind next time you see a cop. We have families that count on us to make it home at the end of our shift. We bleed and get hurt just like everyone else so don’t expect us to treat you with kid gloves when you’re not complying with our commands. If we’re driving fast it’s because we’re trying to get to someone who needs help. We’re guarded when we pull you over because we don’t know who you are, you could be “Mary Poppins” or “Charles Manson”. If we’re a little annoyed that you’ve done something stupid that causes us a lot of work to fix remember we’ve probably just got through dealing with someone who did something stupid that caused us a lot of work to fix.
Sam has said it all! Thanks, Sam. I also think Lt. Steve is a PIO and good at his job there at work and on the blogs and Facebook. If you don’t like what he says, then don’t read it.
The cell phone issue can be answered very easily. For us to track a phone it takes a specialized computer programs that are required for the evidence gathering so that should someone be found with the phone there is enough properly documented evidence to charge them. The software is expensive and despite popular belief police departments do not have endless budgets and do not have all the toys people think we do. Another problem is that the majority of the time cell phone providers are far from helpful and will not provide any assistance or information without a court order which takes several weeks to obtain.
Now ask yourself this, is it more important to use 1 or 2 investigators to track a single cell phone, or use them in investigating other crimes that pertain to the physical safety and well being of the citizens?
And as for your emphasis on the SERVE and PROTECT, it seems to as though you want that only when it is condusive to your own interests. You probably ask “where’s a cop when you need one” when someone goes speeding past you, but then get upset when it is you who gets stopped for speeding when you think you are justified.
Then you have your bridge jumpers, your crane climbers, and then there’s the bridge hangers.
About a month or so ago someone fashioned a noose and decided to hang themselves from the bridge on Indian Trail in Gwinnett County over I-85 SB. I saw all the police cars and everything on the bridge, but they were off to the side. They had said on the radio there was a car fire on I-85 SB at Indian Trail, so when I got close to there, I expected to see smoke. The body was found hanging from the bridge, with personal papers scattered all over the road. The guy hung himself over having lost his job and a mountain of personal debt. I’m sure everyone who saw that on the way to work thought that day wasn’t going to go over too well.
Or TJ, maybe you shouldn’t have left your phone in the car. Wait, that’s something the Lieutenant’s “useless” blog mentions time and again. Folks, the cops can’t be everywhere at once and their customers include everyone in their jurisdiction. They have to triage what’s important and then modify those priorities to meet the inane requirements of the local government. You guys are going to have to take some responsibility for your own security, because there are only something like 20,000 sworn officers in the WHOLE state and nearly ten MILLION people.
People like to talk about the murders, but according to the CDC there are twice as many suicides as there are homicides. Homicides just make better news, so we never hear about them. There was also a statistic floating around a couple years ago that said something like 10 times more women than men attempted suicide, but that 10 time more men were successful in their attempts.
Wine is fine but whiskeys quicker
Suicide is slow with liquor
Take a bottle and drown your sorrows
Then it floods away tomorrows
Evil thoughts and evil doings
Cold, alone you hang in ruins
Thought that youd escape the reaper
You cant escape the master keeper
cause you feel like youre living a lie
Such a shame whos to blame and youre wondering why
Then you ask from your cask us there life after birth
What you sow can mean hell on this earth
Now you live inside a bottle
The reapers traveling at full throttle
Its catching you but you dont see
The reaper is you and the reaper is me
Breaking laws, knocking doors
But theres no one at home
Made your bed, rest your head
But you lie there and moan
Where to hide, suicide is the only way out
Dont you know what its really about
I think this is a GREAT Article… All of your Blogs are fantastic. But with this specific situation with the suicide, we have an issue. A friend of mine who lives at the apartment complex told me that the apartment complex left notes on all the residents doors saying to keep an eye on your surroundings. We all know that we need to keep a keen eye on our surroundings but for a suicide, no need to shake up a entire neighborhood in a relatively safe area. I think the article that has been posted on the AJC ( http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/northfulton/stories/2009/06/30/sandysprings_body_found.html) Could have been a little more clearer also on what happened. Yes it is ironic that I do frequent this blog and did but two and two together with the two stories. I think that a brief phone call, better ajc story or a television spot on one of the local news stations might calm down the thousands of residents at this location. Again Steve, good work.
Hey James,
Got a question for you… If blogging is a “useless pastime” Then why exactly are you participating in one? And in case you people didn’t notice, Lt. Rose is a “media relations and information officer.” Last I checked they didn’t typically have what most would consider normal police duties. John Bankhead does the same thing for the GBI but he’s not an online GBI agent as far as I can tell.
Back when you could drive on beaches… It was the fourth of July and I was hiding behind sand dunes with my friends and shooting bottle rockets at cars. I lit one and the car turned out to be a cop car so I held onto the bottle rocket and burned my hand.
Luckily there were these college girls that had a beach house rental and they took care of me. I was only twelve at the time but it is a fond memory. I guess those chicks would be in their sixties by now. Ho-hum….
I dreampt I bought my highschool teacher some boots at the store. I’d impressed him, and made him happy, despite his having a girlfriend. ( and her dirty looks) I dream of him often- seeing him- I always favored him in school, he’s older than me- I have never tried to contact him- what’s going on?
The chinese invented fireworks at the time of Christ. They soon realized the potential of fireworks to thin herds. So they invented a holiday like ours in which the entire race of rocket scientists could experiment without any safety equipment whatsoever. Demographic studies estimate that without the firecracker holiday, the population of China would now number in the quint-quadrillions. We have to promote firecracker sales all over the world all year long.
I’m not sure Einstein was correct about stupidity. How about the MacGyvers in the jail fire? They wanted to light improvised, hand-made cigarettes by sticking pencil lead into an electrical outlet and using the spark to light a rag and then light their cigarettes and ended up nearly burning down the prison. This is what I’ve been saying, people learn from MacGyver. If terrorists had struck the prison at that moment, the inmates would have won. All I’m sayin’.
2090 (the check) has passed the piano, 116-0. S.B. Signing up for the driver allows you to add the piano for free or to waive that $ 39.99 charge for transferring the phone. The piano has Another complaint with the police and the sale transaction is an endorphin high.
What the heck is up with Sandy Springs, Crack Pipe chases, Shooting and an ignored illegal immigrant problem. You would think this upper-middle class area would not have these problems. Geeze….
“Bigg Samson” I would like to point out to you a few facts- 1- The City of Sandy Springs is the Second largest metro Atlanta (20 County Area) City only smaller then Atlanta. Sandy Springs is a 40 Sq Mile City with over 100,000 residence and a day time population that can exceed 300,000+. So does Sandy Springs have crime?? YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS However, we have an excellent Police Department that has decreased crime 3 years in a row. Give Sandy Springs Police, Fire, and EMS credit for the great job they are doing in our City.
Many folks spend a great deal of time complaining about those who are sorely underpaid to serve and protect, and it is stories like yours today that will hopefully make people realize the danger that you and your fellow officers face each day to provide that protection. I always enjoy your wide range of topics here, and spend very little time reading the readers’ comments, since they tend to rant and rave on about nothing important. I cringe every time I hear of how much money athletes are receiving, wishing that our police, fire, rescue, nurses and teachers were better paid for all that they do.
It is a long row to hoe recovering from this type of accident. A much shorter row now than it was when I did it in 1975. Back then, the ER Dr’s first reaction was a desire to just cut the leg off and try to fix the rest. Fortunately, wiser heads prevailed. I still carry the scars both mental and physical. Sadly, the severely damaged full face helmet was discarded and not mounted on a plaque as a reminder. Nevertheless, this is one two-wheeler that won’t even start the bike until his AND his rider’s helmets are strapped on.
I am a libertarian and believe strongly in personal liberties, in particular those of consenting adults. But until there is a method of providing, at the expense of that consenting adult, for all those who have to face the lasting consequences of the person who “chooses” not to wear a helmet, strap it on and STFU or take the bus.
Some questions about the LTR: Does it store information on the server? Or does the server communicate through the internet with a database elsewhere? What information does it make available to the officer on its display (does it just say “STOLEN!” and give tag number? Does it kick out a bunch of name, address, license information?)? I ask because there could be some pretty interesting opportunities for abuse, or the whole rig could be stolen, which would be bad if it stored data onboard.
It merely lets you know that the particular sequence or combination of letters and/or numbers is stolen. You then verify that it’s stolen. It has no registration information stored in it.
Officer Steve, your first story reminds me of something that happened years ago when I was teaching kindergarten (5-6 year olds). One of my precious little girls (who had an older sister) came running and giggling up to me on the playground, telling me that the boys were chasing her. She didn’t seem upset, so I asked her WHY they were chasing her, and she said, “Because they think I am wearing a BRA!”
Please tell me the conversation from the first story actually took place. It reminded me of a joke that’s been circling the Internet for years about an officer having pulled a speeder over, and he talks about having drank so much, having a lot of drugs in the car, having a dead body in the trunk, having a lot of priors, lots of other bad things, but when another officer arrives, nothing is found to prove what the suspect said, and the suspect mentions that the lyin’ SOB (the first officer) also said he was speeding.
If i was president, i would legalize pot (in small quantities), and use the $ you save on the drug war to build more CSI labs throught the states. There’s no excuse for rapist and other serious criminals to not get caught quickly just because the “lab” is so backed up.
Is it fair to make fun of K-9 units? I saw a squad car with bold red letters across the trunk that read, “Caution: K-9 Unit”. Now, the only way most people will see these red letters is if they’re in traffic directly behind the patrol car. Caution: K-9? Are the dogs driving now? So, it’s like a student driver warning? Or is it a warning about the dog sticking his head out the window to sniff for drugs. “Hide your bongs, and put out your blunts, bro, there’s a doggy-on-board the car in front of us.”
Sammy we are all proud of you. Those of us that have been by your side since you became a police officer knew that you would be back before expected. There are few Police Officers than can match your professionalism and determination, SSPD is lucky to have a person of your caliber working in their Traffic Unit. Good luck my friend and “congrats” on getting married. Be safe and Take care. Your Friend
I would like to ask Officer Steve how to combat this country’s drug problem? We had this “drug war” for how long? 40 years or so and still no progress. I think we should start looking into a new direction. The main problem we need to address is why selling drugs is so profitable?
This seems to be a good venue to discuss how difficult it is to be in law enforcement, when you have to walk that thin line between serving and protecting, and trying not to violate someone’s civil rights. If the Harvard professor had simply identified himself, provided proper ID to validate who he was, he would not have made the news. But, nooooo…..! He had to bow up and get defensive as if his civil rights were being violated, with the typical, “Do you know who I am?!?” response. If a neighbor of mine saw that someone was trying to get into my house by force, even if it was me, having forgotten my key or having a dead garage door opener, I would be thankful that someone cared enough to help protect my property – I would do the same for them. The issue in Mass. only became a race issue when the professor himself raised it. We do not pay our police and fire fighters enough, along with teachers, yet we depend on them to wade into difficult situations not of their own cause, and expect perfect performance and behavior. I am sick and tired of situations that are avoidable becoming front page news and get a presidential response without all the facts. The professor should thank the police for doing their job, and apologize for his behavior.
Richard Weinblatt, director of the Institute for Public Safety at Central Ohio Technical College, said the police sergeant was responsible for defusing the situation once he realized Gates was the lawful occupant. It is not against the law to yell at police, especially in a home, as long as that behavior does not affect an investigation, he said.
“That is part of being a police officer in a democratic society,” Weinblatt said. “The point is that the police sergeant needs to be the bigger person, take the higher road, be more professional.”
Last week the helicopters were flying all over Sandy Springs. We received a phone call from the city instructing us to stay indoors as there was a fugitive on the loose. But no mention in this column?
I wasn’t there. The President sure as hell wasn’t there. None of you were there. How exactly do we all the sudden become experts on something that did/did not take place?
Not sure if anyone read but the officer that arrested the Harvard professor is responsible for teaching the class regarding racial profiling to other officers. That tells me he is a respected individual within the police force.
People do stupid stuff and the police have to make a decision. I have a novel idea, contact your local PD, ask them if you can take a ride along. I have several friends in PD’s throughout GA and the country. I chose the 4th of July one year because I figured we would get some action. The only thing we got was some dumba** who decided to beat his girlfriend because she used an old toothbrush to clean some household items. So instead of being smart and going to the store to buy a $4 toothbrush the dummy was arrested for domestic violence.
Give your local PD a call and get some hands on experience. I have before and I will again.
Seems we’re reading more and more of the murder/suicide but seldom do I read of a single victim of suicide. Perhaps it is time we do- graphic descriptions of what a family may see when they identify the victim may help deter someone from attempting or succeeding killing themself. Great blogging, Steve. Keep informing.
Smartly put thank you very much. What gets under my skin the most is that if the roles were reversed (white professor black cop) this story would not have made it to the 6:00 news in Cambridge. I wish people would stop and think before they yell racisim. These are the types of situations that make people thik twice before becoming a police officer.
This story is really about abuse of authority. Gates identity had been confirmed. The disorderly charge was thrown out by the DA who knew it would not stand up in court. Which means that the arrest was unwarranted and for intimidation porposes only.
AMEN! 2 sides to every story; and unless the facts show otherwise, I’m going to give the benefit-of-doubt to the police officer every time. Perhaps our esteemed President needs to stop speaking so “stupidly” and support our public safety men and women.
Steve, I was totally with you until the last three paragraphs which spoiled an otherwise reasoned commentary. I think the cops did exactly what they should have done, *with the exception of arresting a 58 year old man* for nothing other than being indignant at being questioned in his own home.
The whole scene could have played out differently in a variety of ways if both of the actors had showed a little common sense. The prof didn’t need to jump to racist conclusions but it is understandable that he would be upset about being hassled in his own house. The cop, after realizing that the guy lived there, could have just walked away.
The prof wouldn’t have much of a story for his students if the cop had just left. The cop would have had a good story for his students in the racial profiling class. As it is, neither one has a good story.
The primary objective of that LEO in Cambridge was to make sure no burglary is taking place, and make sure nobody gets hurt. Now the professor was mad, and he was, for all intents and purposes, being a jerk to the officer. I am not a cop, but my understanding is that being a jerk is not a crime, and police are abusing their authority if they arrest and charge people simply for just being a jerk. Detain and handcuff the suspect, get his ID to establish his identity and check for warrants, then let him go, since it is his house, and no burglary is in progress. It says ‘To Serve and Protect’ on most police cruisers. Arresting a mouthy college professor ’serves’ only the ego of the officer and I’m not sure how much ‘protection’ we need from 58 year old college professors.
If he took a swing at the officer, pushed the officer, or made some threat to the office, that’s another story….but he did not.
I agree with you Bob, I feel that the he had a right to get agitated with the officer. There is a bigger picture here than just what is being said, in that this man has just come home from a long journey and his door is stuck and he can’t get into his house. Granted he didn’t have to say what he said and I think that was in the heat of the moment, but that is what makes us human and that is what should count and not so much what is said. Sometimes I think we hold people up to high and the reality is we are just human sometimes.
A). had no personal experience whatsoever with law enforcement (as in been questioned or arrested).
B). been questioned and/or arrested for something you were innocent of and have an axe to grind on abuse of power.
I have experienced the latter.
I am as white as rice and have twice suffered the indignity of being wrongly suspected. The first time, I was irate (as in angry white male) and became an obnoxious a-hole and I spent hours getting myself out of detention. I hired a lawyer and after spending too much, I learned that I could not win and that I probably could have ended the situation inside of 30 minutes had I been calm enough to allow the officer to verify my “facts”, since my statements were mere allegory to the officer at the time of the confrontation.
The second time, I bit my tongue, followed the officer’s instructions, missed an appointment, and walked away a bit frazzled but with my dignity restored. The officer was apologetic and bid me a good day, which I grumbled at.
Lesson: you cannot assume that just because you say you are not guilty and that you are who you say you are, that the officer will take your word for it, even if you have an ID. How many phony ID’s do you think are floating around Atlanta? (or Cambridge). I understand that now.
Professor Gates obviously had some existing animosity toward cops – perhaps only white cops. Maybe he would have behaved differently had the officer been black. “Thanks for your concern officer. Come on in and look around. Can I get you some lemonade?” Instead, he profiled the white cop. He became hostile by his own admission and invited his own arrest. You would think that a Harvard Professor with his background would exhibit better sense.
BTW, in my cases both officers were white males like me.
1. Gates had a financial incentive to create a racial incident. If Gates had not blown up the way he did then he would not have secured the additional work (PBS documentary, lecture fees, TV appearances, book deal, etc.) that will result of his contrived victimhood.
2. I’ll bet you a grand that the prof had (minimally) a bag of dope and didn’t want the police to discover it. No good, self-respecting liberal Ivy League professor would be without his supply of weed (where he smokes but doesn’t inhale). So Gates yells at the officer to get him away from his stash. I’ll pay for the K-9 to conduct a search of his residence which, by the way, is government housing. Liberals like gubment housing.
3. If Obama can’t get this relatively simple matter right, then how can he get anything right? Economy? Health care? National security? Nope, nope, and nope.
until you’re a black man in america who has lived this reality…you will never understand…the cop was wrong and hopefully a civil action will show this…
Gates needed material for his next book in order to support his fake area of study. He pushed this provocation in order to generate his 15 minutes of fame – must say a job well done.
Well, enough said from the above . I am a retired BLack Atlanta police officer who know perfectly well that a police officer does not like to be ridiculed or sassed because each officer regardless of race knows that police officers should or supposed to be respected and all that good stuff and if this is not the situation where there is respect,,,,,your behind will be put in jail for Ga.annotation 101 P.O.P pissing off the police.. !!!!!!!!!!!!
Once the Professor showed his ID, the Police Officer should have apologized for the inconvenience and left. I don’t care if the Professor was mean, called him names, or whatever else.
The Police Officer was in the right to ask questions, but he should not have arrested anyone.
I was once in a college town and having a beer in a bar when an officer came in and started demanding to see people’s ID’s. I was 25 at the time. He came to my table and asked to see my license. I replied, “No, I am of legal age and the bartender checked my license when I bought my beer”. He grabbed my arm and stood me up and demanded my license or I would be thrown in jail. The bartender rushed over and assured the officer I was 21+. That diffused the situation some. In the end, I just walked out. This is not Nazi-germany. The Police can’t just demand to see my papers anytime they want.
Here is what logic tells me. It tells me that most police officers, even racist ones, are probably not looking to bust an older black man for breaking in his own home. So here are my observations/comments.
1) Professor Gates went way, way, way way, over the top in his reaction. If he had just shown a modicum of civil behavior none of this would have come close to happening. He should have been appreciative that the police officer was so prompt to protect his property.
2) The arresting officer should have calmed Gates down, maybe even cuff him, but should probably not went through with taking him down town.
3) The President should have kept his mouth SHUT. He made a blunder in going on the record about a situation he knew little about but then made it 200X worse using the words he used and then painting the ENTIRE Cambridge police force with the same brush.
Bottom line. The Cambridge police officer does not owe anyone an apology. Professor Gates should apologize to the police officer for his outrageous behavior but Obama needs to beg the cambridge police dept if not all police officers to forgive him for his comments.
If only some people would research the facts, people like Obama. The same home was already broken into once before, that’s probably why the neighbor called the cops. The second officer (black officer) to arrive has said numerous times the arrest was by the book. The professor demanded to be taken to jail. The professor, I am sure, will make the rounds of the talk shows such as Oprah and he’ll sue and he’ll write a book. Obama has nothing better to do in a double digit unemployment, housing crisis and a war but to go off on a cop in an obvious local matter. I hate it when an unqualified person such as Obama does his the job with on the training. Obama is feeling pressure; the honeymoon is just about over and it’s his economy and he owns it now and he’ll probably be in the meltdown mode soon. No time when an officer has ever asked me for identification have I ever tried to show my work ID. Seems to me someone is very accustomed to having their way and if they don’t get it, they pitch a hissy-fit as my mom would say. As usual, just about everything that happens to some blacks, not all, but some… is always racial. It’s sad that Obama had to wear his Al Sharpton hat on this one. No class.
You missed a very specific point, the professor followed the officer outside the house into the public arena. When he did that he is no longer a private home owner but a public citizen mouthing off to an officer who repeatedly warned him that he was crossing the line.
Don’t forget the specific point that the officer insisted that Gates come outside. Supposedly the acoustics were so bad inside the house that he could only give his name and badge number on the porch. Had he not insisted Gates come on the porch, there would have been no disorderly conduct for anyone to see or hear.
kunta kinte lynched in amerika,
What a stupid statement. How about this I am an American Indian so if you are not an American Indian who has lived this reality, you will never understand Or how about if you are not an Italian in America who lived this reality, you will never understand. Should we keep going? Do you get the point, I bet not; you dumba$$.
I would, however, reiterate what an utterly appalling lack of judgment was shown by our President in shooting from the lip on this issue. He ran, and was elected, as our “post-racial” President . . . and then acted as if he were no better than a knee-jerk, “search for any offense to be taken” clown along the lines of Sharpton or Jackson. Bet this has opened a few peoples eyes, no?
Sandisita,
boy you are dumber than the last guy. How about if he did what the cop asked then there would have been no problem. When did it become OK to curse a cops mother to his face and nothing happens to you?
Everytime a black doesn’t get his/her way . . cry racism. If you look at them the wrong way . . well that’s racism. Everyone is not out to get a black person because they are black. Blacks like whites do commit crimes, they speed, they do drugs, they rob, they do a poor job and are let go, they provoke officers . . the only differences is they have the “race” card that they can play and cry “racism” and gain the support of the NAACP and now the President without taking into consideration any facts. And even when the facts are presented as in the Duke LaCrosse team’s situation . . there are those who still refuse to accept them. Blacks really want revenge against whites.
The cop came uninvited into the home (which is a violation of the resident’s constitutional rights). He was shown the man’s id and proof of residency. The cop should have walked away at that time. Instead, the cop was angry about being yelled and so lured the equally angry resident out of the office so that he could arrest him. Yes, the professor was angry and should have controlled his temper, but yelling in your own home is your right. In the police report, the cop even says he told the professor “thank you for obeying my order and coming outside”. So he could arrest him.
There’s something to be said about racial profiling if you’re a white college kid walking around the tech campus area and a young black male with dreads, a white tee shirt and baggy jeans comes your way; run like hell or get a gun, you’re about to be robbed and shot . You call it racial profiling, I call it watching the news and trying to stay alive. Sandista, they are doing brain transplants at Emory, apply now. You must have sneezed and lost yours.
Jais, your assessment & distribution of blame/responsibility to all three parties is 100% correct.
But why engage in ad-hominem name calling (”good for nothing”)? All it does is diminish whatever meritorious point you might have otherwise been making. Plus, “he maybe needs to shut his purple lips” has a slightly racist tinge to it. It’s really unnecessary.
Otherwise, you’re spot on. Just ditch the name calling & I’d find your comment otherwise bulletproof.
Oedipus, your “free speech” comment is lame. The first amendment protects you from the GOVERNMENT infringing on your right to speak your mind. Not to require the AJC to publish every single comment from the peanut gallery.
Sheesh. This is THEIR blog, you know. You want free speech? Go start your own blog.
“Just because” is living proof that white resentment toward minorities continues to simmer and boil just underneath the surface.
I’m white as the driven snow, yet I try to be sympathetic toward the thoughts and perspectives of others, particularly those who’ve had a culturally different experience than my own. There’s no point in lumping all “others” into one category & assume you can read their minds. All you’re doing is betraying & displaying YOUR OWN prejudices.
Screeching about how blacks cry racism whenever something doesn’t go their way… or stereotyping that all blacks want revenge against whites… only make you sound ignorant. And racist.
PS, I generally support Obama but his comment about the cops “acting stupidly” is out of line.
And for those who think “he needs to shut his mouth and not comment on local matters” need to be reminded that he was answering a question from the press corps. He didn’t bring it up spontaneously.
On other hand, Sgt. Crowley’s comments to the media have been pretty awesome. “I support our president, but I’m disappointed by his words.” (paraphrasing) Very well put.
except you, sane jane. Everyone is quick to isolate incidents with no regard to context. In the context of the history of racial tension between police and people of color, Professor Gates reaction makes sense to me. So does Obama’s comment. I’m tired of people of color having to “water-down” the truth and deny reality to satisfy white people.
Sandisita – the police officer was shown Gates’ Harvard ID, not his ID and proof of residency. I don’t know about where you work, but my work ID doesn’t have my address on it. The call-in to get the police officer over to his residence stated that there were two men attempting to break into a home. Get one of the men outside, that leaves you an “empty” house to search for the other suspected robber. The police officer did nothing wrong. This is, and has been, blown way out of proportion by people who don’t know what happened, but of course have an opinion that must be right.
“The sergeant did what he should. He checks the guy out. Here’s where everything went south. The professor is at his own house. So when he’s challenged, he’s not happy. In fact, he’s mad.”
You could just as easily read the “he” being challenged as the cop. The officer didn’t do his duty; he is supposed to “protect and serve”. I have no problem with Crowley questioning Gates when he seems him working on the door as he is doing his job protecting people/property. But, the officer didn’t serve Gates or the residents of Cambridge by hauling Gates down to the pokey. Being angry or rude isn’t a crime or aproximately half the population of New England would be in jail! I’m a law abiding citizen and have been exposed to an officer popping off at me while working traffic at the Georgia Dome before a Falcons home game. The reality is some officers have power and/or ego trips and don’t like being challenged.
And, the response by the DA and Cambridge PD pretty much says how much the city agrees with Crowley’s conduct. I thought one of the skills of a police officer is crisis mangagment and desclating situations. It’s crazy that Crowley & Co shoved an old man into a squad car and took him downtown after he identified himself with ID! It’s not like a small time crook would go to the trouble of making a fake ID and then robbing the actual house of the person who’s name matches said ID. Crowley’s actions were the eptiome of poor judgement. A simple call to the dispatcher from Crowley’s own radio would have verified that Gates resided at that address if the officer needed further verification beyond an ID. I expect more from our public servants.
Here is the real points
1. Cops will kill you and plant drugs in your home to cover it up (it does happin, you can read it in the papers)
2. Old college profesors who walk with a cane don’t often kill cops.
3. I don’t have to like you and you don’t have to like me. We just have to stay appart.
4. The job of the cops is NOT TO ARREST PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY PISSED THEM OFF.
If both people acted professionally nothing would have happened. The professor was mad that (his teenage son) had broken his door and has to pay someone evening/weekend rates to come out and fix it. Most of my highly educated friends collected themselves pretty fast and I don’t think anything would have happened IF the professor had collected himself faster and if the cop let him vent a little longer. I don’t think RACE had anything to do with it, BUT if you look hard enough into ANYTHING you can find it if you want.
Life lesson: Mouthing off to the cops will get you in trouble….period. Gates had a big racist chip on his shoulder, and he dared the cop to knock it off.
This was a racial issue regardless of what some of you think. If I present a valid ID in my house and you’ve looked in the house, it is time for you to leave. You all really cannot understand what its like to be a black man in this country and be profiled time and time again. So before you all chime in with your “Amens,” please try to put yourself on the other end of the spectrum. I encounter it everyday as an extremely educated man that has on more than one occation felt violated by a police officer.
Good article Steve one fact that is incorrect is that the president was asked his opinion and not called via telephone. I would like to share this, I have been to Boston, Cambridge and various other cities in Massachusetts and on at least two seperate occasions when I was lost I stopped an officer for directions. Both times, I was treated with such disrespect. In fact on one occasion while in Boston the officer was on a cell phone. Apparently she got angry, got out of the car and began screaming at me. Four times I asked her for her badge number. Not once did she give it to me but had no problem trying to humiliate and intimidate me. By the time I was done with her as I was able to rip her a new one without disrespecting her, she was apologizing to me. I guess it was because in the end she couldn’t even give me directions to where I needed to go. Now I am not saying that this is what happened in the Gates case and I know every officer is not like one I encountered however now I am very leary of stopping the police in Massachusetts for anything especially in Boston. given the fact that Cambridge is the next town over I could only think they are the same throughout. One more thing, don’t forget what was done to the residents of Boston when Charles Stuart killed his wife and blamed it on the black man. In fact they actually arrested and charged an innocent man because of the lies that were told to them This is what people like Professor Gates remembers about the police not all of the good they do! To be honest, I am sorry this happened because Sgt. Crowley probably is a good officer
Profiling: Seeing a black men going into an expensive home in a rich neighborhood and stopping him. Dead wrong.
Not Profiling: Responding to a call from a resident that a black man is trying to break into a home at 3am, responding to the call, seeing a black man trying to break into the home, stopping him, demanding identification. The Professor should have a) been polite b) shown ID c) thanked the officer. His house could well have been in the process of being broken into, and the neighbor and police would have both been doing their civic duty. The PROFESSOR was a racist, i.e. injected race into a situation where there was none and abused a white man and police officer at that doing his job exactly the way he should have.
FYI; while strict profiling is wrong (which this case didn’t even come close to being) i.e. depriving someone of their constitutional rights based on their race, being a cop on the beat where a group that comprises 13% of the population commits 70% of the violent crime, you’d have to be an PC idiot to not pay attention to those #s which you experience every day. I am not discusssing the potential social / historical imperatives behind those statistics and nor should a cop; his job is to keep people safe and ignoring reality won’t do that.
The DA should NOT have thrown out the case and I am sure it is not why he did; he did it because it was political suicide not to. Damn straight if you yell at cops at 3am and brandish a stick while doing so, ID or not you are going down.
It’s not really about being a black or white man, we are all losing our freedom, step by step.
Freedom means that I can move about unhindered by the state/police and that they can’t search me or my home without good reason to do so.
Someone above mentioned Nazi Germany, and it’s a good comparison. “Where are your papers?”.
One might think that this is all about fighting crime. If we keep losing our rights and the crime rate doesn’t go down where does that leave the argument?
Our founding fathers inherently knew these issues, they had seen the abuse in the past, under english law.
WOW, all these people still saying the officer was racist! Anyone see the black Sergeant standing next to him in the press conference? Guess what….that was his partner at the arrest and he supported his actions “100%”. Race had zero to do with it….obviously some people are just going to be ignorant regardless of obvious facts (as shown by several people’s comments). Maybe all the African American males posting “you don’t know what it’s like” statements need to call up the black sergeant and ask him why he let the “good ole’Professor” hang out to dry.
The call comes into the 911 call center “2 Black Men breaking into a house with back packs” and to an officer, or whites of any kind this is an immediate threat. Why? Because the chaszm of race and all of its ugly past has been reproduced. The matter at hand is no different than the realities of what we encounter daily. Time doesn’t mean a thing, nor did it change the ugly evil that still exist in such a free country. We claim that we are united, free, and brave. People alike we hurt, violate, hate, and take pride in our own selfish offenses. It does not matter if both were just acting in poor judgement. The initial call sparked the profile and both the officer and the professor are acting no differently than what is perpetuated in this country. Wake Up!!
44 showed his true colors, so to speak. A very incendiary comment and one that shows he also has a chip on his shoulder. Could that happen from attending a church for 20 some odd years with a Black Liberation Theology minister?
This Sandy Springs cop is so one sided its scary. Mr. Rose like it or not the fact is Police Officers sometimes assume African Americans are criminals, far more times than they do when the suspect is white. Mr. Rose like it or not many blacks are sensitive to this, its viewed as a sign of disrespect and if you don’t think that’s a legitimate belief then you are another example of the problems with the police force. Mr. Rose the professor showed a Harvard ID, the officer entered the professor’s home uninvited. And the president never called the police officer stupid, he said the fact the professor was arrested was stupid, and yes, arresting the professor was stupid.
The professor is far smarter than almost everyone else commenting on this story, you don’t think he recognizes treatment that may be racially insensitive? He had a point.
I also agree on the initial call, the neighbor doesn’t recognize the professor? Whattt?
Oh I’m white, when i was younger I used to use the old oh if he was black or white he would have been treated the same. Then I experienced life and saw that’s simplistic and represents the mindset of someone who has never tried to live in their fellow citizens shoes.
My bad on the time Beck, same scenario; ‘two black men breaking in’ call to the cops, arrive, a black man breaking/broken in. I was subletting once in NY (where I grew up), cops found a broken key in the mailbox downstairs, investigated, my front door was open, they entered, guns drawn. I didn’t give them lip. Basically not smart or good thing to do; they are doing their job #1 and they do a dangerous one #2.
Day or night, if they informed him they got a call a man was breaking in, he should have put two and two together (being so smart and all); cops responded to break-in, found someone they didn’t know breaking or broken-in. Respect? Respect the cop and his job and don’t assume because he is WHITE he is profiling you. No more excusable to ‘profile’ a white cop based on your experience then it is to profile a black man based on yours.
Let me ask this question…if the Professors house was been robbed, and the neighbor said she called the police but no one came to investigate…. would he have said they did not come to check out his house because he was black? REALLY!!!This is a man who has written books on racial issues I think he is a little too sensitive and needs to understand this was not about him! It was simply a policeman doing his job!!!! I think he wanted it to be racial becasue that is how he chooses to see the world. You make your own reality, and his is clearly racial! He needs to stop and look in the mirror before he calls others racist!
What’s the content of Gates’s character? A thug with an endowed chair is still a thug. .
Watch the 10:00 or 11:00 news tonight….or tomorrow night….or any night. Knifing, shooting, robbery. Unintelligible witness. No King’s English here. Huge amount of social resources applied for the same tired reason. So many chances, so many blown opportunities.
I love the references about the klan. I’ve never seen a klan member, don’t know any, don’t know anybody who knows any. I’ve lived in most every state in the Deep South. I don’t know anybody who has ever been lynched. The History Channel is the only place most folks have ever seen the klan–unless John Lewis is running for re-election and he needs to create a bogeyman.
There is more black-on-black crime that results in black deaths in this city alone than all the lynchings in the history of the U.S. You folks who cite the klan should look in the mirror. You are the modern klan, kill your own kind, and don’t seem particularly disturbed by it. I don’t like the old klan or the modern klan.
The President’s statement was inappropriate. The police officer was doing his job and the professor over-reacted. If the officer had not required ID and left and there was a burglary in progress, the professor doubtless would have claimed that his house wasn’t protected because he is black. And shame on the city of Cambridge for hanging the officer out to dry.
WHAT OBAMA SAID (A NON-APOLOGY): “I want to make clear that in my choice of words, I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department and Sgt. Crowley specifically. And I could’ve calibrated those words differently.”
WHAT OBAMA SHOULD HAVE SAID: “I was wrong to criticize Sgt. Crowley or the Cambridge Police Department. I wasn’t there, didn’t know the facts, and spoke in haste. I apologize to the Sergeant for my remarks and deeply regret involving myself in a local matter. Sgt. Crowley has a distinguished record as a professional police officer and is a role model for the community. I wish him and the Department the best and appreciate their good record of service to the community.”
I try to tell myself that I would have responded better than Dr. Gates, but one night when I found 2 College Park cops screaming at me with guns pointed at my head, I acted the same if not worst than Dr. Gates. I was working late, sitting at my desk in my own business with all the lights on and my car parked outside. They stood me up, patted me down and were surprised when the name on my license matched the one on the door. The cops apologized by saying that there had been some robberies in the neighborhood and that I looked like I was leaning under my desk to steal something. I suggested rather strongly that they get the F out.
Now fo you ultra conservatives that think you would have handled this situation any better, consider that I had just looked at 2 pistols aimed at my head, with two seemingly unstable white men hlding the guns, screaming at me at the top of their lungs. If they had been two dear friends pulling a practical joke, I would have killed them once I regained my composure. …Not really, but my point is to emphasize a pointThe rage that is induced in such a situation is completely unexpected, but should be taken into consideration. Dr. Gates wasn’t his normal self, I wasn’t and you wouldn’t be either. In a situation like that a Policeman should recognize that they have just created a situation that requires a lot of understanding. They can’t get pissed off or insulted because nothing that the person says should be considered personal. Those that say that the good Dr. should have exercised more restraint, plz take it from me, there ain’t none. The level of insult and the terror that you experience is compounded greatly when you aree aBlack person who has lived a life of one insult after another from Whites who were brought up to see you as less than human.
As for Obama, he is showing himself to be a gr8 healer for this country, but he screwed this one up. But to his credit, he manned up and said as much.
When a situation like this happens, my heart really goes out to the police department. What are they to do? I mean the guy was just doing his job and he gets ripped a new a.. hole. If he had not questioned the professor and a serious situation was taking place, the police department would have been bashed. I know when I have problems in my neighborhood and the police visit my home due to obnoxious neighbors, I am asked to show some form of id. I have no problem with it. I think all concerned citizens should watch the tv show, “Cops.” This progam reveals some very provocative and interesting insight to some of the outrageous situations and challenges officers have to deal with on a daily basis. We should all step back and take a deep breath and give the guy a break.
