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Excerpts from: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_e-mail/98.e-mail.shtml

Are cops out of control?

In response to Jay Daniel's "Farah goes too far on police," I offer the following question -- where do you live, Mr. Daniel, and do you think that the local economy will support one more tax-paying citizen? The reason that I ask is because I'd like to move there.

You see, Mr. Daniel, you address an audience which does not form its opinion of uniformed officers based on hearsay or second-hand accounts, but based, instead, upon first-hand experience.

I've seen a lot, Mr. Daniel. I've seen the tavern owners in my small Oklahoma home town hand envelopes of "protection" money to the Chief of Police's uniformed bag men. I've seen four officers kick all of the front teeth out of the mouth of a physically passive but noisy drunk in San Diego's holding cell. I have a friend who left the Grand Prairie, Texas police department after witnessing and being forced to participate in the routine "long-way home" (his phrase) treatment for those that the uniformed officers judged to be the "sludge of society" (your phrase). Grand Prairie, at that time anyway, had one of the highest incidence rates of "resisting arrest" of any police department in the country, and was investigated for same, although the investigation went nowhere, and the issue just died out. Officers of the Grand Prairie police department who did not agree with this unofficial policy had statistically undeniable better chances of ending up in front of a bullet. I have friends both in and associated with law enforcement who are well aware of "throw downs" -- the untraceable gun(s) that you carry in the trunk of your police car, to be planted on those which you summarily execute, accidentally or not.

I spent an evening in the custody of the feral sadists posing as the Lake Charles, Louisiana police department, after having been attacked and beaten by a drunk. The drunk kicked a quarter-sized hole all the way through my face into my mouth, the fact of which I demonstrated for one of the officers by blowing air and blood through my face, to his infinite, loudly proclaimed amusement. I was denied medical treatment for approximately 12 hours, the result being permanent facial nerve damage and scarring in a wound which could have been routinely treated if given prompt medical attention. I was then subjected to a judicial circus in which we (the attacker and myself) were BOTH found guilty, and had our wallets lightened by about a thousand dollars each. My wife was charged and found guilty of "assaulting an officer" after attempting to pull the drunk off of me and being subsequently thrown bodily to the pavement by the uniformed "public servant," and had her wallet lightened, as well.

On the more mundane side, Mr. Daniel, I have been subject to the STANDARD verbal abuse and mockery following routine traffic stops, from officers who made it very clear that, on the streets and where we live, THEY are the law. Some of these officers made it abundantly clear that they would relish resorting to violence if I so much as uttered a contradictory word or in any way questioned their judgement or authority.

I recently had a break-in at my house, in which I deterred and ousted the perpetrator. I did not call the sheriff (I live in a rural area), because I fear frequently deadly, never punished actions of uniformed law enforcement far more than I fear an unapprehended petty burglar, period.

I would prefer, Mr. Daniel, if the law were absolute, and uniformly enforced, and you were given NO latitude for judgment calls. I would prefer it if driving 26 MPH in a 25 MPH zone ALWAYS resulted in a ticket; that would de-personalize the entire situation, Mr. Daniel, and remove YOU from the equation.

At this point, Mr. Daniel, you must be wondering what type of person I am, to have had this many encounters with law enforcement. I am an engineer with one of the world's largest international semiconductor and wireless communications companies. I am an educated, middle-class, Caucasian professional, born into a lower-middle class family in a small Oklahoma town. I am a husband and a father. I proudly served six years in the U.S. armed services. I file the "short" tax form, deducting nothing; my property taxes, liability insurance, vehicle registration and inspections are always current. I am active in my community and church. I was a delegate to the Texas State Republican convention in 1996. In short, Mr. Daniel, I'm a model citizen; I'm one of the people that you are sworn to protect, and I fear you without even knowing you. You state that your job is crappy, and that you are underpaid for it, to boot. Why then, Mr. Daniel, do you stay in it? I'm sure that your response will be to profess an undying love for law, community and country, and that may even be true. But, Mr. Daniel, if you deny the fact that most uniformed officers only pay lip service to these personal values, that their motivation is, instead, a lust for power and the wielding of same, an intense distrust and loathing of their fellow man, and an unstated-but-apparent attraction to the seamy, greasy underbelly of life which they profess to oppose, then you have reduced yourself to demagogy.

Regarding the U.S. Constitution, you state that you "would be willing to bet that we know it and understand it better than 75 percent of the adults in the US." While that statement may be true on its surface, it still doesn't quantify your collective understanding of the Constitution, which is undoubtedly miniscule, nor your adherence to its principles. Why don't you perform this experiment, and report back to us: ask all of the officers on you police force to paraphrase the Fourth Amendment, the Seventh, the Tenth, hell even the Fifth Amendment.

I'm sorry that your ox has now been gored. However, WND is probably THE premier forum for stating the truths which the mainstream media will not. This particular subject is one which the mainstream media will not touch unless it can be used to stir up racial enmity -- you know, white bubba cops abusing a poor black guy. All black readers of this response please hear this -- you are not the only ones suffering at the hands of abusive, unaccountable law enforcement; you just manage to get your story told with some regularity, whereas we white victims do not. You probably are subject to it on a more frequent basis, but sometimes someone listens to you and corrects the situation. I don't know which situation is worse, yours or ours.

