31 posts tagged “savannah/chatham police”

It is like the Savannah Morning News is in the business of creating misinformed tards!

Their latest weapon in the war on all things truthful comes by way of the Vox Populi:

"Regarding Chief Berkow interviewing for a position in the Cayman Islands, now is the time to open up the pocketbooks and pay for our quality police chief. Don't let him leave. We need him during these times."

Yeah.

Where to start with this one…

Darth Berkow started in 2005  2006 as the second highest paid employee in the city at $158,000 at the time City Manager Michael Brown made a little more than $166,000.

I can’t find his current salary published anywhere but just giving him 3% raise a year (conservative in a town where most employees get 2.5% automatically with an additional 2.5% merit bump available) Darth’s current salary would be in the $177,000 172,000 to $180,000 175,000 range which again puts him just below or right at what the City Manager is making currently.

The fact is he is making plenty and we’re not going to pay anyone more than we are paying him now.

Look people; Berkow is not going to the Caymans; he is not even the best qualified person that is up for that job.

If Darth did leave what is the big whoop? He’s been here for 3 2 and a half years, he has made all the impactful changes and reorganizations in the department that he is going to do. All he is doing now is political maneuvering to get control of CNT and moving precincts around.

I personally think he is doing a pretty decent job with the day to day but he ain’t perfect and he is far from irreplaceable.

This never happened…

Or did it?..

The paper didn’t bother to find out they just printed it as fact.

"Savannah Police were working an accident on DeRenne and White Bluff Road and I noticed a laptop computer in the police car as the officer directed traffic. What I saw was not police business but a movie being played. The officer noticed I was watching and came over to his car to turn off the laptop. I wonder just how many more officers abuse this feature while on duty and could they cause an accident by watching movies, etc. while driving? It is something for the chief to look into."

Really you shouldn’t be able to do that.

The newspaper has absolutely no proof and yet the editors lay these charges against a police officer?

This caller gave enough detail so that the officer accused can be identified and the paper just went ahead and printed it without a single shred of evidence-shaped information.

You think maybe the department knows who was working that accident?

This is someone's life and career you are messing with here you should take a bit more care before screwing up some random guy's reputation.

Here let me try:

“You know some of those computers seized in the child porn ring belong to newspaper people. No really I saw it. Yeah, they were all porned up. I think the folks at the head office in Augusta should look into this.”

Gee it sure is fun to make stuff up.

I’m sure the thousand or so folks who will eventually read this won’t actually believe it.

There he goes again.

Darth Berkow had the SCMPD storm troopers out with the reporters again today.

Last year, about this time, he staged a show of force with officers armed with clubs and riot gear. We never really got a straight answer as to why he thought it was necessary.

We’ve have been doing the parade for 185 years and other than that car running through the square a few years back I have yet to see any need for any kind of police response, certainly nothing that would require a cohort of heavily armored and shielded riot troops.

I can only imagine that a show of force like this is Berkow’s way of compensating for some cruel trick of genetics but I cannot imagine why Savannah’s media is playing along.

I actually just saw some cub reporter on Fox wearing full battle gear and… get this… they set off a smoke grenade while he was talking so it looked all dramatic. OooohOhoooAhhhAhhhAhhhh

Addendum: Wednesday 3:15pm

I wanted to post the video for you but apparently thecoastalsource.com doesn't have it. Here is the copy story. Maybe they'll post the video later. I wouldn't cause I'd be embarrassed about being a uniformed shill for the big bad but hey...

For those of you who don’t know, going to a staged event and dressing up in a costume is not journalism.

It is just a staged non-event that police have managed to manipulate you into reporting about.

Of course, the press release readers that are running around pretending to be reporters wouldn’t know real journalism if Walter Cronkite came up and bit them on the ass.

We should just give up. Think about it, we could solve all the money problems at Media General, Morris Publishing and others, by just making the government’s control official.

Savannah media has apparently already handed over control of content why shouldn’t the government pay the bills too?

I doubt any one of you would even notice a switch to state-run media.

(Here is the link to the WTOC coverage. Their reporter did not put on the uniform but still covered the theatrics as real news)

(WSAV's reporter did get all gussied up in the riot gear. Her excuse was to describe the function and limitations of the gear.)

Mark your calendars!

January 15^th!

THURSDAY! THURSDAY! THURSDAY!

It’s a SUPER POWER SHOWDOWN at Savannah City Hall as the DARK OVERLORD OF LAW ENFORCEMENT takes on BIG BOSS MAN MICHAEL BROWN!

