'Deep State' Means a Deep Funk for the Rest of Us

Former Congressional staffer Mike Lofgren has a perspective from the inside, while grasping the big picture of how the U.S.  has been sold down the river, and how regular people are crushed under the heavier and heavier wheel of what he calls the 'Deep State.'  

This interview spells it out. 

Is Tennessee about to further dismantle schools and communities with another for-profit device?

The Tennessee House of Representatives may vote as early as Monday Feb. 8 on HB1049 to allow "vouchers" to take millions away from already underfunded county schools.

TAKE ACTION

Find Your Legislator link and Tennessee house of representatives contacts.

Masked and misnamed as "opportunity scholarships," the idea is to give families of poor kids a fixed amount, based on the local public schools' per pupil expenditure, for one year of private schooling.

According to the state, that amount for the 2014-2015 school year was $11,221.60 in Shelby County and $11,496.30 in Davidson County.  For every other county, that amount is less -- significantly less in rural counties.    

Where is the "opportunity?"   First, there is an opportunity to prioritize profit over education.  You might ask, How is $11,000 or less a year per student enough to make a profit?

If your corporate, for-profit school gets enough funding in the early days of the school year, at which time the definitive head count is taken, and then expels students at a higher rate than public schools (which is the practice of charters), that per-student amount increases.  With fewer students, maybe you can terminate a teacher and her compensation, thus bolstering your most meaningful metric of achievement -- the bottom line.

Then, if your only corporate goal is profit, and you are paying teachers less than public or most private schools, and if you don't have a gym, or an auditorium, or a cafeteria, or a playground, or music or phys ed, you cut down your costs.  You do whatever it takes to make the numbers work, and your "students" are merely the cattle or commodity.  For a for-profit charter, two students at $11,000 each would pay for a secretary for one year; three students would pay for a classroom teacher.   

The traditional independent schools won't be accepting these students, unless the parents have the other $20,000 or whatever it takes to make up the balance of tuition.

Besides the bottom-line corporatists, the only other angle for bidding on this voucher money is political indoctrination, meaning schools which claim they are "religious" and have an agenda not to educate but to bend young minds.  

Money taken away from public schools on a per-student basis hurts them by more than the per capita amount -- they still have to run the buses, pay teachers and staff, pay utility bills, etc.  Eleven thousand dollars taken out of their hands does not reduce their costs by nearly that much.

"Opportunity" two:  Return to "separate but equal," a concept struck down by the Supreme Court in Brown vs. Board of Education.  The voucher scheme not only separates students by color and demographics, it separates them from their communities as we continue to shutter neighborhood schools.

"Opportunity" three:  Continue the assault on teachers and unions from the regressive state legislature.  Charter schools do not have to meet the standards of public schools and their teachers, and the erosion of bargaining (less pay, benefits, and prestige) pushes otherwise bright and passionate people from becoming teachers.  

"Opportunity" four:  Churn out cheap labor.  Maybe this should be number one or number two, actually.  Wealthy political forces have for years schemed to keep students out of higher education, instead diverting them to service and low-tech jobs.  This and other moves by legislatures in many states lead to a cheap labor force.

More and more people competing for fewer jobs has already made wages pitiful for many jobs and has taken away the value entirely of other jobs and businesses.  With a minimum wage currently at $7.74 per hour, that's about half of what it takes at minimum for a person to subsist in even a Southern state.

"Opportunity" five:  Make America poor.  With limited education opportunities come limited opportunities generally and for work, let alone prosperity.  America works best when the most people participate in democracy and the economy.  We built a robust middle class in the 1950s through 1970s, only to steadily erode the lot of working families since the mid-1980s.

Here is information and a call to action from TREE -- Tennesseans Reclaiming  Educational Excellence:

