Broken Windows is Not Policing

...it's harassment.

Broken Windows policing is the concept that by citing, arresting, and taking enforcement action on small crimes, Police Officer presence deters bigger crimes.

The term itself comes from the idea that when you see one broken window in a, usually dilapidated, building "criminals" feel empowered to break them all.

Charles Murray emerged from his crypt to opine in the Washington Post that Crime is Up because Broken Windows as a policing strategy was stopped, abandoned, and discredited.

Charles Murray gained his reputation by authoring the infamous Bell Curve, in 1994, which postulated the groundbreaking theory that Blacks are genetically inferior to superior smart Whites (and Asians but don't tell them because Asians are the model minority).

We get the general idea of where Murray is going with his attached headline picture accompanying the story, a homeless encampment in LA with some red flag which advertises the "Devil's Lettuce".  

How grotesque.  How so very on brand for this Reaganite Bigot. (Incidentally I see Reagan Era Bigots are getting a last hurrah, as William B. Allen co-authored the Florida Slavery is Great curriculum).

Murray then references the utter falsehood about Defund the Police in the wake of George Floyd's extrajudicial killing.  Murray has to amend his invocation of Floyd, BLM, and the Republicans lies about Defund by stating crime had supposedly already been going up for a decade before, thus invalidating bringing it up until you realize the reason Charles Murray brings up Floyd, BLM, and Defund the Police is to reiterate Republican agitprop and repetition, repetition, repetition. 

What this leads to is the policy of Police misconduct and harassment in Ferguson, Missouri;

Our investigation has shown that distrust of the Ferguson Police Department is longstanding and largely attributable to Ferguson’s approach to law enforcement. This approach results in patterns of unnecessarily aggressive and at times unlawful policing; reinforces the harm of discriminatory stereotypes; discourages a culture of accountability; and neglects community engagement. In recent years, FPD has moved away from the modest community policing efforts it previously had implemented, reducing opportunities for positive police-community interactions, and losing the little familiarity it had with some African- American neighborhoods. City officials have frequently asserted that the harsh and disparate results of Ferguson’s law enforcement system do not indicate problems with police or court practices, but instead reflect a pervasive lack of “personal responsibility” among “certain segments” of the community.

But this the outcome that Charles Murray wants and sees as a positive good.  Like all bigots, Murray is only interested in this being applied to Big Cities, which are overwhelmingly represented by minorities.  What Murray and his ilk want are Police Forces to be an occupying army, in which white Police Officers who live in the suburbs or certain urban conclaves ride into the Urban Jungle and enact Justice.

What this doesn't do is stop Domestic Violence.  What this doesn't do is stop Drunk Driving or distracted drivers who will Instagramming LOL run over and kill world-class bicyclists in their urban assault SUVs. What this doesn't do is stop kingpins who hire juvenile offenders to steal catalytic convertors in areas where no Broken Windows exist.  What this doesn't do is stop areas with high crime rates per capita like say when the Democratic candidate for Governor in Oklahoma, correctly points out their violent crime rate was higher than New York City.

But, none of this matters to Charles Murray, whose job as a rightwing propagandist is to craft a narrative to sell to Americans.  And for 50 years Murray has made sure to tell white people "Crime", like gun violence, is a thing that only happens in DemocRAT run cities.

The Revenge of the Thin Blue Line 2: Welcome to Chicago Trump

"You just kicked the shit out of an innocent man." - Strawberry Alice

"Innocent of what?" - Little Bill (Unforgiven 1992)

The Chicago Police Department embarrassed and debased themselves during Traitor Trump's visit. Trump is so obviously a conman and yet they applaud him. Police Departments across the United States are so thoroughly corrupted by believing their own Hero Warrior bullshit that Trump needed to spew little more to get the fawning adulation of a group of so-called Law Enforcement Officers.

Working the job for over a decade the only thing which irritates me on the job is when someone lies to me. I can deal with a lot but, lying to me is just too much. Yet, Chicago Cops not only enjoy being lied to by Trump they are eager to be lied to? Why?