Apparently Obama thinks that the outrageous behavior towards the officer, Mr. Crowley, by the Harvard professor, Mr. Gates, is an appropriate reaction to a police officer responding to a call about a possible breakin at a home (by two persons, both of which might have still been in the home holding another resident hostage)! Do we really want a President that makes snap judgements without knowing all the facts? People are calling for the officer to have restrained himself, what about President Obama? Mr. Crowley was actually there and knows the facts of the incident, President Obama is coming in from left field, probably urged on by his friend Mr. Gates, the one ranting and raving about racism and “you don’t know who you are dealing with”. What a display of arrogance by Mr. Gates. If this is proper behavior for a supposedly distinguished African-American scholar then I feel very sorry for the poor role models available. Perhaps Michael Vick would be a better choice.
The police officer had to consider all possibilities in this situation. Mr. Gates did not represent Harvard University very well and should have been thrown in jail for disturbing the peace. Racial profiling does happen, but the only racial profiling that happened here was on the part of Mr. Gates playing the race card for all it was worth. I would have to question his suitability for teaching students at Harvard University.
I am guessing there was some classism involved here. Professor Gates, a highly paid, highly educated professor, wasn’t going to give any respect to a (white) lower middle class model of authority. He is accustomed to being treated as the authority figure, and would resent highly being questioned by any high school graduate making $35,000 per year. The officer’s race would be further fuel to the fire.
The officer, on the other hand, is accustomed to black suspects being a little more accomodating.
Just my guess. This would be in addition to other factors, public knowledge or not.
Sgt. Crowley did exactly what he should have done- right up until he arrested Gates. When he arrested gate, he acted stupidly. The president hit it dead on the head. When one first enters the police academy, a light should go off in your head when you learn that you will be issued a gun and a bullit proof vest. Some guy mouthing off at you is the least of your worries. It is also stupid to bring unwarranted, unfavorable attention to your department and comrades.
“Once the Professor showed his ID, the Police Officer should have apologized for the inconvenience and left. I don’t care if the Professor was mean, called him names, or whatever else.”
Oyea….. the OFFICER should of been the one that appologized “Im SO sorry that i took the time out of my busy night to check on a report of someone breaking into your house, next time ill make sure not to respond 2 a report of 2 black males (who make up the majority of the home invasions by tha way) breaking into your house while you and your wife may be sleeping!”
Do you see how DUMB what u said sounds!??
Bottom line: When blacks stop making up the majority of criminals in Atlanta, whites will change their mind about them! All you lib whites can kiss my azz because you dont know shT about the streets and how dangerous they are!
I used to work as a cable man from 2000-2006 in Atlanta, and survived a carjacking, walked in on a gasstation robbery, had guns pulled on me…. you know what…. i know you dumb libs in denial are going to hate this…. EVERYTIME it was a black male under 35!!
Face it… Black youth culture is morally bankrupt.
I was what you call leaning towards the left before my experiences…. now im a REALIST! Some of you blacks might wanna try it before you make up excuses about the cops and whites holding you down. Common we ALL know the biggest threat to normal decent blacks is black thugs like what killed the 2 roomates in College Park execution style.
Get real… if yall disagreed you wouldnt be moving in mass to white areas around Atlanta to escape the shtholes your people currently infest. There used to be a big sign on I-20 West that read (if you do crime DONT come to Douglas County) hmmm… .wonder why the NAACP found this offensive?
This post will probably be taken down by the PC police for being to REAL!
Jais: Disarm the police?? Are people scarred of mall cops? I guess you’ve never encountered a real criminal before. You know…. when i was carjacked by 2 Blacks back in 2001 off of Windy Hill Rd i was young and didnt understand at the time how they could possibly tell me to drive to the woods after i had been nice enough to give them a ride when it was raining. (where i knew chances were i would be killed and my SUV taken)
I was able to outsmart them that day, party because God blessed me with a higher IQ than both of the dumb black thugs, (the Bell curve is real) and partly because of my streetsmarts from working places like Bankhead and MLK.
Anyways i always regretted not killing the 2 blacks myself, because about a month later i read a story in the back pages of the AJC about a Kennesaw state student that was obviously less street savy than myself, and was found dead at a lake after being carjacked, close to where those worthless blacks wanted me to drive.
If you ask me… SHOOT TO KILL! These people are Worthless members of society and deserve no respect! They dont deserve the chance to come out of prison 20 years later and rape and kill someone else. The’ll NEVER be worth a sht… thats what you idiot white guilt libs dont understand! Everytime i hear about a police shooting……… killing a carjacking/.robbery suspect i CELEBRATE!! im what the blacks call “keeping it real”
the conculsion here is that they were both wrong. the officer should have left after he got the id.gates should have shut up after he gave it to him.now they are both between a rock and a hard place.this should teach them both a lesson in respect.
I agree with your article, but what astonishes me the most is that America (All Races) refuses to see racist behavior and thought as an act by a minority in this country. All officers on the scence sided with the police, and they were of varied minories. If there had been a racist intent by the cop, all involved would have sided with Gates. However, All Sided with Crowley.
However, Not a single news agency in America, will post any comments on Professor Gates, acting irrational, and then screeming obsenities at a white police officer, who he singled out and called a Racist. Where is the lable of Racist for Professor Gates in the American Media, furthermore and black racism towards other minorites is an issue America needs to Address.
Atlanta Councilman carjacked, Boxer Verrnon Forrest killed in a robbery…….. yet according to the NAACP and excuse makers (white libs and blacks) across the country its the evil White cops and people you gotta look out for!
Make sure next time u pull up to a gasstation where people with gold teeth and dreads sling rock and beg for change that you tell them your on the lookout for evil white people that might try to do you wrong. Im sure THEY will have your back….errr…your wallet.
Just ask Vernon Forrest who you should be on the lookout for. Wait…. you cant anymore… he was yet another victim of black crime.
Funny… the thug blacks kill the good decent ones, and yet the decent ones cry and whine when the cops kill the thugs? WHO’S SIDE ARE YOU ON!??
You opened with a lie.
The policeman did not see the professor working on his door.
The professor was already in his home when the police arrived, he had gone in through the back door.
That opening dishonesty makes everything else you say irrevelant.
Police , firemen, and EMTs deserve our respect. Do you idiots put your life on the line every time you go to work? OR, do you not work at all, just sit around showing your ignorance on computer blogs? Probably the latter. I appreciate all the men and women that protect me and mine. You are my heroes!
In 2000, I a white male was mistaken for an Americas Most Wanted Child Molestor in Bartow County Georgia. I was pulled over at gunpoint in front of my wife and kids and laid on the hot pavement face down with handculfs on hot day in August for at least 15 minutes. The offices arresting me were black. The officers holding me at gunpoint were black. RACISM never occurred to me. The officers apologized and said they got me mixed ups with my neighbor. I forgave them and thanked them for their efforts to protect our community.
Why is it som amny times that when a black man is arrested by a white man it’s often racism, but when a white man is arrested by a black man, that’s never an issue ?
As a former university professor, I witnessed many times the arrrogance and narcissism of other faculty who take great personal offense when working class or blue collar people do not demonstrate to them the proper humilty and deference they believe they are entitled to as educated elites. “You may refer to me as ‘doctor’”, I have heard in various forms more times than I care to remember. Over the years, I have witnessed white, black, hispanic, and asian faculty pull this type of attitude with less educated people than themselves.
When Gates shouted “Do you know who I am?” and the “Yo mama” comment, he was simply demonstrating his contempt for a working class man who not did crumble at the mere mention of Gates’ education and exalated university position.
The man got arrested for arrogance. Pure and simple. Arrogance transended race in this case.
We can all agree on how difficult it is to be in law enforcement, when you have to walk that thin line between serving and protecting, and trying not to violate someone’s civil rights. If the Harvard professor had simply identified himself, provided proper ID to validate who he was, he would not have made the news. But, nooooo…..! He had to bow up and get defensive as if his civil rights were being violated, with the typical, “Do you know who I am?!?” response. If a neighbor of mine saw that someone was trying to get into my house by force, even if it was me, having forgotten my key or having a dead garage door opener, I would be thankful that someone cared enough to help protect my property – I would do the same for them. The issue in Mass. only became a race issue when the professor himself raised it. We do not pay our police and fire fighters enough, along with teachers, yet we depend on them to wade into difficult situations not of their own cause, and expect perfect performance and behavior. I am sick and tired of situations that are avoidable becoming front page news and get a presidential response without all the facts. The professor should thank the police for doing their job, and apologize for his behavior.
Steve Rose, you simply prove the racist point by reciting the same old tiresome justification and psychotic denial of racism. Racism is part of the fabric of American society. Take a look at the posts. It is sad that as the head of a law enforcement agency you show NO understanding of this societal illness. You confirm what blacks and Hispanics in Sandy Springs know – racial profiling is okay by you. Try to imagine if the Cambridge police Officer was black and the homeowner Lawrence Summers (white Harvard professor). Would the neighbor call police? Wouldn’t Summers play the white race card (the law is on his side)? As this situation demonstrates, the law is NOT on Gates’ side. Take some lessons on race, Steve Rose. You are part of the problem.
AMEN Officer Steve!!!! Obama didn’t have my vote to begin with and he sure killed any hope that he might get my vote next time by stupidly saying this about a Officer that puts his life on the line everyday for you, me and Obama. So much for a racially neutral President, it only took him 7 months to throw the race card out there himself!
A few years ago I went out to retrieve something from my car and accidently locked myself out of my house. A passing police car spotted me climbing in a window late at night. He approached me and asked what I was doing. After explaining what had happened and showing my ID, all was well and we each went on our respective ways. The entire encounter lasted about eight to ten minutes, with no harm, no foul. The same would have been the case with Gate if Gates had shown any respect at all for the officer doing a dangerous job.
Now I’m a bit curious, so a question. Just how much verbal abuse is an officer supposed to accept while doing his job? If a simple matter of showing ID after being seen breaking into a house produces a tirade, what is the officer expected to do. Is the guy flying off the handle on drugs? Is he emotionally unbalanced? If so, is he a danger to himself or others? If the officer turns his back to leave, will he wear the cane on the back of his head? If he leaves Gates in that condition, will he end up harming himself or some one else?
The officer discovered Gates was a professor, so he called for university cops to assist. The university cop has stated publicly that the arrest was appropriate and that he agreed with the arrest. By the way, the university cop was Black. Does that change anything?
Obama’s statement made me cringe when I first read it. Big mistake. I knew the right would nail him for that remark. I think the score is now Obama 142, Conservatives 1.
I love to watch COPS…these Stupid people are hilarious. On one show this weekend a mentally defective woman called the cops on her boyfriend. She mustve forgotten about those two outstanding warrants but the boyfriend told the cops for her…LMAO!
It is so sad that someone is soooooooooooooo incredibly stupid as to call the police over an Ebay transaction. I wish I could say that I’m brilliant but I’m smart enough to know that I’m not. But stupid people irk the heck out of me.
I called the police once over a stolen canoe.I told them where it was,gave them the serial number.They told me to forget it as it would cost me more to recover it than it was worth.They were wrong about that,it cost me othing to steal it back.
A good read this morning is the weekly column by Dr.Sowell concerning the cop and the professor.The good Dr. and I think exactly alike on this issue.I’m sure he’ll be impressed to hear that.HA.HA.
I am a Black female and I am in total agreement with you Officer Steve. The officer did what he was supposed to do and was not out of line. I like and respect Skip Gates but he just got mad, I think, because the officer did not respond when he asked for Crowley’s name and badge number (don’t you guys wear identifiation on your uniforms?) and then proceeded to push Crowley’s police officer buttons during what could have been a routine, end of story situation and started a BIG mess that even made my beloved President Obama make “stupidly worded” remarks. Word to the wise and to Mr. President and Mr. Gates – 1) we all get angry and lose our cool sometimes, but be prepared to apologize and try to clear up the mess once you realize that YOU are wrong and started the foolishness; 2) don’t jump into dirty bath water with your friend if you want to come out clean. A true friend will stick by you to the death but will love you enough to put you in check quickly if you are wrong, and 3) to paraphrase Joe Friday, just the facts Ma’am… always have the facts before deciding who to side with. This will keep you from looking and sounding “stupidly” uninformed. Grace and Peace, and my respects to President Obama.
DavidinAtlanta: Sir, you have nailed the real issue better than anyone else. Academics who live in their insular, artificial worlds tend to become legends in their own minds.
I’m white. I’m 64 years old. I’m male. I’m soft-spoken and not physically imposing. With all these “markers” in my favor, I’m still very deferential and cooperative when confronting law enforcement officers. Why? Because, cops are only human. Their job is very complicated and stressful. They have to take very cautious and redundant steps to ensure their own safety and the safety of the public. They have to deal patiently with a lot of truly trashy people. Giving them the benefit of the doubt and a wide berth is simply a rational approach and it’s one that has kept me out of a lot of scrapes.
The professor obviously had an axe to grind and a chip on his shoulder. He seemed to think that being a black man in America exempted him from duties of courtesy, caution, and decent conduct. If he had shown these traits, the confrontation would have ended sooner and more peacefully. Instead, he found a policeman in a difficult situation, put even more stess on him and freely used the universal epithet, “Mother-f—–” to insult the policeman.
The old professor didn’t get what he deserved.
saw on tv a woman in california whose car was repossessed because she was the victim of a pyramid scheme. apparently she was making all her payments. how would such a scheme work?
This is amazing…I think that police in this country should be like the police in England. Police are not to be feared like they are here, they are supposed to be there for the people, police are servants to the people, it’s sad really…
Who gives a rats azz about this “feeling normal” thread? Why can’t we comment on the total absence of that clown Pennington and his handler the clowness Franklin with regards to the incidents that just happened? This city is in a death spiral down and these clowns are fiddling while Rome burns. Why do we have to wait until the fall to get rid of these clowns? We need to purge the trash from the city NOW !!!
Rose is a HOOT per usual and let’s face it – folks are f’d up! C’mon, butt stabbings and beastiality?! Puhleeze! Thanks for making “normal” folks feel good! I’d love to hose some of these clowns!
I like the part where the teller puts the money in the white bag and the robber takes the black bag and leaves. It’s very important when you rob a bank with a hairbrush to take the money with you. Especially when wearing a blonde wig. This type of behavior sheds a bad light on blondes everywhere.
DAVIDIN ATLANTA hit the nail on the head . This incident, though containing an element of race, was much more about perceived social class than about racism. Have any of you watched Henry Louis Gates on PBS? He’s a very talented academic and teacher but is also the essence of “Ivy League pomposity.” Just watch one of his documentaries. It’s easy to see how and why he would abuse a “lower class” police officer simply trying to do his job. I suspect he would not think highly of me either since I have only a Master’s Degree and twenty hours toward a Doctorate.
What I can’t fathom is the where the definition of profiling has migrated too. Although it turned out to be untrue so what if the caller said it was 2 black men? If someone sees two black men breaking into a house they would be remiss not to mention it. If they saw two people and couldn’t tell their race and said I saw to men breaking into a house and they must be black THAT would be profiling.
The only racist profiling remarks made in the incident were by Gates, even if you think he should not have been arrested, he was clearly the only one making racist profiling statement. If Obama wants to calm the furor he needs to say that, not doing so simply makes him complicit
Thanks for the memories, LT. Sounds as if we ran in different circles together just on opposite sides of the county. The fake id made you a BMOC and very popular. Drivers Licenses didn’t have pictures on them at that time, but the one id that drew favorable reviews was the draft card. Kicked out of a liquor store in Daytona during spring break of ‘66, a “Hey Dude” offered to buy the suds with the comment “Old enough to fight in Vietnam, but can’t buy a beer! I’ll fix that”. I found about about the fighting part a couple of years later…
Ahhh yes we did the same thing at the Dunwoody Bottle Shop in the late 70’s. Half pint of Golden Grain split between my friend and I. Then off to Blimpies for 2 large fruit punch and back to the Dunwoody Baseball fields.. I guess Morgan Falls isn’t quite the party place on the weekends anymore huh??…hahahaha
“RIGHTS OF PASSAGE”….As old as the use of oak barrels,in wine production! Real tragic when mixed with the hopped up cars we raced in the 1950,s……yes, Dorothy,there were cars……back then! Same today,just that with prosperety being widespread,kids have little respect for their rides….if they even think that deeply………don,t mix them,we didn,t! Mtn. Man
After the High-Y meeting at Chastain Park (We went to the old North Fulton High), we would grab a snack at the Hickory Pit nearby and then proceed to the long, straight stretch of Chastain Rd. and race cars. Nobody drank since it was school night, but it drew a crowd. The cops never bothered us.
Yeah, but the drinking THEN was 18, and Peachtree is a middle school now. Many of the goals of the so-called Justice System, along with many of the goals of our misguided Congress, involve a bunch of old farts who lived through it trying to make sure that nobody has a chance to do what they already did.
Nice nostalgic piece! Brings back memories
The tragedy is that today any misstep by teenagers is treated with such harshness. There’s no “kids will be kids” attitude with a good lecture and send them home so mom and dad could really lower the boom, even on a first offense. Today, it’s “zero tolerance zones” and bringing in the cops on everything and the child finds out that they have totally screwed up the rest of their life!
I agree, the drinking age should be 18. If you are old enough to enter into a contract and be held liable, get married, and most especially, become a member of the armed forces and go to war to kill or to die for your country, then you are most definitely old enough to have an alcoholic beverage.
If “maturity” is the qualification, then I know many 40 year olds that shouldn’t be allowed to drink and quite a few 17 year olds who could probably handle the responsibility with ease!
My daughter got a fake ID when she was about 20 so she could go to clubs and drink. One time it got confiscated by the bouncer, who then apparently sold it. At any rate, fast forward 3 years. The phone rings at my house and a message is left for my daughter to call Mr. X, who says he works for the driver’s license bureau. Now, mind you, I have an unlisted number known only to about 10 people. I call back Mr. X (since my daughter does not live at my house anymore and I want to know where he got my number, especially since the phone is not in my name!) The phone is answered by the GBI (I am having a stroke by this time) and Mr. X refuses to tell me how he got my number or anything else, but demands to know how he can get in touch with my daughter immediately. At the same time, my doorbell rings and it is the local SHERIFF making a “courtesy call” for the GBI, wanting the same information!
My daughter ends up speaking to him and she is told to come to his office for an interrogation about her fake ID. She explains how she got it, and then has to ride with him in his car to show him where she purchased it. In 3 years, of course, the place has changed.
All of this to say to vigorously discourage your son or daughter from using a fake ID as it can come back to bite them badly even more than they think. Apparently someone who got her ID did something worse than underage drinking and presented my daughter’s ID.
Officer Rose, can you speculate how my phone number, unlisted and not in my name, was obtained (along with my address) and linked to my daughter? And why the agent did not identify himself as a GBI investigator until pressed to do so?
Bravesfan79, I’m a white conservative and I still find your comments to be racist and frankly, very silly. You failed to get your point across because you couldn’t keep your hate under control. I have been robbed at gunpoint by a black man in downtown, and my home was broken into recently by a white man. Your statements show a lack of education and poor assessment skills. Blanket statements like “they all” or “they will never” tend to fall on death ears.
I’m 50. “High School ID’s” worked back then. Funny thing but I worked in the high school office. One day, they handed me all the ID’s to type. Well, helllooo? All my friends and myself became legal within an hour.
Catlady: You NEVER put your own info on a fake ID. You do make sure you memorize it, though. Including the zodiac sign of the DOB.
Ptree High Grad: Yes, I would venture to say that Officer Rose was of the generation (that’d be the boomers, AGAIN) that was legal at 18 or 19. Nowadays the penalty for possession underage is a lot more severe than dumping the beer and often includes a trip to jail (for having a freakin’ beer? WTF?!?!)
Yeah, Jais, we’ve got three times the cops on the streets now that we did in the 70’s, and we need more, right? They need the justification to exist, so we need more laws, and more illegal stuff, to boost the courts’ justification to exist.
All the comments on this blog point out one main fact, “Police officers are human too.” Sure, like most citizens , there are good and bad police officers. If injured, they bleed red too. I am sure, they put their draws on one leg at a time. And like me, there are probably moments when officers have no difficulty walking and chewing gum at the same time. But at the end of the day, the police like most hard working Americans are just trying to return home safely to their loved ones !
Another scam (which I admit I fell for) is 2 guys in a SUV claiming to work for a home theater installation company and that they are on a way to a job and have overstocked merchandise which they want to sell to make a quick buck. The merchandise (home theater speakers) have a price of 3,500 on the box (but are really worth 50 bucks) and so you think 500 bucks is a steal.
It wans’t until I came home and looked online that this has been happening across the country. Watch out as they were in the Publix on Chamblee-Dunwoody.
To anyone who has any doubts about how truly difficult it is to be a police officer, don’t walk, PLEASE RUN, to the next session of a Citizens Police Academy near you. Most of the counties in the metro-Atlanta area have them, as do several of the “city” agencies (i.e. Peachtree City, Hapeville, Duluth, Suwanee, Riverdale, Ackworth and many others).
I know of some people who went through a CPA for the sole purpose of proving themselves right when stating “I hate cops”, only to come out of there with their eyes wide-open and the words “D@mn, I didn’t know” being uttered from their lips. They graduate with a whole new perspective on what cops do, see, and put up with every time they strap on that gun belt and wear that badge. Heck, there are times they’re not even on duty but some @-hole finds out they’re a cop and gives them s**t.
Ever wonder why cops and their families mostly hang out with other cops and their families? It’s because they don’t have to explain to some jerk at the same party who’s had one too many shots of JD why last week HE got the ticket when “everyone else was speeding too!” Or maybe it’s because they don’t get asked in the middle of dinner if they’ve ever had to kill somebody when everyone else at the party knows what it feels like to be drawn down on by some punk kid hyped up on PCP intent on committing “suicide by cop.” Everyone else at that party knows what the agonizing screams of a mother sound like after being told her beautiful 17 y/o daughter won’t be coming home from the prom or ever again. They all have seen in person the bruises on the 18 month old who was crying, whining, or pooping (you know, the normal stuff toddlers do) thereby “forcing” the mom’s 19 y/o boyfriend to permanently shut him up. They don’t have to explain to other cops what it’s like to tell a hysterical 12 y/o girl why she came home from school and found the 15 y/o brother she idolizes hanging by a bedsheet in his room.
Nobody wants to know about how difficult it is to be a cop because it’s just much easier to “hate” that man or woman who pulled you over and gave you an appointment to have a little chat with the judge. Nevermind the fact that you were breaking the law by driving 30 mph over the speed limit and the cop chose stopping you over knocking on your family’s door to tell them that you were being scraped up off the pavement about 5 miles away.
Are there “bad” cops? Sure! There’s a “bad” element in every profession. However, until you’ve walked a mile in a good cop’s shoes, don’t judge them or tell them how to do their job because you have absolutely no idea what it’s like. Go to a Citizens Police Academy and find out… if you dare.
[...] here to read the rest: Sandy Springs police blotter | View From The Cop Posted in Price of Box Springs | Tags: 500-bucks, across-the-country, been-happening, [...]
Another great column, Steve, about police work for those of us who would never do it in a million years. Especially after reading this, I only like to do stuff like this vicariously. Thanks for your service.
Carlos – If you are looking for a “deal” on home theater speakers in some parking lot, you deserve to be fleeced. You did not fall for a “scam”. You are just plain stupid.
Awesome article. If I had met a guy like that, I’d probably think something was up instantly. The second you described his facial expressions, something didn’t seem to add up.
This supports the belief that police officers are people who like to brawl. Well, good thing there’s a match between the people and the need. We need people who like to brawl-for-law out on the streets.
Good story but how much will you take before you shoot someone? Your threshold to tolerate someone’s stupidity is higher than mine. I probably would have shot him. Glad you are here to tell the story. Stay safe.
…since the article on finding a Jimmy Buffett t-shirt for your wife! Would you have had time to find your bullet in your shirt pocket and put it in the revolver?
Thank goodness you ended up safe. I had a similar thing happen to me in an fast food restaurant in Atlanta. A Crazed looking/talking guy on some kind of drug kept coming in and out of the restaurant as I was waiting in line. The manager had picked up the phone and said she was on the phone with the police when he was berating her. I was familiar with the manager and her female workers and when I reached the cashier I asked her if everything was alright except for that crazy guy. She looked at me and told me “he has been in here five times already and stolen some chips. Right then I turn around and he is coming right towards her and was focused like a dog at a tennis ball. I stepped in between them and told him he needed to leave and the police were on the way. He sucker punched me so hard in the mouth I couldn’t see for a 1/2 second. I was surprised I was standing when I could see again and he was still coming so it was on. I’m not a brawler, but I know how to defend myself and got him off balance and gave him a few knuckle sandwiches that made him stumble out the door in retreat. I was all happy with my comeback performance from a near knockout suckerpunch and the lady manager says to me “please don’t leave,he may come back”. I thought to my self, he doesn’t want any more of this, but sure enough two minutes later he is back in the store and picks up a wooden kids chair over his head and barely misses crashing it over my head as he is screaming “so you want to fight”. I grab ahold of him and by this time I realize that I don’t want anything to do with this crazy mofo, so I yell “can I get some help with this guy?” Luckily there was a 275 pound man that had seen the whole thing that was standing near us, so as I had this guy in a headlock(bad idea) I bumped him with my hip straight into the 275 pound guy several feet away and they started brawling (LOL) . He fought that guy who was 100 pound bigger than him without blinking and may have even gotten the better of him. They were brawling outside when the police showed up and he took off running. Then he fought with the police and they had to pepper spray him. I don’t know how the police do it every day, that incident really shook me up, even though I got the better of the situation. I’m now completely uptight when around people whom look to be on drugs and crazed. If you see someone whom looks drugged out and crazed step back from the situation and call the police, because it can get out of hand very quick.
I had a friend in the early 80’s that took a self defense course – they learned that to knock someone out on PCP you basically have to give them a knockout blow (4) times – i.e., what would normally knock one person out with one blow needs to be done four times to get someone high on PCP to stop. Very dangerous.
Jais, What planet are you from? If you are not out on the street every day dealing with all the crazy stuff that goes on how can you even assume to have the faintest idea of what officers go through to protect a bunch of ungrateful a..holes. I myself respect them and realize their job is not easy. Yes there are bad cops out there that break the law as well, but there are some really good guys too that deserve an occasional pat on the back. Thanks for the articles Steve. A lot of us really enjoy them!!!!!!!!!1
I could answer all your questions one by one but bottom line is there is a hell of a lot more criminals now than in the 70’s. I doubt a criminal will have anything good to say about a cop. We as a society have lost a lot of our morals and could give a rats butt about our fellow human beings. As bad as it is now it would be much worse if we had no police. So there is little I can say to make you understand, and if the day arises when you need a cop I hope you will learn to appreciate what they do for us.
Jais you sound like someone whom has a problem with authority of any type. I’m guessing your some kind of anarchist. I’ll bet your a big hit with your bosses if you are even employed. Help, help Jais is being oppressed by not being able to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants it. LOL!
Please help us understand why you are such a malcontent. It is quite fascinating to hear of your total disrespect for any laws or enforcement.
I would *never* get into the back of a police vehicle until I was properly detained. That is just common sense. You should never have touched the man if he was calm and cooperative with giving you I.D.
As a citizen, I appreciate that you pulled him over (although it took two red lights and a realization that it was going to “have to be your problem” to do so), but there was no need to get him in the car. If you are going to put someone in a cage, charge them.
I am quite frankly amazed that officer Rose didnt dispatch this drug fiend. As a citizen I would not have been so kind. That druggie would have assumed room temperature that night. He would have been as stiff as my smoking barrel (apologies to Alice Cooper).
@ Jais
Like we used to say back in the ’60’s.. next time you need help call a hippy.
Great article Officer Rose. For a moment there I was on the parking lot hearing the desperate struggle.
Let me add after reading this discussion “Thank God we have police and prisons”. Both imperfect institutions but way better than the criminals and mob justice running things.
I feel your pain. I policed over 37 years, I learned about PCP the hard way. Five other officers and myself had to subdue a suspect high of PCP. He fought like a mad man throwing us around like paper weights. It wasn’t a good situation for none of us.
Two comments. First, when did it become acceptable for you, jais or anyone else, to place my life in danger because you wanted to drive while on drugs? And second, would you be upset if someone used a racial slur in a posting. If so then why is it acceptable to call someone a “hillbilly” or “redneck”. Think about it….
72 Ptree Grad – not only was I almost there in the parking lot with Officer Rose, but I could almost hear the handcuffs scraping against the asphalt until coming to a stop under the car, and the radio asking for a status on the situation.
Steve, as far as comparing the people you encounter during early morning/midnight shift to a day at the zoo? You’re wrong. The animals at the zoo are far more civilized. Yes, even the monkeys. Especially the ones that do you-know-what.
Steve, we really appreciate all that you have done for our community; your maturity has turned into a wonderful sense of humor as well. As a teenager in Sandy Springs in the 70’s I remember the good ole simpler days.(I once totalled my car due to speed and a small bit of alcohol consumption and the officer drove me home, to talk to my parents) I changed my ways and realized the consequences. But because the office did not overreact, or exert frustation at his job or possibly fill some personality void, things have turned out okay for me, some 30 years later. However I had a recent encounter on the same road with an overreactive, overzealous young patrol officer that was way out of control on his part.(he was panicked about a tree down in roadway) When there are just simple encounters these young guys(PO’s) need to relax, get to know the community, most of love the police officers out there. Please try to tone things down around the station house, even with the loonies out there. Thanks.
GET a life “Truth About Cops” it would appear you have nothing better to do then sit around and find things wrong with cops. Cops are not all perfect just like every other walk of life – doctors, nurses, teachers, and so on. Get a life and find something better to do with your LIFE and stop messing with others!!!!!
My alien theory has now been proven! That alien is still standing in the corner and his name is Nork from the planet Dork!…BE AFRAID! BE VERY AFRAID! THE INVASION IS COMING!
I grew up in a medium size college town, not so small any more. We had our share of oddballs. One of them stayed in a bank bathroom until after they closed. He robbed the cash registers overnight, apparently there was change left in the registers, then hid in the bathroom until they opened. Other than that he was a harmless fellow who walked around all the time with a paper sack. As kids we always thought it was full of money from the bank heist.
As I grew older I was talking to a wise old woman one day and she said “It tells a lot about a community, how they treat their oddballs, and we do a good job”.
We all run into “special people” and unless they are violent and overly abusive, it is best to treat them with a smile and a kind word. We might be them one day.
I ran into a guy sitting outside the Post Office the other day who looked a lot like Charles Manson except that he didn’t have the Swastika between his eyes. He was a friendly enough sort, as they all are. He told me that he hoped to have a girlfriend by Christmas and if so he would have some real “presents.” I wished him the best of luck and hoped he had a very Merry Christmas.
Instead of the jump drive you can store your photos and important docs in an online email account.
There are door jams for the doors for while you’re at home. 1k home invasions and counting. Don’t forget the gun safe and shotgun.
The nice thing about a good gun safe is that a lot of them a fire resistant too. So my gun safe is actually just a safe that contains guns and a bunch of other crap. The problem with a gun safe is that we’re not sure that the upper floors of an apartment building will support it, so we might be stuck with first floor apartments for as long as we’re renting, that sort of sucks.
Get all important mail, ( mortgage, credit card and bank account) sent to your electronic mail account. This prevents others from having access to vital account information. Our neighborhood postal person has lost, misplaced and on numerous occasions delivered our important info to my neighbors – some who have very questionable pasts.
Also, when home, secure of your place with a sturdy steel deluxe door guard rod which anchors the door shut. CarolWright.com offers the product for under $10.00.
I can remember my days as an apartment dweller. I would get home and items would be missing from my place.
Now as a homeowner, I fortify my home like Fort Knox in order to make it safe and secure. I am now looking for an inexpensive video system. To live life this way is a sad state of affairs.
“Hook and Book”. LOL! Man does that bring back memories. I’ve not heard that in a long time. I’m still not sure which I like better, that or “Cuff and Stuff”.
Home invasions are why people DONT wanna live in a black area! Whats sad is that the good blacks stand up for the scumbags, and blame everything on “white racism”.
Maybe whites don’t wanna live around blacks not because their racist, but because they see the news and have life experience!
Hey all you white liberals that moved to those new houses around Turner Field/ East Atlanta back in the early 2000’s….. how u like your dose of reality now!
What i find crazy is that the most hardcore liberals are usually in areas like Seattle… where they know very little about living in a black majority area.
Funny this is these dumb liberals in a attempted to add “more diversity” imported black Somalis into the Seattle area. Now Somali gangs roam the streets and have killed several white business men/ college students. I wonder how those fools like their “diversity” now!!
Goodness, Jias, Is not a right to drive drunk, nor to not pay for services which have been rendered, nor to take a vehicle which you do not own, nor to burn one, nor to drive in an unsafe manner, nor to urinate in public, nor to speed. Actually, it is not a right to drive at all it is a privilege. Many of the things that you believe to be rights are not addressed in the constitution therefore are not to be considered “rights”.
So, just to be clear it has to be a median, not a turn lane? I’ve heard both and I’m not really cool with running down kids but it seems a little gratuitous when I’m four lanes away from them and they have a crosswalk right there at the bus stop. (But if it’s the law I’m more than willing to stop, though I think it would be awesome if more kids grew into adults who knew how to use crosswalks)
Let me tell you first-hand they mean business when they want you to stop for a stopped school bus that is loading or unloading. I once blew past a school bus that was stopped at the entrance to an apartment complex, with a lane of traffic between us. No more than 10 seconds pass and I get pulled over by a County officer. Got a ticket, had to go to court, stand before a judge, and ordered to pay $250 fine.
Sandy Springs PD should beware of a Racial Profiling law suit. They sit accross the street from North River tavern or nearby, usually around closing. I guess they assume everyone they stop is intoxicated so that they can give a DUI. On this particular nite I was traveling near that location. I stopped at a stop sign and all of a sudden blue lights were pulling me over. (What reason did he have for following me?)Hmm..Thats a form of harrassment. So, I clearly made a complete stop at the stop sign, but the A-hole rookie said that I did not. Due to my experience and training this is a form of racial profiling and he gave me a ticket. The ticket was $245.00 for a stop sign violation. I guess since he didnt get a DUI out of the stop he had to give me something. Beware The City of Sandy Spring/Sandy Springs PD.
When I used to deliver pizza years ago I would deliver to a women off Wright Rd who would check the cokes to make sure that Lockheed didn’t bug them. She would also always ask “Did you bring them with you?” but I have no idea who “them” were. She would also draw a toothbrush and three dots in the memo line of her check.
Normally I just lurk or let Steve know I liked his column, but today I’m in a mood and have to say something. To those who constantly bash the police on here, maybe you don’t need them, but I do. Yes, some laws are just plain stupid and some are annoying, but I also am pesonally happier that there are armed police officers (mostly) trying to stand between my a$$ and the bad guys. Filling the coffers pi$$ you off? DON’T SPEED! Almost all traffic violations are nothing more than a self imposed tax. I’ve had one speeding ticket….fully deserved it and was lucky the cop dropped it to 19 over. We are priviledged to live in a country that grants us the rights we have. Stop b!tching or find somewhere else to live.
gadyke is right- this country was founded on communism, not freedom! Freedom is a privilege, not a right in our proud American Communist police state. We ARE ALL lucky, like gadyke said- every time a cop even glances at us without jailing or fining us.
It makes sense that the short and/or fat guys from high school should have the power to ruin lives and bankrupt families. After all, those guys are really well adjusted, right?
My best advice is to not let strangers in your house! I had a pad of checks (which I foolishly left on my desk) stolen by a COMCAST technician. He faked an ID (as if a negro would have my anglo name and live in Cumming, GA and buy groceries in south DeKALB, yeah right) and stole about $6,000. I got all my money back. God bless Bank of America, who caught the scam. Damn detective T.E. Jackson of the FCPD who did NOTHING to solve my case even though I gave him tons of info. I’m glad that we have Johns Creek police. Let Jackson patrol the ghetto.
Truth, I see cops almost everyday, and believe it or not I don’t get arrested, harrassed or even looked at sideways by them. Contrary to your nice little conspiracy theory, the majority of cops ARE out there to protect us. In every profession from CEO to janitor there are good and bad. You obviously have had your share of experiences with the bad and probably your disrepectful attitude doesn’t help. Maybe it’s just how I was raised, but people that willingly put their lives on the line like our cops and soldiers get my respect until they (individually) do something to lose it.
Maybe it depends on your perspective Jais. For me, I’ve run across very few bad ones. My better half has had less pleasant experiences and is less trusting of them. I just tend to see the glass as half full to begin with. I’ve also seen cops put down drunk idiots that didn’t “remember” that no means no and were scaring a poor girl half to death. The media loves sensationalism so the good stories do not get reported as often as the bad.
After my divorce, I moved in with a friend for 6 mos. Then I felt “comfortable” enough to get my own place on Roberts Drive, Atlanta, 30350. Within days my ex-husband, Eric, his oldest son, Eric (aka Richard) and Eric’s ex father-in-law, Ken, who had a truck for his business, broke into my apartment. Why do I know it is them? Because I had a small TV, that only went up to channel 15 that they knew about and didn’t take it. Along with the raspberry ginger ale that I know Richard liked was gone.