That is how the City should advertise the upcoming Council Workshop when the electeds can finally find out why their police chief seem to speak with forked tongue.

They have asked for the face time in order to clear up a few recent unexpected moves like closing two police precincts without advance notice or public input, contradictory public statements about police staffing and budget, diverting resources to send 100 officers to Washington D.C. for the upcoming inauguration and cutting off unfettered media access to police reports.

What will be interesting to watch at this meeting will be the delicate dance Berkow and Brown engage in. The men have a grudging respect for one another but Berkow may have crossed the line by involving Mary Ellen Sprague in his push for more money in the 09 budget.

Meanwhile, true to form, the newspaper seems to be rolling over for the Chief.

Sooooo, what will be the SMN’s big stick to take on the growing power of Darth Berkow?

Mediation!

I’m sure he is shaking in his shiny little jackboots.

In case you haven’t been following the latest Police Power Grab, Darth has decided that he will only let the media types see crime reports that they specifically ask to see. Meaning if a crime happens and no one tells the media, no one will be the wiser.

As I predicted, the Savannah Morning News has responded with a milquetoast of an editorial and has now apparently run to the state for mediation.

In case you don’t know the rules, here’s what is supposed to happen under The State of Georgia’s “Sunshine Law” :

“The public has a right to see, inspect and copy all “public records.”

 

Now for the past several years the Savannah/Chatham Police actually embraced the true spirit of the law when it had that great big clipboard of all police reports sitting on the desk at Habersham Street. The public could easily see, inspect and copy.

Now the clipboard is gone, there is absolutely no way for a reporter to inspect all the crime reports each day and yet our Dark Overlord of the Law claims to be following the state regs.

Let’s see….

Is he following this part of the law?

Georgia Code: 50-18-70

(b) All public records of an agency as defined in subsection (a) of this Code section, except those which by order of a court of this state or by law are prohibited or specifically exempted from being open to inspection by the general public, shall be open for a personal inspection by any citizen of this state at a reasonable time and place; and those in charge of such records shall not refuse this privilege to any citizen.

No, because in the case of police reports, all public records are not open for personal inspection at any time or place.

“But,” the Berkow backers say, “there are exemptions”

Indeed , but none that help the Chief’s case.

Georgia Code: 50-18-72 (exemptions)

(4) Records of law enforcement, prosecution, or regulatory agencies in any pending investigation or prosecution of criminal or unlawful activity, other than initial police arrest reports and initial incident reports; provided, however, that an investigation or prosecution shall no longer be deemed to be ending when all direct litigation involving said investigation and prosecution has become final or otherwise terminated;

Did you catch that? “Other than initial police arrest reports and initial incident reports” so the very reports that Berkow has locked down are exempted from the exemptions and therefore must be open to inspection.

This is not just a battle of media vs. police. It is not just Bloggers Against Berkow. This is a basic right of all people to know what is up with the agency that has all the guns.

If you fail to fight against that black velvet clad hand closing on your throat,  you will soon find you have no voice at all.

The New Word for 2009: Berkowian

It is kinda like Orwellian only a lot more obvious and a lot less fictional.

Darth Berkow has done it again.

Word comes this morning that the Dark Lord of Public Safety is now filtering public records through his Ministry of Truth.

Now this is no surprise to me. He has been trying to circumvent the media and manipulate the public since he got here.

He began his “I Hate the Media” tour the first year with elected officials and civic and neighborhood groups.

The spiel ran something like this, “Savannah’s crime problem is one of perception. The bad old media feeds that perception by reporting every single crime. The bad old media does this just to drive ratings and sell papers and not as a public service and you shouldn’t trust them.”

And the Media makes it easy for him, as of this moment there is only one reporter left in Savannah that’s been covering the police department for more than a year and she just happens to be married to a cop.

Of late we have seen Herr Berkow turn his silver tongue against his boss Michael Brown in an effort to increase his own budget above and beyond the $60-something-million he already gets.

And yet the only time the paper seems to get its undies in a bunch is when he tries to restrict their access like this week when word came down from Mount Berkowlympus (yeah, that sounded better in my head) that the public shall no longer be allowed to see every police report, even though they are all public record.

So, what are they going to do about it? Will they fight back? Will they file suit?

Most likely what they will do is follow up today’s article with a not-so-strongly worded editorial urging a better balance between the needs of crime fighting and the public’s right to know.

And thus shall dawn the Berkowian age.

 IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

Again with misinformation printed as facts and surprise! surprise! no challenge, correction or admission from SMN editors?