Mr. Farah and WND deserve to be commended for having the guts to speak out, especially in light of their well-documented and ongoing abuse at the hands of various legal and law-enforcement entities.

BOB SHEARER

Different perspective on cops

I read WND to read a different perspective on the issues. Most of the time I don't agree with you. However, your column about the police being out of control hit home. The reason I am writing is not to commend you (although it is a tough critique to publish) as much as to respond to the letter in today[base ']s mail bag.

Mr. Jay Daniel took quite an offense to your article. Who could blame him? He's a cop. However, in your defense, I have to agree with most of what you wrote. This individual might act in a way that upholds what a cop should be, but for him to argue that this is how all, or even most cops act, is unbelievable. My personal experience with the police has always been bad EXCEPT for one motorcycle officer in L.A., and he was just nice to me when I sold him smokes at the liquor store I managed. For the most part, cops I have encountered have been unfriendly, rude, and often plain troublemakers.

I have lived in L.A., Austin and Houston, and I have yet to have a good experience with a reasonable police officer yet. I am an average white male, non-threatening, and eager to smile and talk reasonably with anyone. Unfortunately, this seems to attract the attention of cops who feel the need to stop and hassle me. In one incident, I was stopped and accused of slashing tires while riding a bike through a neighborhood. When I asked them if I fit a description or something they said no, I just looked like a criminal. More specifically, [base "]I looked criminal[per thou] because I was wearing gloves. In their minds that made me a criminal, despite the fact that it was winter and I had cut the finger tips off to grip the handlebars better. When I told the cop that no criminal would wear gloves that didn't cover their fingerprints, he told me [base "]We have a lot of stupid criminals out there.[per thou] Clearly, the stupidity is on BOTH sides of the law.

They proceeded to unlawfully check my backpack for weapons and verbally abuse me when I asked them what their probable cause was since they had not seen me commit a crime or have a description from witnesses that justified pulling me over. Eventually, my questions about their reasoning forced them to call in a back up car to "contain" me I guess. How ridiculous they looked with a guy on a bike, with his backpack being searched by one cop, while three of his buddies watched and made sure I wasn't a threat. They of course found nothing, which translates into the need for them to intimidate me some more to cover their inadequacy at doing their job effectively. In a surreal moment, right before they were either going to arrest me to "prove a point about asking to many questions" or let me go out of the kindness of their heart, a man being chased by a Ford Bronco comes screaming through the front yards of some houses down the street (possibly a real crime in progress). I just started laughing. Here I was being stopped by two cars of cops while right in front of them a murder or beating was about to take place! Hilarious. They told me in a very stern voice to stay there, which I didn't, and they rode off into the sunset to [base "]protect[per thou] us. This type of incident has happened to me on more than one occasion. Several times it has occurred in my neighborhood when I was taking a walk around MY block!! They just plain and simply hassle you. If you ask questions, they arrest you. Mr. Daniel does not understand that this type of behavior by cops is commonplace and usually instigated by the police. This type of police behavior has occurred numerous times to me, and from all accounts with my friends, them too. Especially my friends that are minorities.

Mr. Daniel may have the toughest job on the planet, but he chose to do it, nobody forced him, and much like our president, it is absolutely necessary for the burden of good behavior to be on the cops first! Part of the spiral of lawlessness must be attributed to the attitudes of the individual police officers that take their machismo arrogance to every encounter with the public. At some point, they will learn the hard way, like any other bully, that because they carry a badge and gun does not mean they get to push people around. Mr. Daniel needs only to be in our shoes for awhile to understand. "To Serve and Protect" seems such an appropriate motto for the police, in my experience with them they have done neither and often the exact opposite. Thank you for speaking out on what is a difficult subject to broach.

SPENCER ZUZOLO

I have to agree with Jay Daniel (Nov. 5, 1998, E-Mail to the Editor) on several points.

Generalizations are usually inaccurate. For instance, all journalists are not left leaning liberals, but many are. I would not lump you into that class with a generalization. All criminals are citizens, but all citizens aren't criminals. Breaking people into classes, rather than dealing with individuals and their behavior, promotes the idea of guilt by association and is ultimately unjust.

Indeed, most cops know and understand the Constitution better than the average adult. In my experience we understand it better than the prosecutors. We certainly understand its application in enforcement situations in the field when there is not adequate time to analyze every jot and tittle.

Most cops I know have no desire to be an arm of, or even work with the federal agencies in any capacity. From my experience, the "feds" are rank amateurs in the matters of street level day in and day out law enforcement. Department heads, most of which are bureaucrats playing politics to further their careers, are the ones to watch where cooperation or surrender to the "feds" are concerned.