They even had the gaul to steal the meat I had in the refrigerator!! These jerks took jewelry that was given to me for the births of my daughters from my 1st husband. Sentimental stuff that cannot be replaced.
Fulton Cty police dusted for fingerprints…there were none. They didn’t even check on the 3 fools who had broken into my place. I had photos of the jewelry taken, they told me to check out the Pawn Shops! Imagine that! I would have to check the pawn shops.
All I know is that “what goes around, comes around”. Those 3 idiots will get there rewards when they meet the man upstairs.
Gee, I’ve seen thousands of cops in my life. I was never harassed or abused in any way. Have I gotten any tickets? Yes but I deserved them. If you follow the laws and treat them with the respect they deserve, you aren’t likely to have a problem. It’s that easy.
This brings up that age-old question on every police academy exam since 1822: At what point does a burglar become a reason to “make your day”? That is, at what point in a home invasion do you get to fire the most powerful handgun in the world at him (and blow his head clean off)?
A. When he approaches your home, still in the yard, but holding weapons and break-in tools.
B. When he smashes the window and starts to climb in.
C. When he is actually inside the home looking around for picnic baskets and other goodies. (wait, that’s a bear. Run for your life)
D. When he sees you holding the gun to his head and starts pretending to be a girl scout selling cookies and crying like a little girlie-mon.
E. You can only shoot a burglar if he shoots at you first and misses.
Believe it or not, only half of any cadet class gets this question correct.
From one generation to the next, kids will always pull some “shucks” on the folks. The major difference lies in the passage of time. Up to a certain point on the cosmic calender, I would definetely say around the mid-60s, the “pulling of shucks” was always followed by the unmistakable parental wrath. Somehow, this wrath, somehow, translated into a somewhat responsible adulthood. Because this parental wrath, “60s-style”, no longer exists, it seems that, more and more, goofy kids are becoming goofy adults. HAPPY DAYS!
Can only speak for myself, but my threshhold for double-tapping the miscreant would clearly be “B,” assuming he has at least one foot in the premises Really think any jury would convict you for that?
[...] his blog as being about “Criminal Einsteins and the cops who figure them out…” His recent post on the strange people he’s met during his time as a police officer was very [...]
Not everyone that looks crazy really is. For example…there’s a really nice boy about 11 years old in my apartment complex; I think he’s autistic. Anyway, he’s got this invisible dog, and apparently everyone in my building “knows the dog” and sometimes they pat him, or toss him an invisible dog treat when they pass by the little autistic boy.
I don’t know what the hell I did to make that kid mad, and I know the dog isn’t really there, but whenever I pass him I hear him mutter “Sic her, boy!” and I know nothing’s coming after me, but I “squeak” and run up the stairs anyway.
The point is, Hello my name is Hannah, and I run away from an invisible attack dog everyday at 5:15.
A friend with a trained guard dog had a break-in. The dog did not bark when the intruder snapped a rear window lock but instead played a game with him by waiting out of sight until he stepped into the room. At that time he attacked and chewed up his face, arms, and legs. The intruder was cornered by the owner who called police. At arraignment the man testified that he got the wrong house and thought he was really visiting the home of a friend. The judge said “you sure did get the wrong house” and disclosed that the intruder was in the country illegally.
“Question : Why can’t the police arrest my meth-induced psychotic neighbor when he curses at & threatens me ? In front of my 12 year old son, no less ?”
Because some misdemeanors basically require the officer to witness the incident to arrest on the spot for it. That is especially true with hearsay evidence only. You probably would not like being arrested if you neighbor made a false accusation against you with no other evidence.
If you filed a report then follow your local procedure for taking out a warrant from a judge.
“At what point does a burglar become a reason to “make your day”? That is, at what point in a home invasion do you get to fire the most powerful handgun in the world at him (and blow his head clean off)?”
None of the above….there is no blanket answer. You have the right to defend yourself when you reasonably belive that yourself or another is in danger of receiveing great bodily harm.
We ALWAYS used an older friend to get our stuff….stayed back at the house, he’d get it for us plus a little extra for gas or his trouble. The one thing you should have mentioned to the kiddies out there reading the article, is that is it now a FELONY to possess a “fake id” under Georgia Law 16-9-4(b)(1)…or to manufacture such items! Used to be a bunch of places on Stewart Ave. that would sell you an “official” state I.D. card before that law took effect!
Reference: http://www.lexis-nexis.com/hottopics/gacode/default.asp
Hey Steve, Do you have any influence right here in Georgia? Wouldn’t you like a little New York New York in your own back yard? I’m suggesting Cherokee County (since that is where I live).
Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease.
Hey Steve, a cold one, the Big Burger at Margaritaville, careful of the Volcano and enjoy. Elvis is, across the street, small club, he’s the best, just due west behind the Bellagio,about a block, parallel to the Strip………ask around for the location…
Okay, back. Good trip–not profitable but good. I saw a woman at Ceasar’s on the craps table with $87,000 worth of chips and not a clue. She had a ring the size of a small planet on her hand and a wig she bought at Wal-Mart on her head. It wasn’t even straight. She wore some Elvis sunglasses, since the 1 a.m. sunlight is so bright, and on every roll she went “Whoooo-eeeeee,” even on the losing ones. I’m not sure but either she’s reallllllllyyyyy lucky or there’s a sugar daddy out there with poor eyesight. Still, isn’t that why we’re there? The Human Zoo was alive and well. There was like show and tell by the plastic surgeons. Good times.
I would be curious to know whether all the apartment break ins were into 1st floor/ground floor apartments or if the burglars entered upper floor apartments as well. I’ve always heard that if you live on the 2nd or 3rd floor of an apartment building you are less likely to be broken into. Not sure if that’s true after what I read though. In fact I’m starting to think I may need to drop by my local gun shop and invest in a firearm of some kind.
Sounds like you had a a nice time Steve. Sorry that it wasn’t profitable. Hopefully, the meals still got paid for. I need to go out to Vegas one of these days. Anyone I know who has gone had a blast and had nothing but good things to say. I know one place I would go for sure being the geek that I am. Not sure what hotel it’s in but I’d like to go do the Star Trek experience they have out there. I want to say it’s in the MGM but couldn’t say for sure. Maybe if no one wins the lotto this week and and rolls over again I’ll take my last week of vacation from my job and go have some fun.
It’s not all that bad and in the last ten years many small astroids have been identified, more than half they believe, and their orbits logged. I don’t get the description of killer, you need something about the diameter of 30 feet or 10 meters for any real concern. The composition is important, iron or snow would have very different results as to the diameter. It’s still an unknown, especially anything coming out from near the sun, we often only see them after they have gone by.
They didn’t spot ShoeMaker-Levy till it was all the way up Jupiter’s ‘ranus. (About six months).
We ain’t seeing the knock-out ‘roid till it’s too late. Save your money for a new, correctly-envisioned spaceship, Nasa, and give the Space Shuttle to Ripley’s “Believe it or Not” where it belongs. (A space ship with wings and landing gear? Oh brother.)
What do Rocket Scientists say when they criticize each other’s efforts? “Hey, this isn’t heavy lifting, okay?”
What do Pocket-Rocket Scientists say when they criticize each other’s STD diagnoses? “Hey, this isn’t “just say no”. This isn’t a circulation problem. This isn’t prickly heat, okay?”
Okay … so my job isn’t as stressful as a cop (I have dated a couple over the past year if that counts) but I agree … VEGAS is a great place for stress relief. Up until the economy took a nosedive I made a point of traveling out there at least three or four times a year and never once was I bored … you can’t beat the action, the excitement, and, oh mercy – the people watching. And, if you tire of the fun (yeah right) you can rent a convertible (or a Harley) and drive an hour away from the Strip and be surrounded by the beauty of the desert. Sigh … gee thanks …. now I’m ready to go! By the way KennesawDave … Star Trek used to be in the Hilton.
Whats sad is that as someone that worked over 50% of the apt complexes throught Atlanta, without a doubt Sandy Springs is one of the nicest/ safest areas in metro Atlanta.
You don’t wanna live in a area where alot of “Reds” live.
I still am in amazment at the stupidity of the liberal whites who thought it would be safe to live in East Atlanta and South Atlanta among the blacks. Its amazing how people go from being anti-gun to proud gun owners pretty fast when faced with reality of violent minority communities like Grant park.
We have here many candidates for the Darwin Award, however, the kid jumping out of a moving bus takes top billing. If this is any indication of the future, “Beam me up, Scotty”! But don’t fret, kid…when I was seven or so, (back in Ike’s administration) my buds and I convinced Micky that, wearing the “official Superman Cape” we had conjured up, he could jump outta the 2nd floor window and fly, which he indeed attempted. Fortunately, for our intrepid friend, we had placed a trampoline just on the other side of some bushes, outta sight of “Super Mike” as he contemplated the wisdom of that upon which he was about to embark. While Bobby goaded him on, Chris, Mark and yours truly stood by the tramp. We had tied a rope onto the trampoline’s frame, the end hidden in the bushes so that Bobby could, at the last moment, assist in relocating the tramp under the window out of which Micky was about to defy gravity. Just then, Micky’s Mom stepped out and, realizing what we hoodlums were about to instigate, started yelling and hollering at everyone in sight. Those were the “village raising the child” days, so Micky’s Mom called all of our Moms…end result: four stupid kids, including the intrepid yet gullible Micky, all with warmed up rear ends, but buds forever.
So cheer up, kid…you’re not the first! Get well soon!
BravesFan79, are you for real? I can’t even begin to fathom the depth of ignorance in your statement. You should probably think twice before advertising your shortcomings. I’ll agree with OSR @ 10:28 and pray for you!
I am outraged that Rose is encouraging dangerous socialist stunts with his latest piece. This is not what the founding father’s stunt-doubles had in mind at all.
Steve, you were either a badass when you were younger, or extremely lucky. It took 4 of us one night back in 1980, all of us over 6-feet and 250 pounds, and this little 5-7, 140 pound dude was throwing us around like we were toddlers. Finally ended up with one of us getting behind him and choking him out. NOT the most fun I ever had while in uniform.
You are correct, sir! A little work will reveal the scam, unless your bank is asleep at the switch. I had a friend receive money orders a few years back, with the “work at home” disguise. She was to deposit the money orders and then wire 90% of that money to someone in Canada. I told her to be skeptical, and her “walk all over ya” bank was to verify the validity of the money orders before releasing any funds. She waited 10 days, then asked the bank if they were valid, which they did, and released the funds to her so she could wire the money. The very next day the bank called her and told her they made a mistake and the money orders were bogus (no Monopoly “bank error” here). They took the funds out of her account, and when she went to where the funds were wired from. she was told the money was picked up in Nigeria, not Canada. Of course, the bank claimed no responsibility and she was devastated. Any time you get any kind of email in this regard, either delete it or report it to you provider under the scams and frauds process. It truly is the “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” rule of thumb, but we were really upset that the bank released the funds to her and then claimed no responsibility. Beware, my friends, and be careful out there!
When I was a victim I used a resource that had all the links to paperwork I’d need and a questionaire the police loved. Here’s the info. Steve- Have you seen it? http://www.optoutdetectives.com/victims.php
Sometimes I can smell a scam a mile away. I remember one time a few years ago someone sending me an IM, and they were trying to pull the Nigerian 419 scam. Things didn’t seem right from the first sentence, so I blocked the other person, and reported them to the website that provided the IM program.
I get a lot of e-mails from at least one mega bank telling me I need to update my account information. Thing is, the bank that e-mails me is not the bank I use now, nor have I ever used it in the past.
If your banks needs you to update account information, they usually tell you when you log into your account on their site, instead of sending you an e-mail. One time when I logged into my bank’s site, I received a message that I needed to change my password. I checked to make sure it was the bank’s actual website, and it was. Also, most bank sites have a “message center” where they send you messages directly to your account, or you can send them messages while logged into your account, if you need to contact them.
Another good resource to keep up on scams and frauds is clarkhoward.com. Being that he is a consumer advocate, he has a wealth of informaiton on consumer scams and frauds.
You 100% correct! Bad guys don’t follow the law. Please Learn how to properly handle a gun, and practice! Video games are not like a real gun, and just because you are a guy does not mean you know how to shoot (someone actually said that). There are several great ranges that provide training, and I recommend all women take a basic handgun safety course. And Steve if you know how many guns you have, you don’t have enough. By the way I am female, and can safely handle most semi-automatic pistols ranging from a 22 to a 45 and rifle’s including 30-30, 223, 762×39 and 762×54. Be alert and be safe.
Rose said: “…what I see more and more are people who have guns but not a clue of anything having to do with them.”
I do see your point, and agree that folks need to be prepared, and trained. The founders called this “well regulated.” But I suspect you are discounting the fact that more people than ever are taking training classes, some of them as part of license-to-carry permitting requirements. What do you make of these people who are getting the training so that they are prepared, and “well regulated?”
Training and permits are actions of law abiding citizens. Well regulated, well educated and well prepared, in the event the “bad guys” choose not to obey the law.
If you have to use a gun, I say incapacitate the perp. Then it is time for the real fun to begin in the garage with a drill and a blow torch. Get rid of the body in the South Georgia swamps.
Thanks for a well written discussion starter. Myself, I have a Glock .40 that lives by my bed. It has a trigger lock on it, and the key to the lock is on my car ring.
This makes it simple. At night, take your car keys out of your pocket, and unlock the Glock. If I’m not home, it’s locked. My wife has access to a 20 ga pump with bird shot that lives in a gun safe with a combo lock. Both live loaded and ready.
Our kids both know we have guns, and know where they are. In fact, both go to the range with us regularly. That’s what gets kids killed-to many, guns are a big bad mystery, and we all know that attracts kids.
I grew up in a small town in the midwest-we actually used to take hunting vacation in the fall instead of spring break, because they knew nobody would be in school on the opening day of deer season. Everyone I grew up with had a 357 under the seat, and usually a .270 in the back window, and this was in the high school parking lot.
You know how many people I saw shot? One, and that was an accident-he tripped while carrying a loaded shotgun. The simple truth is that we never looked at guns as a tool you used on another person. I’ve gotten my butt royally kicked within two feet of my truck, and a loaded .357, and it never once crossed my mind to get out the gun-we just didn’t do that.
That said, I know how long a burglar would last in my house….about three tenths of a second after I decided he was a threat.
You always hear about “bad” gun incidents, but never about the dozens of times when “good” things happen. Not long ago, I was downtown, with my Glock (legal carry) when I saw two young men step out of an alleyway. Looking back, I could see at least two more behind me. I had no doubt that the word “victim” was about to be added to our vocabulary (my wife was there). I just reached behind my back, under my shirt, and lifted the glock out of the holster a bit. Never actually took it out from under my shirt.
All four of these guys melted back into the alley, and we walked on.
Well, the first rule of engagement is run like Hell. If you really face a self defense situation or in defense of another, then don’t hesitate. Don’t point your weapon at anyone who doesn’t need killing.
Aim center mass. Right in the center of the chest. Fire two rounds and see what that does. If you aim center mass, you might get a leg or arm hit any way.
VERY important: in the movies, people get shot and drop conveniently out of sight. In real fire fights they might shoot you right back after you shoot them. They might go berserk.
Make sure that you drop the bad guy and he is really out. If he is worth shooting, you better make sure he was worth killing.
Great article. We need have more voices like this in the media. Sadly our world is a dangerous place and we simply cannot depend on our government to protect us. This is why our very wise forefathers included in t
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February 17th, 2009
2:21 pm
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Leary
February 25th, 2009
1:27 pm
Have fun in Vegas. Remember to put a quarter in your shoe. That way you will have it for phone call when you are broke. It also makes you walk funny and people are more likely to leave you alone.
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Blutowski
February 25th, 2009
1:52 pm
I don’t like the new site. Hey, tell those guys in Vegas that throw the little cards at you containing scantily clad women HELLO from Texas. Call mom.
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Chris Broe
February 25th, 2009
5:49 pm
CNN just reported that the AJC’s Officer Steve Rose is going on vacation in Vegas!!!
Good luck in Vegas, Officer Steve!!! Envy you. Vegas is better than Disney World. This whole thing reminds me of this one cop friend of mine who writes a blog and went to Vegas on R and R.
“Boxcars at Midnight. An Atlanta Metro Cop goes to Vegas”.
“Even my flight over was rough. The kid in the upright seat in front of me was, of course, the good kid. The kid behind me was the Ghost of Criminal Einstein Future I tried the half-turn with my clenched teeth to his parents, who looked like Yuppie Scum House-Flipping Socialistic Blue Staters. (YSHFSBS). Jurisdiction alone prevented me from going Full Probable Cause. The entire flight! I knew Airport Security had no way to detect that this kid could have managed to make it past private tutors, trained nannys, rabbis, priests, or any passer-by, really, so I didn’t blame them too much. I had to give one of my Dice Clay tickets away, though. But it was worth it. I was free….. in Vegas!”
end of chapter one. chapter two, Dress Down in Brown Shoes. (preview……”At the tables, Dressing Up is a problem because you stick out. Nobody dresses anymore. Why would they? I saw at least three misdemeanors before i lost my first hundred. And that was just the cigarette lady. You should have seen the shows. The dealer was fun, though, and a good dealer can really help you not notice as they win every time………….
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gadyke
February 27th, 2009
4:30 pm
Steve,
I honeymooned in Vegas for 4 nights…just one day too long, but well worth it. I have to say you must have gotten a bad room at Luxor though. Ours was freshly remodeled and very nice.
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Chris Broe
March 2nd, 2009
6:26 pm
dectective steve for three weeks after his R and R: “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”. Rush Limbaugh now: What plays in Peoria, and prays in Iraq, brays from Limbaugh: “I hope Obama fails”. This is the twitter equivalent of a war on civics. Give peace a chance. Enough war.
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word
March 3rd, 2009
3:16 pm
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The Truth about cops
March 3rd, 2009
4:18 pm
This was such a cute article. Maybe next week we can get a cute article about why police decided to forgo enforcing the law in favor of becoming glamorized cashiers for the city.
Forget “protect and serve”. It’s now “find and solicit”.
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Gern
March 4th, 2009
1:12 pm
Have you noticed Truth About Cops’s therapy hasn’t done much good? Thankfully he can hide behind his fake name and probably pitiful life to vent his bitterness. He’s on a geeee-haaaad for losers who finally figured out the world didn’t cater to them as they sit on thier lazy asses. Thank you though, you make the rest of us feel better about ourselves!
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Chris Broe
March 4th, 2009
5:44 pm
Through my biological father, I felt the pride of the Greatest Generation when they read “Nuts!” during the Battle of The Bulge. America went full jingo then, (but I’ll bet Rush would have called even those terms a surrender monkey octuplet nanny state thing). NUTS! Man! doesn’t that say, “please charge these positions”. Pardon our Bazooka. The Carrier beat Japan. The Bazooka beat the Germans.
The best story out of WW2 was the way the Germans used carriers to give their one battleship air cover…….no, the best story was Japanese Radar. Now we know why they blamed the Germans about Pearl Harbor. America was fighting the sins of the German and Japanese fathers. Our country works because our military missions, our religious missions, and our political missions are led by a civilian commander in chief. Theo-cultural warfare always ends in a disaster. A natural war would be one that involved pushing the Kurds out of the next valley. Thankfully, as man evolved, natural war became illogical. But man does seem to enjoy all the Shock and Awe of the Last Resort. My fellow twitterers, W freed Iraq in response to 911. That is amazing. A free Iraq! Warning:
Forget the asteroids, we’ve got our troops massing on the Pakistan border. The Taliban Troops have been in those confounded mountains long enough to give them the squatter’s rights implied in the Magna Carta, doesn’t it?
What is the mission of US troops in Afghanistan? It’s possible that Obama was forced to keep our war chief, Gates, because of some ongoing end-game that Cheney dreamed up. It’s my civic duty to vote that Obama should stop the troop buildup, pull way way back, and let Fort Stinking Desert cool off.
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islander
March 5th, 2009
2:41 pm
he ruins evey site he responds to – bet the rest of his life is the same
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MattyB
March 5th, 2009
7:26 pm
Slow week in Sandy Springs, eh Rose?
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noel elliott
March 5th, 2009
8:18 pm
steve, you are a funny guy. Do you have lots of friends at work, or do they think you’re a bore?
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Janine
March 5th, 2009
8:43 pm
I hope you have better things to do than blogging. We’re not giving you our tax dollars to do this.
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Ross
March 5th, 2009
9:48 pm
Un-Constitutional searches and seizures by police are just a riot! I’ll bet ol’ TJ would have been rolling on the floor – like he’s doing in his grave.
-drl
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Fred
March 5th, 2009
9:50 pm
Dear Janine,
You are an ass. Perhaps a WHOLE ass which would make an……. I see if YOU can figure the rest out…….
Why do asses like yourself think that because a person works for the Gov’t that EVERY HOUR of their life somehow belongs to the Gov’t IE: you a taxpayer? Ever stop and think that maybe the AJC pays Steve for the time he spends AFTER WORK to write this little blog?
But in short, we are NOT giving our tax dollars for him to “do this.” We are giving him our tax dollars to look at an ass such as yourself, smile and be polite when he wants to tell you what an ass you are.
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ezrider
March 5th, 2009
11:15 pm
Nice story, nice to see something which shows some humor. A little smile once in a while is good for the soul. I don’t care what others say. Thanks for this humorous story.
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TSPEC
March 5th, 2009
11:23 pm
Janine you can leave at any time, the only reasons I check the ajc.com are the Falcons and Officer Rose!!!!!!!!!!!
If you new anything you would know that the man does have days and time off! Get a life and leave us alone!
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Huckleberry
March 5th, 2009
11:32 pm
Fred, you’re an blathering idiot. You want the public job, you’re held to the higher standard. Period. That’s the way it is for all of us at the local, state, and federal levels, and most of us are quite aware of it every day. It keeps us from doing things like sending emails as dumb as your posting, for example. By the way, the caps key is to the left of the keyboard, turn it off sometime..your blood pressure will go down.
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Jane
March 5th, 2009
11:44 pm
How much money are we wasting yearly on shaking down productive citizens to prove that they are not doing drugs on their personal time? How many careers have been unnecessarily destroyed? How much money was wasted during prohibition ensuring that productive citizens didn’t have a glass of wine or a beer on their personal time? The drug cartels in Mexico that we get to read about in the news are there because our society is funding their payrolls from the ridiculous “war on drugs” policies that have failed for decades and we refuse to admit the direct comparison to the years of alcohol prohibition that also failed. Funny, that after prohibition was over everyone didn’t rush to become a drunkard but the government today would have you believe that if drugs were legalized we would all immediately indulge to the point of overdosing or becoming addicts. Funny but I’m not laughing.
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Ross
March 6th, 2009
12:07 am
Jane, I agree with you 100 percent! It always amazes me to see the fools who so blithely throw away their freedom, who understand neither their country’s history nor even their fundamental rights. I wish Jefferson and Washington were here to see the travesty we’ve made of our country! When will these fools begin to connect the dots? Never I’m afraid!
-drl
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gadyke
March 6th, 2009
9:23 am
Janine: Get a life. The man can write in his free time. We don’t own him.
Huckleberry: I could understand your final comment to Fred if his post had been in all caps, but he merely capitalized some points in his comment to place emphasis on them. I also completely disagree with your assesment of Steve’s public position. He’s not an elected official. He’s a peace officer who writes an entertaining and sometimes informative blog in his off hours.
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Tom T
March 6th, 2009
12:39 pm
Jane and Ross, relax and have another toke.
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Chris Broe
March 6th, 2009
12:43 pm
A minor masterpiece filled with surprises. The voice was perfect, the rhythm flawless. Greatness!
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Tom T
March 6th, 2009
12:46 pm
What the HELL do Chris Broe’s posts have to do with a Vegas vacation?!?
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Cubby
March 6th, 2009
1:27 pm
I’ll tell you what’s a damn travesty.
No more dodge ball in school.
No more keeping score in little league games.
Now those ladies and gentleman are what’s destroying this country.
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Lee
March 7th, 2009
5:33 pm
“…it occurred to me that I needed not to make enemies with the guy in charge of my drug test under the same theory that one should never make a big deal of food that isn’t cooked just right and demand it be returned to the kitchen until it’s done right.”
Sage advice, my friend. Never piss off someone who can make your life a living hell. Which is why most of us shuffle along and mumble “Yes dear.”
I would like to ask a question, though. How come the only people they seem to drug test is us middle aged white guys with no life. What about that purple haired freak who looks like he was hit in the face with a tackle box, what with all those piercings and all. How come he never gets tested. What’s up with that?
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Chris Broe
March 7th, 2009
7:00 pm
They do go by looks when they chose a schmoe to drug test. But their criteria is how closely the suspect resembles Barney Rubble. Look at Steve’s Rose’s latest icon-photo thing. Look at his hair! Look at his shirt!
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PinkoNeoConLibertarian
March 9th, 2009
10:57 am
Actually, my standard “joke” is more along the lines of I wish they’d given me more time to study. Fortunately I only get tested a couple of “random” times a year.
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The truth about cops
March 10th, 2009
12:59 am
If this guy’s trying-to-hard, wannabe Grizzardy articles were as funny as he thinks they are, this Cleveland steamer of a post would draw more than a pathetic 17 comments.
There should be a lot more accountabitly for these over-weight government cash generators. More than a random drug test- perhaps they should be held accountable for tailgating, speeding, running red lights and issuing false tickets to innocent drivers?
Nah, just keep pretending like this is what our founding fathers had in mind: a communist police state. Hope you dolts enjoy the 4th!
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gadyke
March 10th, 2009
1:07 pm
Truth – Once again you lump all law enforcement officers with the few who abuse their positions. Get over it and yourself. I’ll keep enjoying the posts and hope some of the old voices come back to the comments.
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ElBubba
March 10th, 2009
6:52 pm
Fred I see you’re the same jerk you’ve always been, hurling insults, acting superior with your tenth grade education. What a fraud.
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BigJake
March 12th, 2009
12:01 pm
In these troubled times, it is even more important to be aware of your surroundings, conscious of who you let have access to your home, and so very careful of where you are. Most cars now automatically lock the doors once you start moving, but it should be something everyone does to help secure themselves against carjacking. For too many people, it is easier to steal what you have rather than earning a living. I appreciate your pointing out these items of common sense, Lt. Steve, and it amazes me to no end that so many people just don’t think! Keep up the good work!
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Patrick
March 13th, 2009
2:26 am
Steve jokes about cutting up the boxes but this is a vital step. If you leave whole boxes out on the curb, then every person who drives by knows exactly what you just got. Cut the boxes into strips and put them in trash bags. If you can’t do that, cut the boxes at the seams and and turn them inside out. Or cut them up and take them to a cardboard recycling dumpster. When carrying purchases in from the car, use trash bags to conceal what you have. Don’t let someone see the nice box from the Apple store. Dress it in a Hefty. Laundry baskets work well too: put folded clothes on top of the item you are hiding. Nobody is going to think twice if they see you carry that into your house.
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ATC
March 14th, 2009
8:57 am
Steve,
I am glad that I live out in the boonies (is that still a word?) We do have crime but we don’t have to be quite so frightened when we make a purchase. I guess our criminals haven’t figured that they could just follow you home, yet. I prefer the way the world was when I was young.
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catlady
March 14th, 2009
12:09 pm
Officer Rose, how do you get rid of a roommate’s boyfriend who has moved in? There are drugs involved.
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Lee
March 15th, 2009
9:54 am
Catlady, wait until the boyfriend is passed out, display the drugs in plain sight, call 911 and leave the house with the front door ajar.
Shouldn’t take long.
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Lee
March 15th, 2009
9:58 am
Anybody else read about all the city’s taking the stop light cameras out. One of the reasons mentioned in the article was that a new state law mandated that an extra second of yellow light which reduced the number of citations.
Also cited in the article was a city manager saying that they budgeted for a certain number of citations and now that the number was reduced, they couldn’t afford the camera service.
Just what most of us already knew, a large part of the stop light camera program was about generating revenue.
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reader
March 15th, 2009
2:01 pm
About being aware: My friend (in another state) heard from a guy she sort of dated in high school…back when we were in the 10th grade. When he stopped calling her, that was the end of their relationship…she did not collapse or beg for an explanation. Out of the blue, after 30 years, he contacted her, not via the internet or facebook or other social network, nor via a mutual friend, but thru the telephone – her home business, which is in her husband’s name. Her home number has caller ID, but the business does not. And, he called when her husband was at work. The guy said he needed closure and wanted to know why she did not pursue him after he stopped calling. He’s thinking this after 30 years?
He went on to say that she was a tough person to track b/c she was not on any internet registry and the home phone, etc. was listed in her husband’s name. So, he hired a private investigator. He’s in another state, hundreds of miles away, but knew pretty much everything about her, where she worked, where her kids went to school. He was wondering what happenend to “them”? It was as if he thought she would have been flattered to know that he hired a private investigator to find her. The whole thing is creeeepy. Now she is constantly looking over her shoulder and almost expects to see him waiting outside her door or at her car after work or after a swim meet or dance recital, etc. She doesn’t even know for sure that he lives where he claims to live, he could be around the block from her.
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Lt Steve
March 17th, 2009
11:02 am
Hi Catlady,
Sounds like a package deal. I think the roommate has to go.
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Kelly
March 18th, 2009
1:00 pm
In my renting days, I did have trouble with apartment staff physically accepting a rent check (versus leaving it in the box). I lived in several different chain complexes (e.g. Post), and this was always the case. The staff members generally refused to physically take the check, and if they did, they would refuse to sign a receipt. I had a check go missing about once every year, so it was a big concern for me. The only way I could find to get around it is to mail the check to the office certified mail with return receipt, which is like $4 a month.
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PinkoNeoConLibertarian
March 18th, 2009
3:17 pm
Hmmm…regarding employees refusing to accept payment…seems to me there used to be a law that said something to the affect that if you made good faith effort to pay a debt and it was refused then that debt could be considered paid. I’m not a lawyer, it’s just something I recall reading in years gone by…
To Lee re: red lights. they were budgeted to make enough to pay for themselves, not to provide excess revenue to the city. Just like any business, if it’s costing you more than it returns it needs to go. The part you leave out is that accidents did in fact go down at those intersections. I guess it comes down to how much the city/county is willing to pay for that safety.
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hannah
March 20th, 2009
6:54 am
you know, where i work, i have to hear the same corny joke a million times a day from people who think they’re the only ones to ever think of it, and expect a courtesy laugh…i’ve made a game of seeing how many seconds i can give them an unamused, blank stare before they realize i obviously didn’t hear them, and repeat their joke.
generally, three.
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Lee
March 20th, 2009
7:42 am
Pinko, first of all, law enforcement is not a “business.” Also cited in the article was the fact that citations went down when lawmakers mandated an extra second of yellow light at intersections that had cameras.
Common sense stuff, add a few extra seconds of yellow light, add a few extra seconds between the time the light changes red on one side and green on the other, and you eliminate all but the most flagrant red light runners.
Fact of the matter is that these companies sold the municipalities on the red light cameras on a large part of the revenue generation.
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Chris Broe
March 20th, 2009
8:03 am
Most flagrant red light runners dont know they’ve gone through a red light, they’re texting or otherwise occupied. I see very late red light runners all the time. They don’t see the read light at all. They’re fumbling around. It’s impossible to remember to scan an intersection for cars barging through red lights every time you approach one but that would be the only defense: You stopping for a green light.
Perhaps a big light that reads, CAMERAS ROLLING! whenever the light turns red.
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What?
March 20th, 2009
2:01 pm
PinkoNeoConLibertarian, please recheck your facts. In most intersections the number of accidents actually went UP because of people slamming on their brakes when they noticed the light was about to turn red. This is several seconds before the other light would turn green and even more seconds before the other cars would start to move.
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KenG
March 21st, 2009
12:15 pm
What’s up with all the hatin’ on Lt. Steve? He’s a good guy in the neighborhood, subject to drug tests, serves us well while trying to find some humor in the situation… I’ve been busted by the damn red light camera on Holcomb Bridge, and the SSPD for tag problems. But Lt. Steve and the SSPD are the good guys stuck with a certain system. I hope he keeps bloggin’.
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Sharon
March 24th, 2009
1:31 pm
Why does it matter if it’s a revenue generator or not. It’s illegal to run a red light. If you do the “crime”, pay the fine.
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Cubby
March 25th, 2009
10:51 am
“A victim said that while she left her car unattended and running, someone got in it and drove off.”
Now I am not the smartest man, but these people make me look like Albert Einstein!
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BA
March 26th, 2009
9:53 am
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT: A victim’s take
An illegal alien reported being able to live in the Atlanta metro area without any fear of being (rightfully) arrested and deported by the police. The alien’s wife immediately began downloading anchor babies at a record pace. The police provided a variety of excuses but remained unwilling to enforce the law.
A mother of four was issued an imaginary citation because the police officer was short and had a hard time getting girls in high school. The woman deprived her kids the following month so she could pay the unreasonably high fine for the crime that was never actually committed. The police officer was somehow still able to look at himself in the mirror the next day. Just another day on the job for this chubby hero.
A man reported being robbed at knife point in a parking lot. The police weren’t really concerned, because they had already met their monthly quotas and were fully aware that thier motto is no longer “protect and serve”- they’ve traded it in for “entrap and solicit”. The man thankfully wasn’t harmed, and the police officers didn’t even have to interrupt their fourth dinner of the evening.
Should we change the holiday from “Independence day” to “Communist Police State day”?
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Chris Broe
March 26th, 2009
11:05 am
Point of order: It is legal to use a counterfeit bill to tip a Hooter’s girl with implants.
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Lori
March 26th, 2009
4:54 pm
I’ve got one of those big dog thunder problems too. The only thing that helps mine is letting him (all million pounds of him) sit in my lap on the couch (or lay on me in bed). It’s a hassle, but not as much as the two man hazmat jobs!!!!
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Get It Right
March 26th, 2009
5:00 pm
Jeez, BA, let’s play nice.
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Rebecca
March 26th, 2009
6:35 pm
Try playing the Singing Dogs. They prefer music from “their own kind”:)
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Sebastian's Mom
March 26th, 2009
8:24 pm
Please do yourself (and your dog a favor). Get him a prescription from your vet. When the big boomers come in, a little happy pill works wonders. Your dog will be happier and it costs a lot less than shampooing carpets.
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Patrick
March 27th, 2009
12:49 pm
When I was a kid, we had a dog that would throw himself against the back door whenever it thundered. We finally decided to let him become a house dog, thinking that would help. Nope. If it thundered, especially at night (when everything seems to be scarier, even thunder and lightning), he would throw himself against my bedroom door and then hide under my bed. It got to the point where he’d just come in there and sleep under the bed, regardless the weather. Of course half the time he did it to hide from one of the cats that always terrorized him. For the record, the dog was a German Shepherd mixed with Lab, possibly Boxer, butcher, baker, and candlestick maker.
I have seen some scary lightning in the past. I remember while at A.H. Stephens Park for a weekend event one Summer, there was some wicked lightning that forked across the sky, and looked like an electrified oak tree. An old house we lived in had an aerial mounted on top (we lived out in the middle of the middle of nowhere), and whenever lightning struck, it seemed to light up all around the outside and inside of the home. Another time when I worked for K-Mart, I had seen a lightning bolt do battle with a transformer across the street. The lightning bolt won.
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Patrick
March 27th, 2009
12:51 pm
I almost forgot. I once had a dog that when it thundered, he barked. He didn’t try to hide under a bed or anywhere, nor did he have accidents. If it thundered, he barked. I think he thought it was another dog nearby that was barking, and he felt like replying.
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Cubby
March 27th, 2009
2:54 pm
Hooter’s girls have implants? Who knew?
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Cubby
March 27th, 2009
2:59 pm
I can not believe all you people posted and missed the most important part of this story. Dipping into Crown Royal is the best part of thunderstorms. Please people, get your priorities straight!
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Chris Broe
March 27th, 2009
11:34 pm
A dog drinking Crown Royal in a thunderstorm! (Shaken, not curred). The old 45 recordings of the dogs barking Jingle Bells is the only way to get a Rottweiler to go full Scooby Snack in a Rhunderstorm. Also, Bugs Bunny in Drag cartoons will do the trick, but only in a thunderstorm.
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Chris Broe
March 27th, 2009
11:36 pm
I tried locking my dog outside in a thunderboomer once…………………………..once.
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Dixie
March 28th, 2009
3:13 pm
My lab hides under my bed and takes my shoes with her. Wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t a king size. I have to crawl to the middle of it to get my shoes back.
And I have to disagree with the most important point. I feel the spelling of Lynyrd Skynyrd is most pressing. I’m equally concerned that this story posted 2 days ago and nobody else seems to have caught it. What kind of Southerners are you?