During the 2016 campaign Trump recounted one of his fantasy scenarios where a big strong burly tough guy fawns over Trump when he declared a confided in him,

"And I said, 'How long would it take you to straighten out this problem?' " the president added. "And he said, 'If you gave me the authority — couple of days.' I really mean it.  I said, 'You've gotta be kidding. ... Give me your card.' And he gave me a card. And I sent it to the mayor. I said, 'You ought to try using this guy.' Guess what happened? Never heard. And last week they had another record. It's horrible."

Trump trotted out the story yet again, and added in the standard rightwing canards that Chicago has the Toughest Gun Laws in America and laws don't work. Now, you would think even the least inquisitive Cop would recognize the syllogism:

If the laws are tough and crime is still a problem, then enforcement is lax. 

I.e. the Chicago Police Officers are lazy or incompetent. But, what these Officers heard was 'those people are natural born criminals and animals and your command staff are weak or namby-pamby liberals' and if only Police Officers were unshackled they would be able to clean-up the City.

Trump is stupid but he has certain mean low cunning and what Trump knows is most people believe in half-conceived theories of criminal justice; usually variations of the wholly discredited Broken Windows Theory. So what Chicago Cops heard was what they wanted to hear;  "Don't be too nice."

I am wholly insulted and ashamed that Police Officers are so fucking gullible and easily taken in by a bloated, adderall abusing, grifting RAPIST.

Of course, no one should be surprised Police Officers, especially Chicago Police Officers, will ignore the law and willingly violate peoples Constitutional Rights because Chicago Police Officers are currently engaged in such activities.

Stop & Frisk violates the 4th Amedment. In 2016, Chicago Officers became required to justify their detention of minorities because that's who Chicago Police stop, by being able to articulate their reasonable suspicion. Of course, what's become apparent in the data collected since then is Officers don't have or don't know what that standard is and their supervisions are helping them add data after the fact, to justify the unlawful interaction.

But, illegal stop & frisk is supported by conservatives because right-wingers believe all black people are a priori guilty of some crime thus, any stop any detention of a black person is thus justified.

Police Injustice, the Policing System is working as Designed

Lost amongst the Trump-led GOPdammerung, the Dept of Justice released a depressing report on the state of policing in Baltimore. That report has been coupled with two more Police Shootings of young black males, one in Chicago and one in Milwaukee.

Now, the Milwaukee shooting appears to have been lawful, a "good shoot", but, criminals took advantage of the tensions and engaged in assaults and vandalism using the shooting as a pretext. The Chicago shooting is more complex and does not appear to be a "good shot" at this time.

It appears that young black men need to re-learn the lesson their fathers, uncles, and grandfathers learned;

"You need to understand that there are two gangs in the projects. The police are also a gang but they really have the power. I mean, these n* run around with money and cars, but at any moment the cops can get them off the street. Never, never, never piss off the police." -Sudhir Venkatesh recounts a discussion with "Autry" in Gang Leader for a Day (pg. 239)

The system of Policing in America is working as intended. Modern Police Departments were created during the 19th century to deal with 3 changing factors in America; 1) the growth of cities due to Industrialization, 2) the influx of immigrants from new nations, 3) the end of slavery and the Black exodus. Thus, a system needed to be created to deal with problems that original Sheriff's were not designed to handle; to control, disenfranchise, and ghettoize undesireables. To accomplish this it is not necessary that every Police Officer be racist. It is, in fact, desireable for the majority to be color-blind.

Every shooting is not done by a Bocephus white slave master racist cop but, that's what makes the rigged system work. The system by being generally good and staffed by lawful, honorable people creates a space for a bad element to exist and operate. Humans have a difficult time processing issues related to large, anonymous systems. It's too much. An individual bad actor or department can be identified and dealt with but, the system of control which has been created, and feed for centuries works in the background grinding out victims without being addressed.