On the other hand, I do know officers that do not appear to cherish the Constitution. Their actions indicate that it is an obstacle to them making an arrest and reaping the benefits of court overtime. To some it becomes a game. They know they are wrong, but if they can get away with it, then ultimately they are right; the end truly justifies the means. I personally have stopped subordinates who were about to engage in a clearly illegal search. Nothing angers me more than having to police my own.

Again, this is not all cops and nowhere near the majority. Typical abuses at the street level are far more subtle than the dramatic cases you have chronicled lately. They involve things such as illegal searches and slowly erode the rights of society. These abuses are difficult to expose and often go unnoticed. Perhaps society is as numb to these small abuses by the cops as they are to perjury by the president. One has to wonder how long until the big abuses cause no stir among the people.

I served on my agency's SWAT team for 6 years. Not too long after the Waco incident, we were asked to secure the premises of a suspect so the DEA could execute a search warrant. The suspect was a well known career criminal and this level of force was necessary and reasonable based on what we had long known about him. You'll recall that many, if not all, of the search warrants and supporting affidavits were sealed after Waco. In light of this, my first question to my superiors was, "Do we have a copy of the search warrant and have you read it?" I would have refused to play if the answer to that question had been "no."

I will not complain about what I have to do each day and about how little I am paid to do it. I willingly filled out the job application and took all the tests in the hiring process. I show up every day of my own accord knowing full well that I may not get paid enough for what I may have to endure during my shift.

I do ask, as did Mr. Daniel, that you don't use sensational headlines or write columns that indict every cop in the country for the acts of a few at some isolated place and time. Some cops ARE out of control. The citizens do need to be eternally vigilant in protecting their freedoms, and the press should expose illegal, unconstitutional and abusive acts by officers when they occur. However, this must be done without impugning the innocent officers who are on your side. Painting all cops with the same broad brush is as wrong "as lumping every violator into the same category as hardened criminals," or all journalists into a class with Geraldo Rivera or Eleanor Clift.

This is not the first time I have engaged in this type of discussion with a member of the media. Several years ago, a local radio talk show host was upset with the actions of a well known local deputy and was airing his grievances. He was correct in what he was saying about the particular officer's conduct, but it was just a short step from there to lumping every cop into the same category and indicting all of us for the one's misdeeds. I called in and tried to set him straight. He offered to meet with me in person at a later date. He came on the air that night and scoffed at the idea that I would actually show. I did and we talked for a good hour.

MIKE TADDICKEN

Are cops out of control?

I just finished reading your Between The Lines column, "The cops are out of control," for Oct. 30, 1998. As a federal law enforcement officer (BOP - Bureau of Prisons), I must admit that I have mixed feelings about the opinions expressed in your article.

The inmates I work around have been reciting to me these same feelings about the police, specifically federal law enforcement, for years now -- usually with a passionate plea of their innocence and/or the unfair treatment they've received at the hands of the "government." The black inmates complain there's a "governmental conspiracy" to lock up young black males or to "genocide" the black race entirely (e.g. the BOP is the new "plantation" for modern day slavery). White inmates lament over the "Jewish/Zionist" plot to overthrow our government and ruin the "glorious Aryan culture." And all of them, regardless of race or nationality, blame the U.S. government and the police for their "unjust" predicament. You learn to deal with such accusations with a "grain of salt," to put it mildly.

I've always written off such sentiments as the "paranoid" fantasies of criminals who were trying to shift their blame and guilt to anyone but themselves. Believe me, if you accept all the hype there's virtually no "guilty" convicts in prison. And the one's who do admit to at least some degree of guilt argue that their punishment doesn't fit the crime and they should be released. Instead of accepting their guilt and punishment, thousands upon thousands of inmates continually file motions and appeals trying to get off the hook. That's one of the reasons our court system is so bogged down.

However, having said all that, I have to confess that I too share many of your concerns. The ever-increasing power of the federal government, especially under Clinton's watch, is very disturbing. The many abuses of citizen's rights lately -- covered very well by WND -- is unconscionable. And the unrelenting move to disarm law-abiding Americans by left-wing politicians is frightening indeed. I agree that this pattern is a prerequisite to the formation of a totalitarian police state. All of us must resist this movement and insist that both the government and law enforcement officers be held accountable to the constitution (more importantly, accountable to God!).

But I'm also concerned that in our zeal to point out abuse and corruption, we will paint all law enforcement officers with a broad brush. Most police officers (including federal) love this country, the constitution, and the American people. Most police officers are good, moral people who are trying to do a very difficult (and unappreciated) job for average to below average pay. And most law enforcement officers would never dream of violating citizen's rights just to "fill their quota of arrests and citations." Most police officers believe wholeheartedly in stopping dangerous, violent criminals, and leaving honest law-abiding citizens alone. There's always exceptions to the rule, of course, but that isn't the norm.

I appreciate your aggressive search for the truth and your uncompromising position on pointing out governmental abuse and overreaching power. All I ask is that you keep in mind the many decent, honest law enforcement officers in this country and attempt to always maintain a balance in your reporting. Keep up the good work, and may the Lord Jesus Christ bless you in every way!

ROGER G. MANN