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Old School
March 29th, 2009
9:20 pm
We had a yellow lab named Biscuit who hated thunder and lightening. She would get in the crawl space under the house and turn the light on (pull-chain). We never could get her to turn it off again when she came back out.
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reader
March 29th, 2009
10:49 pm
The only thing that freaks out my lab is the beeping of the smoke alarm…when we test the batteries. He loves to be outside during a storm, will sit by the door for hours, waiting to be let out. Even though it’s been 11 years, my husband still has not gotten over the fact that I had the dog neutered and blames all of this dog’s quirks on that. My sister has the sister-dog and she starts shaking long before the storm even hits. She’s like a storm-tracker.
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catlady
March 30th, 2009
5:49 pm
My dogs have always been weinnies, but so am I. Even more so now because lightning hit my house last year and caught it on fire. Missed me by 4 feet. Now the dogs seem to blame me for the thunder and run AWAY from me when it storms. If I could, I would get under the bed and stay several months.
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1911A1
March 31st, 2009
9:19 am
Re the woman whose Timberland boots were stolen: were any of her flannel shirts missing as well?
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Carlos
April 1st, 2009
7:07 pm
When BA calls 911 for the police, he would be singing a different tune.
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Chris Broe
April 3rd, 2009
11:11 am
Maybe catlady has learned her lesson about flying a kite in the house during a thunderstorm.
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mustang100
April 3rd, 2009
3:34 pm
We know that, but we WOULD like to see that drum solo performance next time you’re in a patrol car.
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Chris Broe
April 3rd, 2009
6:02 pm
It’s not easy to do the low boom bass voice in the old man ribbah song. But every true American man can do it! Find the range within which you can hold the long slow notes and let er rip. Guaranteed to force your wife to let you go play golf. Just sing it earnestly, as if you truly believed it matters if you screw it up. Guaranteed.
Ollld Maan Ribbahh………
That or whistling should get you out of the house.
BTW: let’s not make this incident more worthy of condemnation than the rodney king video
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peaches
April 3rd, 2009
7:43 pm
We’ve all seen people talking to themselves in the car and quickly pretended to be on a cell phone when caught. Always funny. Even if it’s me.
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Chris Broe
April 5th, 2009
5:51 pm
The cell phone is the bane of mankind. I wont own one, but I do have a fake child’s cellphone that I keep in my pocket to pretend to be talking into whenever I see a hot chick. Then i kinda mosey on over and say stuff like, “Keep looking for Fluffy. Your kitten is too precious to give up. Keep looking. I’ll be over to help you find that poor little kitten as soon as I can.”
Works every time. Using that gag, I’ve gotten fur-balled at least fifty times.
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KennesawDave
April 5th, 2009
7:19 pm
Steve you’re taking me back with the Jonny Beckman reference. I remember watching him on 11 alive. Even met Guy Sharp a few times at Northlake Mall at the Glass Oven. Man that was one heck of a bakery. Ah the good ole days.
Chris I’ve never tried the whole “I’ll be over to help you look for your kitten in a little bit” trick. I’ll have to try that sometime. Oh and just curious was there a slight inuendo with the term “fur-balled” at the end?
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PinkoNeoConLibertarian
April 6th, 2009
11:04 am
Argh!!! Lt. Rose I hate you right now. I can’t get the dang song out of my head!!! Either of them!
Old Man River sang to the beat of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida!
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Amy
April 7th, 2009
9:40 am
You’ll be surprised at who’s on facebook now. It’s not just for tweens and teenagers anymore. My in-laws are on it, as well as my dad. They have found old high school and college classmates. You should do searches for your high school, etc. Most have group pages now that you can join. Its a lot of fun!
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Linda
April 7th, 2009
9:57 am
You can always Un-friend people if you wish, you are not stuck with anyone. It is a pain though because you get to see what all of your friends are doing, do I care if Michelle took her dog for a walk, NO, do I care if Lisa’s kids are sick. As long as they don’t throw up on me I am good. It does have it’s good points though so enjoy.
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smiley
April 7th, 2009
10:39 am
Believe it or not, I do know all of the people on my friends list. They are my family, classmates and church friends. I am enjoying keeping in touch with folks I no longer get to see very often. I have actually found some of my neighbors that moved away from the neighborhood when we were kids. I have found classmates that for whatever reason did not make class reunions. It has been a lot of fun. And Yes, these people are not 12 years old and are intellegent acting.
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kia
April 7th, 2009
11:59 am
Can’t find you on Facebook, Lt. Steve.
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Mr. Happy
April 7th, 2009
12:11 pm
I refuse to be on any social networking sites. The friends that I’ve had over the years are still people that I communicate with.
Sorry, but I don’t want people I went to high school with or previous neighbors, co-workers, etc. contacting me. If they were friends before, they are still friends today.
I see these sites as a waste of time. Sitting in front of a computer chatting and “tweeting” is something that I’m not interested in, but to each his/her own.
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Mr. Genuinely Happy
April 7th, 2009
12:57 pm
Mr. Happy doesn’t sound very happy at all. In fact, he sounds more like Mr. Grumpy. I joined Facebook a little less than two weeks ago and I’ve found it to be quite enjoyable. I’ve reconnected with people I knew in high school and college, and best of all, I’ve been able to see current pictures of them and their family. It’s been great fun. And, incidentally, I’m 47.
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reader
April 7th, 2009
6:06 pm
I have been on FB for about 3 months, much to the horror of my teenager, at first. I have had a lot of fun catching up and reacquainting myself with former classmates…all the way back to elementary school. Unfortunately, some people think it’s fun to post class photos from during the “awkward stages.” It’s not. Many of us did not save those pictures for a reason. It’s interesting, however, to see how people are doing and where they are in life, and to see the metamorphisis that at least one person went through. Looking forward to the next high school reunion.
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Sunshine
April 7th, 2009
10:22 pm
I found you on facebook and dropped you a note. I used my real name there but didn’t here.. please add me
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Chris Broe
April 8th, 2009
8:45 am
Mr. Genuine: Do you have an older sister for me on Facebook? My profile: I like to tweet, blog, and surf the information superhighway, yeah, that’s right, I’m hi-tech.
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The truth about cops
April 8th, 2009
3:09 pm
Facebook? Just another way to kill time once the piggies have filled their monthly quotas. Maybe I should set up a facebook for people that have been ripped off (multiple times) by cops.
Any thoughts on actually enforcing the immigration laws, as opposed to hiding out and entrapping people on the side of the road?
Naw, let’s start a facebook and write a half-azz article about it. Cops aren’t heroes anymore, they only exist to generate (dirty) revenue.
That’s why it’s so funny to hear the morons that call Hannity talk about the constitution- we haven’t observed the constitution in this country for a hundred years!
Do you think the “founding fathers” envisioned this kind of Communist police state? You idiots just pacify yourselfs, keep watching American Idol- because it’s too late now. You think it’s funny until one of these portly “officers” decides to ruin your life and create hardship for you in the interest of generating government revenue.
Forget “protect and serve”. Cops now follow the slogan “find and solicit”.
Call it what it is.
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Carla
April 9th, 2009
6:14 am
The truth about cops,
“Call it what it is.” – Well OK – This crybaby stuff is SO OLD. Relax dude. Check out the Rants section of craig’s list, get it off your chest, and come back when you have a nicer attitude.
What a person does on thier private time is thier own business. I’m sure LT Rose (like most people)knows that if his posts show up while he’s on the clock it can easily be proven.
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The truth about cops
April 9th, 2009
1:52 pm
You’re a sheep, Carla.
But your right. We should all just cower to these uneducated pudgy shmucks. Next time the piggie hotline calls your house, you send them a big check.
Or you could just wait until one of them entraps you, then forces you to pay a fine for a crime you didn’t commit.
Find and solicit. What heroes.
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Cubby
April 9th, 2009
2:36 pm
I’m on Facebook due to the prodding of my current graduate school classmates. I’ve had ex-girlfriends find me. Good thing they still look good! I don’t just accept anyone so you can definitely ignore the people you do not want to be friends with. Kind of like “The truth about cops.” I hope he never needs a cops assistance because they might find out who he is and take their time getting there to help (of course I kid, maybe).
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Gern
April 9th, 2009
2:40 pm
Truth About Cops lost another barback job and wants everyone to know how bitter he is about getting a ticket. One-percenter he is. Train’s a-leaving loser.
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Lt. Steve
April 9th, 2009
2:56 pm
Truth: That’s harsh. “Any thoughts on actually enforcing the immigration laws, as opposed to hiding out and entrapping people on the side of the road?”
Try floating that line to the families of those officers killed in Pittsburgh and Oakland.
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Chris Broe
April 11th, 2009
9:49 am
In Detroit, in 1971, my 1964 Chevy Belair was stolen by a guy who lived down the street from my fraternity house. He was arrested and I was notified to be present during his trial. I was in the courtroom when his case came up and court-appointed lawyer got the case thrown out. I left the courtroom, and got on the elevator, which happened to be occupied by the guy (my age) who stole my car. We ignored each other during the six floor descent to the parking garage, where we both went our separate ways. (Now, I didn’t know this guy, but I saw him in court, so I knew he was the guy. It was only later that I realized he lived near me.)
A couple months later, the same guy stole my car again. I didn’t bother reporting it this time, and sure enough, my car was returned to the parking spot in front of my fraternity house in the morning. There were the same brand of empty wine bottles in the back seat as I noticed before, but otherwise, no damage. So, an uneasy truce evolved where this clown would occasionally (about once a fortnight) steal my car late at night for a joyride, but he’d return it soon enough.
He never once put any gas in it, so I controlled him by only putting in fifty cents worth of gas at a time. (about two and a half gallons in 1971).
True Story.
Postscript. The carjacker from hell finally stopped stealing my car. The keys were never left in it, but if you know anything about the 1964 Bel Air, then you’d know you didn’t need a key: the hooded ignition assembly was easily forced with pliers. I finally traded the old car in on a 1967 Olds Cutlass, (a fine, fine car, my fine friends).
You may wonder why I was so cool about my stolen car. Well, I’ll tell you why. In 1970, my 1961 Comet broke down in a Detroit neighborhood that some would kindly label as being on the wrong side of the tracks. I left it overnight and returned to find it completely destroyed; all the windows smashed, the tires slashed, the engine and battery and hoses all damaged. Wires all ripped out and strewn everywhere. Seats carved up. The reason I was in that particular neighborhood was because I worked at Chrysler, and was giving three co-worker-denizens of that particular neighborhood a ride home. One was constantly snorting blow. One would wave his pistol around inside the car to prove what a player he was to his two buddies; and one was this quieter guy who kept back-seat driving with one word comments about how I took this turn or that lane change etc. So, as I stood there, assessing the damage to my car, some rotund fifty-something woman came out of her house and started yelling at me, “You better get this car out of here! I’m not gonna look at this eyesore all day.” I waved and said, “I’ll call a tow truck”. She went back inside. I didn’t report it because I had purchased the car for only 50 dollars three months earlier, ($300 today), and I could always use my nanna’s car to get to work. Afterward, at work, we never spoke to each other again. I was transferred to a different part of the factory, and didn’t really see the three ride-sharing car-poolers anymore.
What I had surmised in 1970’s Detroit was that America was facing something called “Citizen Nullification” of all law, and that our social evolution as a country was lagging behind our economic and legal evolution. Now, I wasn’t one for being noble, but I instinctively knew that the transportation problems of one little person didn’t amount to a hill of beans in that crazy city…..but today I wish I had just signed over the title to my Bel Air’s joyrider. I know I didn’t get a penny for it anyway, because the white salesman-thief ripped me off when I traded for the Cutlass. (But used-car sales tactics are legal, and joyriding isn’t.)
RIght?
Today, with cool historical perspective, I hope both GM and my old Detroit acquaintances are fine.
Post-Postscript: I got the ‘64 Bel Air from my girlfriend’s dad, who was a mechanic. This girl, named Esther, looked like Sophia Loren, (pure Sicilian). How I let her get away is the real tragedy here, not the stinking cars.
I think she broke up with me cause I didn’t have a cool-enough car. I hated the seventies, man.
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KennesawDave
April 11th, 2009
4:38 pm
I can somewhat believe the last story you put up about the brother using his sibling’s name while racking up traffic violations. My ex-fiance had a friend show up out of the blue saying she had an emergency and needed to barrow a car. Foolishly, my ex allowed her to use her jeep. The so-called friend wound up getting pulled over by Cobb County’s finest and given a ticket for running a red light and no ID. Bad thing was my ex was already fighting a suspended license & no proof of insurance in court and wasn’t supposed to be driving period. Thankfully, I was able to get her a decent lawyer that was able to step in and get the charges reduced and it didn’t wind up coming back to bite her. Moral of the story though, if a friend you haven’t seen in a while suddenly shows up asking to barrow your car, it’s probably not a good idea to be so agreeable.
Have a Happy Easter Steve!
Oh funny sidenote, a PI showed up a few days later trying to track her down because apparently she had taken up identity theft for a living and had hal shal I put this politely… Screwed some other people in the same way and worse. What’s that old saying, Keep your enemies close and your friends closer?
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KennesawDave
April 11th, 2009
5:25 pm
Steve,
I’ve gotta say I’m impressed. From what I’ve read of your work on here, I didn’t peg you for the Facebook or social networking type. Try and look at it though as what you do in here when you talk to us and post your stories. Except on illegal substances. As far as the part about getting friend requests from people you don’t know or seing pages that have 100+ friends. I can tell you from having my own page, the 100+ crowd are people that kill time by playing cheesy little game aps on there. I have I think 30+ so-called friends but most are from the games that I kill time with on there. Not to mention most are over in Europe so I really don’t want to get too close to them anyway. Except the hot Italian girl. Wouldn’t mind meeting her when I go to Italy in May for my sister’s wedding. Out of all the so-called friends I have on my Facebook page probably 10 are people I talk to each week. and maybe 1/2 of them I see every once in a while. So basically to make youre earlier point in a much longer wordy way, They should probably put a section together for People I Don’t Care About, But Use For My Game or Other Pointless Purposes.
Truth: While I support your 1st amendment right to express yourself, I have 4 words for you and please take them to heart and as personally as you’d like. Ready?
… SHUT THE HELL UP!
Man I feel better now.
Sorry about the H E double hockey sticks Steve. Won’t happen again.
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KennesawDave
April 11th, 2009
5:35 pm
Hey Steve,
I just thought of something. You of course know that you can be arrested for doing some really stupid things on the Internet that really don’t need to be mentioned because they’re so grotesque. But I was just thinking after I read Truth’s post more thuroughly. Could we maybe charge him with cyber disorderly conduct? Just a thought. Probably unconstitutional or something. But hey it made me smile at least.
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Fred
April 12th, 2009
4:29 pm
Actually Dave, it’s keep your friends close and your enemies closer. You may wish to keep a dictionary closest though…………..
Chris Broe: That was a really cool story. Why did you have to ruin it by reverting to race baiting tactics with the white salesman line?
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Tom T
April 13th, 2009
6:39 pm
Give Truth a break. He’s simply suffering from a terminal case of cranial-rectal insertion.
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PinkoNeoConLibertarian
April 15th, 2009
12:00 pm
Entertaining as always. Sadly, I replaced the Dodge Ram 2500 diesel with a little 2-seater convertible. I can’t help as much as I used to be able to. But anyone can pretty much stop and drag a branch off the road. Come on people, it’s 45 seconds out of your day.
Have fun in Big D! Nothing them Good Old Texas boys like better than having some fun with grown men wearing grass skirts and coconut shell bras!
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catlady
April 15th, 2009
9:23 pm
Thank you to all, public servants, private servants, and plain old folks who helped. God bless the police especially.
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Rebecca
April 16th, 2009
8:32 am
Thanks to Georgia Power for getting my power back on (a little over 24 hours!) and for everyone who cleared the roads and took care of things. Y’all did a great job!
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Chris Broe
April 16th, 2009
9:36 am
A tree clobbered my house during the storms. I have Allstate Homeowners Insurance. I will report how smoothly the claims process goes.
The man who has a tree growing in his lungs has filed a storm damage claim with his own insurance company. Apparently the tree in his lungs was knocked over by the storm too, and clobbered his spleen. Now that’s a strong storm!
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ElBubba
April 16th, 2009
5:33 pm
Everything’s about race with you isn’t it fredneck? Nothing’s as lame as an insecure, uneducated whiteboy from southern Ga.
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Becky
April 22nd, 2009
1:00 pm
A bottle of Crown Royal..I think I love you..LOL
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Dave
April 22nd, 2009
6:03 pm
Janine
wow, are you bored or a real buzz kill??
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Chris Broe
April 23rd, 2009
6:02 am
Sounds like some folks go full Tommy Bahama when they gets to Narcoritaville. Then it seems like they get so high they end up going full Terra Cotta Warrior. Now that’s stoned, my friend. The best way to sober those folks up is to feed them reality sandwiches, with unenforced drug violations on the side, and a separate plate for the “are we having fun yet”.
Parrot heads rule.
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kevin
April 24th, 2009
11:25 am
a friend of mine went to see jimmy at lakewood once. he said he had never seen so many drunk,old,skanky redneck women in one place.
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Chris
April 24th, 2009
10:31 pm
I’m sad at your suggestion “asking a lot of questions and they’ll probably hang up”.
Couldn’t we think of a more sophisticated solution?
We could have an automated system with a number to call (9010101 for example), the automated machine would log our phone number and find out who and from where came the last call received.
If there is a pattern, the “pranksters” trying multiple potential victims, some of these immediately calling the special number, the system will flag the calling number and beep the adequate service/department, catching these people in time and putting them at their right place (jail?).
Of course, that will not work forever, forcing the bad guys to work their imagination and become smarter, who knows, they may end up honest successful script writers in Hollywood!
Meanwhile, sadly, your suggestion is still the best, as usual!
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Daniel
April 25th, 2009
11:59 am
As much as I feel for the couple, there’s probably not a lot we can do short of bringing back public hanging. There are sharks out there so the only way to stop them is to use caution and good sense.
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Chief O'Hara
April 27th, 2009
11:57 am
You had an Austin Healey when? In high school? That’s wrong on so many levels. Dame Fortune’s face must have ached from smilng on you!
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Carlos
April 28th, 2009
12:53 am
I am not sure what you mean when you write “The customer was not happy and insisted the device didn’t work at the time it was supposed to work”. The device works; now whether it works at a time it suppose to work is up to the customer.
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gadyke
April 28th, 2009
3:45 pm
The ladies reading the blog should checkout babeland.com…there is an item that not only works when you want it to, it apparently learns what you like! I’m thinking the men are going to have to work a little harder now. Sorry guys!
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Major Houlihan
April 30th, 2009
12:31 pm
Let me guess , did she call him a D**K HEAD ?
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Chris Broe
April 30th, 2009
2:42 pm
Can you return butt plugs? What about those exotic japanese dingo balls all strung together? What about ping pong balls that can be fired from an asian woman’s you know what? I’m just trying to raise some money in this slow economy, that’s all. Do you have to clean these things up when you take them back? I lost the original wrappers. I’ve kept the instruction videos though. I mean, Officer Steve opens up more questions than he answers every single time he writes. I hate that. Like, do some research, or stfu.
Jklol
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Spalding Drive homeowner
April 30th, 2009
9:02 pm
So I have a question….storm hits 8:45AM, tree from next door hits car directly blocking road travel both ways. ‘totalled’ car is towed away 10:45, police office arrives at 11:00 am, puts up yellow tape about 1/4 mile down street obviously to deter traffic. I get in my car 11:45AM exiting my driveway away from tree to go take care of some business, i approach yellow tape hoping nice police fellow would raise tape to let me out, but instead i receive a scolding from overzealous, high school looking rookie who says i should not be traveling thru the area. he actually placed his hand on his gun like he was going to shoot the tree out of the way for me. I was astounded. He literally said that he did not know how long it would take to open the road and that we had to stay in our homes until then!! Well the road goes both ways, my friend. learn a little tact and common sense……my new young safety officer. Steve the question is, are we under house arrest when a storm blows through?
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Kynthia
May 4th, 2009
11:46 am
A Crown Royal drinker…just another reason that you, sir, are awesome
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Ed gordon
May 4th, 2009
8:38 pm
Not to mention how much better cop reality shows have gotten since the introduction of the taser. =) If every officer using them has to be shocked by them, that pretty much shows that the department is confident in their safety. The criticism seems unfounded based on a small percentage of people tased that already had pretty serious health conditions. I think the lesson here really is, ‘if you have had triple bypass surgery, it is not safe to break into a liquor store and then brandish a knife at the cops who come to lock you up’.
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Got it!
May 5th, 2009
10:46 am
Georgie Firearms License… ’nuff said.
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Jimbo
May 5th, 2009
11:03 am
I did a paper on this recently, comparing guns a tasers for personal defense. The arguments for a taser were convincing, but it’s very telling that cops carry a taser in addition to a gun.
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Taylor
May 5th, 2009
2:10 pm
51 states? I think I know what you mean, but come on…
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nana
May 5th, 2009
2:20 pm
I would bet that if the families of the people killed by cops as they were posing a lethal danger to the cop had the choice these families would choose that the cops tase their loved ones rather than pull the trigger of a handgun.
I would guess that cops carry a taser and a gun because they typically run up on more than one or two “bad guys” when a handgun is needed as once the cartridge on a taser is used it’s over. Another cartridge must be put into the taser gun.
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Mike
May 5th, 2009
2:22 pm
Tasers give cops more options, with is a good thing. They can be letal, but tasers kill far less frequently than guns.
“In 2007, fifty-seven police officers were killed by felonious acts in 51 separate states. Texas alone saw nine police officers killed that year.”
The math doesn’t work on this statistic – assuming your “51-st state” is DC, this still leaves 46 killings occurring in 50 states.
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Sharon
May 5th, 2009
2:31 pm
I’ve been seriously considering purchasing a taser, this article helps with my decision making.
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Gary
May 5th, 2009
2:33 pm
Like “Got it!” said Georgia Firearms license……….locked and loaded.
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jan
May 5th, 2009
2:37 pm
Tasers are okay if used properly. There have been many cases of officers using these devices improperly. Especially on a person that is unarmed. A person that is possibly irrational and can’t calm down doesn’t need to be tasered into submission. This can kill a person. I have a pacemaker/defibrillator, I can’t imagine what a taser would do to me. Some people argue, well, the person should just listen. Well, you have to take into consideration the state of mind of the person. There may be a mental illness. There is no reason to taser, beat, or shoot an unarmed person that might just need a minute to calm down. Police training is key. Please, please, train these officers on what is too much and means of containing a person besides trying to electrocute them to death.
Ed, people with the type of heart condition that would be effected by a taser are not as obvious as a bypass patient. These are people with electrical abnormalities in their heart. Many people do not even know they have the problem, a taser can cause the heart to misfire or set off someone who has a heart arrhythmia. I was born with mine. I could die suddenly without a pacemaker and implanted defibrillator, I’m sure a taser would really mess me up. The manufacturers “claim” they are safe. The officers should also carry defibrillators and be trained to resuscitate.
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Andy in Blairsville
May 5th, 2009
3:08 pm
I would rather see the state loosen up the justification for deadly force myself. Less criminals to prosecute, house and feed.
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Ed
May 5th, 2009
3:08 pm
This is Atlanta, we have so many thugs waiting to rob, home invade and car jack you they fight over victims. You can carry a taser but for myself I like a Sig 9 mm on my person, a GLOCK 9 mm in the truck and a couple of 12 gauge shotguns at the house. We’ll be leaving this city as soon as I retire to a place a lot safer, where elected officials have your safety in mind and they do more than name a street downtown after some dead person that means nothing to me. You use your taser, I’ll use my Sig. It’s all good as long as the good guys come out ahead.
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Jenny
May 5th, 2009
3:10 pm
I agree tasers are the way to go and as for people with conditions DON’T GIVE OFFICERS A REASON TO NEED TO USE IT!
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MrLiberty
May 5th, 2009
3:12 pm
Tasers have just turned into an amusement toy for police to get out their violent agressions on innocent citizens without the complicating paperwork that killing them outright would lead to. Dozens of people are being killed by the random and unwarranted use of these devices. So long as they are considered as “non-lethal”, it is little more than a free license to abuse the use of them.
When kids are being tased at schools you know the problem is out of hand.
Free market solutions to security and protection, an end to the War on Drugs, and a restoration of the constitution and Bill of Rights would go a long way to making everyone in our society safer but none of those things is going to happen if we have to count on those in power to implement them.
It is no surprise that a cop sides with this horrible weapon and it is no surprise that the beer guzzling, pizza eating fans of “cops” and other pro-government force shows applaud the use of these devices. It is unfortunate that our country has turned the wrong corner on it fast decline into a police state.
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P
May 5th, 2009
3:33 pm
Jenny, that’s a very ignorant comment. You’re a poor excuse for an American.
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Ed
May 5th, 2009
3:38 pm
Mr. Liberty, I guess you have no problem with all the thugs running around this city willing to kill you for a few dollars. I suppose it’s all the cops fault that you can’t turn on your televison without seeing some punk kid in dreads arrested and his sorry momma crying how the cops done got her son. It’s all make believe I suppose. Mr Liberty, I bet the world will smell better to you when you pull your head out from your arse.
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Melinda
May 5th, 2009
3:43 pm
Tasers at school? That is exactly where they need them. When you get a 14 year old kid that is 6′4″ and 250 lbs out of control. Taz his butt. Or a mouthy teenage girl with no respect – taz her butt. It will only take a few times and all those bad little kids will be scared into behaving once again. In fact give one to each and every teacher. Get out of line, get tazd… Speak out of turn, get tazd. No homework – 2 tazes…Behaviour Problems will be gone in no time….
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Melinda
May 5th, 2009
3:54 pm
Mr Liberty….You obviously have been very shielded in life. You MUST have never been exposed to the criminal elements of our society. These are NOT individuals that you can sit down and have a tea party with to discuss things. In many cases you are dealing with animals pure and simple. If these were gentle law abiding citizens, the police would not have to be there in the first place. The world is dangerous. I want the cops to have every bit of technology available to bring these criminals down. I don’t care how……..
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nana
May 5th, 2009
3:59 pm
I’m not sure I agree with some of the posts about arbitrarily tasing unruly kids but then again maybe I’d feel different if I were a teacher and had to deal with some of them. My husband has been through taser instructor class (he’s not a cop) and has been tased two times with no effects afterwards. Again if I were a criminal or someone out of control due to any reason (God forbid) I would rather the cop taser me than shoot me dead. Dead is dead. I have a conceal carry license and do carry a gun but also my C2 Taser. Sometimes there’s no reason for deadly force if you don’t have to use it.
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Got it!
May 5th, 2009
4:34 pm
Nana, if you live in GA you have a Georgia Firearms License. You are licensed to carry concealed or open. But most importantly, please keep carrying!
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George
May 5th, 2009
4:36 pm
do some research. tasers kill people, and cops regularly abuse their power. pain compliance and tazing kids and elderly are all unacceptable.
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Joe
May 5th, 2009
4:38 pm
Melinda is another prime example of a misled American brain-washed into fearing her neighbors by the corporate media. Quit supporting the police state out of misplaced fear.
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Caz
May 5th, 2009
5:49 pm
In Florida we have prison guards tasering KIDS on “Take your child to work day.” I kid you not. http://www.newsherald.com.
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Tiggster
May 5th, 2009
6:33 pm
If we use the number of people in the US from the article of 303,824,640, and round up the numbers associated with Taser deaths from +/-360 to lets say 400, that gives us a ratio of .00013% of the population would die during a taz. More people will die of AIDS, Cancer, and heart attacks!! I am not looking for people to die…but we really need to put the number of deaths associated with tasers in some actual numbers we can relate too! How many people have police officers shot in the last 2 years? Do the benefits justify the risk?
I do agree that I wouldnt use them on children…but lets be realistic…teach kids to fear tasers and guns and maybe there would be less criminal acts.
I would rather an officer have a taser than a gun when some drugged out creep attacks them with their bare hands. Get them the help they need and save some peice of mind that someone didnt die when it could have been prevented with a taser.
Whats the ratio of taser firings (personal or law enforcement) to the number of deaths?? Anyone have that answer…
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Excited-Delirium.com
May 5th, 2009
7:20 pm
Tasers could, conceivably, in some imaginary world, be a force for good. Let me know when you find that planet. Back here on Earth, they do much evil. They’re used to torture on a daily basis. They’re used on those that fail to obey, such as diabetics in comas. They’re used on children. It’s laughable to claim that they replace guns (the oldest taser lie); they’re used about 100 times as often as police ever used their guns. The other lie is that they’re perfectly safe (seriously, that IS the claim with respect to internal risk factors such as cardiac or similar). People (not criminals) are dying.
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Whoopee
May 5th, 2009
8:45 pm
Whether the recipent of a taze has a weapon or not is a moot point. I’m 6′6″ and 300 lbs. If I wanted to, I could really hurt someone (like, by sitting on them). My girth is not unique. I’ve been in fights with guys literally half my size, and they gave me a run for my money!! We’ve all seen fact stranger than fiction.
That said, should I be stupid enough to fight an officer, they have 2 choices: glock me or taze me. Hum. Hit me with a billy-club: my blubber cause a recoil the likes no one has seen!! Spray me with pepper: yum! How quickly can a half-dozen cops arrive at the scene and bail-out the one fighting me?? (BTW, I’m not going to fight a cop my size!) Again, the lone officer has 2 choices- glock or taser. I choose the latter, personally. Show me someone who choses the former, and that person has never been on the wrong end of an arrest.
Should they be used on students: well, is the student aggressive enough to warrent the taze? They’re crying on Oprah, but cursing and combative when confronted.
Here’s something I learned the hard way, don’t screw up, and if you do, don’t get caught. And if you do get caught, don’t fight the police. And if you do fight the police, pray the officer has a taser. And if they do have a taser, you live another day to write posts on some AJC blog.
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nana
May 5th, 2009
8:50 pm
Excited-do you have a link to the person that was tased in a diabetic coma, I find that hard to believe. Actually there’s a lot of your post I find hard to believe do you have anything to back up your claims? Whoopee you are absolutely right on.
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joseph
May 5th, 2009
11:09 pm
tiggster, your lack of statistical and basic mathematic knowledge is pretty frightening.
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joseph
May 5th, 2009
11:15 pm
yay, whoopee! let’s embrace the police state and unquestioningly obey the commands of increasingly violent and militant police (even though anybody with half a brain realizes most cops lack the competence to make such decisions and in reality function as little more than armed tax collectors for their respective counties or municipalities). by the way, i’m 7′5″ and weigh 420 pounds.
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bsolo
May 6th, 2009
8:49 am
black men keep getting shot by the crips eer I mean cops F@@k the police
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Louis Deville
May 6th, 2009
9:09 am
The Taser is a marketing scheme. It offers re-packaged old technology that is unreliable and that can kill. It is not less lethal.
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Robert
May 6th, 2009
9:25 am
In reference to Melinda’s post: until “d.e.f.a.c.s.” starts allowing teachers and parents alike, to discipline children as needed without fear of going to jail, or having them forcibly removed from their home to possibly be placed in a foster home in which the conditions may be far worse,There will be no improvement in youth violence.I for one will not spare the rod “when absolutly needed” and my 5 children are all modle citizens.
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Robert
May 6th, 2009
9:46 am
ps: I have been tazed…About 10 years old.Dad said how about reaching back behind the fridge And unplugging it for me!220 volts, my hair grew back in a few weeks!
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Jimbo
May 6th, 2009
3:39 pm
You know what else kills people? Peanut allergies! The deadly allergies kill about 100 people per year! We should ban the peanuts.
As for taser deaths, according to Dr Hugh Calkins (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD) in this article here:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/587624
There have only been about 300 in-custody deaths in 650,000 applications of the TASER..
As far as I’m concerned, considering the stupid things people do to tempt fate every day, a 1 in 2166.7 chance isn’t bad odds.
As for “resisting the police state” it’s the job of the police to maintain order. You have a right to peaceably assemble and you don’t have a right to resist arrest. If you’re under arrest you get a day in court, that’s when the “fighting the power” is supposed to happen.
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P. York
May 6th, 2009
7:42 pm
I know that you’re relieved that Afghanistan has quarantined its herd of pigs, all one of them.
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Az
May 7th, 2009
2:17 am
I’m sure you are aware, but others may not, that there is no requirement to have any form of ID upon you, *unless* you are the one driving a motor vehicle. If you are a passenger, or just walking down the street, you aren’t required to have ID on you, nor are you required to show it to any government agent, even if they demand it.
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JJ
May 7th, 2009
12:47 pm
P York – And they slaughtered all the pigs in Egypt. There should be a great sale on pork products soon!!!!
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PinkoNeoConLibertarian
May 7th, 2009
12:47 pm
Not Disco!!! NOOOOO!!!! My knees will never stand up to the agony of walking on platforms again–not to mention my adult onset allergy to polyester.
I blame it all on Donna Summer and The Bee Gees!
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policewife
May 7th, 2009
1:11 pm
My husband is a police sergeant and had to be tased today in order to be able to certified to carry a taser. Even though it pained me for him to have to go through that, he helped me understand it is tool that he really has needed in many cases during his work. I wish all departments would issue them to their officers.
By the way, I really appreciate all you ladies and gents do to keep us safe. Thank you!
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D
May 7th, 2009
1:25 pm
A parrothead diss-ing disco ? Unbelievable. That be like a corn dog making fun of a bologna sandwich.Word.
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Lt. Steve
May 7th, 2009
2:27 pm
D–I’m not a Parrothead, I’m a good husband.
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D
May 8th, 2009
6:35 am
Lt. Steve – Sez you. I would love to hear some of Mrs. Lt. Steve’s stories.
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JC
May 8th, 2009
11:57 am
The funniest thing I read about this whole overblown fiasco was in the NYTimes FAQish doctor on board sessions:
“My neighbor has a pet pot bellied pig. Should I be worried?”
God bless you. You’d better run over and kiss that pig.
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Jimbo
May 8th, 2009
3:31 pm
It’s not a matter of offense. It’s a matter of hurting pork producers because people are idiots who would rather make assumptions instead of locating reliable information.
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Jerry
May 8th, 2009
6:32 pm
Tiggster requested the number of folks that have been hit with a TASER device. Jusat over 1.5 million. Slightly over half of those were police officers taking a voluntry hit to be allow to carry. The rest were citizens resisting arrest (ok some will argue not resisting enough, but were you there?) Interestingly none of the police officers died as a result of being exposed to the TASER. Also interestingly enough none of the deaths blamed on the TASER have been proven to be caused by the TASER with the exception of falls and fires (both catagories unintended results of the force used). When someone dies after a TASER exposure, the headlines the very next day suggest another “TASER death”. It takes the medical examiner a lot longer to determine the true cause of death, but that headline does sell papers.
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Criminal Justice News » Blog Archive » Criminal Justice News 05-07
May 8th, 2009
6:54 pm
[...] Atlanta: On a soap box about Tasers http://blogs.ajc.com/view-from-cop/2009/05/04/on-a-soap-box-about-tasers/ [...]
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Charlie Cutshaw
May 8th, 2009
7:00 pm
BIG 10-4! When we got certified on Tasers, we all had to “ride the lightning.” All I can recall was “WHEN IS THIS S–T GOPING TO END!” It was only 3 seconds but seemed like an eternity. If there hadn’t been two officers supporting me, I’d have collapsed into a puddle on the ground!
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s
May 10th, 2009
3:45 pm
I’m just referring to it as that, “damn stupid flu.”
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Bobby dee
May 10th, 2009
7:10 pm
If you think Tasers are non-lethal and police use them only as a last resort, Please Google Otto Zehm. Cororner ruled a homicide. No one has been charged with the killing. My daughter knew the man.
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Cubby
May 11th, 2009
12:59 pm
Here’s the best part. People die every year from the flu. While I understand the need for precautions why isn’t there something on the news every day of the 30,000ish people who die every year from the flu. That way when we have a swine show up there would not be as much panic based on the blown out proportion of media coverage.
Just a thought.
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PinkoNeoConLibertarian
May 15th, 2009
10:20 am
Hehe…double-scum is 3, count ‘em, 3 syllables.
Like my g/f tells me…no the duty belt doesn’t make me look fat. The extra 20 pounds of fat in my waist make me look fat!
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JR
May 15th, 2009
4:57 pm
LT,
The time to worry is when some friends say “I saw you on tv last nite and maybe you should consider suing your undertaker for malpractice…” then start to worry about the looks. Until then, have fun, enjoy life and think Skynard!!!
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Patrick
May 18th, 2009
8:58 am
I’ve been calling it “Circe’s Revenge.”
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Patrick
May 18th, 2009
9:16 am
A few things that irritate the hell out of me when it comes to paying for purchases with a bill larger than the total, or giving the cashier enough money to get back change (coins):
1. Getting back a rounded-out number of change. For example, if my total was $13.29 and I pay $15, I’d get back $0.70 even. I usually go back for the extra penny.