Overall, the quality of modern police officers is very high but, that's a lie of statistics. In a Nation of 320 Million any one death is a insignificant blip, but such a calculus is used by those who do not suffer from the system.

Ferguson, Missouri two years ago became a microcosm of the harshness of the system. Michael Brown, got into an altercation at a gas station over a pack of swisher sweets, of which, Darren Wilson was unaware.

The altercation between Wilson and Brown at the door of the squad SUV and into the street without video evidence can never be properly reconstructed and one eye witness account will nver be heard but, right-wingers didn't feel comfortable with the known facts and had to start adding elements that were untrue. Conservatives sites claimed Wilson suffered a broken orbital bone from the "beating" he took and Faux News and the right-wing internet ran with the wholly untrue "diary" of Witness 40 to describe the final interaction and last shots fired at Brown.

But, when the Dept of Justice released the report which showed the Ferguson PD had been transformed from Officers into revenue generators to fill budget gaps that received little fanfare. Police Departments have been monitized over the last few decades as villages and cities have had to deal with declining budgets.

On top of turning Police Officers into tax collectors "Broken Windows" Theory has been in place for years. Broken Windows hypothesized that by cracking down on every minor infraction major crime would be detered. Additionally, "Stop & Frisk" and the War on Drugs turned policing from protect and serve into halt and harass.

Taken together, these had the effect of turning LEOs into occupying force, while other factors, the availability of high-powered firearms and long guns have led to a Paramilitary police look and mentality.

The recent Chicago Police shooting of an escaping car thief, and the mentality that led to the long altercation and not split-second decision was neatly avoided, while Chicago police bloggers who blamed both Mayor Rahm and Daley for cutting the training budget. Other anonymous LEOs joined in by saying lack of training was the problem.

This is part and parcel of the system. Bad shoots can be blamed on a lack of training or stress from working conditions and not from the violence/control/dehumanization inherent in the system. But, if these aren't enough to cover the bad shoot, then the character/criminal history of the suspect becomes pertinent and subtle lies can be added to the narrative.

Conservatives have been conditioned by right-wing toxic talk radio, Faux News, and the incestuous right-wing internet sites to reflexively blame all members of the maligned group. After every incident if the perpetrator is black, all members of the black community or #blacklivesmatter are guilty, if the offender is a muslim, all of islam is responsible, if the immigrant is hispanic, he's illegal.

Also, as conservatives have been trained to focus all their ire onto President Obama, every shooting in Chicago, every riot in Milwaukee becomes his fault. Additionally, since they ascribe to President Obama tyrannical powers they demand he turn those powers onto #blm and uniltaerally declare the organization a "terrorist group".

The arguments around #blm today are eeriely similar to those made about the Civil Rights Era; act responsibiliy, don't be so militant, don't do things which cause people to be annoyed or inconvenienced by you and eventually we'll get around to your concerns.

It wasn't until blacks began causing damage to property, in response to police shootings of black men that the media and conservatives began to pay attention. Of course, conservatives immediately called for violence against any and all black people and began demanding shoot-on-sight orders for looters.

Of course, it's hard to take conservatives seriously when they cry and moan about private property damage seeing as they venerate the Boston Tea Party as a near-Holy Event.

But, during the Civil Rights Era, black leaders knew they needed an unassailable champions to be the vanguard of the movement, that even the whiff of impropreity would be the wedge conservatives needed to discredit them and get sentiment against them.

While, the young black men killed in recent years have not be paragons of justice and untainted by criminal backgrounds, society in general and the black community have witnessed numerous incidents of #crimingwhilewhite, in which a white suspect has not been killed by Police and the treatment of President Obama, have created the perception that it doesn't matter what blacks do, because conservatives consider them criminal a priori and right-wing media will spare no effort slandering and smearing the dead black person.

To conservatives no police shooting of a black person is ever bad. No black person has ever been denied his constitutional rights, his right to due process, his right to be free of unlawful search and sezuire. Conservatives believe every black person is a criminal who just hasn't been caught yet.

