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D.C. Snow Job
Monday, January 4th, 2010My crime column this week looks at the Great D.C. Snowball Fight of ’09, and its lessons beyond the gun-waving Det. Baylor.
13 Responses to “D.C. Snow Job”
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Y’know, I’m starting to change my mind about being recorded constantly while I’m in public. I really don’t think it’s a total invasion of privacy and I can’t help but think it’s a damned good idea. We should have total recording of public acts…just as long as every damned piece of those recordings is performed and kept by private citizens.
I would agree, Newsham’s actions seem to be more of a problem than Baylor’s. If Baylor knew there would be actual oversight into his actions he probably wouldn’t have drawn the gun in the first place.
It’s interesting to see Newsham’s latest statement in WJLA article embedded in your link. He’s the source that says Newsham may be fired, quite the about face.
I’ll take the under here on discipline. But, a really good article.
I admit there might be some hope in that a live-wired society means LEOs have to adopt new lies. But before they get their act together, there might be some HUGE lawsuits won by the public. And then new laws will be passed so the Fist can get back to head bashing.
Your article not only deals with lies by the police, but it also points out the symbiotic relationship between mainstream “traditional” media and government agencies. One of the things I dealt with in my doctoral dissertation was that relationship, which I said was an example of the media promoting (in the words of the late Warren Brookes) the “statist quo.”
Read a typical newspaper and you will see what I mean. The journalists are the unofficial spokespersons for government agents. When was the last time you read an editorial in the New York Times that called for limits on the power of government? (Yes, the NYT has anti-torture editorials, but it also has no problem with government agents using other forms of psychological torture to get guilty pleas out of people who may be innocent of crimes but are not seen as politically correct by the ultra-PC NYT.)
A typical “investigation” by the MSM of a government agency generally is one in which the agency is accused of not using all its powers. Thus, the EPA should be regulating us more, the CDC and CPSC should be more aggressive, etc. Obviously, the Washington Post is a paper that helps to prop up the Regime. That is its purpose, period.
It’s obvious that the off-duty cop was in the wrong, but have we given any thought to the people who threw snowballs at someone who wasn’t a part of their little game and didn’t want to be? The officer certainly raised the asshole stakes, but he wasn’t the first asshole involved.
He won’t receive any real discipline.
Given the amount of abuse cops are allowed to dish out to citizens with impunity, it’s amazing that they still so often exceed even those boundaries of tolerance.
As Radley rises in prominence for his coverage of police misconduct, I shudder to think how law enforcement will respond.
Radley: excellent PWN
Turley’s site suggests that there is another story regarding the 2001 world bank protests: that the previous chief ordered the arrests, and Newsham was willing to take the fall for the boss. Since Newsham survived he was rewarded with this plum job for his loyalty. If true, Newsham is even worse, having committed perjury.
#4
Your characterization of MSM journalists is right on. I was a government flack and I can tell you that journalists who do the hard work of actual reporting are exceedingly rare. And it’s not just the content of stories that flows from the government – it’s the focus of the reporting. I don’t blame the reporters themselves, though. Most of them don’t have the time to do real legwork on a story. Their editor needs copy when he needs it.
None of this gets me down, though. There is a lot of amazing investigative reporting available from new media sources. These folks are filling in the void left by the big, institutional players. Plus, there is a huge demand for good reporting. I see no reason why good reporting would be any different from any other service. Someone will meet the demand.
It was a snowball fight, not a gang war.
Dave: there are a lot of “gang wars” that are nothing more than a bunch of rowdy teenagers.
Radley, you also missed another aspect of it. In the original MSM story that I read (don’t remember which one), they went so far as to claim that the detective’s name wasn’t known.
Even here, when the WP acknowledged that he had a gun, they couldn’t bring themselves to name him:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/20/AR2009122000881.html
Earlier, they acknowledged the video, but everything was “alleged”, apparently didn’t bother to watch it:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/local-breaking-news/police-looking-into-incident-a.html
If they had, they’d have heard Baylor screeching his name at the people there.
By the way, the correct response to “nutbag pulls gun at snowball fight”:
http://www.kptv.com/news/22102038/detail.html
I am not brave enough or stupid enough to throw a snowball at a guy with a gun in his hand. Yes the cop was wrong, his boss was even more wrong, but it is STILL a stupid thing to throw a snowball at a guy with a gun in his hand.
From the Sunday Links, the quote is from al-Rabiah. Whether or not the interrogator said something close, the exact quote is from al-Rabiah.
Never take Andy or his “e-mails” at face value.