TAKE ACTION: PRIVATE SCHOOL VOUCHERS ARE NOT THE ANSWER House Bill 1049 Advances to Full House where it will be voted on as early as Monday February 8.  It is time to act and help us defeat vouchers. TREE would like you to call and email your House Representative, thank them for supporting public education and educate them on the destructive nature of this legislation. The bill could be heard on the House floor as early as MONDAY February 8. Legislators say they are not hearing from parents & public school supporters. So we need your voice and we need it to be the loudest it has ever been. A phone call is the priority action. You may even hear directly from a TREE member encouraging you to personally call your representative. We have made it easy with our take action button. PRIORITY #1: CALL THEM OR EMAIL and mention the following: Thank them for making public education a priority in Tennessee. And encourage them to continue that focus by voting no on private school vouchers. You want your public schools protected and strengthened. The bill is aimed at a small group of kids in the bottom 5% of schools but once established, TN will expand the program just like every other state that has a voucher program. This bill is already focused on expanding with a clause that allows unused vouchers to go to children outside of the most needy and at risk. You do not want your county’s public school funding to be affected in the future. Tell them you want solutions such as improved teacher to student ratio, Community Schools and full funding for public education which improve outcomes for ALL kids, not just a handful. Numerous voucher studies show they do not improve academic outcomes. Fraud, no accountability, rising taxes to keep the program in place and fewer resources for public education is the outcome that has consistently been shown in other states and that is wrong for TN. Vouchers do not empower the student with choice but rather the private school who picks and chooses who THEY want, It is unfair that private schools would not have to use the rigors TNReady tests like public school do to show our tax dollars are educating children. Other tests will show pointless comparison. Ask them to vote no to private school vouchers. Tell them your name and address and if you are a public school parent, let them know. PRIORITY #2 EDUCATE YOURSELF, YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND YOUR NEIGHBORS  Feel free to use any of our solid research and information that shows Tennessee is proposing a program that is just another step in privatizing government services and the abandoning of our constitution calling for our state to “provide free public education, including maintenance, support and eligibility standards.” Your favorite high-quality private schools indicated, in a Vanderbilt survey, that they will not be taking vouchers. (link to survey info) There are two main reasons. First, they do not want the potential of government intrusion into their testing and curriculum. Second, the proposed voucher amount is not enough to cover the cost of private school tuition. The gap would have to be covered by raising tuition on everyone else. In Nashville, the voucher amount is a mere 20% of average tuition rates. Remember that the “only for the poor” angle is just a short-term ruse. As we’ve seen in Florida and several other states, vouchers, just like charter schools, were expanded from “only for the poor” to families of higher income levels. Stratification and inequality are magnified in a voucher market for students without forms of social and economic capital. Vouchers have the potential to promote even more segregation and inequality than we see today. Civil rights and equality are not the true priorities for the out of state special interest groups that have poured millions into promoting a voucher program in TN to our legislators. This bill already has an expansion piece, offering vouchers to all students in a district with failing schools if the voucher allocation goes unused by the FRL population. If your county has any schools that are in the bottom 10% you should consider your school system a target once children in Memphis and Nashville are shuffled with vouchers. There will always be a bottom 5%. Minority Groups Are being Co-opted, poor kids in priorities schools will not be saved. From Julian Vasquez Heilig (Link to full article here.) “In the case of vouchers, the long-term impact on civil rights is already known. A decade of peer-reviewed research in Chile has demonstrated that a voucher market has increased inequality for students living in poverty and closed public schools. A voucher approach escalates inequality because capital rules the day. Test scores become negotiable capital in addition to hard currency. Students without this capital are denied access to attractive schools because there are other individuals in the market that are more desirable to schools. School choice becomes exactly that in a voucher system — schools choose. So, if you are a proponent of school “choice” and interested in civil rights and equity —- vouchers will not help you realize your goals.” Think vouchers will not expand to your county? The game plan is to expand. Last year the General Assembly passed the Individualized Education Act, a voucher bill for certain special education students where parents can receive a debit card to pay for education services if they withdraw their students from public school and waive protections for students with disabilities through the IDEA.  A year before the program is even set to go into effect and accept its first student, its sponsors have already introduced a bill to dramatically expand the program to children from any private school or even home school.  It is obvious that any parameters set on any voucher bill will quickly be undermined in an attempt to make the program as far-reaching as possible.  Don’t be fooled, any voucher bill will be expanded, which is why it must be opposed in any form. The proposed special ed expansion is here: http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HB2592&ga=109 Why are we proposing to waste our tax dollars on a program with a failing track record? Wisconsin taxpayers have paid about $139 million to private schools that ended up being barred from the state’s voucher system for failing to meet requirements. Vouchers would be investing in a failed experiment for our most at risk. Watch this video if you want to see how bad things got in Milwaukee. Now is the time to do something! Public school parents, teachers and supporters want policy and laws that can impact ALL students. It’s time we demand it!  Instead of an expensive voucher program for a few students in urban schools here is what urban teachers and parents want from lawmakers: Fund proven strategies — such as smaller class sizes, student support services, and opportunities in the arts and recess time — all essentials to a quality education. Special needs children, English language learners (ELL) and children struggling below grade level require many additional hours of direct teacher attention. We need to fund time with our students to learn with the focus on teaching instead of testing. We also need to value our high achievers and give them the support and resources they need to shine. Expand local Community Schools programs creating a support mechanism for our high risk students and their families. Create more social justice discipline supports changing suspension from a ticket to prison into an opportunity for a child to find social and academic direction. We don’t want our schools to be left behind by our legislature. We want our tax dollars to serve all children, not just those who are chosen.