Cops have been turned into Toll Collectors and Leg-Breakers

Having worked The Job for many years, one of decisions I've seen many Departments adopt is the use of Police Officers as an additional source of revenue for the Village coffers.

While Broken Windows tasked Police Officers with treating everyone living in certain areas, usually People of Color as potential criminals, most Departments also have policies on the books so Officers treat the people, they are ostensibly tasked with protecting and serving, as ATMs.

Jaywalking? $50. Underage drinking? $100. Cannabis smoking pipe? Another $100. DUI arrest? Tack on the administrative tow fee. Left wheel to curb? Overnight Parking? 30 minute parking limit? Ca-ching, ca-ching, ca-ching...

From the small Village of Bull Valley, in McHenry County Illinois comes the story of traffic stops by the BVPD using a non-moving infraction as a revenue generator. BVPD is stopping construction vehicles that do not have proper lettering and signage on the side of the vehicle and issuing a Village Ordinance Citation based on State Law 625 ILCS 5/12-713. The problem is even though Illinois Representative Dan Burke said he crafted the changes in the law to allow application to be handed locally instead of through District Courts, the "loop-hole" discovered by Bull Valley's Chief of Police is not against the letter of the law.

Now, why are Police Departments doing this? The reason is simple, taxes are too low on the wealthy and Corporations therefore various Towns need some way to make up budget shortfalls. Especially in Illinois, where for the privilege of having Boening's Corporate Headquarters in Chicago, Boening pays an effective tax rate of near Zero Percent. Other large "Illinois-based" Corporations similarly benefit from tax code legerdemain.

But, despite the retasking Police Officers haven't been able to generate enough! Thus, enter the automated Red Light and Speed Cameras in the City of Chicago and Suburbs. In 2014, Suburban Red Light Cameras took in $12 million. These fines are of course borne dispropotionately by Working Class people driving to and from work.

Turning Cops into Debt and Dues Collectors has been the most wrongheaded decisions adopted by municipalities across the Nation as Villages struggle to meet financial obligations. But, it's only going to increase as the Rich transfer more and more of the financial burden onto the vanishing Middle Class and beleaguered Working Class.

The Oathkeepers descend upon Ferguson, Missouri probably hoping to murder black people

The Oathkeepers, or more accurately Oathbreakers, have invaded Ferguson, Missouri. Four heavily armed members of the militia say they are in Ferguson to protect Alex Jones Infowars "reporters". The four whiter-than-white tactically loaded to bear militia members marched around the streets of Ferguson right after Ferguson Police engaged in a "Shoot-Out" with Tyrone Harris on the one year anniversary of Michael Brown's murder.

After Michael Brown's murder by Darren Wilson, when black people began to assemble and protest, the Ferguson Police Department decided to greet those initial protests with Overhwelming Force. All legitimate complaints about excessive force, ticky-tack violations, and unconstitutional Stop & Frisk met a literal wall of riot shields and machine guns mounted on military surplus vehicles.

Of course, the complaints of the protesters were vindicated by the Department of Justice Report on the shoddy Police practices of the Ferguson PD which was based on the revenue generating Broken Windows Theory which treats every Person of Color as a potential criminal.

The Oathkeepers, Oathbreakers, were ostensibly founded to protect the American People from the excesses of the Government predicated on their Manifesto which includes the staunch "Not on Our Watch" Motto but, in reality they are a group of lily white Reactionary Conservatives who can be counted upon to support Right-Wing law breakers (e.g. Cliven Bundy) but, absolutely support the violent use of Government power against what they perceive as left-wing agitation (Occupy Wall Street and Ferguson last year after Michael Brown's murder.)

Much like their sister organizations the Unconstitutional Sheriff's of America, the III Inchers errr, Percenters, and the various unaligned Soverign Citizens, the Oathbreakers represent the Re-rise of the Anti-Government Militia Movement in the United States.