2. My bill is $13.02, I hand them a $20, and they ask “Do you have a couple of pennies?” If I did, I probably would have given them to you, but more than likely I wouldn’t think to do it.
3. Not getting back any change (coins). Period. This irritates me the most. I raise hell when this happens, and on one occasion have threatened to go to the Better Business Bureau.
You’re supposed to serve me, not I you. If I’m supposed to get change back, I expect every penny.
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ATC
May 19th, 2009
2:45 pm
What a perfectly delightful rant…
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Jimbo
May 19th, 2009
4:19 pm
That’s actually more informative than most information about the switch-over I’ve seen on the TV.
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AerialPursuit
May 20th, 2009
5:22 am
A proud certified operator of the X26, I rode the full five seconds and survived. I have done my research and believe the “Thomas A Swift Electric Riffle” is one of the best tools one can use to quickly calm a situation. The point is not to cause pain but to avoid a very difficult and painful situation for both the responding officer and the person being hit. The discomfort from being “tased” is gone, if not immediately then soon after the current stops. Is it fun? NO, but a lot better than a throw down on the side of the road which can cause serious permanent injury or death to the officer, suspect and innocent bystanders. All departments should issue and promote the use of this device to avoid serious conflict.
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CHUCK
May 20th, 2009
3:28 pm
hilarious but true. haven’t thought about ADAM_12 in years. there’s probably alot of readers who have no clue what ADAM-12 is or about,
thanks steve for the memories
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J.D.
May 21st, 2009
1:05 pm
Great article, Steve! I think you enjoy all of the acronyms as much as I do. I’m just waiting for the day something is introduced that can use the initials “EIEIO”.
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J.D.
May 21st, 2009
1:16 pm
I think the most-absurd and funniest thing about all of the Swine Flu hoopla was hearing that China was halting all shipments of American pork products into their country to prevent contamination. Unfortunately it’s hurting many of the pork farmers and companies from the sudden drop in demand and revenue. Ahh, you just can’t make this stuff up.
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Lulu
May 24th, 2009
11:14 am
Fantastic! At last someone with sees humor in this maze. Very enjoyable.
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Sam
May 24th, 2009
12:18 pm
Helpful or not, what the heck does this information have to do with crime? I’m not trying to be a jerk, but come on! What’s next? Ranting about the different types of flour involved in baking while complaining about “them new contraptions called mixers” and tossing in random references to Julia Child, Ginsu knives, and the FDA? Just stay on topic. You’re tagline is “A neighborhood watch’s look at criminal Einsteins and the cops that figure them out.” Use your creativity to expand that viewpoint, or at least change the title and understood subject matter of your column. Otherwise, you’re downplaying and ignoring the importance of the insight you could be sharing with us.
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jay
May 24th, 2009
12:29 pm
and whats the deal with airline peanuts?
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Michael
May 24th, 2009
1:20 pm
Tasers are used instead of the stick, not the gun. Consequently workers comp claims and time off the job have fallen as well. I bet if the female officer pulled the .45 on Bluto instead of the taser he would have stopped advancing.
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William H. in Lithonia
May 26th, 2009
12:11 am
Over 300,000 people on probation or parole in Georgia (more than who voted for the Governor in his primaries). Over 50,000 people locked up in Georgia. None of these over 350,000 people have the right to vote, btw.
Nearly 3 Million people in jail in America with nearly 10 million people on probation or parole.
Headlines today say suburbs are a magnet for the drug cartels.
As much money is being spent on the War on Drugs as the Iraq War, 90 Billion Dollars Nationally.
One thing drug prohibition has prohibited is reasonable regulation of drugs.
Another thing drug prhoibition has accomplished is the removal of millions from the voting roles which is probably the drug war’s intent anyway.
The Drug War is the most deadliest, costliest, and most futile unproductive War America has ever fought.
The definition of Bigotry is Unreasonable, Prejudiced, and Intolerant.
The Drug War is totally based on Bigotry.
In the case of the War on ’some’ Drugs, the prohibition laws cause the most harm and crimes.
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gadyke
May 26th, 2009
12:09 pm
Sam – part of that tagline is “the cops that figure them out”. Lt. Steve often shares his views on other things in his life and observations in general that have nothing to do with law enforcement. Most of us find these humerous and look forward to what might come out of his head next. Stick around and you’ll get more of the police blotter type reports.
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ATC
May 28th, 2009
1:00 am
Ok Steve, it is time for something new.
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Turd Fergusen
May 28th, 2009
11:21 am
On my DTV I am even able to smell the occassional fart. This DTV is GREAT!!
*POOT*
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Patrick
May 29th, 2009
8:27 am
With digital TV you can actually feel Jack Webb’s resentment towards the punks of the 60s and 70s, and if you were around during that time, you would feel repentant for any wrongdoing you did. And if you’re a punk of today, you’d straighten up in a heartbeat, which can actually be heard through digital broadcasting.
Not only would you hear the hatred in his voice, but you’d feel it. It’s like the Scared Straight program, but without actual human interaction.
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Patrick
June 1st, 2009
1:21 pm
Another tip for severe storm safety: If the sirens begin to go off, and your dog howls, howl along with him. He’ll think it’s the Great Big Dog In The Sky (isn’t that the title of a song?), and you don’t want to appear to be a non-believer. Heathen.
As for alarms, even car alarms can be set off by a storm, if the vibration from the thunder is severe enough to cause them to go off. I remember living in an apartment complex a few years back, and whenever it thundered, a few car alarms went off. Of course, this happens if your alarm’s sensitivity is set to “butterfly’s sneeze”.
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Ryan
June 2nd, 2009
3:30 pm
Steve, been waiting all week for this….but this one sucked bad….really really bad
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jt
June 3rd, 2009
6:41 am
It all sounds better after a spliff.
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Patrick
June 3rd, 2009
8:25 am
Calling criminals dumb…that’s a bit redundant, don’t you think?
I can wait for dumb criminal stories from Atlanta. I’m also waiting on a miscreant roundup to be posted on a news blog dealing with Minneapolis.
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Lori
June 3rd, 2009
1:58 pm
Patrick – Calling criminals dumb is not redundant. There are unfortunately a lot of very very smart criminals. It’s just the dumb ones that get caught.
Steve – Come on, you can’t tell me that no one was caught doing something stupid in the past week. I love reading about the dumb ones.
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Arizona Ann
June 3rd, 2009
2:09 pm
Loved the music review. Reminds me of the nonsensein the art world. Here is a link to a blog about the Chinese Menu for Art Critics. It works well for many things including music.
http://www.celebrateart.com/category/just-for-fun/
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Rickster
June 3rd, 2009
3:47 pm
Steve, I don’t know if you’re contracted to provide a fixed number of blogs per week/month, whatever… but you owe the AJC (and us) a freebie.
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DX
June 3rd, 2009
3:49 pm
Gee, Officer, Don’t tell me you have run out of parrothead tales too !!!!
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BiteMe
June 4th, 2009
12:49 pm
I LIKE DRUMS, TOO!
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J.D.
June 4th, 2009
2:08 pm
I guess one option would be to pass on all the different variations of the “Pigeon Drop” that folks still continue to fall for nowadays. Don’t fret though, the criminals will be back to their ol’ antics soon enough.
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Chris Broe
June 4th, 2009
4:56 pm
Attention! Please don’t use emoticons. I am afraid of them, especially the one that looks like the face of a guy nursing a gas bubble, like the one above. I’m scared, man.
Nothing wrong with writer’s block, Officer Steve, unless you torture readers with it, (you know, the way you just did). Don’t worry. There are cures. Try the salve. Try reading a book. that always helps me. Try playing with your dog, looking in the mirror for an hour, or even counting backwards from 1 million to zero. Other writer’s block remedies include drinking a glass of water from the back of the glass upside down, tying a string around your bicuspid and then attaching the string to a doorknob, paying a hooker to scare you, and of course, watching Aunt Bea stunt doubles have sex.
However, in your case, I don’t think anything can help you. You’re just going to have to endure till it goes away. Of course that begs the question, “How will we be able to tell when the writers block leaves you?”
Jklol. (In truth, writer’s block is no laughing matter. I feel your pain, sir.)
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Tom T
June 4th, 2009
6:34 pm
Even the threat of the taser has been enough here in our little department. We had a guy one night whacked out on God knows what, but when he saw those little red dots on his chest from the 3 tasers trained on him, his 4 remaining brain cells fired in synchronized fashion just long enough for him to realize that he really didn’t want to do the taser dance and fall to the ground.
On the downside, tasers are now available to John Q. Public in some areas. I see this as a problem. At the first sight of a bad guy brandishing a taser the officer is not going to have a choice but to have Mr. Glock do the double-tap center-mass boogie on said bad guy. The officer CANNOT take the chance of getting tased and relieved of his/her sidearm.
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Do us all a favor Steve
June 6th, 2009
8:09 pm
Steve, please give fellow AJC staffer Maureen “blame teachers first, blame students never” Downey a clue about her last column on end of year school hijinks.
Please inform her that two of her son’s friends weren’t arrested for tossing a water balloon, they were arrested for not following a DIRECT ORDER from a law enforcement official.
Let her know that a real world exists outside her liberal bedwetting myopic worldview, and when you disobey a DIRECT ORDER from a law enforcement official, consequences can occur.
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Java Monkey
June 7th, 2009
7:24 am
Steve, you don’t owe us anything. The music review made me laugh out loud (pretty rare these days).
Keep up the work, good and gooder!
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Blutowski
June 8th, 2009
1:07 pm
Hey Steve, I went to see Styx, REO Speedwagon, and .38 Special in Houston, TX last night. Tommy Shaw in Styx seems to shrink more every time I see them. REO was good, the lead singer seems a bit more feminine than I remember and his hair is white now. .38 Special was the best, they still sound great. The choral harmonies were rockin’. $9.50 beers suck. Does that qualify for a music review? How is your brother doing? I think he is better looking than you.
Buy more stamps, help the USPS.
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The Voice
June 8th, 2009
3:43 pm
Hey Steve…maybe you could comment on this. I noted that the Sandy Springs PD is looking into a house being rolled and a swastika being spray painted on a tree. Investigation into a hate crime. What the hell is a hate crime….are not all crimes hate crimes….you don’t commit a crime against someone because you like them. What a country
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dt
June 8th, 2009
4:58 pm
you know it would be amazing if the sandy springs police would spend as much time actually doing their jobs as this guy spends on his stupid column. when it still takes them about a half hour to respond to an alarm or a phone call, it makes glad the 2nd amendment is in place for my own protection. get out on the streets and do what i am paying you to do. not this garbage.
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fk
June 8th, 2009
5:56 pm
When I absolutely must ask a question via email at work, I phrase it so I get a simple “yes” or “no” answer. Without fail, I get paragraphs from this same guy every time…and the question is never answered on the first go round.
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Lt. Steve
June 8th, 2009
9:33 pm
Investigating it as a vandalism. Determination if or not it’s a bias catagory is determined once we find out more. I’m not sure what determines it. I’m the PIO meaning I don’t know anything but I’m good at asking. In this case, I got a lot of different answers.
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Leary
June 9th, 2009
7:45 am
Lt. Steve,
The older you get the more useless stupidity you will notice in the world. It has always been there, but it becomes more apparent as you get older. I’ve been part of it, you’ve been part of it, but now we get to observe what our parents did. How did they put up with us? How will we put up with the current generation? Much patience and humility is required.
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Jimbo
June 9th, 2009
9:35 am
Not all crimes are hate crimes, sometimes it’s just business.
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Turd Ferguson
June 9th, 2009
10:32 am
Reach out is just another silly, childish “feel good” term.
“Hate Crime” was developed by the black community in order to prosecute for a person supposedly commiting a crime based singularly on racism. Seemed like a good idea until some black defendants began getting slapped with “hate crimes” then Jesse, Al and USELESS LOWERY, of course, thought differently.
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Susan
June 9th, 2009
12:00 pm
Lt. Steve-Here is another phrase you need to write about..”No Problem”. Whatever happened to You’re Welcome? If I get “No Problem” as a response to my thank you in any job situation, I immediately come back with, “Of course it is no problem, it is your job!!!” There again, it takes more sylables to say no problem than thank you. So I think you could certainly pursue this phrase further.
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gayblackcripple
June 9th, 2009
3:31 pm
“Reach out” is painful but the mouth-breathers at my office are now addictied to “Please advise”
I want to give them all a gook punch in the throat.
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gayblackcripple
June 9th, 2009
3:32 pm
make that – good punch…
dammit
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Ryan
June 9th, 2009
6:49 pm
Isn’t the prosecution of a “hate crime” the same as prosecuting someone’s thoughts? We will punish them for the murder, and punish them even more because of the thoughts they had at the time of the murder? Sounds a little fishy…has anyone ever challenged the Constitutionality of hate crime laws?
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Bill White
June 9th, 2009
11:26 pm
So tell me. What did the cops use before the taser???
I for one hate gutless pantie wearing cops that use a taser on
unarmed people….
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Angela
June 10th, 2009
9:07 am
Who are we trying to impress with all of these new “buzzwords?” Whatever happened to just “telling it like it is?” or “stating the facts?”
I wonder if everyone used their creative talents and obvious time on their hands towards solving the world’s challenges instead of creating buzzwords, what would happen. Maybe that’s why I like New Yorkers. They tell you exactly what they think, not filling their sentences with fluffy stuff and buzzwords.
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Lori
June 10th, 2009
10:19 am
No, prosecuting someone for commiting a “hate crime” is not the same thing as prosecuting someone’s thoughts. They are being prosecuted for ACTING ON THOSE THOUGHTS. Big difference.
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Patrick
June 10th, 2009
12:38 pm
I used to have the same problem that fk has. When I first joined the company I’ve been with for over seven years, I never got a straight answer to a question I had. I would ask if I need to do this or that, or how to do this or that, and they would give a long, drawn-out explanation about how we should do something if it’s one thing or another, instead of getting straight to the point with a simple “yes” or “no”, or being more direct with how a task should be performed.
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party pooper
June 10th, 2009
4:07 pm
you guys must have been asking my wife questions at work
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KennesawDave
June 12th, 2009
12:23 pm
Angela: “Telling it like it is” is an admirable trait. Unfortunately, it went out the window along with common sense a long time ago when the dumb masses decided they needed everything sugar coated and politically correct. Absorbing the truth even in it’s simplest form somehow became a tabu.
Lt. Steve: I’m with you sir. I haven’t hear the term reach out around my social group yet(Although I hang out with a bunch of 30+ people so I may not) and none of them have used that buzz word yet. I imagine if I spend some time around my younger sister and her crowd though I’ll probably hear it more than I would like. The other thing I’ll say Steve is you can’t really apply logic to a buzz word like you did with “reach in.” It kind of falls under “why do we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?” Regardless, I am a firm believer in the K.I.S.S. rule and would much prefer someone to say “call” as well.
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David
June 12th, 2009
3:33 pm
How do yo kill anyone without hating them
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Dan
June 12th, 2009
3:58 pm
No designating something a hate crime is prosecuting the thought. Prosecuting the act would be going to jail for murder, adding 10 years because of a bad thought (or the perception of one) is prosecuting the thought. Judges often have the discretion to shorten or legthen a sentence based on the perceived viciousness or callousness of the crime. Legislating “hate” crimes is simply a way for the pols to pander to a certain demographic.
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Devinchio Rogers
June 14th, 2009
12:22 am
To all the officers out there, thank you for your honorable service to our community. I know that there are some bad apples out there, as there are in any profession, but most of you deserve our respect and gratitude. You definitely have it from me.
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Lee
June 14th, 2009
10:44 am
Instead of fighting it (buzz words), have a little fun with it.
Before your next meeting, get everybody to ante up $1 and select the total number of buzz words they think will be said. The person closest to the actual number gets the pot. You can call it, “Buzz Word Bingo.”
Just be sure to remind everybody not to stand up and yell “BINGO!!!” when they win and not be too obvious with counting the buzz words when they are spoken.
Other than that, y’all have fun but be careful, good jobs are hard to find…
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Chris Broe
June 16th, 2009
8:40 am
I took a digital photo of my analog tv. I was watching a vampire movie at the time so it didn’t show up when I tried to prove I owned it to Allstate. Fortunately, I had a backup analog photo of my digital tv, but I was watching a Werewolf movie at the time. It looked like a big, square chia pet, so the insurance investigator told me if I didn’t stop bothering him he’d charge me with fraud.
I hated that full moon.
In the future, I’m hiring an off duty cop to do police sketch artist versions of my stuff. Lets hope Serpico isn’t playing on the TV at the time…….
When I was a kid I etch-a-sketched a picture of my bike, so when it got stolen, my dad showed the picture to the insurance guy. The insurance guy sent me a paint-by-numbers painting of a check for 50 dollars…..
I know, you get the bit….
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Tried that
June 16th, 2009
10:05 am
We had a break in about 15 years ago where the burglars took all of the electronics (except the turntable), jewelry, and a few weapons.
All of the items has been recorded and we gave the investigators a copy of the vide as well as the complete list of model & serial numbers.
Unfortunately, we never received any of our property back. So do not count on this getting your stuff back if it is stolen.
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DX
June 16th, 2009
11:50 am
Did y’all know that meth addicts will steal tricycles ? They do down here in Hampton. And the po-po say prove it, it is your word against theirs.
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gayblackcripple
June 16th, 2009
1:14 pm
buy a glock, set booby-traps, protect your sh1t
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William H. in Lithonia
June 17th, 2009
12:18 am
According to a June 16th, 2009 article from Reuters titled, “NYC drivers named America’s most aggressive”, Atlanta is third on the list of angriest and most aggressive drivers. We also have had an influx of speeding and tailgating New Yorkers. But they have stiff competition with Bo and Luke Duke from Hazard county driving school
Imagine a new traffic system where cars are programmed not to hit each other, or anything else. These cars can also be programmed to keep proper distance and regulated speed. And imagine these vehicles not polluting the air and not causing cancer or global climate change!
We have the technology, but we need the political will power. Are we wise enough? Is our current system of transportation a display of freedom or anarchy? Is it really freedom that kills 40,000 plus people a year and the leading cause of death of our children? Or is it just plain stupidity for not using our technology to make a better world? 3 million injuries on America’s roads every year only add to our Health Care crisis.
We invaded Iraq with no legitimate reason in response to 911 and spent trillions of dollars killing hundreds of thousands of people – and we’re not done yet – including sending more of our own people to die than died in 911. Why can’t we summon the political will to do something better like Health Care or a safe transportation system?
In the 1950’s when corporate tax rates were 90% and our domestic jobs, and middle class income, were protected by tariffs and fair trade, America had the best middle class and infrastructure development in our history.
Have cutting those corporate taxes and lowering trade barriers really given us a better middle class or infrastructure? Why have we departed from what works?
We’re living on decaying 1950’s infrastructure and many people tell us we’re too broke to do anything about it, until it comes to illegal wars in Iraq and culture war prisons, of course! We’ll put our children in debt to our greatest unfounded fears but our best hopes and dreams are dismissed as socialism? Give me a freaking break from that backwards crap!
It is time for us to care less about building culture war prisons and bombing third world countries in some latest dark age crusade and lets begin to build the America that our current technology and best good will towards mankind can dream of, including a way to drive to the ball game in peace without putting the whole family in danger of the biggest terrorist we’ll all face, next to disease, and that is your neighbor on the road.
And I must add, Mr. Rose, that the 1950’s style police traffic enforcement is about as productive as the 1980’s style war on drugs. It’s time to get more wise, less violent, and produce the results the name Peace Officer implies.
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CM
June 17th, 2009
12:44 pm
Thank you for your comments about “reach out.” I’ve come to almost hate that phrase. It’s so totally unnecessary. Maybe next time I hear it, I’ll actually reach out … my arm & hand, that is. Rather like, “you know?” I really do want to respond, “No, I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”
Buzzwords just get in the way of authentic conversation.
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Troglodyke
June 18th, 2009
3:24 pm
No doubt, GBC. Thieves may get some stuff if I’m not home and they can disable my dogs, but when I’m home, they will get a belly and face full of lead.
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Patrick
June 19th, 2009
1:35 pm
I don’t smell a reality show dealing with the text messages. All I heard in my head while I was reading that was “Jerry! Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!”
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Chris Broe
June 19th, 2009
1:59 pm
This list of the latest crimes against society are not just a symptom of the Bush economy which floundered under the weight of Cheney’s unjust and unnecessary war in Iraq, but they also accompany a mindset of citizens who harbor a complete and total lack of respect for the law.
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Huh?
June 19th, 2009
2:54 pm
You’re blaming the Bush (or any) administration for the behavior of some common criminals?!?!?
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Ryan
June 19th, 2009
3:07 pm
Chris Broe, i’m going to go ahead and assume that you’re an idiot who was educated (using the term loosely) in a government school. Please refrain from sharing your ignorance with the rest of us.
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Chris Broe
June 19th, 2009
4:00 pm
Hard to get happy after that one.
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Missandie
June 19th, 2009
4:53 pm
Ryan, don’t blame Chris’ ignorance on the public school system. Some people are just plain dumb regardless of educational, religious, or socio-economic backgrounds!
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Sasquatch
June 20th, 2009
2:44 am
re Chris Broe and all others like him… ignorance can be cured – stupid goes clean to the bone…
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pb
June 20th, 2009
5:30 am
All ya’ll must have one of dos hi falutn jobs wif benefits. I think what the man is trying to say is regardless of all prejudices a lot of people are loosing jobs. It doesn’t excuse the behavior, but I can’t remember the last Iime I went hungry without options or my kids didn’t have something to eat or a roof over their heads. Rational people do crazy things they would never do when that note is hit. A lot as a result have too much idle time and of course an idle mind is the devils playground.I see Mr. Broes post as engaged but brash. What he’s sayin simply is that without partisan views….Yeah…America was cold blooded robbed by the last administration and it is affecting people…including our own friends and families. I can’t think of anyone I know who doesen’t know someone it hasn’t.
Just be thankful, and by the grace of GOD consider yourself lucky it’s not you!
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s
June 21st, 2009
2:39 pm
I’ll betcha Chris Broe likes to type a lot of vents.
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Turd Ferguson
June 22nd, 2009
10:04 am
I dont think its theft to feed the kids, animal, granny or Paw Paw. Im thinking its theft in order to get that next hit of crack, or get some street cred or something equally as foolish.
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BiteMe
June 22nd, 2009
4:39 pm
There is definitely no fast lane on GA 400, but I do laugh everytime I pass by the sign that says it’s the “Hospitality Highway” – I mean, REALLY?!?!?!?!?!
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ScottJ
June 22nd, 2009
9:25 pm
Wish Doraville had the same rules for take-home cars. It infuriates me to see a Doraville police car doing 90-100 MPH on I-75 northbound in Cherokee county with apparent impunity.
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Chris Broe
June 23rd, 2009
12:31 pm
I didn’t know Starbucks sold donuts.
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chiefs fan
June 23rd, 2009
3:00 pm
Hate to remind you, but Mondays are 1/7th of your life.
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reader
June 23rd, 2009
6:14 pm
There are two take-home police cars in our n’hood. Drivers see them & automatically slow down, even if a police car is just parked in a driveway. It’s great b/c the n’hood had such an issue with speeders.
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t of k
June 23rd, 2009
8:56 pm
You know its kinda funny, I don’t mind Monday, it’s the rest of the week that stinks
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The truth about cops
June 26th, 2009
2:54 pm
This was a lovely piece of fiction.
Everybody knows that at this point that the only role police in this area have is to dole out speeding tickets, or right-on-red, or bogus stop sign tickets, in order to generate revenue.
If they could write each other speeding tickets, the recession would be over. In Canton, the city police regularly drive roughly 70 miles an hour over the speeding limit.
Anybody ever see the short, stubby little fellow that drives the drug truck in Canton? Don’t know how much drug work he does, but you can find him camped under a bridge everynight looking to fill that quota.
Our brave, bold police. Their mothers must be so proud of the way they can generate revenue under the guise of law enforcement. What heroes.
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Georgia Daaawg
June 27th, 2009
9:11 am
Steve,
Motor vehicle theft? More like theft by taking. Is your department trying to have part 1 crime stats?
14,000 in cash? And no forced entry? Thats BS or illegally gotten gains. Sounds like missing property or false report to me or a chalk up to the game…will you’ll just take any reports?
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catlady
June 27th, 2009
1:44 pm
He wasn’t drug, he was dragged. Not that that feels any better.
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Cyber
June 29th, 2009
8:02 am
“He wasn’t drug, he was dragged. Not that that feels any better.”
Perhaps he was drugged and then drug so he didn’t feel anything anyway.
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Chris Broe
June 29th, 2009
1:07 pm
At least he wasn’t shotgunned.
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rosefan
June 30th, 2009
9:15 am
…or tazed!
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aleci
June 30th, 2009
3:10 pm
u guys have nothing better to do with those badges than twitter, i guess…
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Jack
June 30th, 2009
3:30 pm
And yet you can get robbed and they do NOTHING, because they are to busy writing tickets or twittering now I guess to worry about CRIME.
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David
June 30th, 2009
3:35 pm
This is useless. really.
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Emily
June 30th, 2009
3:55 pm
Ok, Stevie, now you’ve got 4 negative comments about your useless blogging! Doesn’t that tell you something, and mean anything to you? Come on! Get off your computer and start doing your job already. The community of people you’re supposed to be protecting will appreciate it.
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Brian the Brain
June 30th, 2009
4:01 pm
Emily,
He is doing his job; his second job. You see, some people are actually motivated enough to do two jobs. Steve chooses to blog during his free time from the force and I’m sure that the AJC pays him. Now, if you’d like to pay Steve to work more I’d advise you go to the next budget hearing and tell them that you are willing to have your taxes raised for that to occur.
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James
June 30th, 2009
4:08 pm
Awww hush Brian. Blogging is not a job, but a useless pastime. A recently deceased aunt of mine worked three jobs at once, so don’t you dare say Steve is motivated enough to BLOG. This cop needs to focus on ridding our streets of crime.
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Lauren
June 30th, 2009
4:14 pm
I love the message from home saying the rottweiler got out! So hilarious! I can totally relate, I have a rottie and i love when people ask me at the dog park or at a public function if he is mean! hahah “yes, thats why I brought him, because i want a lawsuit!” haha so hilarious! I love it!
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tj
June 30th, 2009
4:17 pm
oh, well, I have no problems with Steve blogging, but I do have this one question for the cop… A few days ago, my cell phone was stolen from inside of my car, the phone is a blackberry which has a gps device which can be easily traced, I filed a report, but yet, the police department doesn’t really care to locate my cell phone, (which would be very easy if you just activated the gps and tracked it), it is a phone that costs me lots of money, if you factor in the monthly payments and the actual cost of the phone. Now, if I were to steal a 1.00 candy bar from a store, and it gets captured on thier CCTV system, why in the world would the law enforcement angency care to arrest me?? It seems to me, that you cops are just revenue collectors for our policed state, rather being here to SERVE and PROTECT!!
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BiteMe
June 30th, 2009
4:19 pm
All BMW drivers are selfish nut jobs anyway.
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James
June 30th, 2009
4:22 pm
yeah, tj, that’s just what me and emily think. sorry about your phone – maybe your post will make the cops in your area start searching for it. or maybe they’ll just twitter about it with their buddies…
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Atys
June 30th, 2009
5:00 pm
1. If you think this blog is worthless, why are you reading it?
2. I believe Steve is the PIO (Public Information Officer), not a patrol officer. So, fighting crime is a secondary duty. Steve, please correct me if I am wrong.
3. If a phone has GPS, why don’t you contact your service provider and have them trace it? Any reason they would not be able to track it?
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Sam
June 30th, 2009
5:06 pm
Lt. Rose is simply trying to educate the public about all the crud police officers put up with which keeps them from focusing on their primary task of putting butts in jail. With that let me try to explain a few other things. Cops work traffic (write tickets) because it keeps accidents (fatal ones too) low, and because cars often contain criminals with dope or stolen property or wanted fugitives…It’s not our job to take care of your property. we do what we can to solve crimes and find stolen items but if people would stop being volunteer victims by leaving valuables in the open and no locking their doors (car and home) it would prevent a great deal thefts…And finally CSI is not real. No we can’t get a finger print off the bottom of a rock in your swimming pool. No we can’t locate a cell phone if it’s not turned on and probably wouldn’t go through the expense of it unless it’s a major crime. TJ, your stolen cell phone probably isn’t connected to a major crime, probably isn’t turned on, and GPS only gives the holder of the phone its position. I know it sucks getting things stolen (we’ve all been victims at some point) but that’s life.
I know a lot of people don’t like Police Officers because for the most part the only time you interact with one is when you’re having a bad day (whether it is because you’re a victim or a suspect. And sometimes we do stupid things that cause people to dislike us but most of us truly just want to help people. So please keep a few things in mind next time you see a cop. We have families that count on us to make it home at the end of our shift. We bleed and get hurt just like everyone else so don’t expect us to treat you with kid gloves when you’re not complying with our commands. If we’re driving fast it’s because we’re trying to get to someone who needs help. We’re guarded when we pull you over because we don’t know who you are, you could be “Mary Poppins” or “Charles Manson”. If we’re a little annoyed that you’ve done something stupid that causes us a lot of work to fix remember we’ve probably just got through dealing with someone who did something stupid that caused us a lot of work to fix.
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Tyree
June 30th, 2009
5:15 pm
I just love a man in uniform.
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RGB
June 30th, 2009
5:20 pm
These blog entries were as nutty as LT’s voice mail messages.
At least people are consistent.
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Dano
July 1st, 2009
12:13 am
Touche Sam … nicely done!
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Ally S.
July 1st, 2009
9:43 am
All right, let’s stop bickering like a bunch of 6 year olds, shall we?
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Sunshine
July 1st, 2009
11:27 am
Sam has said it all!
Thanks, Sam. I also think Lt. Steve is a PIO and good at his job there at work and on the blogs and Facebook. If you don’t like what he says, then don’t read it.
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PinkoNeoConLibertarian
July 1st, 2009
2:52 pm
Holy Crap Sam! You must be trying to get that PIO promotion. Nary a single profanity in that very lucid posting! LOL.
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JasonH
July 1st, 2009
10:24 pm
The cell phone issue can be answered very easily. For us to track a phone it takes a specialized computer programs that are required for the evidence gathering so that should someone be found with the phone there is enough properly documented evidence to charge them. The software is expensive and despite popular belief police departments do not have endless budgets and do not have all the toys people think we do. Another problem is that the majority of the time cell phone providers are far from helpful and will not provide any assistance or information without a court order which takes several weeks to obtain.
Now ask yourself this, is it more important to use 1 or 2 investigators to track a single cell phone, or use them in investigating other crimes that pertain to the physical safety and well being of the citizens?
And as for your emphasis on the SERVE and PROTECT, it seems to as though you want that only when it is condusive to your own interests. You probably ask “where’s a cop when you need one” when someone goes speeding past you, but then get upset when it is you who gets stopped for speeding when you think you are justified.
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Patrick
July 2nd, 2009
8:12 am
Then you have your bridge jumpers, your crane climbers, and then there’s the bridge hangers.
About a month or so ago someone fashioned a noose and decided to hang themselves from the bridge on Indian Trail in Gwinnett County over I-85 SB. I saw all the police cars and everything on the bridge, but they were off to the side. They had said on the radio there was a car fire on I-85 SB at Indian Trail, so when I got close to there, I expected to see smoke. The body was found hanging from the bridge, with personal papers scattered all over the road. The guy hung himself over having lost his job and a mountain of personal debt. I’m sure everyone who saw that on the way to work thought that day wasn’t going to go over too well.
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Jimbo
July 2nd, 2009
10:05 am
Or TJ, maybe you shouldn’t have left your phone in the car. Wait, that’s something the Lieutenant’s “useless” blog mentions time and again. Folks, the cops can’t be everywhere at once and their customers include everyone in their jurisdiction. They have to triage what’s important and then modify those priorities to meet the inane requirements of the local government. You guys are going to have to take some responsibility for your own security, because there are only something like 20,000 sworn officers in the WHOLE state and nearly ten MILLION people.
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Jimbo
July 2nd, 2009
10:15 am
People like to talk about the murders, but according to the CDC there are twice as many suicides as there are homicides. Homicides just make better news, so we never hear about them. There was also a statistic floating around a couple years ago that said something like 10 times more women than men attempted suicide, but that 10 time more men were successful in their attempts.
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The final solution
July 2nd, 2009
2:54 pm
Wine is fine but whiskeys quicker
Suicide is slow with liquor
Take a bottle and drown your sorrows
Then it floods away tomorrows
Evil thoughts and evil doings
Cold, alone you hang in ruins
Thought that youd escape the reaper
You cant escape the master keeper
cause you feel like youre living a lie
Such a shame whos to blame and youre wondering why
Then you ask from your cask us there life after birth
What you sow can mean hell on this earth
Now you live inside a bottle
The reapers traveling at full throttle
Its catching you but you dont see
The reaper is you and the reaper is me
Breaking laws, knocking doors
But theres no one at home
Made your bed, rest your head
But you lie there and moan
Where to hide, suicide is the only way out
Dont you know what its really about
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James
July 2nd, 2009
3:12 pm
oooo that’s a really happy poem. the person who wrote that needs help.
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Local cop
July 2nd, 2009
3:21 pm
Whenever I see a suicide, it makes me sad.
That’s one less person to fill my quota. Damn.
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TJC
July 2nd, 2009
4:23 pm
Steve,
I think this is a GREAT Article… All of your Blogs are fantastic. But with this specific situation with the suicide, we have an issue. A friend of mine who lives at the apartment complex told me that the apartment complex left notes on all the residents doors saying to keep an eye on your surroundings. We all know that we need to keep a keen eye on our surroundings but for a suicide, no need to shake up a entire neighborhood in a relatively safe area. I think the article that has been posted on the AJC ( http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/northfulton/stories/2009/06/30/sandysprings_body_found.html) Could have been a little more clearer also on what happened. Yes it is ironic that I do frequent this blog and did but two and two together with the two stories. I think that a brief phone call, better ajc story or a television spot on one of the local news stations might calm down the thousands of residents at this location. Again Steve, good work.
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lizz
July 2nd, 2009
11:54 pm
IT’S SO SAD,SUICIDE IS A PERMAMENT SOLUTION TO A TEMPOARY PROBLEM.
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Troglodyke
July 3rd, 2009
2:22 pm
Razors pain you,
And rivers are damp;
Acids stain you,
and drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren’t lawful;
Nooses give,
Gas smell awful;
You might as well live.
~Dorothy Parker
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Flu-Bird
July 5th, 2009
12:12 pm
Many many more dumb crinimal stories to realy prove the old adage CRIME DOSE NOT PAY
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KennesawDave
July 5th, 2009
12:28 pm
Hey James,
Got a question for you… If blogging is a “useless pastime” Then why exactly are you participating in one? And in case you people didn’t notice, Lt. Rose is a “media relations and information officer.” Last I checked they didn’t typically have what most would consider normal police duties. John Bankhead does the same thing for the GBI but he’s not an online GBI agent as far as I can tell.
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party pooper
July 7th, 2009
3:12 pm
OZZY OSBOURNE WROTE THOSE LYRICS
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El Grunge
July 7th, 2009
5:09 pm
Back when you could drive on beaches… It was the fourth of July and I was hiding behind sand dunes with my friends and shooting bottle rockets at cars. I lit one and the car turned out to be a cop car so I held onto the bottle rocket and burned my hand.
Luckily there were these college girls that had a beach house rental and they took care of me. I was only twelve at the time but it is a fond memory. I guess those chicks would be in their sixties by now. Ho-hum….
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Gloria
July 8th, 2009
4:35 am
I dreampt I bought my highschool teacher some boots at the store. I’d impressed him, and made him happy, despite his having a girlfriend. ( and her dirty looks) I dream of him often- seeing him- I always favored him in school, he’s older than me- I have never tried to contact him- what’s going on?
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Chris Broe
July 8th, 2009
1:38 pm
The chinese invented fireworks at the time of Christ. They soon realized the potential of fireworks to thin herds. So they invented a holiday like ours in which the entire race of rocket scientists could experiment without any safety equipment whatsoever. Demographic studies estimate that without the firecracker holiday, the population of China would now number in the quint-quadrillions. We have to promote firecracker sales all over the world all year long.
If not we’re finished.
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Chris Broe
July 9th, 2009
1:37 pm
I’m not sure Einstein was correct about stupidity. How about the MacGyvers in the jail fire? They wanted to light improvised, hand-made cigarettes by sticking pencil lead into an electrical outlet and using the spark to light a rag and then light their cigarettes and ended up nearly burning down the prison. This is what I’ve been saying, people learn from MacGyver. If terrorists had struck the prison at that moment, the inmates would have won. All I’m sayin’.
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Nicole Curry
July 9th, 2009
5:00 pm
2090 (the check) has passed the piano, 116-0. S.B. Signing up for the driver allows you to add the piano for free or to waive that $ 39.99 charge for transferring the phone. The piano has Another complaint with the police and the sale transaction is an endorphin high.