Who Will Watch the Watchers? Official Trailer Released Today

As Americans increasingly view police abuses caught on camera -- and after police arrested persons who videoed them in Memphis, Tennessee -- a movement arose to enable citizen oversight of police.

Who Will Watch the Watchers? is an episodic series which examines police and community in U.S. cities.  The series begins with episodes which tell a national story -- that we "drill down" in Memphis.

Vimeo (preferred):

Link to the official trailer for Who Will Watch the Watchers?  Episode I: "No Justice, No Peace."

YouTube:

Link to trailer on YouTube

'Chinga la Migra!' Die-In MLK Day Memphis

"Chinga la Migra!" die-in on MLK Day at National Civil Rights Museum Jan. 18, 2016, protesting unjust and inhumane I.C.E. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids in Shelby County, Tennessee.

YouTube Link:

'Chinga la Migra!' Protest at Civil Rights Museum on MLK Day

Fear-Mongering over Terrorism Fuels Further Beat-Down of Middle Class

Fear mongers are winning the national narrative -- aided by the corporate media -- which plays into right-wing political rhetoric and widens gulf between haves and have-nots.  Click to read.

Memphis not Ferguson? Darrius is not Eric Garner, Michael Brown, LaQuan McDonald, Freddie Gray, Walter Scott.....

Attorney for Stewart's father reveals officer Connor Schilling
was charged with 'leaving the scene' prior to MPD hiring

UPDATE FEB. 7, 2019
Civil trial brought by mother and father of Darrius Stewart will be heard Feb. 25, 2019, in U.S. District Court in Memphis. City of Memphis recently was dismissed as a defendant.

The DOJ investigated in 2015 but stated Stewart's civil rights had not been violated. However, this investigation led to the DOJ's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) collaborative review of MPD, which was announced in October, 2016, as a hedge by Memphis officials to dodge a more serious possible "patterns and practices" review by the DOJ Civil Rights Division. In April 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions terminated the DOJ's review of policing in Memphis and such ongoing reviews in 13 other cities.

Below is our story from December, 2015, including these witness videos, which are disturbing and contain profanity. These are links published by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and then posted by local media on their YouTube sites. We show clips from these and other largely unseen, disturbing footage from the night Darrius was murdered as part of our documentary on citizen police oversight, Who Will Watch the Watchers?

ORIGINAL CITIZENS MEDIA RESOURCE STORY Dec. 15, 2015:

 Witness #1 video (same as link to the right)

Witness #2 video 


The Department of Justice will independently investigate the killing of 19-year-old Darrius Stewart July 17, 2015, by Memphis police officer Connor Schilling.

This news came before attorneys for Darrius Stewart's family held a press conference today to announce they had read a just-released, 918-page Tennessee Bureau of Investigation report and found that witnesses said Schilling's deadly second shot came as Darrius was trying to get away from him.

Memphis city officials, from the mayor to the police, have insisted this year -- mainly as they were talking against citizen oversight of police -- that "We're not Ferguson." Darrius Stewart's case differs from the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, and from other infamous police killings in one key way:

Darrius Stewart was not the target of police attention; he was a bystander, a passenger in the back seat

Darrius Stewart

of a car at a traffic stop.

In the context of systemic problems which have led to police killings of men who appeared to pose no threat to officers, Memphis, Tennessee, is Ferguson, Baltimore, Cincinnati, North Charleston -- everywhere and Anywhere, USA.  Granted, the public outcry in Memphis after the killing of Darrius Stewart was muted compared to protesters in Ferguson, and in Memphis there was no police rollout of tear gas and tank-like vehicles.

It's a cruel twist that Stewart was a passenger in a car at a traffic stop and was not being accosted by police for anything he was doing.  The other infamous deaths at the hands of police that have made news the past two years involved men who were drivers, in the case of traffic stops, or who were being stopped by police for something they were doing or were believed to be doing.  Not saying here that selling cigarettes on the street in New York (Eric Garner) or running when you see cops in Baltimore (Freddie Gray) are grounds for being choked, shot or beaten to death.