This is in the LTTE:

“It is my understanding the chief reports to one person: Savannah's City Manager Michael Brown. If this is the Savannah-Chatham MPD, why isn't the county manager also involved in supervision?”

“No wonder the residents in unincorporated Chatham County have seen the presence of the police diminish, since one person can move them around at his whim”

The writer doesn't want CNT to come under the control of the City of Savannah because she believes City Manager Michael Brown is soooo petty that he would use it to fight drugs only in the city and leave the county to rot.

Come on, really?

First and foremost, the merger agreement does NOT give the county equal footing in policing. City residents pay MORE per person than their County Cousins.

Chatham paid $17,824,653 for police coverage in 2007 while City taxpayers made up the rest of the $61,185,810 annual budget.

Chatham Folk - 72,000

City Folk – 135,000

Chatham Folk pay approx $247 each for Police service

City Folk pay approx $321 each for Police service

The writer claims a diminished police presence in the county which is hard to believe considering that they've enjoyed a 31% decrease in crime in unincorporated Chatham County since the police merger in 2003.

And unless Russ Abolt is secretly a Green Lantern or something, he aint no crime fighter. The merger casts the County Manager in an advisory role only.

Face it, if you live in the unincorporated areas you are a customer of the City of Savannah's protection services. You pay a fee and get a cop whenever you call. Chatham County hires the city’s police department to patrol their territory much as you might hire Brinks or some other private security outfit to patrol your cul-de-sac or the mall.

You do not get to call the shots. If you don't like that, tough t*ttie cause that is the agreement your elected officials signed back in 2003.

As for CNT it belongs to the merged department meaning it is under the control of Darth Berkow.

The language is quite clear:"The MPD chief will assume responsibility for the administration and oversight of the CNT which will be a separate division of the MPD."

OMAGAWD just dump these losers and be done with it.

The County Commission in its accumulated wisdom is still kvetching about how much they pay for police service and now according to Mr. Larson the city is caving.

What the H.R. Pufnstuf is wrong with our City Leaders?

Under the merger agreement the County is our customer.

They are buying police services from the City and are under contract to pay for those services just as you are under contract to pay your dentist.

Now, to drive that metaphor to drink, the County has far fewer crime cavities than it did before the merger, and they are expending less than they did when they had their own department.

We should simply dump them as a customer!

GRRRRRR I’m just getting mad and there is no point in getting mad at a bunch of mutants and R-tards who can’t even balance their budget.

Here Read this… I already got mad at these idiots about this whole police on the cheap thing.

The Pen is Mightier than the Nightstick

Darth Berkow seems to have learned a little something from that annoying anonymous blogger: the paper will print anything, even if it is not true and once they print the lie it becomes true in readers minds.

He has, of late, been on a LTTE writing campaign. It is a great idea, although I can’t decide if this was his idea or came from new police spokesbabe Judy Pal (was that sexist?).

Either way, his letters forcefully defend his department and they are well written if a bit dry but something, something I can’t quite put my finger on, in the two that I have read bugs me.

I guess it could be the fact that the Chief is responding to two letters that were questionable to begin with.

I don’t dispute that the incident in Effingham County set tongues a wagging, and I have no doubt that a police officer at an accident scene will be treated differently than a civilian. However, the LTTE that sparked the Chief’s response should have never been printed without being full researched first.

As to the LTTE about the Military Wife who suffered the frustration of the average METRO police investigation, both the original complaint and the response from Il Duce are absolutely correct.

The problem is the department didn’t communicate what it was doing so the victim of the crime was under the impression that they were doing nothing.

Maybe that is what is bugging me; both situations that have inspired our crimefighting bard seem to stem from a lack of communication.

Instead of writing to the paper in an effort to say “Nuh Uh!” when someone accuses the department of something, why not hold weekly press conferences and address issues of importance?  He could actually just run them straight on the METRO website and bypass the press since I know how the chief just luvs the press.

Why not have one person in each precinct communicate investigative efforts to the victims of the crime once every couple of days so they will never be under the false impression that nothing is being done to help them?

Smart people should get in front of issues instead of playing defense.

Dear Michael Akins,

“Individuals using these tabulations are cautioned against drawing conclusions by making direct comparisons between cities. Comparisons lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting communities and their residents.”

Sincerely,

THE FRIGGIN’ F B I

Yes, the Federal Bureau of Investigation actually warns people not to use their uniform crime statistics for unfair comparisons between municipalities.

So what does the Savannah Morning News do?