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Bigg Samson
July 9th, 2009
5:02 pm
What the heck is up with Sandy Springs, Crack Pipe chases, Shooting and an ignored illegal immigrant problem. You would think this upper-middle class area would not have these problems. Geeze….
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DJ
July 11th, 2009
1:06 am
“Bigg Samson” I would like to point out to you a few facts- 1- The City of Sandy Springs is the Second largest metro Atlanta (20 County Area) City only smaller then Atlanta. Sandy Springs is a 40 Sq Mile City with over 100,000 residence and a day time population that can exceed 300,000+. So does Sandy Springs have crime?? YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS However, we have an excellent Police Department that has decreased crime 3 years in a row. Give Sandy Springs Police, Fire, and EMS credit for the great job they are doing in our City.
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LydiasDad
July 11th, 2009
10:20 pm
Clean up the illegals (all living near the SS Target, of course–we all know it) and a lot of the other problems will go away.
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BigJake
July 14th, 2009
2:10 pm
Many folks spend a great deal of time complaining about those who are sorely underpaid to serve and protect, and it is stories like yours today that will hopefully make people realize the danger that you and your fellow officers face each day to provide that protection. I always enjoy your wide range of topics here, and spend very little time reading the readers’ comments, since they tend to rant and rave on about nothing important. I cringe every time I hear of how much money athletes are receiving, wishing that our police, fire, rescue, nurses and teachers were better paid for all that they do.
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jojojubulie
July 14th, 2009
7:03 pm
God, who in their right mind DOESN’T hate cops. Worthless.
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Tony
July 15th, 2009
11:34 am
Thanks BigJake.
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atl20g
July 15th, 2009
12:44 pm
Big Jake couldn’t have said it better. Good luck Sammy and get back to work soon.
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PinkoNeoConLibertarian
July 16th, 2009
8:01 am
It is a long row to hoe recovering from this type of accident. A much shorter row now than it was when I did it in 1975. Back then, the ER Dr’s first reaction was a desire to just cut the leg off and try to fix the rest. Fortunately, wiser heads prevailed. I still carry the scars both mental and physical. Sadly, the severely damaged full face helmet was discarded and not mounted on a plaque as a reminder. Nevertheless, this is one two-wheeler that won’t even start the bike until his AND his rider’s helmets are strapped on.
I am a libertarian and believe strongly in personal liberties, in particular those of consenting adults. But until there is a method of providing, at the expense of that consenting adult, for all those who have to face the lasting consequences of the person who “chooses” not to wear a helmet, strap it on and STFU or take the bus.
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Jimbo
July 16th, 2009
12:05 pm
Some questions about the LTR: Does it store information on the server? Or does the server communicate through the internet with a database elsewhere? What information does it make available to the officer on its display (does it just say “STOLEN!” and give tag number? Does it kick out a bunch of name, address, license information?)? I ask because there could be some pretty interesting opportunities for abuse, or the whole rig could be stolen, which would be bad if it stored data onboard.
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Rag Top Firebird
July 16th, 2009
1:18 pm
It merely lets you know that the particular sequence or combination of letters and/or numbers is stolen. You then verify that it’s stolen. It has no registration information stored in it.
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Chris Broe
July 16th, 2009
2:18 pm
It’s amazing how ubiquitous crack/crank/meth smoking has become. America smokes crack.
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catlady
July 16th, 2009
6:28 pm
Officer Steve, your first story reminds me of something that happened years ago when I was teaching kindergarten (5-6 year olds). One of my precious little girls (who had an older sister) came running and giggling up to me on the playground, telling me that the boys were chasing her. She didn’t seem upset, so I asked her WHY they were chasing her, and she said, “Because they think I am wearing a BRA!”
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Peadawg
July 17th, 2009
10:37 am
The first story is hilarious!
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Patrick
July 17th, 2009
1:25 pm
Please tell me the conversation from the first story actually took place. It reminded me of a joke that’s been circling the Internet for years about an officer having pulled a speeder over, and he talks about having drank so much, having a lot of drugs in the car, having a dead body in the trunk, having a lot of priors, lots of other bad things, but when another officer arrives, nothing is found to prove what the suspect said, and the suspect mentions that the lyin’ SOB (the first officer) also said he was speeding.
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Chris Broe
July 17th, 2009
1:30 pm
Officer Steve doesn’t have to invent interesting/entertaining blotters. They stand by themselves, my fine friend.
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Cubby
July 17th, 2009
1:31 pm
I can only think of one comment for the first story Mr. Crack Seller….Natural Selection.
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Maxmilli
July 18th, 2009
12:50 pm
I believe jojojubulie has had quite some problems with police interaction!!!!
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The Truth about cops
July 21st, 2009
4:08 am
Georgia cops are basically glamourized Meter Maids at this point.
They should just save everybody’s time and install cash registers in the cruisers.
Lay off the double whoppers and you girls can catch the third guy next time.
Ever heard of trans fat?
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BravesFan79
July 21st, 2009
9:29 am
If i was president, i would legalize pot (in small quantities), and use the $ you save on the drug war to build more CSI labs throught the states. There’s no excuse for rapist and other serious criminals to not get caught quickly just because the “lab” is so backed up.
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Chris Broe
July 21st, 2009
11:29 am
Is it fair to make fun of K-9 units? I saw a squad car with bold red letters across the trunk that read, “Caution: K-9 Unit”. Now, the only way most people will see these red letters is if they’re in traffic directly behind the patrol car. Caution: K-9? Are the dogs driving now? So, it’s like a student driver warning? Or is it a warning about the dog sticking his head out the window to sniff for drugs. “Hide your bongs, and put out your blunts, bro, there’s a doggy-on-board the car in front of us.”
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What?
July 21st, 2009
1:25 pm
I think “The Truth about cops” must have gotten a ticket this morning…
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Jamey
July 21st, 2009
2:37 pm
Sammy we are all proud of you. Those of us that have been by your side since you became a police officer knew that you would be back before expected. There are few Police Officers than can match your professionalism and determination, SSPD is lucky to have a person of your caliber working in their Traffic Unit. Good luck my friend and “congrats” on getting married. Be safe and Take care. Your Friend
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Tony
July 21st, 2009
7:06 pm
Untruth got a ticket and his mommy won’t pay for it.
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William Casey
July 22nd, 2009
8:32 am
God bless and protect our police men and women!
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theidahokid
July 22nd, 2009
2:55 pm
Yea, oh smart one tell them what they are doing wrong, so they can make corrections. real brilliant
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Carlos
July 22nd, 2009
2:56 pm
I would like to ask Officer Steve how to combat this country’s drug problem? We had this “drug war” for how long? 40 years or so and still no progress. I think we should start looking into a new direction. The main problem we need to address is why selling drugs is so profitable?
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The Truth about cops
July 22nd, 2009
2:56 pm
Tony your mom payed for it when I came by late last night.
The piglets are a little trigger-happy down in Gwinnett these days, no?
Too bad it was the two woman instead of the cop.
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Ben There
July 23rd, 2009
9:13 am
Having your Magnum twisted sounds painful…
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BigJake
July 23rd, 2009
9:49 am
This seems to be a good venue to discuss how difficult it is to be in law enforcement, when you have to walk that thin line between serving and protecting, and trying not to violate someone’s civil rights. If the Harvard professor had simply identified himself, provided proper ID to validate who he was, he would not have made the news. But, nooooo…..! He had to bow up and get defensive as if his civil rights were being violated, with the typical, “Do you know who I am?!?” response. If a neighbor of mine saw that someone was trying to get into my house by force, even if it was me, having forgotten my key or having a dead garage door opener, I would be thankful that someone cared enough to help protect my property – I would do the same for them. The issue in Mass. only became a race issue when the professor himself raised it. We do not pay our police and fire fighters enough, along with teachers, yet we depend on them to wade into difficult situations not of their own cause, and expect perfect performance and behavior. I am sick and tired of situations that are avoidable becoming front page news and get a presidential response without all the facts. The professor should thank the police for doing their job, and apologize for his behavior.
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VoiceOf Reason
July 23rd, 2009
11:02 am
@ Big Jake, in response to your:
“If the Harvard professor had simply identified himself, provided proper ID to validate who he was, he would not have made the news.”
He did do those things. He said he did, the police said he did.
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JB
July 23rd, 2009
11:19 am
Richard Weinblatt said it best…
Richard Weinblatt, director of the Institute for Public Safety at Central Ohio Technical College, said the police sergeant was responsible for defusing the situation once he realized Gates was the lawful occupant. It is not against the law to yell at police, especially in a home, as long as that behavior does not affect an investigation, he said.
“That is part of being a police officer in a democratic society,” Weinblatt said. “The point is that the police sergeant needs to be the bigger person, take the higher road, be more professional.”
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Ed J
July 23rd, 2009
11:50 am
Last week the helicopters were flying all over Sandy Springs. We received a phone call from the city instructing us to stay indoors as there was a fugitive on the loose. But no mention in this column?
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It was me
July 23rd, 2009
4:02 pm
Okay…I took the dancing pole…but not that other stuff.
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Cubby
July 23rd, 2009
4:20 pm
I wasn’t there. The President sure as hell wasn’t there. None of you were there. How exactly do we all the sudden become experts on something that did/did not take place?
Not sure if anyone read but the officer that arrested the Harvard professor is responsible for teaching the class regarding racial profiling to other officers. That tells me he is a respected individual within the police force.
People do stupid stuff and the police have to make a decision. I have a novel idea, contact your local PD, ask them if you can take a ride along. I have several friends in PD’s throughout GA and the country. I chose the 4th of July one year because I figured we would get some action. The only thing we got was some dumba** who decided to beat his girlfriend because she used an old toothbrush to clean some household items. So instead of being smart and going to the store to buy a $4 toothbrush the dummy was arrested for domestic violence.
Give your local PD a call and get some hands on experience. I have before and I will again.
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BiteMe
July 23rd, 2009
4:52 pm
BigJake, I could not agree with you more – The Harvard Scholar needs to get over himself, and fast!
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TP
July 24th, 2009
12:33 am
Seems we’re reading more and more of the murder/suicide but seldom do I read of a single victim of suicide. Perhaps it is time we do- graphic descriptions of what a family may see when they identify the victim may help deter someone from attempting or succeeding killing themself. Great blogging, Steve. Keep informing.
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lucy
July 24th, 2009
1:00 pm
Yes and someone needs to explain to him just how much damage can be done when a cane is wielded violently.
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BiteMe
July 24th, 2009
1:10 pm
THANK YOU, STEVE! Well said!!!!!!!!
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ALI
July 24th, 2009
1:14 pm
Smartly put thank you very much. What gets under my skin the most is that if the roles were reversed (white professor black cop) this story would not have made it to the 6:00 news in Cambridge. I wish people would stop and think before they yell racisim. These are the types of situations that make people thik twice before becoming a police officer.
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KS
July 24th, 2009
1:14 pm
This story is really about abuse of authority. Gates identity had been confirmed. The disorderly charge was thrown out by the DA who knew it would not stand up in court. Which means that the arrest was unwarranted and for intimidation porposes only.
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Brad
July 24th, 2009
1:16 pm
AMEN! 2 sides to every story; and unless the facts show otherwise, I’m going to give the benefit-of-doubt to the police officer every time. Perhaps our esteemed President needs to stop speaking so “stupidly” and support our public safety men and women.
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Bob
July 24th, 2009
1:19 pm
Steve, I was totally with you until the last three paragraphs which spoiled an otherwise reasoned commentary. I think the cops did exactly what they should have done, *with the exception of arresting a 58 year old man* for nothing other than being indignant at being questioned in his own home.
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mrj
July 24th, 2009
1:39 pm
Hope your son is ok, Detective.
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El Grunge
July 24th, 2009
1:42 pm
The whole scene could have played out differently in a variety of ways if both of the actors had showed a little common sense. The prof didn’t need to jump to racist conclusions but it is understandable that he would be upset about being hassled in his own house. The cop, after realizing that the guy lived there, could have just walked away.
The prof wouldn’t have much of a story for his students if the cop had just left. The cop would have had a good story for his students in the racial profiling class. As it is, neither one has a good story.
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Ima Nidiot
July 24th, 2009
1:46 pm
The primary objective of that LEO in Cambridge was to make sure no burglary is taking place, and make sure nobody gets hurt. Now the professor was mad, and he was, for all intents and purposes, being a jerk to the officer. I am not a cop, but my understanding is that being a jerk is not a crime, and police are abusing their authority if they arrest and charge people simply for just being a jerk. Detain and handcuff the suspect, get his ID to establish his identity and check for warrants, then let him go, since it is his house, and no burglary is in progress. It says ‘To Serve and Protect’ on most police cruisers. Arresting a mouthy college professor ’serves’ only the ego of the officer and I’m not sure how much ‘protection’ we need from 58 year old college professors.
If he took a swing at the officer, pushed the officer, or made some threat to the office, that’s another story….but he did not.
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GRITSiam
July 24th, 2009
1:55 pm
AMEN Steve!
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Angie
July 24th, 2009
2:07 pm
I agree with you Bob, I feel that the he had a right to get agitated with the officer. There is a bigger picture here than just what is being said, in that this man has just come home from a long journey and his door is stuck and he can’t get into his house. Granted he didn’t have to say what he said and I think that was in the heat of the moment, but that is what makes us human and that is what should count and not so much what is said. Sometimes I think we hold people up to high and the reality is we are just human sometimes.
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Pedro
July 24th, 2009
2:13 pm
KS, you’ve obviously either:
A). had no personal experience whatsoever with law enforcement (as in been questioned or arrested).
B). been questioned and/or arrested for something you were innocent of and have an axe to grind on abuse of power.
I have experienced the latter.
I am as white as rice and have twice suffered the indignity of being wrongly suspected. The first time, I was irate (as in angry white male) and became an obnoxious a-hole and I spent hours getting myself out of detention. I hired a lawyer and after spending too much, I learned that I could not win and that I probably could have ended the situation inside of 30 minutes had I been calm enough to allow the officer to verify my “facts”, since my statements were mere allegory to the officer at the time of the confrontation.
The second time, I bit my tongue, followed the officer’s instructions, missed an appointment, and walked away a bit frazzled but with my dignity restored. The officer was apologetic and bid me a good day, which I grumbled at.
Lesson: you cannot assume that just because you say you are not guilty and that you are who you say you are, that the officer will take your word for it, even if you have an ID. How many phony ID’s do you think are floating around Atlanta? (or Cambridge). I understand that now.
Professor Gates obviously had some existing animosity toward cops – perhaps only white cops. Maybe he would have behaved differently had the officer been black. “Thanks for your concern officer. Come on in and look around. Can I get you some lemonade?” Instead, he profiled the white cop. He became hostile by his own admission and invited his own arrest. You would think that a Harvard Professor with his background would exhibit better sense.
BTW, in my cases both officers were white males like me.
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chuck todd
July 24th, 2009
2:54 pm
Enter your comments here
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RGB
July 24th, 2009
2:55 pm
3 additional points:
1. Gates had a financial incentive to create a racial incident. If Gates had not blown up the way he did then he would not have secured the additional work (PBS documentary, lecture fees, TV appearances, book deal, etc.) that will result of his contrived victimhood.
2. I’ll bet you a grand that the prof had (minimally) a bag of dope and didn’t want the police to discover it. No good, self-respecting liberal Ivy League professor would be without his supply of weed (where he smokes but doesn’t inhale). So Gates yells at the officer to get him away from his stash. I’ll pay for the K-9 to conduct a search of his residence which, by the way, is government housing. Liberals like gubment housing.
3. If Obama can’t get this relatively simple matter right, then how can he get anything right? Economy? Health care? National security? Nope, nope, and nope.
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kunta kinte lynched in amerika
July 24th, 2009
2:56 pm
until you’re a black man in america who has lived this reality…you will never understand…the cop was wrong and hopefully a civil action will show this…
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Pompano
July 24th, 2009
2:57 pm
Gates needed material for his next book in order to support his fake area of study. He pushed this provocation in order to generate his 15 minutes of fame – must say a job well done.
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C L mathis
July 24th, 2009
2:58 pm
Well, enough said from the above . I am a retired BLack Atlanta police officer who know perfectly well that a police officer does not like to be ridiculed or sassed because each officer regardless of race knows that police officers should or supposed to be respected and all that good stuff and if this is not the situation where there is respect,,,,,your behind will be put in jail for Ga.annotation 101 P.O.P pissing off the police.. !!!!!!!!!!!!
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pd
July 24th, 2009
3:02 pm
Once the Professor showed his ID, the Police Officer should have apologized for the inconvenience and left. I don’t care if the Professor was mean, called him names, or whatever else.
The Police Officer was in the right to ask questions, but he should not have arrested anyone.
I was once in a college town and having a beer in a bar when an officer came in and started demanding to see people’s ID’s. I was 25 at the time. He came to my table and asked to see my license. I replied, “No, I am of legal age and the bartender checked my license when I bought my beer”. He grabbed my arm and stood me up and demanded my license or I would be thrown in jail. The bartender rushed over and assured the officer I was 21+. That diffused the situation some. In the end, I just walked out. This is not Nazi-germany. The Police can’t just demand to see my papers anytime they want.
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kimmer
July 24th, 2009
3:05 pm
Here is what logic tells me. It tells me that most police officers, even racist ones, are probably not looking to bust an older black man for breaking in his own home. So here are my observations/comments.
1) Professor Gates went way, way, way way, over the top in his reaction. If he had just shown a modicum of civil behavior none of this would have come close to happening. He should have been appreciative that the police officer was so prompt to protect his property.
2) The arresting officer should have calmed Gates down, maybe even cuff him, but should probably not went through with taking him down town.
3) The President should have kept his mouth SHUT. He made a blunder in going on the record about a situation he knew little about but then made it 200X worse using the words he used and then painting the ENTIRE Cambridge police force with the same brush.
Bottom line. The Cambridge police officer does not owe anyone an apology. Professor Gates should apologize to the police officer for his outrageous behavior but Obama needs to beg the cambridge police dept if not all police officers to forgive him for his comments.
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ABC
July 24th, 2009
3:05 pm
If only some people would research the facts, people like Obama. The same home was already broken into once before, that’s probably why the neighbor called the cops. The second officer (black officer) to arrive has said numerous times the arrest was by the book. The professor demanded to be taken to jail. The professor, I am sure, will make the rounds of the talk shows such as Oprah and he’ll sue and he’ll write a book. Obama has nothing better to do in a double digit unemployment, housing crisis and a war but to go off on a cop in an obvious local matter. I hate it when an unqualified person such as Obama does his the job with on the training. Obama is feeling pressure; the honeymoon is just about over and it’s his economy and he owns it now and he’ll probably be in the meltdown mode soon. No time when an officer has ever asked me for identification have I ever tried to show my work ID. Seems to me someone is very accustomed to having their way and if they don’t get it, they pitch a hissy-fit as my mom would say. As usual, just about everything that happens to some blacks, not all, but some… is always racial. It’s sad that Obama had to wear his Al Sharpton hat on this one. No class.
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Steve
July 24th, 2009
3:05 pm
You missed a very specific point, the professor followed the officer outside the house into the public arena. When he did that he is no longer a private home owner but a public citizen mouthing off to an officer who repeatedly warned him that he was crossing the line.
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Sandisita
July 24th, 2009
3:12 pm
Don’t forget the specific point that the officer insisted that Gates come outside. Supposedly the acoustics were so bad inside the house that he could only give his name and badge number on the porch. Had he not insisted Gates come on the porch, there would have been no disorderly conduct for anyone to see or hear.
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JackLeg
July 24th, 2009
3:13 pm
kunta kinte lynched in amerika,
What a stupid statement. How about this I am an American Indian so if you are not an American Indian who has lived this reality, you will never understand Or how about if you are not an Italian in America who lived this reality, you will never understand. Should we keep going? Do you get the point, I bet not; you dumba$$.
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The Insightful Blogger
July 24th, 2009
3:15 pm
Kimmer summed it up best on all three points.
I would, however, reiterate what an utterly appalling lack of judgment was shown by our President in shooting from the lip on this issue. He ran, and was elected, as our “post-racial” President . . . and then acted as if he were no better than a knee-jerk, “search for any offense to be taken” clown along the lines of Sharpton or Jackson. Bet this has opened a few peoples eyes, no?
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JackLeg
July 24th, 2009
3:16 pm
Sandisita,
boy you are dumber than the last guy. How about if he did what the cop asked then there would have been no problem. When did it become OK to curse a cops mother to his face and nothing happens to you?
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Just because
July 24th, 2009
3:18 pm
Everytime a black doesn’t get his/her way . . cry racism. If you look at them the wrong way . . well that’s racism. Everyone is not out to get a black person because they are black. Blacks like whites do commit crimes, they speed, they do drugs, they rob, they do a poor job and are let go, they provoke officers . . the only differences is they have the “race” card that they can play and cry “racism” and gain the support of the NAACP and now the President without taking into consideration any facts. And even when the facts are presented as in the Duke LaCrosse team’s situation . . there are those who still refuse to accept them. Blacks really want revenge against whites.
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Sandisita
July 24th, 2009
3:24 pm
The cop came uninvited into the home (which is a violation of the resident’s constitutional rights). He was shown the man’s id and proof of residency. The cop should have walked away at that time. Instead, the cop was angry about being yelled and so lured the equally angry resident out of the office so that he could arrest him. Yes, the professor was angry and should have controlled his temper, but yelling in your own home is your right. In the police report, the cop even says he told the professor “thank you for obeying my order and coming outside”. So he could arrest him.
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ABC
July 24th, 2009
3:26 pm
There’s something to be said about racial profiling if you’re a white college kid walking around the tech campus area and a young black male with dreads, a white tee shirt and baggy jeans comes your way; run like hell or get a gun, you’re about to be robbed and shot . You call it racial profiling, I call it watching the news and trying to stay alive. Sandista, they are doing brain transplants at Emory, apply now. You must have sneezed and lost yours.
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OedipusTax
July 24th, 2009
3:29 pm
Interesting how my comment here was censored. So much for free speech.
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sane jane
July 24th, 2009
3:37 pm
Jais, your assessment & distribution of blame/responsibility to all three parties is 100% correct.
But why engage in ad-hominem name calling (”good for nothing”)? All it does is diminish whatever meritorious point you might have otherwise been making. Plus, “he maybe needs to shut his purple lips” has a slightly racist tinge to it. It’s really unnecessary.
Otherwise, you’re spot on. Just ditch the name calling & I’d find your comment otherwise bulletproof.
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sane jane
July 24th, 2009
3:41 pm
Oedipus, your “free speech” comment is lame. The first amendment protects you from the GOVERNMENT infringing on your right to speak your mind. Not to require the AJC to publish every single comment from the peanut gallery.
Sheesh. This is THEIR blog, you know. You want free speech? Go start your own blog.
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Atl
July 24th, 2009
3:44 pm
Well stated Steve…Tsk Tsk Mr. President.
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sane jane
July 24th, 2009
3:53 pm
“Just because” is living proof that white resentment toward minorities continues to simmer and boil just underneath the surface.
I’m white as the driven snow, yet I try to be sympathetic toward the thoughts and perspectives of others, particularly those who’ve had a culturally different experience than my own. There’s no point in lumping all “others” into one category & assume you can read their minds. All you’re doing is betraying & displaying YOUR OWN prejudices.
Screeching about how blacks cry racism whenever something doesn’t go their way… or stereotyping that all blacks want revenge against whites… only make you sound ignorant. And racist.
Unless that’s the look you’re going for…?
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sane jane
July 24th, 2009
3:59 pm
PS, I generally support Obama but his comment about the cops “acting stupidly” is out of line.
And for those who think “he needs to shut his mouth and not comment on local matters” need to be reminded that he was answering a question from the press corps. He didn’t bring it up spontaneously.
On other hand, Sgt. Crowley’s comments to the media have been pretty awesome. “I support our president, but I’m disappointed by his words.” (paraphrasing) Very well put.
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jbgotcha
July 24th, 2009
4:09 pm
All you people miss the point.
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jbgotcha
July 24th, 2009
4:13 pm
except you, sane jane. Everyone is quick to isolate incidents with no regard to context. In the context of the history of racial tension between police and people of color, Professor Gates reaction makes sense to me. So does Obama’s comment. I’m tired of people of color having to “water-down” the truth and deny reality to satisfy white people.
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David
July 24th, 2009
4:17 pm
Sandisita – the police officer was shown Gates’ Harvard ID, not his ID and proof of residency. I don’t know about where you work, but my work ID doesn’t have my address on it. The call-in to get the police officer over to his residence stated that there were two men attempting to break into a home. Get one of the men outside, that leaves you an “empty” house to search for the other suspected robber. The police officer did nothing wrong. This is, and has been, blown way out of proportion by people who don’t know what happened, but of course have an opinion that must be right.
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MrHughes
July 24th, 2009
4:18 pm
Are you folks serious?
“The sergeant did what he should. He checks the guy out. Here’s where everything went south. The professor is at his own house. So when he’s challenged, he’s not happy. In fact, he’s mad.”
You could just as easily read the “he” being challenged as the cop. The officer didn’t do his duty; he is supposed to “protect and serve”. I have no problem with Crowley questioning Gates when he seems him working on the door as he is doing his job protecting people/property. But, the officer didn’t serve Gates or the residents of Cambridge by hauling Gates down to the pokey. Being angry or rude isn’t a crime or aproximately half the population of New England would be in jail! I’m a law abiding citizen and have been exposed to an officer popping off at me while working traffic at the Georgia Dome before a Falcons home game. The reality is some officers have power and/or ego trips and don’t like being challenged.
And, the response by the DA and Cambridge PD pretty much says how much the city agrees with Crowley’s conduct. I thought one of the skills of a police officer is crisis mangagment and desclating situations. It’s crazy that Crowley & Co shoved an old man into a squad car and took him downtown after he identified himself with ID! It’s not like a small time crook would go to the trouble of making a fake ID and then robbing the actual house of the person who’s name matches said ID. Crowley’s actions were the eptiome of poor judgement. A simple call to the dispatcher from Crowley’s own radio would have verified that Gates resided at that address if the officer needed further verification beyond an ID. I expect more from our public servants.
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The last Boy Scout
July 24th, 2009
4:33 pm
Here is the real points
1. Cops will kill you and plant drugs in your home to cover it up (it does happin, you can read it in the papers)
2. Old college profesors who walk with a cane don’t often kill cops.
3. I don’t have to like you and you don’t have to like me. We just have to stay appart.
4. The job of the cops is NOT TO ARREST PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY PISSED THEM OFF.
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Kevin
July 24th, 2009
4:50 pm
If both people acted professionally nothing would have happened. The professor was mad that (his teenage son) had broken his door and has to pay someone evening/weekend rates to come out and fix it. Most of my highly educated friends collected themselves pretty fast and I don’t think anything would have happened IF the professor had collected himself faster and if the cop let him vent a little longer. I don’t think RACE had anything to do with it, BUT if you look hard enough into ANYTHING you can find it if you want.
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Geezer
July 24th, 2009
4:57 pm
Life lesson: Mouthing off to the cops will get you in trouble….period. Gates had a big racist chip on his shoulder, and he dared the cop to knock it off.
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BT
July 24th, 2009
5:01 pm
This was a racial issue regardless of what some of you think. If I present a valid ID in my house and you’ve looked in the house, it is time for you to leave. You all really cannot understand what its like to be a black man in this country and be profiled time and time again. So before you all chime in with your “Amens,” please try to put yourself on the other end of the spectrum. I encounter it everyday as an extremely educated man that has on more than one occation felt violated by a police officer.
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Denise
July 24th, 2009
5:36 pm
Good article Steve one fact that is incorrect is that the president was asked his opinion and not called via telephone. I would like to share this, I have been to Boston, Cambridge and various other cities in Massachusetts and on at least two seperate occasions when I was lost I stopped an officer for directions. Both times, I was treated with such disrespect. In fact on one occasion while in Boston the officer was on a cell phone. Apparently she got angry, got out of the car and began screaming at me. Four times I asked her for her badge number. Not once did she give it to me but had no problem trying to humiliate and intimidate me. By the time I was done with her as I was able to rip her a new one without disrespecting her, she was apologizing to me. I guess it was because in the end she couldn’t even give me directions to where I needed to go. Now I am not saying that this is what happened in the Gates case and I know every officer is not like one I encountered however now I am very leary of stopping the police in Massachusetts for anything especially in Boston. given the fact that Cambridge is the next town over I could only think they are the same throughout. One more thing, don’t forget what was done to the residents of Boston when Charles Stuart killed his wife and blamed it on the black man. In fact they actually arrested and charged an innocent man because of the lies that were told to them This is what people like Professor Gates remembers about the police not all of the good they do! To be honest, I am sorry this happened because Sgt. Crowley probably is a good officer
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Michael
July 24th, 2009
5:45 pm
Profiling: Seeing a black men going into an expensive home in a rich neighborhood and stopping him. Dead wrong.
Not Profiling: Responding to a call from a resident that a black man is trying to break into a home at 3am, responding to the call, seeing a black man trying to break into the home, stopping him, demanding identification. The Professor should have a) been polite b) shown ID c) thanked the officer. His house could well have been in the process of being broken into, and the neighbor and police would have both been doing their civic duty. The PROFESSOR was a racist, i.e. injected race into a situation where there was none and abused a white man and police officer at that doing his job exactly the way he should have.
FYI; while strict profiling is wrong (which this case didn’t even come close to being) i.e. depriving someone of their constitutional rights based on their race, being a cop on the beat where a group that comprises 13% of the population commits 70% of the violent crime, you’d have to be an PC idiot to not pay attention to those #s which you experience every day. I am not discusssing the potential social / historical imperatives behind those statistics and nor should a cop; his job is to keep people safe and ignoring reality won’t do that.
The DA should NOT have thrown out the case and I am sure it is not why he did; he did it because it was political suicide not to. Damn straight if you yell at cops at 3am and brandish a stick while doing so, ID or not you are going down.
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Rainbow
July 24th, 2009
6:03 pm
It’s not really about being a black or white man, we are all losing our freedom, step by step.
Freedom means that I can move about unhindered by the state/police and that they can’t search me or my home without good reason to do so.
Someone above mentioned Nazi Germany, and it’s a good comparison. “Where are your papers?”.
One might think that this is all about fighting crime. If we keep losing our rights and the crime rate doesn’t go down where does that leave the argument?
Our founding fathers inherently knew these issues, they had seen the abuse in the past, under english law.
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Raiderbeater
July 24th, 2009
6:03 pm
WOW, all these people still saying the officer was racist! Anyone see the black Sergeant standing next to him in the press conference? Guess what….that was his partner at the arrest and he supported his actions “100%”. Race had zero to do with it….obviously some people are just going to be ignorant regardless of obvious facts (as shown by several people’s comments). Maybe all the African American males posting “you don’t know what it’s like” statements need to call up the black sergeant and ask him why he let the “good ole’Professor” hang out to dry.
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GRF
July 24th, 2009
6:08 pm
The call comes into the 911 call center “2 Black Men breaking into a house with back packs” and to an officer, or whites of any kind this is an immediate threat. Why? Because the chaszm of race and all of its ugly past has been reproduced. The matter at hand is no different than the realities of what we encounter daily. Time doesn’t mean a thing, nor did it change the ugly evil that still exist in such a free country. We claim that we are united, free, and brave. People alike we hurt, violate, hate, and take pride in our own selfish offenses. It does not matter if both were just acting in poor judgement. The initial call sparked the profile and both the officer and the professor are acting no differently than what is perpetuated in this country. Wake Up!!
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Beck
July 24th, 2009
6:15 pm
Michael, it was broad daylight when all this happened. The pictures are all over the internet, it was not in the middle of the night.
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Dondee
July 24th, 2009
6:21 pm
44 showed his true colors, so to speak. A very incendiary comment and one that shows he also has a chip on his shoulder. Could that happen from attending a church for 20 some odd years with a Black Liberation Theology minister?
Don’t know all the facts? Don’t speak. Simple.
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Joseph
July 24th, 2009
6:22 pm
This Sandy Springs cop is so one sided its scary. Mr. Rose like it or not the fact is Police Officers sometimes assume African Americans are criminals, far more times than they do when the suspect is white. Mr. Rose like it or not many blacks are sensitive to this, its viewed as a sign of disrespect and if you don’t think that’s a legitimate belief then you are another example of the problems with the police force. Mr. Rose the professor showed a Harvard ID, the officer entered the professor’s home uninvited. And the president never called the police officer stupid, he said the fact the professor was arrested was stupid, and yes, arresting the professor was stupid.
The professor is far smarter than almost everyone else commenting on this story, you don’t think he recognizes treatment that may be racially insensitive? He had a point.
I also agree on the initial call, the neighbor doesn’t recognize the professor? Whattt?
Oh I’m white, when i was younger I used to use the old oh if he was black or white he would have been treated the same. Then I experienced life and saw that’s simplistic and represents the mindset of someone who has never tried to live in their fellow citizens shoes.
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Michael
July 24th, 2009
6:34 pm
My bad on the time Beck, same scenario; ‘two black men breaking in’ call to the cops, arrive, a black man breaking/broken in. I was subletting once in NY (where I grew up), cops found a broken key in the mailbox downstairs, investigated, my front door was open, they entered, guns drawn. I didn’t give them lip. Basically not smart or good thing to do; they are doing their job #1 and they do a dangerous one #2.
Day or night, if they informed him they got a call a man was breaking in, he should have put two and two together (being so smart and all); cops responded to break-in, found someone they didn’t know breaking or broken-in. Respect? Respect the cop and his job and don’t assume because he is WHITE he is profiling you. No more excusable to ‘profile’ a white cop based on your experience then it is to profile a black man based on yours.
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JMS
July 24th, 2009
6:50 pm
Let me ask this question…if the Professors house was been robbed, and the neighbor said she called the police but no one came to investigate…. would he have said they did not come to check out his house because he was black? REALLY!!!This is a man who has written books on racial issues I think he is a little too sensitive and needs to understand this was not about him! It was simply a policeman doing his job!!!! I think he wanted it to be racial becasue that is how he chooses to see the world. You make your own reality, and his is clearly racial! He needs to stop and look in the mirror before he calls others racist!
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RGB
July 24th, 2009
6:58 pm
What’s the content of Gates’s character? A thug with an endowed chair is still a thug. .
Watch the 10:00 or 11:00 news tonight….or tomorrow night….or any night. Knifing, shooting, robbery. Unintelligible witness. No King’s English here. Huge amount of social resources applied for the same tired reason. So many chances, so many blown opportunities.
I love the references about the klan. I’ve never seen a klan member, don’t know any, don’t know anybody who knows any. I’ve lived in most every state in the Deep South. I don’t know anybody who has ever been lynched. The History Channel is the only place most folks have ever seen the klan–unless John Lewis is running for re-election and he needs to create a bogeyman.
There is more black-on-black crime that results in black deaths in this city alone than all the lynchings in the history of the U.S. You folks who cite the klan should look in the mirror. You are the modern klan, kill your own kind, and don’t seem particularly disturbed by it. I don’t like the old klan or the modern klan.
Clean your own house, for it is filthy dirty.
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Disappointed
July 24th, 2009
7:04 pm
The President’s statement was inappropriate. The police officer was doing his job and the professor over-reacted. If the officer had not required ID and left and there was a burglary in progress, the professor doubtless would have claimed that his house wasn’t protected because he is black. And shame on the city of Cambridge for hanging the officer out to dry.
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RGB
July 24th, 2009
7:16 pm
WHAT OBAMA SAID (A NON-APOLOGY): “I want to make clear that in my choice of words, I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department and Sgt. Crowley specifically. And I could’ve calibrated those words differently.”
WHAT OBAMA SHOULD HAVE SAID: “I was wrong to criticize Sgt. Crowley or the Cambridge Police Department. I wasn’t there, didn’t know the facts, and spoke in haste. I apologize to the Sergeant for my remarks and deeply regret involving myself in a local matter. Sgt. Crowley has a distinguished record as a professional police officer and is a role model for the community. I wish him and the Department the best and appreciate their good record of service to the community.”
Mr. President: Your narcissism is showing.
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JSearles
July 24th, 2009
7:37 pm
I try to tell myself that I would have responded better than Dr. Gates, but one night when I found 2 College Park cops screaming at me with guns pointed at my head, I acted the same if not worst than Dr. Gates. I was working late, sitting at my desk in my own business with all the lights on and my car parked outside. They stood me up, patted me down and were surprised when the name on my license matched the one on the door. The cops apologized by saying that there had been some robberies in the neighborhood and that I looked like I was leaning under my desk to steal something. I suggested rather strongly that they get the F out.