SCHILLING'S RECORD

Carlos Moore, attorney representing Stewart's father, Henry Williams, noted that Schilling had been charged with leaving the scene of an accident in DeSoto County, Mississippi, in 2009, before he was hired to be a Memphis police officer, as well as having a DUI charge for which he was disciplined by MPD in 2014 with an 18-day suspension. In DeSoto County, however, Schilling's 2014 charge was dismissed after the arresting officer failed to appear.

UPDATE Nov. 29, 2017:
Schilling also caught a DUI charge when a Southaven officer found him intoxicated in a Taco Bell parking lot on July 6, 2017. Schilling got a "slap on the wrist," according to attorney Moore and with a fairly easy path toward getting his charge dismissed.   

Was this the third time that the DeSoto County justice system had let Schilling off the hook for drinking and driving?
From The Commercial Appeal: https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/crime/2017/11/29/connor-schillings-dui-charge-southaven-could-dismissed/902886001/

"Schilling never should have been hired by the Memphis police department," Moore told us last month after learning of the Citizens Media Resource report about the leaving the scene charge.

No other media has reported this story, so far as we know, although Schilling and the case have gotten intense scrutiny, generally.  Can anyone explain why?  Anyone?  However, the information is a matter of public record and was at one time accessible on the DeSoto County Justice Court website.

Since we confirmed the information about Schilling's Jan. 3, 2009, arrest with a DeSoto County Justice Court deputy clerk, the status of Schilling's case has been changed from "open/pending" to "not guilty."

Huh?

Conner Schilling was charged with leaving the scene of an accident on Jan. 3, 2009

We spoke with two DeSoto County court clerks on Nov. 12 and Nov. 13, and they confirmed that the six-year-old case status was "open/pending," with "no disposition" and with no indication of whether the case had been heard in court or whether Schilling had appeared.  However, one clerk, who said she had looked up the hard file on the case, said that a fine of $190.50 had been turned over to a collection agency in an attempt to recover the amount from Schilling.  The clerk knew Schilling was a police officer.

Somehow, between Nov. 13 and Dec. 3, the status of the case was changed online to "not guilty."  The URL which had gone to the case record showing "open/pending" suddenly went to another person's case.  The "not guilty" version of Case 9201454 appeared on the website -- and the URL was the same as that which contained the former record, except the last number was changed from "5" to "6."

Suddenly, after we talked to DeSoto County deputy clerk, Schiiling's 6-year-old charge was changed to "not guilty"

While a Shelby County grand jury failed to indict Schilling for voluntary manslaughter, there will be a civil lawsuit filed on behalf of surviving family members.  That Schilling had a "leaving the scene" charge on his record before the city of Memphis hired him to be a police officer will bolster's the plaintiff's case, attorneys believe.

Dropbox file showing DeSoto County Justice Court record Connor Schilling Case 9201454 as it existed Nov. 11, 2015 (the date is in upper right corner of the page):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5pzggv7ym3xooud/Connor%20Schilling%20case%209201454.pdf?dl=0

UPDATE FEB. 7, 2019
The following URLs have been changed since our story of Dec. 15, 2015. But, here they are, and you can see they no longer pertain to Schilling.

Resuming from Dec. 15, 2015, story:

Link to DeSoto County Justice Court record Connor Schilling Case 9201454 as it existed Dec. 3, 2015:http://records.desotocountyms.gov/WEBPGMS/JCRINQDEF1.pgm?TASK=disp&rrn=000067286

When we tried to use the link to look at the record online just now, we got an error message: "Safari Can't Open the Page."  We got it to open once -- but it went to a different person's record.

We have not asked the DeSoto County court for an explanation.

Here is a link to Schilling Case 9201454 as we revisited this matter on May 18, 2017, showing the disposition changed to "not guilty:" http://desotoms.info/WEBPGMS/JCRINQDEF1.pgm?TASK=disp&rrn=000067314

Moore said that Schilling's hassling of Stewart represented racial profiling as he would not have asked a white passenger for his ID after a broken headlight traffic stop.

Anecdotes abound among African-Americans about police stopping cars with several black passengers and having everyone get out and show IDs, on the premise that somebody would owe back child support or would have an outstanding warrant on his record.

'Runaway Inequality is ripping us apart'

Les Leopold, author of Runaway Inequality, lays out the damage from the extreme inequality which
favors Wall Street, privatizers and militarization at the expense of the rest of us.  Eighty-five individuals in the U.S. have more wealth than the bottom 50 per cent of Americans.

Truth-out interview with Leopold hits the high spots in this linked story.