They first try comparing Savannah to Columbus, Georgia (have you ever been to eastern Alabama?) then switch to Orlando, Florida.

Far more interesting and accurate is to compare Savannah to Savannah.

Violent Crime was up in 2007 but is down so far in 2008.

Property Crime was down a smidge in 2007 but is up significantly in 2008.

That means fewer people got killed, raped or beat up but more people got ripped off.

Interestingly, the way the article is written, it seems police spokesofficer Judy Pal credits getting close to full staffing with the reduction in violent crime.

I will tell you right now, the number of police officers on the street has little or no effect on someone who is bound and determined to kill somebody. Likewise, the rapist is not worried about a police officer bursting in and disturbing his fantasy of power and control.

Police officers have little or no impact on violent crime. I’m not saying that if there were no police there wouldn’t be more violent crime, I’m saying that their mere presence does little to deter violence.

Where police numbers should matter, but don’t seem to be having much of an impact, is on the crimes of opportunity such as burglary and larceny from auto or from backyard.  

These crimes are based on just how easy it will be to get away with it.

The fear of a cop walking a beat happening by while I am throwing a sparkplug through this car window and making off with their purse, cell phone and laptop would be reason to pick another target in an area less likely to have a police presence.

Another thing missing from today’s SMN treatment on crime is the number of crimes cleared or, at least, the number of arrests made.

 I suspect, although I haven’t checked, that the SCMPD has increased arrests at a rate that meets or exceeds the increase in crime.

Speaking of Crime:

Excruciatingly Normal sent me this link.

http://www.cbs12.com/video/index.php?bcpid=1137883291&bclid=1143359274&bctid=1407538493

Prepare to be depressed about the future of american youth. Not because they steal but because they don't seem to be able to come up with a good reason not to steal.

Addendum 11:24:00 AM Thursday --- This just appeared on savannahnow.com about 20 minutes ago. I don't think it is in the print edition but I didn't look yet. There is nothing in the paper's account about "justified and lawful" as WTOC said last night.

Is Jan Skutch on Vacation?

I can’t believe the paper would miss Grand Jury action in the McKoon case. As I was lamenting just last week it has been more than 7 months since Officer McKoon shot and killed a man in a car with his friend, his babymama and his weeks old infant.

The Officer claimed the car was heading toward him so he fired into the vehicle killing David Willis. Passengers in the car tell a very different story saying the car was wedged between two police vehicles in a very narrow street.

According to both WTOC and WSAV Chatham County grand jurors were given the chance to indict McKoon on involuntary manslaughter this week and refused.

Of course to hear WTOC tell it the Grand Jury went further than a simple “No Bill”. “A Chatham County grand jury ruled that a deadly shooting by a Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police officer was justified and lawful.”

That is nowhere in the WSAV story and I was waiting for Skutch to do a write up so I could see what the jurors report actually said, not doubting the TV folk but really the Courts Reporter for SMN has a cot at the Chatham County Courthouse, he knows his law.

Sometimes that results in him taking for granted that everybody knows some obscure point of law that he sees no reason to explain but on the whole I usually get a pretty good picture of what’s going on up to the courthouse. That is why it is so surprising that I can find nothing McKoonish in the Thursday edition.

Basically, no matter how they described it, the “no bill” from the Grand Jury means McKoon will not face criminal charges for killing Willis.

I still have a few questions, when somebody grows the huevos rancheros  to ask.

1)      What did the GBI investigation show?

2)      Was the car pinned?

3)      Was shooting the only option or could the officer get out of the way if the car was moving?

4)      Is Darth Berkow still planning to “…provide yet another assurance to the community of a full, complete and impartial investigation” as he promised shortly after the shooting?

We may never see what that grand jury saw that allowed them to come to their conclusion which is a pity.

Since the story aired on TV tonight I’ve had a voicemail and an Email saying that McKoon got special treatment because of his race. I don’t believe that.

 I believe the only color the Grand Jury saw was the blue of his uniform.

People are saying he was treated differently than a black cop who shot a black suspect a few months prior to Mckoon’s killing of Willis they are correct. It was two different cases, with different circumstances.

It still troubles me that the public will learn much more about what Officer Taharka did and have a much clearer understanding of his guilt or innocence because he will go to trial.

Now that the Grand Jury has ended the McKoon case and it is no longer active, nothing should stop the police from releasing everything they have on the case. It will be subpoenaed in the upcoming wrongful death lawsuit anyway. They need to release it now and if they’ve been right all along they could head off the suit.