Now fo you ultra conservatives that think you would have handled this situation any better, consider that I had just looked at 2 pistols aimed at my head, with two seemingly unstable white men hlding the guns, screaming at me at the top of their lungs. If they had been two dear friends pulling a practical joke, I would have killed them once I regained my composure. …Not really, but my point is to emphasize a pointThe rage that is induced in such a situation is completely unexpected, but should be taken into consideration. Dr. Gates wasn’t his normal self, I wasn’t and you wouldn’t be either. In a situation like that a Policeman should recognize that they have just created a situation that requires a lot of understanding. They can’t get pissed off or insulted because nothing that the person says should be considered personal. Those that say that the good Dr. should have exercised more restraint, plz take it from me, there ain’t none. The level of insult and the terror that you experience is compounded greatly when you aree aBlack person who has lived a life of one insult after another from Whites who were brought up to see you as less than human.
As for Obama, he is showing himself to be a gr8 healer for this country, but he screwed this one up. But to his credit, he manned up and said as much.
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dj
July 24th, 2009
8:17 pm
When a situation like this happens, my heart really goes out to the police department. What are they to do? I mean the guy was just doing his job and he gets ripped a new a.. hole. If he had not questioned the professor and a serious situation was taking place, the police department would have been bashed. I know when I have problems in my neighborhood and the police visit my home due to obnoxious neighbors, I am asked to show some form of id. I have no problem with it. I think all concerned citizens should watch the tv show, “Cops.” This progam reveals some very provocative and interesting insight to some of the outrageous situations and challenges officers have to deal with on a daily basis. We should all step back and take a deep breath and give the guy a break.
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frank mcguire
July 25th, 2009
7:30 am
Very good Steve.
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frank mcguire
July 25th, 2009
7:30 am
Enter your comments here
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Rick in Grayson
July 25th, 2009
7:52 am
Consider what this incidence says about Obama.
Apparently Obama thinks that the outrageous behavior towards the officer, Mr. Crowley, by the Harvard professor, Mr. Gates, is an appropriate reaction to a police officer responding to a call about a possible breakin at a home (by two persons, both of which might have still been in the home holding another resident hostage)! Do we really want a President that makes snap judgements without knowing all the facts? People are calling for the officer to have restrained himself, what about President Obama? Mr. Crowley was actually there and knows the facts of the incident, President Obama is coming in from left field, probably urged on by his friend Mr. Gates, the one ranting and raving about racism and “you don’t know who you are dealing with”. What a display of arrogance by Mr. Gates. If this is proper behavior for a supposedly distinguished African-American scholar then I feel very sorry for the poor role models available. Perhaps Michael Vick would be a better choice.
The police officer had to consider all possibilities in this situation. Mr. Gates did not represent Harvard University very well and should have been thrown in jail for disturbing the peace. Racial profiling does happen, but the only racial profiling that happened here was on the part of Mr. Gates playing the race card for all it was worth. I would have to question his suitability for teaching students at Harvard University.
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Atl20g
July 25th, 2009
9:34 am
Steve you put it out there in laymans terms so that anyone would understand. Thank you
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catlady
July 25th, 2009
9:48 am
I am guessing there was some classism involved here. Professor Gates, a highly paid, highly educated professor, wasn’t going to give any respect to a (white) lower middle class model of authority. He is accustomed to being treated as the authority figure, and would resent highly being questioned by any high school graduate making $35,000 per year. The officer’s race would be further fuel to the fire.
The officer, on the other hand, is accustomed to black suspects being a little more accomodating.
Just my guess. This would be in addition to other factors, public knowledge or not.
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Robert Henderson
July 25th, 2009
12:13 pm
Sgt. Crowley did exactly what he should have done- right up until he arrested Gates. When he arrested gate, he acted stupidly. The president hit it dead on the head. When one first enters the police academy, a light should go off in your head when you learn that you will be issued a gun and a bullit proof vest. Some guy mouthing off at you is the least of your worries. It is also stupid to bring unwarranted, unfavorable attention to your department and comrades.
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BravesFan79
July 25th, 2009
1:04 pm
“Once the Professor showed his ID, the Police Officer should have apologized for the inconvenience and left. I don’t care if the Professor was mean, called him names, or whatever else.”
Oyea….. the OFFICER should of been the one that appologized “Im SO sorry that i took the time out of my busy night to check on a report of someone breaking into your house, next time ill make sure not to respond 2 a report of 2 black males (who make up the majority of the home invasions by tha way) breaking into your house while you and your wife may be sleeping!”
Do you see how DUMB what u said sounds!??
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BravesFan79
July 25th, 2009
1:21 pm
Bottom line: When blacks stop making up the majority of criminals in Atlanta, whites will change their mind about them! All you lib whites can kiss my azz because you dont know shT about the streets and how dangerous they are!
I used to work as a cable man from 2000-2006 in Atlanta, and survived a carjacking, walked in on a gasstation robbery, had guns pulled on me…. you know what…. i know you dumb libs in denial are going to hate this…. EVERYTIME it was a black male under 35!!
Face it… Black youth culture is morally bankrupt.
I was what you call leaning towards the left before my experiences…. now im a REALIST! Some of you blacks might wanna try it before you make up excuses about the cops and whites holding you down. Common we ALL know the biggest threat to normal decent blacks is black thugs like what killed the 2 roomates in College Park execution style.
Get real… if yall disagreed you wouldnt be moving in mass to white areas around Atlanta to escape the shtholes your people currently infest. There used to be a big sign on I-20 West that read (if you do crime DONT come to Douglas County) hmmm… .wonder why the NAACP found this offensive?
This post will probably be taken down by the PC police for being to REAL!
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BravesFan79
July 25th, 2009
1:36 pm
Jais: Disarm the police?? Are people scarred of mall cops? I guess you’ve never encountered a real criminal before. You know…. when i was carjacked by 2 Blacks back in 2001 off of Windy Hill Rd i was young and didnt understand at the time how they could possibly tell me to drive to the woods after i had been nice enough to give them a ride when it was raining. (where i knew chances were i would be killed and my SUV taken)
I was able to outsmart them that day, party because God blessed me with a higher IQ than both of the dumb black thugs, (the Bell curve is real) and partly because of my streetsmarts from working places like Bankhead and MLK.
Anyways i always regretted not killing the 2 blacks myself, because about a month later i read a story in the back pages of the AJC about a Kennesaw state student that was obviously less street savy than myself, and was found dead at a lake after being carjacked, close to where those worthless blacks wanted me to drive.
If you ask me… SHOOT TO KILL! These people are Worthless members of society and deserve no respect! They dont deserve the chance to come out of prison 20 years later and rape and kill someone else. The’ll NEVER be worth a sht… thats what you idiot white guilt libs dont understand! Everytime i hear about a police shooting……… killing a carjacking/.robbery suspect i CELEBRATE!! im what the blacks call “keeping it real”
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roc
July 26th, 2009
8:43 am
the conculsion here is that they were both wrong. the officer should have left after he got the id.gates should have shut up after he gave it to him.now they are both between a rock and a hard place.this should teach them both a lesson in respect.
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Eric Bell
July 26th, 2009
11:59 am
I agree with your article, but what astonishes me the most is that America (All Races) refuses to see racist behavior and thought as an act by a minority in this country. All officers on the scence sided with the police, and they were of varied minories. If there had been a racist intent by the cop, all involved would have sided with Gates. However, All Sided with Crowley.
However, Not a single news agency in America, will post any comments on Professor Gates, acting irrational, and then screeming obsenities at a white police officer, who he singled out and called a Racist. Where is the lable of Racist for Professor Gates in the American Media, furthermore and black racism towards other minorites is an issue America needs to Address.
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BravesFan79
July 26th, 2009
12:52 pm
Atlanta Councilman carjacked, Boxer Verrnon Forrest killed in a robbery…….. yet according to the NAACP and excuse makers (white libs and blacks) across the country its the evil White cops and people you gotta look out for!
Make sure next time u pull up to a gasstation where people with gold teeth and dreads sling rock and beg for change that you tell them your on the lookout for evil white people that might try to do you wrong. Im sure THEY will have your back….errr…your wallet.
Just ask Vernon Forrest who you should be on the lookout for. Wait…. you cant anymore… he was yet another victim of black crime.
Funny… the thug blacks kill the good decent ones, and yet the decent ones cry and whine when the cops kill the thugs? WHO’S SIDE ARE YOU ON!??
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V. Kemp
July 26th, 2009
12:53 pm
You opened with a lie.
The policeman did not see the professor working on his door.
The professor was already in his home when the police arrived, he had gone in through the back door.
That opening dishonesty makes everything else you say irrevelant.
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Mam
July 26th, 2009
2:06 pm
Police , firemen, and EMTs deserve our respect. Do you idiots put your life on the line every time you go to work? OR, do you not work at all, just sit around showing your ignorance on computer blogs? Probably the latter. I appreciate all the men and women that protect me and mine. You are my heroes!
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Joe Worthington
July 26th, 2009
3:59 pm
In 2000, I a white male was mistaken for an Americas Most Wanted Child Molestor in Bartow County Georgia. I was pulled over at gunpoint in front of my wife and kids and laid on the hot pavement face down with handculfs on hot day in August for at least 15 minutes. The offices arresting me were black. The officers holding me at gunpoint were black. RACISM never occurred to me. The officers apologized and said they got me mixed ups with my neighbor. I forgave them and thanked them for their efforts to protect our community.
Why is it som amny times that when a black man is arrested by a white man it’s often racism, but when a white man is arrested by a black man, that’s never an issue ?
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DavidinAtlanta
July 26th, 2009
4:10 pm
As a former university professor, I witnessed many times the arrrogance and narcissism of other faculty who take great personal offense when working class or blue collar people do not demonstrate to them the proper humilty and deference they believe they are entitled to as educated elites. “You may refer to me as ‘doctor’”, I have heard in various forms more times than I care to remember. Over the years, I have witnessed white, black, hispanic, and asian faculty pull this type of attitude with less educated people than themselves.
When Gates shouted “Do you know who I am?” and the “Yo mama” comment, he was simply demonstrating his contempt for a working class man who not did crumble at the mere mention of Gates’ education and exalated university position.
The man got arrested for arrogance. Pure and simple. Arrogance transended race in this case.
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BigJake
July 26th, 2009
7:15 pm
We can all agree on how difficult it is to be in law enforcement, when you have to walk that thin line between serving and protecting, and trying not to violate someone’s civil rights. If the Harvard professor had simply identified himself, provided proper ID to validate who he was, he would not have made the news. But, nooooo…..! He had to bow up and get defensive as if his civil rights were being violated, with the typical, “Do you know who I am?!?” response. If a neighbor of mine saw that someone was trying to get into my house by force, even if it was me, having forgotten my key or having a dead garage door opener, I would be thankful that someone cared enough to help protect my property – I would do the same for them. The issue in Mass. only became a race issue when the professor himself raised it. We do not pay our police and fire fighters enough, along with teachers, yet we depend on them to wade into difficult situations not of their own cause, and expect perfect performance and behavior. I am sick and tired of situations that are avoidable becoming front page news and get a presidential response without all the facts. The professor should thank the police for doing their job, and apologize for his behavior.
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Lfree
July 26th, 2009
10:39 pm
Steve Rose, you simply prove the racist point by reciting the same old tiresome justification and psychotic denial of racism. Racism is part of the fabric of American society. Take a look at the posts. It is sad that as the head of a law enforcement agency you show NO understanding of this societal illness. You confirm what blacks and Hispanics in Sandy Springs know – racial profiling is okay by you. Try to imagine if the Cambridge police Officer was black and the homeowner Lawrence Summers (white Harvard professor). Would the neighbor call police? Wouldn’t Summers play the white race card (the law is on his side)? As this situation demonstrates, the law is NOT on Gates’ side. Take some lessons on race, Steve Rose. You are part of the problem.
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Turd Ferguson
July 27th, 2009
10:30 am
Gates is a jackass and this incident shows you can take a man out of the ghetto but cant take the ghetto out of the man.
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GaGirl
July 27th, 2009
11:08 am
AMEN Officer Steve!!!! Obama didn’t have my vote to begin with and he sure killed any hope that he might get my vote next time by stupidly saying this about a Officer that puts his life on the line everyday for you, me and Obama. So much for a racially neutral President, it only took him 7 months to throw the race card out there himself!
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MARCEL MARCEAU
July 27th, 2009
11:21 am
,.?.,.”".?!!
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ATC
July 27th, 2009
11:34 am
Racism and paranoia are alive and well and living in Atlanta. It is not confined to whites.
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excop
July 27th, 2009
11:47 am
A few years ago I went out to retrieve something from my car and accidently locked myself out of my house. A passing police car spotted me climbing in a window late at night. He approached me and asked what I was doing. After explaining what had happened and showing my ID, all was well and we each went on our respective ways. The entire encounter lasted about eight to ten minutes, with no harm, no foul. The same would have been the case with Gate if Gates had shown any respect at all for the officer doing a dangerous job.
Now I’m a bit curious, so a question. Just how much verbal abuse is an officer supposed to accept while doing his job? If a simple matter of showing ID after being seen breaking into a house produces a tirade, what is the officer expected to do. Is the guy flying off the handle on drugs? Is he emotionally unbalanced? If so, is he a danger to himself or others? If the officer turns his back to leave, will he wear the cane on the back of his head? If he leaves Gates in that condition, will he end up harming himself or some one else?
The officer discovered Gates was a professor, so he called for university cops to assist. The university cop has stated publicly that the arrest was appropriate and that he agreed with the arrest. By the way, the university cop was Black. Does that change anything?
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Denise
July 27th, 2009
2:52 pm
Gates is the only RACIST in this story!
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Turd Ferguson
July 27th, 2009
3:09 pm
Gates is a racist senile ole jackass.
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Chris Broe
July 27th, 2009
3:20 pm
Obama’s statement made me cringe when I first read it. Big mistake. I knew the right would nail him for that remark. I think the score is now Obama 142, Conservatives 1.
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Turd Ferguson
July 27th, 2009
3:24 pm
I love to watch COPS…these Stupid people are hilarious. On one show this weekend a mentally defective woman called the cops on her boyfriend. She mustve forgotten about those two outstanding warrants but the boyfriend told the cops for her…LMAO!
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Turd Ferguson
July 27th, 2009
3:25 pm
City of Atlanta criminals seem to be the most stupid.
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Denise
July 27th, 2009
5:07 pm
Check out this video of Prof Gates
“Henry Gates Rant In 1996 On “Racist White Institutions”"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRlIdFcWd5k
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Atlanta Escorts: Crime prevention programs, tips and tools | All The News For Atlanta Escorts.
July 27th, 2009
8:12 pm
[...] See the full article from “Atlanta Journal Constitution” [...]
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s
July 27th, 2009
8:37 pm
It is so sad that someone is soooooooooooooo incredibly stupid as to call the police over an Ebay transaction. I wish I could say that I’m brilliant but I’m smart enough to know that I’m not. But stupid people irk the heck out of me.
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clyde
July 28th, 2009
8:45 am
I called the police once over a stolen canoe.I told them where it was,gave them the serial number.They told me to forget it as it would cost me more to recover it than it was worth.They were wrong about that,it cost me othing to steal it back.
A good read this morning is the weekly column by Dr.Sowell concerning the cop and the professor.The good Dr. and I think exactly alike on this issue.I’m sure he’ll be impressed to hear that.HA.HA.
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Karen W
July 28th, 2009
11:46 am
I am a Black female and I am in total agreement with you Officer Steve. The officer did what he was supposed to do and was not out of line. I like and respect Skip Gates but he just got mad, I think, because the officer did not respond when he asked for Crowley’s name and badge number (don’t you guys wear identifiation on your uniforms?) and then proceeded to push Crowley’s police officer buttons during what could have been a routine, end of story situation and started a BIG mess that even made my beloved President Obama make “stupidly worded” remarks. Word to the wise and to Mr. President and Mr. Gates – 1) we all get angry and lose our cool sometimes, but be prepared to apologize and try to clear up the mess once you realize that YOU are wrong and started the foolishness; 2) don’t jump into dirty bath water with your friend if you want to come out clean. A true friend will stick by you to the death but will love you enough to put you in check quickly if you are wrong, and 3) to paraphrase Joe Friday, just the facts Ma’am… always have the facts before deciding who to side with. This will keep you from looking and sounding “stupidly” uninformed. Grace and Peace, and my respects to President Obama.
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1911A1
July 28th, 2009
5:15 pm
DavidinAtlanta: Sir, you have nailed the real issue better than anyone else. Academics who live in their insular, artificial worlds tend to become legends in their own minds.
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J. Templeton
July 28th, 2009
6:00 pm
I’m white. I’m 64 years old. I’m male. I’m soft-spoken and not physically imposing. With all these “markers” in my favor, I’m still very deferential and cooperative when confronting law enforcement officers. Why? Because, cops are only human. Their job is very complicated and stressful. They have to take very cautious and redundant steps to ensure their own safety and the safety of the public. They have to deal patiently with a lot of truly trashy people. Giving them the benefit of the doubt and a wide berth is simply a rational approach and it’s one that has kept me out of a lot of scrapes.
The professor obviously had an axe to grind and a chip on his shoulder. He seemed to think that being a black man in America exempted him from duties of courtesy, caution, and decent conduct. If he had shown these traits, the confrontation would have ended sooner and more peacefully. Instead, he found a policeman in a difficult situation, put even more stess on him and freely used the universal epithet, “Mother-f—–” to insult the policeman.
The old professor didn’t get what he deserved.
JCT
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joe shepherd
July 28th, 2009
8:25 pm
that was well said mr steve,now i would like to read your opinion of the cop that killed the dog in his own back yard
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jackie baines
July 28th, 2009
11:14 pm
saw on tv a woman in california whose car was repossessed because she was the victim of a pyramid scheme. apparently she was making all her payments. how would such a scheme work?
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catlady
July 29th, 2009
4:15 pm
1911A1 and DavdinAtlanta: check out my 9:48 on the 25th.
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AK
July 29th, 2009
4:16 pm
This is amazing…I think that police in this country should be like the police in England. Police are not to be feared like they are here, they are supposed to be there for the people, police are servants to the people, it’s sad really…
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Nobody reads long posts.
July 29th, 2009
8:37 pm
Who needs help to feel “normal,” when we have the headlines about the guy with the dog, and the guy with the horse?
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sam
July 29th, 2009
10:35 pm
Who gives a rats azz about this “feeling normal” thread? Why can’t we comment on the total absence of that clown Pennington and his handler the clowness Franklin with regards to the incidents that just happened? This city is in a death spiral down and these clowns are fiddling while Rome burns. Why do we have to wait until the fall to get rid of these clowns? We need to purge the trash from the city NOW !!!
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Ann
July 29th, 2009
11:43 pm
Rose is a HOOT per usual and let’s face it – folks are f’d up! C’mon, butt stabbings and beastiality?! Puhleeze! Thanks for making “normal” folks feel good! I’d love to hose some of these clowns!
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Dave The Wave
July 30th, 2009
5:44 am
I like the part where the teller puts the money in the white bag and the robber takes the black bag and leaves. It’s very important when you rob a bank with a hairbrush to take the money with you. Especially when wearing a blonde wig. This type of behavior sheds a bad light on blondes everywhere.
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KennesawDave
July 30th, 2009
10:25 am
Man Lt., those stories gave me a good chuckle but they also made me realize that there are WAY TO MANY stupid people breeding.
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William Casey
July 30th, 2009
11:10 am
DAVIDIN ATLANTA hit the nail on the head . This incident, though containing an element of race, was much more about perceived social class than about racism. Have any of you watched Henry Louis Gates on PBS? He’s a very talented academic and teacher but is also the essence of “Ivy League pomposity.” Just watch one of his documentaries. It’s easy to see how and why he would abuse a “lower class” police officer simply trying to do his job. I suspect he would not think highly of me either since I have only a Master’s Degree and twenty hours toward a Doctorate.
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Dan
July 30th, 2009
4:01 pm
What I can’t fathom is the where the definition of profiling has migrated too. Although it turned out to be untrue so what if the caller said it was 2 black men? If someone sees two black men breaking into a house they would be remiss not to mention it. If they saw two people and couldn’t tell their race and said I saw to men breaking into a house and they must be black THAT would be profiling.
The only racist profiling remarks made in the incident were by Gates, even if you think he should not have been arrested, he was clearly the only one making racist profiling statement. If Obama wants to calm the furor he needs to say that, not doing so simply makes him complicit
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clyde
July 30th, 2009
5:17 pm
Normal means not having any fun.I was probably completely sober during the above incidents.Consequently I wasn’t involved.
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BiteMe
July 30th, 2009
6:13 pm
Love it!
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Ben There
July 31st, 2009
8:27 am
Thanks for the memories, LT. Sounds as if we ran in different circles together just on opposite sides of the county. The fake id made you a BMOC and very popular. Drivers Licenses didn’t have pictures on them at that time, but the one id that drew favorable reviews was the draft card. Kicked out of a liquor store in Daytona during spring break of ‘66, a “Hey Dude” offered to buy the suds with the comment “Old enough to fight in Vietnam, but can’t buy a beer! I’ll fix that”. I found about about the fighting part a couple of years later…
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Funwoody
July 31st, 2009
1:38 pm
Ahhh yes we did the same thing at the Dunwoody Bottle Shop in the late 70’s. Half pint of Golden Grain split between my friend and I. Then off to Blimpies for 2 large fruit punch and back to the Dunwoody Baseball fields.. I guess Morgan Falls isn’t quite the party place on the weekends anymore huh??…hahahaha
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Madison
July 31st, 2009
10:57 pm
Some things never change. You weren’t smart then and ………
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Mtn, Man
August 1st, 2009
5:28 am
“RIGHTS OF PASSAGE”….As old as the use of oak barrels,in wine production! Real tragic when mixed with the hopped up cars we raced in the 1950,s……yes, Dorothy,there were cars……back then! Same today,just that with prosperety being widespread,kids have little respect for their rides….if they even think that deeply………don,t mix them,we didn,t! Mtn. Man
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Goober
August 1st, 2009
7:40 am
After the High-Y meeting at Chastain Park (We went to the old North Fulton High), we would grab a snack at the Hickory Pit nearby and then proceed to the long, straight stretch of Chastain Rd. and race cars. Nobody drank since it was school night, but it drew a crowd. The cops never bothered us.
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P'tree High Grad
August 1st, 2009
8:24 am
Yeah, but the drinking THEN was 18, and Peachtree is a middle school now. Many of the goals of the so-called Justice System, along with many of the goals of our misguided Congress, involve a bunch of old farts who lived through it trying to make sure that nobody has a chance to do what they already did.
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soccermom
August 1st, 2009
9:33 am
Nice nostalgic piece! Brings back memories
The tragedy is that today any misstep by teenagers is treated with such harshness. There’s no “kids will be kids” attitude with a good lecture and send them home so mom and dad could really lower the boom, even on a first offense. Today, it’s “zero tolerance zones” and bringing in the cops on everything and the child finds out that they have totally screwed up the rest of their life!
I agree, the drinking age should be 18. If you are old enough to enter into a contract and be held liable, get married, and most especially, become a member of the armed forces and go to war to kill or to die for your country, then you are most definitely old enough to have an alcoholic beverage.
If “maturity” is the qualification, then I know many 40 year olds that shouldn’t be allowed to drink and quite a few 17 year olds who could probably handle the responsibility with ease!
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catlady
August 1st, 2009
1:41 pm
My daughter got a fake ID when she was about 20 so she could go to clubs and drink. One time it got confiscated by the bouncer, who then apparently sold it. At any rate, fast forward 3 years. The phone rings at my house and a message is left for my daughter to call Mr. X, who says he works for the driver’s license bureau. Now, mind you, I have an unlisted number known only to about 10 people. I call back Mr. X (since my daughter does not live at my house anymore and I want to know where he got my number, especially since the phone is not in my name!) The phone is answered by the GBI (I am having a stroke by this time) and Mr. X refuses to tell me how he got my number or anything else, but demands to know how he can get in touch with my daughter immediately. At the same time, my doorbell rings and it is the local SHERIFF making a “courtesy call” for the GBI, wanting the same information!
My daughter ends up speaking to him and she is told to come to his office for an interrogation about her fake ID. She explains how she got it, and then has to ride with him in his car to show him where she purchased it. In 3 years, of course, the place has changed.
All of this to say to vigorously discourage your son or daughter from using a fake ID as it can come back to bite them badly even more than they think. Apparently someone who got her ID did something worse than underage drinking and presented my daughter’s ID.
Officer Rose, can you speculate how my phone number, unlisted and not in my name, was obtained (along with my address) and linked to my daughter? And why the agent did not identify himself as a GBI investigator until pressed to do so?
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Reality
August 1st, 2009
1:56 pm
Bravesfan79, I’m a white conservative and I still find your comments to be racist and frankly, very silly. You failed to get your point across because you couldn’t keep your hate under control. I have been robbed at gunpoint by a black man in downtown, and my home was broken into recently by a white man. Your statements show a lack of education and poor assessment skills. Blanket statements like “they all” or “they will never” tend to fall on death ears.
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Reality
August 1st, 2009
1:57 pm
lol I spelled deaf, death!
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s
August 1st, 2009
9:18 pm
I’m 50. “High School ID’s” worked back then. Funny thing but I worked in the high school office. One day, they handed me all the ID’s to type. Well, helllooo? All my friends and myself became legal within an hour.
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jabster
August 2nd, 2009
8:31 am
Catlady: You NEVER put your own info on a fake ID. You do make sure you memorize it, though. Including the zodiac sign of the DOB.
Ptree High Grad: Yes, I would venture to say that Officer Rose was of the generation (that’d be the boomers, AGAIN) that was legal at 18 or 19. Nowadays the penalty for possession underage is a lot more severe than dumping the beer and often includes a trip to jail (for having a freakin’ beer? WTF?!?!)
http://www.chooseresponsibility.org
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P'tree High Grad
August 2nd, 2009
11:28 am
Yeah, Jais, we’ve got three times the cops on the streets now that we did in the 70’s, and we need more, right? They need the justification to exist, so we need more laws, and more illegal stuff, to boost the courts’ justification to exist.
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DX
August 2nd, 2009
1:17 pm
The sad part is that with that first strike, many of our youngsters get into the probation system, and NEVER get out for petty things.
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Brett
August 2nd, 2009
7:26 pm
You can also download a free Child ID Kit at: http://www.optoutdetectives.com/childprotect.php
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dj
August 3rd, 2009
9:27 am
All the comments on this blog point out one main fact, “Police officers are human too.” Sure, like most citizens , there are good and bad police officers. If injured, they bleed red too. I am sure, they put their draws on one leg at a time. And like me, there are probably moments when officers have no difficulty walking and chewing gum at the same time. But at the end of the day, the police like most hard working Americans are just trying to return home safely to their loved ones !
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Turd Ferguson
August 3rd, 2009
10:38 am
Entering strip clubs and buying/consuming alcohol at the age of 16 was my prank. Ah yes…the good ole days!!
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Tony
August 3rd, 2009
7:54 pm
Sounds like someone forget to take their medication.
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Carlos
August 4th, 2009
11:54 am
Another scam (which I admit I fell for) is 2 guys in a SUV claiming to work for a home theater installation company and that they are on a way to a job and have overstocked merchandise which they want to sell to make a quick buck. The merchandise (home theater speakers) have a price of 3,500 on the box (but are really worth 50 bucks) and so you think 500 bucks is a steal.
It wans’t until I came home and looked online that this has been happening across the country. Watch out as they were in the Publix on Chamblee-Dunwoody.
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rmbr343
August 4th, 2009
1:12 pm
To anyone who has any doubts about how truly difficult it is to be a police officer, don’t walk, PLEASE RUN, to the next session of a Citizens Police Academy near you. Most of the counties in the metro-Atlanta area have them, as do several of the “city” agencies (i.e. Peachtree City, Hapeville, Duluth, Suwanee, Riverdale, Ackworth and many others).
I know of some people who went through a CPA for the sole purpose of proving themselves right when stating “I hate cops”, only to come out of there with their eyes wide-open and the words “D@mn, I didn’t know” being uttered from their lips. They graduate with a whole new perspective on what cops do, see, and put up with every time they strap on that gun belt and wear that badge. Heck, there are times they’re not even on duty but some @-hole finds out they’re a cop and gives them s**t.
Ever wonder why cops and their families mostly hang out with other cops and their families? It’s because they don’t have to explain to some jerk at the same party who’s had one too many shots of JD why last week HE got the ticket when “everyone else was speeding too!” Or maybe it’s because they don’t get asked in the middle of dinner if they’ve ever had to kill somebody when everyone else at the party knows what it feels like to be drawn down on by some punk kid hyped up on PCP intent on committing “suicide by cop.” Everyone else at that party knows what the agonizing screams of a mother sound like after being told her beautiful 17 y/o daughter won’t be coming home from the prom or ever again. They all have seen in person the bruises on the 18 month old who was crying, whining, or pooping (you know, the normal stuff toddlers do) thereby “forcing” the mom’s 19 y/o boyfriend to permanently shut him up. They don’t have to explain to other cops what it’s like to tell a hysterical 12 y/o girl why she came home from school and found the 15 y/o brother she idolizes hanging by a bedsheet in his room.
Nobody wants to know about how difficult it is to be a cop because it’s just much easier to “hate” that man or woman who pulled you over and gave you an appointment to have a little chat with the judge. Nevermind the fact that you were breaking the law by driving 30 mph over the speed limit and the cop chose stopping you over knocking on your family’s door to tell them that you were being scraped up off the pavement about 5 miles away.
Are there “bad” cops? Sure! There’s a “bad” element in every profession. However, until you’ve walked a mile in a good cop’s shoes, don’t judge them or tell them how to do their job because you have absolutely no idea what it’s like. Go to a Citizens Police Academy and find out… if you dare.
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The Truth about cops
August 5th, 2009
2:59 pm
“Cop charged with identity fraud…”
“Cop molested girl…”
Real American heroes.
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Sandy Springs police blotter | View From The Cop | boxsprings
August 5th, 2009
8:51 pm
[...] here to read the rest: Sandy Springs police blotter | View From The Cop Posted in Price of Box Springs | Tags: 500-bucks, across-the-country, been-happening, [...]
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big john
August 5th, 2009
9:30 pm
great article…glad you came out of it alive. I had to chuckle a couple of times, best thing I’ve read all day.
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Bobby dee
August 5th, 2009
11:51 pm
I like your style, Flatfoot.
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The Truth about cops
August 6th, 2009
12:08 am
Nice article, well written.
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Leary
August 6th, 2009
7:24 am
Good job Steve. I’m glad you’re here to tell about it.
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Officer Joe Friday
August 6th, 2009
7:26 am
Another great column, Steve, about police work for those of us who would never do it in a million years. Especially after reading this, I only like to do stuff like this vicariously. Thanks for your service.
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shaggy
August 6th, 2009
7:27 am
Carlos – If you are looking for a “deal” on home theater speakers in some parking lot, you deserve to be fleeced. You did not fall for a “scam”. You are just plain stupid.
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Patrick
August 6th, 2009
8:07 am
Awesome article. If I had met a guy like that, I’d probably think something was up instantly. The second you described his facial expressions, something didn’t seem to add up.
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Montana L
August 6th, 2009
8:12 am
This supports the belief that police officers are people who like to brawl. Well, good thing there’s a match between the people and the need. We need people who like to brawl-for-law out on the streets.
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Good Read
August 6th, 2009
8:59 am
Great article, Steve – keep ‘em coming!!
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Ray Pugh
August 6th, 2009
10:06 am
Steve this is one awesome column…
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gadyke
August 6th, 2009
10:53 am
Great column. Like everyone else, I’m glad you came out of it alive and didn’t have to use your gun.
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JoeV
August 6th, 2009
10:59 am
Thanks for sharing this story. Nicely done.
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Doug
August 6th, 2009
11:40 am
Amazing story that shows the potential danger to our police on the streets. If only the policemen and firemen were paid as much as the politicians!
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Steve 2
August 6th, 2009
11:45 am
Good story but how much will you take before you shoot someone? Your threshold to tolerate someone’s stupidity is higher than mine. I probably would have shot him. Glad you are here to tell the story. Stay safe.
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This was your best effort at writing...
August 6th, 2009
12:00 pm
…since the article on finding a Jimmy Buffett t-shirt for your wife! Would you have had time to find your bullet in your shirt pocket and put it in the revolver?
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Chris Broe
August 6th, 2009
1:00 pm
But what kind of sentence did the PCP freak get? We are interested only in justice, sir, not cops sitting and talking and catching 20 winks.
The other rangers aren’t going to like this article, Yogi.
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john
August 6th, 2009
1:07 pm
Thank goodness you ended up safe. I had a similar thing happen to me in an fast food restaurant in Atlanta. A Crazed looking/talking guy on some kind of drug kept coming in and out of the restaurant as I was waiting in line. The manager had picked up the phone and said she was on the phone with the police when he was berating her. I was familiar with the manager and her female workers and when I reached the cashier I asked her if everything was alright except for that crazy guy. She looked at me and told me “he has been in here five times already and stolen some chips. Right then I turn around and he is coming right towards her and was focused like a dog at a tennis ball. I stepped in between them and told him he needed to leave and the police were on the way. He sucker punched me so hard in the mouth I couldn’t see for a 1/2 second. I was surprised I was standing when I could see again and he was still coming so it was on. I’m not a brawler, but I know how to defend myself and got him off balance and gave him a few knuckle sandwiches that made him stumble out the door in retreat. I was all happy with my comeback performance from a near knockout suckerpunch and the lady manager says to me “please don’t leave,he may come back”. I thought to my self, he doesn’t want any more of this, but sure enough two minutes later he is back in the store and picks up a wooden kids chair over his head and barely misses crashing it over my head as he is screaming “so you want to fight”. I grab ahold of him and by this time I realize that I don’t want anything to do with this crazy mofo, so I yell “can I get some help with this guy?” Luckily there was a 275 pound man that had seen the whole thing that was standing near us, so as I had this guy in a headlock(bad idea) I bumped him with my hip straight into the 275 pound guy several feet away and they started brawling (LOL) . He fought that guy who was 100 pound bigger than him without blinking and may have even gotten the better of him. They were brawling outside when the police showed up and he took off running. Then he fought with the police and they had to pepper spray him. I don’t know how the police do it every day, that incident really shook me up, even though I got the better of the situation. I’m now completely uptight when around people whom look to be on drugs and crazed. If you see someone whom looks drugged out and crazed step back from the situation and call the police, because it can get out of hand very quick.
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RL
August 6th, 2009
1:11 pm
I had a friend in the early 80’s that took a self defense course – they learned that to knock someone out on PCP you basically have to give them a knockout blow (4) times – i.e., what would normally knock one person out with one blow needs to be done four times to get someone high on PCP to stop. Very dangerous.
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Linda
August 6th, 2009
6:13 pm
Jais, What planet are you from? If you are not out on the street every day dealing with all the crazy stuff that goes on how can you even assume to have the faintest idea of what officers go through to protect a bunch of ungrateful a..holes. I myself respect them and realize their job is not easy. Yes there are bad cops out there that break the law as well, but there are some really good guys too that deserve an occasional pat on the back. Thanks for the articles Steve. A lot of us really enjoy them!!!!!!!!!1
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JaxFla
August 6th, 2009
6:48 pm
Well said, Linda.
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Linda
August 6th, 2009
7:37 pm
I could answer all your questions one by one but bottom line is there is a hell of a lot more criminals now than in the 70’s. I doubt a criminal will have anything good to say about a cop. We as a society have lost a lot of our morals and could give a rats butt about our fellow human beings. As bad as it is now it would be much worse if we had no police. So there is little I can say to make you understand, and if the day arises when you need a cop I hope you will learn to appreciate what they do for us.
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Linda
August 6th, 2009
7:40 pm
Thank you, JaxFla
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big john
August 6th, 2009
7:48 pm
Jais are you on PCP? The whackjob ran two red lights and clearly had no respect or regard for anyone…thank God it was deserted at that time!
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john
August 6th, 2009
11:36 pm
Jais you sound like someone whom has a problem with authority of any type. I’m guessing your some kind of anarchist. I’ll bet your a big hit with your bosses if you are even employed. Help, help Jais is being oppressed by not being able to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants it. LOL!
Please help us understand why you are such a malcontent. It is quite fascinating to hear of your total disrespect for any laws or enforcement.
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Jim Stipper
August 7th, 2009
4:28 am
I would *never* get into the back of a police vehicle until I was properly detained. That is just common sense. You should never have touched the man if he was calm and cooperative with giving you I.D.
As a citizen, I appreciate that you pulled him over (although it took two red lights and a realization that it was going to “have to be your problem” to do so), but there was no need to get him in the car. If you are going to put someone in a cage, charge them.
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P'tree High Grad
August 7th, 2009
9:29 am
Richard Pryor–”Thank God we got prisons.”
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Cubby
August 7th, 2009
12:38 pm
Joe Friday would have been proud of you not using deadly force (even though it was warranted).
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Sandy Springs Resident
August 7th, 2009
3:01 pm
I am quite frankly amazed that officer Rose didnt dispatch this drug fiend. As a citizen I would not have been so kind. That druggie would have assumed room temperature that night. He would have been as stiff as my smoking barrel (apologies to Alice Cooper).