'The Suburban Itch' Comedy Short Released for Public Consumption

'The Suburban Itch,' a short film which takes on profiling with humor and Memphis hip-hop music to help the message go down, is released for public viewing free of charge on Vimeo.com and Youtube.com.  Links to the 10-minute film:

Vimeo:   https://vimeo.com/147425971

Youtube:  https://youtu.be/ax1OlkKDvg4

'The Suburban Itch' made its Tennessee premiere Nov. 8 at the Indie Memphis Film Festival, and the posted version of the film includes some audio of audience reaction during that screening.  The film previously had been shown at LA- and NYC-area and other film festivals.  

The film is prospectively a feature film, or the basis of an episodic series.  Producer Moore Media & Entertainment also is developing other stories, including an episodic comedy series and a comedy feature.  

"If you like 'Weeds' and 'House of Cards,' you will like what we have cooking," said producer Gary Moore.  "In 'Second Coming,' a pissed-off Jesus returns to Earth to expose a televangelist who claims the Son of God has personally endorsed the preacher's fund-raising campaign.  First episode is 'What Would Jesus Really Do?'  

"In 'The Pregnant Prick,' House Majority Leader Hiram A. Bullwright , a womanizer and friend of Big Pharma, becomes pregnant as suddenly do men around the world.  Scientists blame climate change for the phenomenon, and Bullwright's politics are turned upside down," said Moore, who is seeking production partners.  

CLERB, Schilling and Darrius

Officer Connor Schilling called in sick today, but it wasn't the first time Schilling has failed to make the scene. Schilling was cited for "leaving the scene" of an accident in 2009, and according to DeSoto County Justice Court, he apparently did not appear for his court date as the record shows the case "open/pending."

On the same day (Nov. 3) when Memphis City Council finally passed the updated CLERB ordinance, 9-2, District Attorney Amy Weirich announced that the grand jury had failed to indict Officer Schilling.  Weirich said she had requested an indictment of voluntary manslaughter in Schilling's shooting to death of 19-year-old Darrius Stewart on July 17.

The DOJ is monitoring the case, and Stewart's family is determined to keep his death and the secret Tennessee Bureau of Investigation report from slipping out of the public consciousness as his mother and others spoke out at a rally Tuesday Nov. 10 at the criminal justice center.

Schilling was scheduled for a Memphis police administrative hearing Friday Nov. 13, but he called in sick, according to local news reports.  Police internal affairs seeks to review Schilling's actions on the night of Stewart's death in the context of police policy and procedures.  The hearing, which is not open to the public and at which Schilling will be represented by counsel, will be rescheduled.

After Stewart's death, local media reviewed Schilling's personnel file.  It showed he had been internally disciplined for a DUI, which was dismissed in Mississippi when the arresting officer failed to show up for court, and an excessive force complaint against him by a local citizen, Cyneitha Campbell, had been found without merit by internal affairs.

Memphis United activists, who have worked more than two years to bring the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board out of an exile illegally imposed by the city administration, point to   Campbell's complaint as something that could have been brought before CLERB -- had it not been disbanded -- and could potentially have helped curb future uses of force by this officer.  CLERB last reviewed a citizen complaint in August, 2011, before being reconvened early this year.  However, the reconstituted CLERB board has yet to hear a case.

Case 9201454 Shows Connor Schilling fined for leaving the scene; screenshot from November 2015

The "leaving the scene" citation was issued Jan. 3, 2009, more than three years before Schilling became a Memphis police officer.  The charge, "710 Leaving the Scene" on case number 9201454, shows an "open/pending" status in DeSoto County Justice Court.  The file shows a fine of $190.50, and the clerk's office says a collection agency has been assigned to attempt to collect.

A Justice Court deputy clerk, however, says the case had "no disposition."  Another clerk in the Justice Court office said there is "no time limit" on an open case.  They could not say whether the defendant Schilling ever appeared in court.  Since there was "no disposition," it seems unlikely there was a hearing -- although that seems to contradict the collection attempt and fails to explain why there has been no disposition or follow up.  The deputy clerk explained they have many cases, so is this just one that fell through the cracks?

Leaving the scene is a misdemeanor, per Mississippi Code Annotated 63-3-403.

DeSoto County records also show Schilling received a ticket for running a red light Nov. 9, 2008, and paid a fine of $150.

Although running a red light is a common violation which many drivers have committed at one time or another, whether cited or not, "leaving the scene" sounds more serious and is the kind of thing a police officer would be expected to deal with in his line of duty.  Why does one "leave the scene?"  This occurred before Schilling was hired to be a Memphis officer, and we are not privy to any particulars other than the dry record.