In his seminal 1962, SE Finer, in his seminal 1962 book The Man on Horseback: The Role of the Military in Politics, described the underlying mindset which fuels the Oathbreakers, 

"I find in existence a new and heretofore unknown and dangerous concept that the members of our armed forces owe primary allegiance or loyalty to those who temporarily exercise the authority of the Executive Branch of Government rather than to the country and its constitution which they are sworn to defend." 

No proposition, added General MacArthur, 'could be more dangerous.' On the contrary, it is General MacArthur's view which opens Pandora's Box. The moment the military draw this distinction between nation and the government in power, the begin to invent their own private notion of the national interest, and from this it is only a skip to the constrained substitution of this view for that of the civilian government. ( ibid. pg 22-23)

Finer used a quote from General Douglas MacArthur in 1952, who was in a power struggle with President Harry Truman, which famously led to MacArthur's removal as Commanding General during the Korean Conflict.

Like most of the Reactionary Conservatives who make up the American Right today the Oathbreakers are a lily white group who have convinced themselves that the only legitimate government is one which hews closely to their "understanding" and interpretation of the Holy Constitution.

And just like that I'm no different than Darren Wilson or any of the other Out of Control Criminal Cops

Take a look at the Lawman
Beating up the Wrong Guy - David Bowie, Life on Mars?

The Park District in my town serves a large and diverse group of people in Cook County and we have a fancy, very desirable pool complex. Therefore, every summer when kids leave their unlocked bikes outside the pool entrance, they find them stolen.

So, this weekend I have the misfortune to receive a few of these stolen bike reports, which stupidly, I decided to solve through basic investigation and some footwork, instead of merely writing up a report and moving on.

Now, I have to be purposefully vague here. After investigating, locating and returning several bikes, which had seemingly been stashed nearby, I also located a couple juvenile offenders.

And that's when things went haywire. I found myself being circled by women demanding my name and badge number. At least one had her cell phone camera out. Conversations about how This Isn't Right were spoken loudly nearby so that I might hear them. I think those mothers believed I was going to harm those juveniles...

A couple of pool lifeguards (envision privileged never been out of the suburbs white college kids), probably altered by the above mentioned mothers thought it was their duty to surreptitiously record the interaction with their cell phone cameras, eventhough I clearly positioned myself in front of the Pool's front entrance camera. Their feigned nonchalance was ludicrous.

I realized these people whom I never met were judging me by what I was wearing. That they had formed conclusions about me without any real knowledge of who I am. I was just another potentially out-of-control white cop who might snap at a moment's notice.

It would be the height of obtuse tone-deafness for me to say now I know what it feels like to be an African-American driving and be pulled over. Because, I can still easily badge my way out of any traffic stop and as a cop in a Cook County suburb I'm well off financially.

But, the take away from most police officers and the ones on my force whom I talked with about this incident, is far different than my own. The blame with the current environment between Law Enforcement and the American Public lies completely with the criminal cops who have no idea how to police. Who have been trained to be suspect all People of Color, subject their communities to the Broken Windows policy, hand out citations/tickets in order to plug budget gaps, see themselves wholly apart from the communities they've been ostensibly sworn to Protect & Serve, while they more and more see themselves as some sort of Paramilitary Occupying Power.

The NYPD, Broken Windows, Collars for Dollars and Control of the Poor

Continuing the topic of Police Departments the discussion now focuses on what is the role of Police Departments have in society.

Contrary to popular belief and the motto's stenciled on squad cars, Police Departments were not created to 'Serve & Protect' and keep the peace but, to exert control over the poor and working class. The creation of the Modern Police Force in the United States coincided with increases in immigration, the Industrial Revolution, and the end of Slavery. As such Police Departments were tasked by the Ruling elite to keep the American Working Class, immigrants and minorities in check.

The 1% actually sees only two legitimate "Constitutional" Roles for the US Government, a military for expanding and opening up Foreign Shores for exploitation and the quelling of Domestic Dissent and control of the Poor by the Police

As the work slow down by the New York Brats in Blue has shown not much changed on the home front.