@ Jais
Like we used to say back in the ’60’s.. next time you need help call a hippy.
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72 Ptree High Grad
August 8th, 2009
2:54 am
Great article Officer Rose. For a moment there I was on the parking lot hearing the desperate struggle.
Let me add after reading this discussion “Thank God we have police and prisons”. Both imperfect institutions but way better than the criminals and mob justice running things.
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Officer Jim
August 8th, 2009
9:24 am
I feel your pain. I policed over 37 years, I learned about PCP the hard way. Five other officers and myself had to subdue a suspect high of PCP. He fought like a mad man throwing us around like paper weights. It wasn’t a good situation for none of us.
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Daniel
August 8th, 2009
9:55 am
Two comments. First, when did it become acceptable for you, jais or anyone else, to place my life in danger because you wanted to drive while on drugs? And second, would you be upset if someone used a racial slur in a posting. If so then why is it acceptable to call someone a “hillbilly” or “redneck”. Think about it….
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Billy
August 9th, 2009
6:38 am
Very good article.
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Patrick
August 10th, 2009
8:49 am
72 Ptree Grad – not only was I almost there in the parking lot with Officer Rose, but I could almost hear the handcuffs scraping against the asphalt until coming to a stop under the car, and the radio asking for a status on the situation.
Steve, as far as comparing the people you encounter during early morning/midnight shift to a day at the zoo? You’re wrong. The animals at the zoo are far more civilized. Yes, even the monkeys. Especially the ones that do you-know-what.
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Spalding Drive homeowner
August 10th, 2009
12:01 pm
Steve, we really appreciate all that you have done for our community; your maturity has turned into a wonderful sense of humor as well. As a teenager in Sandy Springs in the 70’s I remember the good ole simpler days.(I once totalled my car due to speed and a small bit of alcohol consumption and the officer drove me home, to talk to my parents) I changed my ways and realized the consequences. But because the office did not overreact, or exert frustation at his job or possibly fill some personality void, things have turned out okay for me, some 30 years later. However I had a recent encounter on the same road with an overreactive, overzealous young patrol officer that was way out of control on his part.(he was panicked about a tree down in roadway) When there are just simple encounters these young guys(PO’s) need to relax, get to know the community, most of love the police officers out there. Please try to tone things down around the station house, even with the loonies out there. Thanks.
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Spalding Drive homeowner
August 10th, 2009
1:57 pm
You actually were committing a crime called theft by recieving.
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Chris Broe
August 10th, 2009
2:10 pm
Things turned out okay for you thirty years later? Okay, who’s gonna break it to this guy?
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DJ
August 10th, 2009
6:02 pm
GET a life “Truth About Cops” it would appear you have nothing better to do then sit around and find things wrong with cops. Cops are not all perfect just like every other walk of life – doctors, nurses, teachers, and so on. Get a life and find something better to do with your LIFE and stop messing with others!!!!!
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SC
August 10th, 2009
7:33 pm
That’s a great story, Steve. Well told. I’m sorry that you had to experience it first-hand.
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s
August 10th, 2009
9:15 pm
Loved today’s article.
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Big John
August 11th, 2009
9:23 am
Enter your comments here
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PinkoNeoConLibertarian
August 11th, 2009
12:01 pm
Sounds a lot like some of the women I’ve dated.
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gadyke
August 11th, 2009
12:52 pm
Sad thing is I think it sounds like at least one of the women I’ve dated too… Great article Steve!
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Goober
August 11th, 2009
2:13 pm
I saw Rebecca just last week. Don’t let her show you her tattoo.
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D
August 11th, 2009
2:17 pm
Question : Why can’t the police arrest my meth-induced psychotic neighbor when he curses at & threatens me ? In front of my 12 year old son, no less ?
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Alien Probed
August 11th, 2009
2:40 pm
My alien theory has now been proven! That alien is still standing in the corner and his name is Nork from the planet Dork!…BE AFRAID! BE VERY AFRAID! THE INVASION IS COMING!
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BravesFan79
August 11th, 2009
3:09 pm
HaHa..,,always enjoy reading your work, this is one of your better pieces. Funny sht!!
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Rainbow
August 11th, 2009
3:26 pm
I grew up in a medium size college town, not so small any more. We had our share of oddballs. One of them stayed in a bank bathroom until after they closed. He robbed the cash registers overnight, apparently there was change left in the registers, then hid in the bathroom until they opened. Other than that he was a harmless fellow who walked around all the time with a paper sack. As kids we always thought it was full of money from the bank heist.
As I grew older I was talking to a wise old woman one day and she said “It tells a lot about a community, how they treat their oddballs, and we do a good job”.
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Leary
August 12th, 2009
7:29 am
We all run into “special people” and unless they are violent and overly abusive, it is best to treat them with a smile and a kind word. We might be them one day.
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Ben Dover
August 12th, 2009
7:45 am
I ran into a guy sitting outside the Post Office the other day who looked a lot like Charles Manson except that he didn’t have the Swastika between his eyes. He was a friendly enough sort, as they all are. He told me that he hoped to have a girlfriend by Christmas and if so he would have some real “presents.” I wished him the best of luck and hoped he had a very Merry Christmas.
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mark318
August 13th, 2009
8:44 am
Instead of the jump drive you can store your photos and important docs in an online email account.
There are door jams for the doors for while you’re at home. 1k home invasions and counting. Don’t forget the gun safe and shotgun.
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Jimbo
August 13th, 2009
9:03 am
The nice thing about a good gun safe is that a lot of them a fire resistant too. So my gun safe is actually just a safe that contains guns and a bunch of other crap. The problem with a gun safe is that we’re not sure that the upper floors of an apartment building will support it, so we might be stuck with first floor apartments for as long as we’re renting, that sort of sucks.
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dj
August 13th, 2009
10:16 am
I agree with Mark 318
Get all important mail, ( mortgage, credit card and bank account) sent to your electronic mail account. This prevents others from having access to vital account information. Our neighborhood postal person has lost, misplaced and on numerous occasions delivered our important info to my neighbors – some who have very questionable pasts.
Also, when home, secure of your place with a sturdy steel deluxe door guard rod which anchors the door shut. CarolWright.com offers the product for under $10.00.
I can remember my days as an apartment dweller. I would get home and items would be missing from my place.
Now as a homeowner, I fortify my home like Fort Knox in order to make it safe and secure. I am now looking for an inexpensive video system. To live life this way is a sad state of affairs.
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PinkoNeoConLibertarian
August 13th, 2009
10:44 am
“Hook and Book”. LOL! Man does that bring back memories. I’ve not heard that in a long time. I’m still not sure which I like better, that or “Cuff and Stuff”.
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The Truth
August 13th, 2009
12:15 pm
Home invasions are why people DONT wanna live in a black area! Whats sad is that the good blacks stand up for the scumbags, and blame everything on “white racism”.
Maybe whites don’t wanna live around blacks not because their racist, but because they see the news and have life experience!
Hey all you white liberals that moved to those new houses around Turner Field/ East Atlanta back in the early 2000’s….. how u like your dose of reality now!
What i find crazy is that the most hardcore liberals are usually in areas like Seattle… where they know very little about living in a black majority area.
Funny this is these dumb liberals in a attempted to add “more diversity” imported black Somalis into the Seattle area. Now Somali gangs roam the streets and have killed several white business men/ college students. I wonder how those fools like their “diversity” now!!
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s
August 13th, 2009
10:59 pm
maybe you should consider leaving the city.
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The Toad
August 14th, 2009
2:21 am
Just look at the “Race” on the police reports. Nuff said. AMEN,AMEN ,and Amen!
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cricket
August 14th, 2009
11:10 am
Care to comment? I usually support cops but this is too much.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/32414436/ns/today-today_people/
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Rickster
August 14th, 2009
4:02 pm
What was the grocery store guy charged with? Indecent exposure or too many items for the express lane?
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clyde
August 15th, 2009
8:37 am
Clean up at register 5!!!!
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ATC
August 15th, 2009
1:54 pm
Goodness, Jias, Is not a right to drive drunk, nor to not pay for services which have been rendered, nor to take a vehicle which you do not own, nor to burn one, nor to drive in an unsafe manner, nor to urinate in public, nor to speed. Actually, it is not a right to drive at all it is a privilege. Many of the things that you believe to be rights are not addressed in the constitution therefore are not to be considered “rights”.
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d-doug
August 15th, 2009
6:07 pm
Wizzing in the checkout line is a crime? Man, the things mama forgot to teach me.
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Jimbo
August 17th, 2009
9:08 am
So, just to be clear it has to be a median, not a turn lane? I’ve heard both and I’m not really cool with running down kids but it seems a little gratuitous when I’m four lanes away from them and they have a crosswalk right there at the bus stop. (But if it’s the law I’m more than willing to stop, though I think it would be awesome if more kids grew into adults who knew how to use crosswalks)
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Anon
August 17th, 2009
12:59 pm
Let me tell you first-hand they mean business when they want you to stop for a stopped school bus that is loading or unloading. I once blew past a school bus that was stopped at the entrance to an apartment complex, with a lane of traffic between us. No more than 10 seconds pass and I get pulled over by a County officer. Got a ticket, had to go to court, stand before a judge, and ordered to pay $250 fine.
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Tam Tam
August 17th, 2009
11:41 pm
Sandy Springs PD should beware of a Racial Profiling law suit. They sit accross the street from North River tavern or nearby, usually around closing. I guess they assume everyone they stop is intoxicated so that they can give a DUI. On this particular nite I was traveling near that location. I stopped at a stop sign and all of a sudden blue lights were pulling me over. (What reason did he have for following me?)Hmm..Thats a form of harrassment. So, I clearly made a complete stop at the stop sign, but the A-hole rookie said that I did not. Due to my experience and training this is a form of racial profiling and he gave me a ticket. The ticket was $245.00 for a stop sign violation. I guess since he didnt get a DUI out of the stop he had to give me something. Beware The City of Sandy Spring/Sandy Springs PD.
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John
August 18th, 2009
1:11 am
When I used to deliver pizza years ago I would deliver to a women off Wright Rd who would check the cokes to make sure that Lockheed didn’t bug them. She would also always ask “Did you bring them with you?” but I have no idea who “them” were. She would also draw a toothbrush and three dots in the memo line of her check.
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Boy Who Cried Wolf
August 18th, 2009
11:51 am
Tam Tam- Yes I agree,racial profiling. I was pulled over by a Black police officer,clearly trying to even up the %’s.
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gadyke
August 18th, 2009
12:43 pm
Normally I just lurk or let Steve know I liked his column, but today I’m in a mood and have to say something. To those who constantly bash the police on here, maybe you don’t need them, but I do. Yes, some laws are just plain stupid and some are annoying, but I also am pesonally happier that there are armed police officers (mostly) trying to stand between my a$$ and the bad guys. Filling the coffers pi$$ you off? DON’T SPEED! Almost all traffic violations are nothing more than a self imposed tax. I’ve had one speeding ticket….fully deserved it and was lucky the cop dropped it to 19 over. We are priviledged to live in a country that grants us the rights we have. Stop b!tching or find somewhere else to live.
*stepping off my soapbox now*
Let the flames begin…
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The Truth about cops
August 19th, 2009
1:31 am
gadyke is right- this country was founded on communism, not freedom! Freedom is a privilege, not a right in our proud American Communist police state. We ARE ALL lucky, like gadyke said- every time a cop even glances at us without jailing or fining us.
It makes sense that the short and/or fat guys from high school should have the power to ruin lives and bankrupt families. After all, those guys are really well adjusted, right?
Right?
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The Truth about cops
August 19th, 2009
1:34 am
Tam Tam, for the record I had an elderly, portly butch old woman cop run the same hustle on me in HOLLY Springs. Hope you had a nice fourth of July!
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William Casey
August 19th, 2009
8:28 am
My best advice is to not let strangers in your house! I had a pad of checks (which I foolishly left on my desk) stolen by a COMCAST technician. He faked an ID (as if a negro would have my anglo name and live in Cumming, GA and buy groceries in south DeKALB, yeah right) and stole about $6,000. I got all my money back. God bless Bank of America, who caught the scam. Damn detective T.E. Jackson of the FCPD who did NOTHING to solve my case even though I gave him tons of info. I’m glad that we have Johns Creek police. Let Jackson patrol the ghetto.
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I Love Cops
August 19th, 2009
9:05 am
Jais, you are what’s wrong with this country now.
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Turd Ferguson
August 19th, 2009
10:35 am
Tam Tam and the racial profiling BS is just that…BS.
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gadyke
August 19th, 2009
11:30 am
Truth, I see cops almost everyday, and believe it or not I don’t get arrested, harrassed or even looked at sideways by them. Contrary to your nice little conspiracy theory, the majority of cops ARE out there to protect us. In every profession from CEO to janitor there are good and bad. You obviously have had your share of experiences with the bad and probably your disrepectful attitude doesn’t help. Maybe it’s just how I was raised, but people that willingly put their lives on the line like our cops and soldiers get my respect until they (individually) do something to lose it.
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gadyke
August 19th, 2009
2:14 pm
Maybe it depends on your perspective Jais. For me, I’ve run across very few bad ones. My better half has had less pleasant experiences and is less trusting of them. I just tend to see the glass as half full to begin with. I’ve also seen cops put down drunk idiots that didn’t “remember” that no means no and were scaring a poor girl half to death. The media loves sensationalism so the good stories do not get reported as often as the bad.
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Kathy
August 19th, 2009
4:59 pm
After my divorce, I moved in with a friend for 6 mos. Then I felt “comfortable” enough to get my own place on Roberts Drive, Atlanta, 30350. Within days my ex-husband, Eric, his oldest son, Eric (aka Richard) and Eric’s ex father-in-law, Ken, who had a truck for his business, broke into my apartment. Why do I know it is them? Because I had a small TV, that only went up to channel 15 that they knew about and didn’t take it. Along with the raspberry ginger ale that I know Richard liked was gone.
They even had the gaul to steal the meat I had in the refrigerator!! These jerks took jewelry that was given to me for the births of my daughters from my 1st husband. Sentimental stuff that cannot be replaced.
Fulton Cty police dusted for fingerprints…there were none. They didn’t even check on the 3 fools who had broken into my place. I had photos of the jewelry taken, they told me to check out the Pawn Shops! Imagine that! I would have to check the pawn shops.
All I know is that “what goes around, comes around”. Those 3 idiots will get there rewards when they meet the man upstairs.
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s
August 19th, 2009
7:36 pm
Gee, I’ve seen thousands of cops in my life. I was never harassed or abused in any way. Have I gotten any tickets? Yes but I deserved them. If you follow the laws and treat them with the respect they deserve, you aren’t likely to have a problem. It’s that easy.
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big john
August 20th, 2009
7:34 am
jais is back! Is that all? Looking weak there, Bro… need a latte to go with your pot.
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Chris Broe
August 20th, 2009
11:15 am
This brings up that age-old question on every police academy exam since 1822: At what point does a burglar become a reason to “make your day”? That is, at what point in a home invasion do you get to fire the most powerful handgun in the world at him (and blow his head clean off)?
A. When he approaches your home, still in the yard, but holding weapons and break-in tools.
B. When he smashes the window and starts to climb in.
C. When he is actually inside the home looking around for picnic baskets and other goodies. (wait, that’s a bear. Run for your life)
D. When he sees you holding the gun to his head and starts pretending to be a girl scout selling cookies and crying like a little girlie-mon.
E. You can only shoot a burglar if he shoots at you first and misses.
Believe it or not, only half of any cadet class gets this question correct.
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GeoffDawg
August 20th, 2009
11:42 am
And the answer is ….
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Jimbo
August 20th, 2009
3:18 pm
C?
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Jimbo
August 20th, 2009
3:18 pm
And I think there used to be a requirement to flee, yeah? So they had to actually trap you in the home.. or perhaps that was just out in public.
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Sarge
August 20th, 2009
5:24 pm
From one generation to the next, kids will always pull some “shucks” on the folks. The major difference lies in the passage of time. Up to a certain point on the cosmic calender, I would definetely say around the mid-60s, the “pulling of shucks” was always followed by the unmistakable parental wrath. Somehow, this wrath, somehow, translated into a somewhat responsible adulthood. Because this parental wrath, “60s-style”, no longer exists, it seems that, more and more, goofy kids are becoming goofy adults. HAPPY DAYS!
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antitagger
August 21st, 2009
1:44 am
E
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The Right Rev. Bishop Shauntelle Thunderclap
August 21st, 2009
10:10 am
Can only speak for myself, but my threshhold for double-tapping the miscreant would clearly be “B,” assuming he has at least one foot in the premises Really think any jury would convict you for that?
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BiteMe
August 21st, 2009
4:45 pm
HAVE FUN, DET. STEVE!!!
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Police Blogs « Positive LEO
August 21st, 2009
6:31 pm
[...] his blog as being about “Criminal Einsteins and the cops who figure them out…” His recent post on the strange people he’s met during his time as a police officer was very [...]
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20 year Republican
August 22nd, 2009
7:20 am
B. When they break and enter the resident has the right to protect their home and its belongings.
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Hannah
August 22nd, 2009
7:32 am
I hear you only have a successful blog when people: 1) personally attack you and 2) fight with other people in your comment section.
Congratulations, Steve. I think this one’s a success!
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Hannah
August 22nd, 2009
7:35 am
That guy with the renegade housekeeper should watch out. those bar code readers can really hurt your eyes if you look into them wrong.
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Hannah
August 22nd, 2009
7:47 am
Not everyone that looks crazy really is. For example…there’s a really nice boy about 11 years old in my apartment complex; I think he’s autistic. Anyway, he’s got this invisible dog, and apparently everyone in my building “knows the dog” and sometimes they pat him, or toss him an invisible dog treat when they pass by the little autistic boy.
I don’t know what the hell I did to make that kid mad, and I know the dog isn’t really there, but whenever I pass him I hear him mutter “Sic her, boy!” and I know nothing’s coming after me, but I “squeak” and run up the stairs anyway.
The point is, Hello my name is Hannah, and I run away from an invisible attack dog everyday at 5:15.
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Bob
August 22nd, 2009
12:23 pm
A friend with a trained guard dog had a break-in. The dog did not bark when the intruder snapped a rear window lock but instead played a game with him by waiting out of sight until he stepped into the room. At that time he attacked and chewed up his face, arms, and legs. The intruder was cornered by the owner who called police. At arraignment the man testified that he got the wrong house and thought he was really visiting the home of a friend. The judge said “you sure did get the wrong house” and disclosed that the intruder was in the country illegally.
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Al
August 22nd, 2009
2:21 pm
“Question : Why can’t the police arrest my meth-induced psychotic neighbor when he curses at & threatens me ? In front of my 12 year old son, no less ?”
Because some misdemeanors basically require the officer to witness the incident to arrest on the spot for it. That is especially true with hearsay evidence only. You probably would not like being arrested if you neighbor made a false accusation against you with no other evidence.
If you filed a report then follow your local procedure for taking out a warrant from a judge.
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Al
August 22nd, 2009
2:26 pm
“At what point does a burglar become a reason to “make your day”? That is, at what point in a home invasion do you get to fire the most powerful handgun in the world at him (and blow his head clean off)?”
None of the above….there is no blanket answer. You have the right to defend yourself when you reasonably belive that yourself or another is in danger of receiveing great bodily harm.
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Ocee
August 22nd, 2009
11:23 pm
B
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Vexorg
August 23rd, 2009
7:32 am
We ALWAYS used an older friend to get our stuff….stayed back at the house, he’d get it for us plus a little extra for gas or his trouble. The one thing you should have mentioned to the kiddies out there reading the article, is that is it now a FELONY to possess a “fake id” under Georgia Law 16-9-4(b)(1)…or to manufacture such items! Used to be a bunch of places on Stewart Ave. that would sell you an “official” state I.D. card before that law took effect!
Reference: http://www.lexis-nexis.com/hottopics/gacode/default.asp
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s
August 23rd, 2009
6:56 pm
Hey Steve, Do you have any influence right here in Georgia? Wouldn’t you like a little New York New York in your own back yard? I’m suggesting Cherokee County (since that is where I live).
Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease.
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Chris Broe
August 25th, 2009
1:32 pm
What happens to convicted murderers in Vegas? They get a STAY (of execution) in Vegas!
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lil elvis
August 26th, 2009
9:18 am
So y’all going to the Green Door or the Red Roster
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w. walden
August 26th, 2009
6:55 pm
Hey Steve, a cold one, the Big Burger at Margaritaville, careful of the Volcano and enjoy. Elvis is, across the street, small club, he’s the best, just due west behind the Bellagio,about a block, parallel to the Strip………ask around for the location…
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David S
August 27th, 2009
2:51 pm
Certainly looks like other cops have different ideas on stress relief:
http://www.radgeek.com/gt/2009/08/24/rapists-on-patrol-6/
http://www.policecrimes.com
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Col.Caldwell
August 27th, 2009
5:37 pm
I agree with you brother! I’m a cop of 32 years and travel to Vegas 2-3 times a year. Its great fun!
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Lt. Steve
August 27th, 2009
7:07 pm
Okay, back. Good trip–not profitable but good. I saw a woman at Ceasar’s on the craps table with $87,000 worth of chips and not a clue. She had a ring the size of a small planet on her hand and a wig she bought at Wal-Mart on her head. It wasn’t even straight. She wore some Elvis sunglasses, since the 1 a.m. sunlight is so bright, and on every roll she went “Whoooo-eeeeee,” even on the losing ones. I’m not sure but either she’s reallllllllyyyyy lucky or there’s a sugar daddy out there with poor eyesight. Still, isn’t that why we’re there? The Human Zoo was alive and well. There was like show and tell by the plastic surgeons. Good times.
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W.C. McCall
August 27th, 2009
7:36 pm
Have an awesome time with the hookers out there!!
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gadyke
August 28th, 2009
9:37 am
Glad to have you back Lt. Steve!
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KennesawDave
August 29th, 2009
12:51 pm
I would be curious to know whether all the apartment break ins were into 1st floor/ground floor apartments or if the burglars entered upper floor apartments as well. I’ve always heard that if you live on the 2nd or 3rd floor of an apartment building you are less likely to be broken into. Not sure if that’s true after what I read though. In fact I’m starting to think I may need to drop by my local gun shop and invest in a firearm of some kind.
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KennesawDave
August 29th, 2009
3:30 pm
Sounds like you had a a nice time Steve. Sorry that it wasn’t profitable. Hopefully, the meals still got paid for.
I need to go out to Vegas one of these days. Anyone I know who has gone had a blast and had nothing but good things to say. I know one place I would go for sure being the geek that I am. Not sure what hotel it’s in but I’d like to go do the Star Trek experience they have out there. I want to say it’s in the MGM but couldn’t say for sure. Maybe if no one wins the lotto this week and and rolls over again I’ll take my last week of vacation from my job and go have some fun. 
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Dave English
August 30th, 2009
8:24 pm
It’s not all that bad and in the last ten years many small astroids have been identified, more than half they believe, and their orbits logged. I don’t get the description of killer, you need something about the diameter of 30 feet or 10 meters for any real concern. The composition is important, iron or snow would have very different results as to the diameter. It’s still an unknown, especially anything coming out from near the sun, we often only see them after they have gone by.
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Festus
August 31st, 2009
7:19 am
For the unknowns to be known, we need to take a trip to the sun. We can leave at night.
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clyde
August 31st, 2009
8:45 am
That hole there in Arizona was made by something bigger than a loaf of bread.
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lil elvis
August 31st, 2009
3:25 pm
The sky is falling the sky is falling……
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Chris Broe
September 1st, 2009
11:16 am
They didn’t spot ShoeMaker-Levy till it was all the way up Jupiter’s ‘ranus. (About six months).
We ain’t seeing the knock-out ‘roid till it’s too late. Save your money for a new, correctly-envisioned spaceship, Nasa, and give the Space Shuttle to Ripley’s “Believe it or Not” where it belongs. (A space ship with wings and landing gear? Oh brother.)
What do Rocket Scientists say when they criticize each other’s efforts? “Hey, this isn’t heavy lifting, okay?”
What do Pocket-Rocket Scientists say when they criticize each other’s STD diagnoses? “Hey, this isn’t “just say no”. This isn’t a circulation problem. This isn’t prickly heat, okay?”
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BiteMe
September 1st, 2009
2:54 pm
Did you mean ASTERIODS in hyperspace, or was it really suppposed to be steroids?!? LOL
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Chris Broe
September 1st, 2009
3:34 pm
Grading Rose: C+
Just because you’re trapped in an airport doesn’t mean you have to torture us with your unfunny experience there.
‘muff said.
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Diann
September 1st, 2009
10:54 pm
Okay … so my job isn’t as stressful as a cop (I have dated a couple over the past year if that counts) but I agree … VEGAS is a great place for stress relief. Up until the economy took a nosedive I made a point of traveling out there at least three or four times a year and never once was I bored … you can’t beat the action, the excitement, and, oh mercy – the people watching. And, if you tire of the fun (yeah right) you can rent a convertible (or a Harley) and drive an hour away from the Strip and be surrounded by the beauty of the desert. Sigh … gee thanks …. now I’m ready to go! By the way KennesawDave … Star Trek used to be in the Hilton.
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BravesFan79
September 2nd, 2009
12:31 am
Whats sad is that as someone that worked over 50% of the apt complexes throught Atlanta, without a doubt Sandy Springs is one of the nicest/ safest areas in metro Atlanta.
You don’t wanna live in a area where alot of “Reds” live.
I still am in amazment at the stupidity of the liberal whites who thought it would be safe to live in East Atlanta and South Atlanta among the blacks. Its amazing how people go from being anti-gun to proud gun owners pretty fast when faced with reality of violent minority communities like Grant park.
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Leary
September 2nd, 2009
7:33 am
I lived in Sandy Springs from 2001 until 2006. I still miss some things about living there… I just can’t remember what they are.
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One Striking RATTLER
September 2nd, 2009
10:28 am
I will Pray for you BravesFan79. May God have mercy on your soul.
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Woo Hoo
September 2nd, 2009
1:20 pm
Go ChattComm 911, go!!! Sandy Springs minus Fulton Co involvement = WIN!
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Carlos
September 2nd, 2009
6:37 pm
I blame all this on the economy.
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The Sarge
September 3rd, 2009
4:12 am
We have here many candidates for the Darwin Award, however, the kid jumping out of a moving bus takes top billing. If this is any indication of the future, “Beam me up, Scotty”! But don’t fret, kid…when I was seven or so, (back in Ike’s administration) my buds and I convinced Micky that, wearing the “official Superman Cape” we had conjured up, he could jump outta the 2nd floor window and fly, which he indeed attempted. Fortunately, for our intrepid friend, we had placed a trampoline just on the other side of some bushes, outta sight of “Super Mike” as he contemplated the wisdom of that upon which he was about to embark. While Bobby goaded him on, Chris, Mark and yours truly stood by the tramp. We had tied a rope onto the trampoline’s frame, the end hidden in the bushes so that Bobby could, at the last moment, assist in relocating the tramp under the window out of which Micky was about to defy gravity. Just then, Micky’s Mom stepped out and, realizing what we hoodlums were about to instigate, started yelling and hollering at everyone in sight. Those were the “village raising the child” days, so Micky’s Mom called all of our Moms…end result: four stupid kids, including the intrepid yet gullible Micky, all with warmed up rear ends, but buds forever.
So cheer up, kid…you’re not the first! Get well soon!
Sarge
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ANON
September 3rd, 2009
5:33 am
THE CORRECT SPELLING FOR CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER 911 AUTHORITY IS CHATCOMM 911
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Grant Park Jeff
September 3rd, 2009
9:09 am
BravesFan79, are you for real? I can’t even begin to fathom the depth of ignorance in your statement. You should probably think twice before advertising your shortcomings. I’ll agree with OSR @ 10:28 and pray for you!
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Atlanta Adult Entertainment: Sandy Springs blotter: Stupidity has no age minimum | All The News For Atlanta Escorts.
September 3rd, 2009
10:02 am
[...] See the full article from “Atlanta Journal Constitution” [...]
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Chris Broe
September 3rd, 2009
12:57 pm
I am outraged that Rose is encouraging dangerous socialist stunts with his latest piece. This is not what the founding father’s stunt-doubles had in mind at all.
Shame, sir.
ISAIDSHAME!!!
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Astute Observer
September 3rd, 2009
1:25 pm
“ChattComm” just sounds too cutsie-pie for a professional emergency communications operation. Sounds more like another social networking website.
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Cubby
September 3rd, 2009
3:36 pm
I think the title should be stupidity does not have an age minimum or maximum.
So the kid was crying in the store old man. Take your saggy ass to another aisle and keep your hands off of a two year old.
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BiteMe
September 3rd, 2009
6:23 pm
Geez. And Sandy Springs used to be a great, safe, fun place – You know, back in the day before they tore down all the bars!!!!!
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Tom T
September 3rd, 2009
6:46 pm
Steve, you were either a badass when you were younger, or extremely lucky. It took 4 of us one night back in 1980, all of us over 6-feet and 250 pounds, and this little 5-7, 140 pound dude was throwing us around like we were toddlers. Finally ended up with one of us getting behind him and choking him out. NOT the most fun I ever had while in uniform.
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BigJake
September 3rd, 2009
9:58 pm
You are correct, sir! A little work will reveal the scam, unless your bank is asleep at the switch. I had a friend receive money orders a few years back, with the “work at home” disguise. She was to deposit the money orders and then wire 90% of that money to someone in Canada. I told her to be skeptical, and her “walk all over ya” bank was to verify the validity of the money orders before releasing any funds. She waited 10 days, then asked the bank if they were valid, which they did, and released the funds to her so she could wire the money. The very next day the bank called her and told her they made a mistake and the money orders were bogus (no Monopoly “bank error” here). They took the funds out of her account, and when she went to where the funds were wired from. she was told the money was picked up in Nigeria, not Canada. Of course, the bank claimed no responsibility and she was devastated. Any time you get any kind of email in this regard, either delete it or report it to you provider under the scams and frauds process. It truly is the “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” rule of thumb, but we were really upset that the bank released the funds to her and then claimed no responsibility. Beware, my friends, and be careful out there!
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Tony
September 4th, 2009
12:22 am
When I was a victim I used a resource that had all the links to paperwork I’d need and a questionaire the police loved. Here’s the info. Steve- Have you seen it? http://www.optoutdetectives.com/victims.php
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Patrick
September 4th, 2009
1:34 pm
Sometimes I can smell a scam a mile away. I remember one time a few years ago someone sending me an IM, and they were trying to pull the Nigerian 419 scam. Things didn’t seem right from the first sentence, so I blocked the other person, and reported them to the website that provided the IM program.
I get a lot of e-mails from at least one mega bank telling me I need to update my account information. Thing is, the bank that e-mails me is not the bank I use now, nor have I ever used it in the past.
If your banks needs you to update account information, they usually tell you when you log into your account on their site, instead of sending you an e-mail. One time when I logged into my bank’s site, I received a message that I needed to change my password. I checked to make sure it was the bank’s actual website, and it was. Also, most bank sites have a “message center” where they send you messages directly to your account, or you can send them messages while logged into your account, if you need to contact them.
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Locutus
September 4th, 2009
5:37 pm
uh, it’s “i-n-d-e-p-e-n-d-E-n-t”. Smarmy-ass cops never can spell.
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Atlanta Adult Entertainment: Sandy Springs police blotter: People with serious issues | All The News For Atlanta Escorts.
September 5th, 2009
5:13 am
[...] See the full article from “Atlanta Journal Constitution” [...]
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Tony
September 5th, 2009
11:53 am
Free child ID kits can be downloaded at
http://www.optoutdetectives.com/childprotect.php
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KennesawDave
September 6th, 2009
12:08 pm
Another good resource to keep up on scams and frauds is clarkhoward.com. Being that he is a consumer advocate, he has a wealth of informaiton on consumer scams and frauds.
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RebeccaJ
September 6th, 2009
12:11 pm
Does anybody really know what time it is?
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Terry
September 7th, 2009
8:49 am
I think Jais has had a some trouble with police interaction!!
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Patrick
September 7th, 2009
4:41 pm
Rebecca…does anybody really care? If so, I can’t imagine why.
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Donuts
September 8th, 2009
4:30 pm
Cops love me
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big john
September 8th, 2009
6:50 pm
Apart from some interesting articles spiked with humor… Jais keeps it lively with his own brand of justice and perspective. Yes, he has issues….
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Mr. Prepared
September 8th, 2009
8:56 pm
Amen!!!!!
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MariettaGunOwner
September 8th, 2009
9:10 pm
You 100% correct! Bad guys don’t follow the law. Please Learn how to properly handle a gun, and practice! Video games are not like a real gun, and just because you are a guy does not mean you know how to shoot (someone actually said that). There are several great ranges that provide training, and I recommend all women take a basic handgun safety course. And Steve if you know how many guns you have, you don’t have enough.
By the way I am female, and can safely handle most semi-automatic pistols ranging from a 22 to a 45 and rifle’s including 30-30, 223, 762×39 and 762×54. Be alert and be safe.
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Jason
September 8th, 2009
9:13 pm
Have a fully loaded Glock 26 (9mm) and a fully loaded AR15 (5.56) by my bed ready for war.
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Carl in Chicago
September 8th, 2009
9:18 pm
Rose said: “…what I see more and more are people who have guns but not a clue of anything having to do with them.”
I do see your point, and agree that folks need to be prepared, and trained. The founders called this “well regulated.” But I suspect you are discounting the fact that more people than ever are taking training classes, some of them as part of license-to-carry permitting requirements. What do you make of these people who are getting the training so that they are prepared, and “well regulated?”
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Roane
September 8th, 2009
9:24 pm
Well written…..hope this was in print as well…so more can read it…
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deidre_NC
September 8th, 2009
9:25 pm
very well said…i wish more people would read this…gun control is a much needed thing…that is-control of your guns!!!
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MariettaGunOwner
September 8th, 2009
9:27 pm
Training and permits are actions of law abiding citizens. Well regulated, well educated and well prepared, in the event the “bad guys” choose not to obey the law.
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Mike D
September 8th, 2009
9:58 pm
If you have to use a gun, I say incapacitate the perp. Then it is time for the real fun to begin in the garage with a drill and a blow torch. Get rid of the body in the South Georgia swamps.
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Rob
September 8th, 2009
10:03 pm
Thanks for a well written discussion starter. Myself, I have a Glock .40 that lives by my bed. It has a trigger lock on it, and the key to the lock is on my car ring.
This makes it simple. At night, take your car keys out of your pocket, and unlock the Glock. If I’m not home, it’s locked. My wife has access to a 20 ga pump with bird shot that lives in a gun safe with a combo lock. Both live loaded and ready.
Our kids both know we have guns, and know where they are. In fact, both go to the range with us regularly. That’s what gets kids killed-to many, guns are a big bad mystery, and we all know that attracts kids.
I grew up in a small town in the midwest-we actually used to take hunting vacation in the fall instead of spring break, because they knew nobody would be in school on the opening day of deer season. Everyone I grew up with had a 357 under the seat, and usually a .270 in the back window, and this was in the high school parking lot.
You know how many people I saw shot? One, and that was an accident-he tripped while carrying a loaded shotgun. The simple truth is that we never looked at guns as a tool you used on another person. I’ve gotten my butt royally kicked within two feet of my truck, and a loaded .357, and it never once crossed my mind to get out the gun-we just didn’t do that.
That said, I know how long a burglar would last in my house….about three tenths of a second after I decided he was a threat.
You always hear about “bad” gun incidents, but never about the dozens of times when “good” things happen. Not long ago, I was downtown, with my Glock (legal carry) when I saw two young men step out of an alleyway. Looking back, I could see at least two more behind me. I had no doubt that the word “victim” was about to be added to our vocabulary (my wife was there). I just reached behind my back, under my shirt, and lifted the glock out of the holster a bit. Never actually took it out from under my shirt.
All four of these guys melted back into the alley, and we walked on.
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Sandy Springs Resident
September 8th, 2009
10:20 pm
Excellent article Steve! Just like a good friend of mine used to say “If you fail to prepare you prepare to fail.”
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Walt
September 8th, 2009
10:37 pm
Well, the first rule of engagement is run like Hell. If you really face a self defense situation or in defense of another, then don’t hesitate. Don’t point your weapon at anyone who doesn’t need killing.
Aim center mass. Right in the center of the chest. Fire two rounds and see what that does. If you aim center mass, you might get a leg or arm hit any way.
VERY important: in the movies, people get shot and drop conveniently out of sight. In real fire fights they might shoot you right back after you shoot them. They might go berserk.
Make sure that you drop the bad guy and he is really out. If he is worth shooting, you better make sure he was worth killing.
Walt
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RAY
September 8th, 2009
10:39 pm
Great article. We need have more voices like this in the media. Sadly our world is a dangerous place and we simply cannot depend on our government to protect us. This is why our very wise forefathers included in t