Apparently, the NYPD thinks their slow down is helping them win in their Political Struggle against Mayor Bill de Blasio. As a Police Officer I'm disappointed by their acknowledgement their arrests, notices to appear and citations were not to 'Serve & Protect' but, for the purpose of revenue collection and social control.

It's more than a tacit admission, it's a bold statement the Broken Windows Policing doesn't reduce serious crime but, transforms Police Officers into revenue streams.

The Broken Windows theory, a hypothesis first appearing in 1982 that clamping down small crimes will help keep down more serious crime, while compelling is not supported by the evidence of the last 30 years.

Broken Windows, though it still has its' adherents (namely Rudy Giuliani), has been undercut by an actual analysis of the data. Jens Ludwig and Bernard Harcourt in their 2006 thesis Broken Windows: New Evidence for New York City and a Five City Social Experiment posited the "Broken Yankees Hypothesis" wherein the number of NYC homicides decreases with the increase in Yankees Championships.

Additionally, the elimination if Lead in gasoline has been credibly linked to an overall decrease in crime.

But, that's the point, whether or not the rank and file of New York's Whiniest know it, they weren't created to 'Serve & Protect' and modern police practices are designed as a powerful social control to keep the established Plutocratic Hierarchy in place.

And the Working Classes in their place.

Review the iconic image from Occupy UC Davis, where non-violent "criminals" were treated savagely but, Wall Street criminals guilty of far worse offenses not only avoided this treatment but arrest and prosecution almost entirely,

Now, recall the overall crackdown on Occupy Wall Street and other sister demonstrators by Police Departments Nationwide was cheered and supported by 100% of conservatives. While later, 100% of conservatives supported recalcitrant lawbreaker Cliven Bundy and his army of insurrectionists with their plans to murder Law Enforcement Officers and use women and children as human shields, while Bundy and his other Cattle Barons annex US land for their profit.

In Joseph Wambaugh's first novel, The New Centurions, we follow 3 titular centurions conducting police work in the Civil Rights era in Los Angeles. As demonstrated by several chapters in Wambaugh's novel, the cops spend most of their time gleefully busting homosexuals and prostitutes as part of Vice Squads.

Wambaugh's later works especially The Blue Knight better captured the ennui of Police Officers but, Centurions while honestly reflecting the day-to-day grind of police work, is rife with Reactionary themes, including the "liberal" Officer getting shot mid-way through the book and being killed in the Watts Riots because he's too soft and Wambaugh's most racist 'I don't see black or white just assholes' speech presented by a "black" Officer.

But, another theme running throughout Centurions, is the belief in an early form of "Broken Windows",

"But today the 'dont's' are dying or being murdered in the name of freedom and we policemen can't save them. Once the people become accustomed to the death of a 'don't', well then, the other 'dont's' die much easier. Usually all the vice laws die first because people are generally vice-ridden anyway. Then the ordinary misdemeanors and some felonies become unenforceable until freedom prevails." - The New Centurions, pg. 86

The problem is once theories like, Broken Windows, Stop & Frisk, and the War on Drugs become conventional wisdom, accepted and entrenched in organizations as Reactionary as Police Departments they are difficult to dislodge.

The post Mike Brown death response by the Ferguson Police was the at least as egregious as Brown's killing. Faced with discontent over the situation the response was the force. It was a typical Police response, when faced with push back and perceived challenges to authority.

But, once you have gone with the full forceful response there are no other options than to further ratchet up force until the situation spirals out of your control.

But, well before the August 2014 killing of Mike Brown, the people of Ferguson have complained that like many poor neighborhoods they are faced with constant harassment and mistreatment by the Police as small infractions and petty violations are punished by fines, fees and costs.

And, once again, therein lies the real reason Police Departments were created for in the first place; Control.

Under the guise of Law & Order, poor and working class people are exposed to constant harassment, "Collars for Dollars", and criminalization for infractions which really aren't crimes. Because it controls them.