The "leaving the scene" citation apparently has escaped local media's radar, and perhaps it was not revealed to MPD prior to their hiring of Schilling.  Private companies nowadays scrutinize public records, including arrests, and credit reports, and get mouth swabs or urine specimens, before hiring employees. Fairly or not, in some cases even a traffic ticket may disqualify someone from a job.  Not pre-judging this case without more details, but could "leaving the scene" generally be the basis for disqualifying or further scrutinizing an application to become a police officer?

UPDATE on Nov. 29, 2017: These URLs are now connected to other cases. AND, just days after we spoke with DeSoto County Justice Court in mid-November, 2015, Schilling's "leaving the scene" case was changed to "not guilty." How does that happen?

See screenshot:

Weeks later, this same case almost six years old, suddenly showed "not guilty"

DeSoto County Justice Court website showing Case 9201454:  http://records.desotocountyms.gov/WEBPGMS/JCRINQDEF1.pgm?TASK=disp&rrn=000065333

new link as of dec. 3 2015:  http://records.desotocountyms.gov/WEBPGMS/JCRINQDEF1.pgm?TASK=disp&rrn=000067286

Who Matters Most: Kindergarten Teachers, or Hedge Fund Operators?

Is America turned upside-down, or what?   From Jim Hightower's recent post:

Get ready to swallow your "Statistic of the Day!"

But first, to help you absorb the big one, here's a preliminary statistic for you: 158,000. That's the number of kindergarten teachers in America, and their combined income in 2013 was $8 billion. Now, here's your Big Stat of the Day (even though it seems smaller): Four. That's the number of America's highest-paid hedge fund operators whose combined income in 2013 was $10 billion. Yes, just four Wall Street greedmeisters hauled off $2 billion more in pay than was received by all of our Kindergarten teachers.

This is What Dysfunctional Looks Like Down at Memphis City Hall

Memphis City Council obstructs the people's business with politics, fear-mongering and slander

         It’s midnight.  Do you know where your city council rep is? 

Better yet, do you know if he or she is making you proud out in the community or is up to childish mischief?

Too scared to look?  You should be.

But, if you can work up enough guilt about needing to be a better informed voter, watch this video, “This is What Dysfunctional Looks Like:  Memphis City Council Aug. 4 2015.”

Was this politics over progress?

Council members Kemp Conrad and Berlin Boyd and others running for re-election said they were making a bow to police by putting off a much-delayed vote on improved police oversight until November, after the Oct. 8 city elections. 

Police Director Toney Armstrong made a dramatic appearance and

Officer Sean Bolton

leveraged the tragedy of a police officer’s death into spiking an ordinance which already had been put off twice at the request of police administration.  He and Boyd pleaded for respect for the officer’s family. 

Can anyone honestly imagine that officer Bolton’s family was sitting there worried about minor amendments to a 1994 ordinance?  Or that the concept of citizens reviewing internal affairs complaints was connected with Mr. Bolton’s death?

You’ve heard of shoot the messenger?

Complete with a slide show of Facebook pages, Conrad launched a personal attack against one Memphis resident who had worked hard to upgrade oversight.  Conrad demonized an entire class of citizens, whom council members unanimously had voted to do a bunch of research and work –- for free.

You want to set up the City of Memphis for libel and slander lawsuits?

Conrad called concerned citizens and members of local community organizations “law breakers at heart” among other things.

Do you believe citizen oversight of police would increase crime?

That’s preposterous, or it’s Opposite Day, right?  Conrad said it would increase crime and the murder rate.  But then, Conrad also said civilian oversight was a good thing, see next.

You’ve heard the political adage, Watch what I do, not what I say?

Conrad, Boyd and crew shot down the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board while they all said they thought it was a good thing and wanted to vote for it – except, they didn’t. 

That made it super easy for editorial writers and commentators to analyze this stunt, since council members admitted it had nothing to do with substance, and everything to do with trying to impress police while spiting citizens in the community -- you know, those irritating people council promised to represent.  Also, there’s an amateur political notion that if they put things off until after election day, they won’t have a voting record to catch flak over.  Wrong – now they have a not-voting record!

Maybe the city should just dock the obstructionists' pay for not doing their jobs, huh?

It seems as though many, or most or maybe all of those council members who voted against internal affairs accountability had not actually read the ordinance in front of them – which was prepared by the city administration, Chief Administrative Officer Jack Sammons and his staff.  They claimed it was written by Memphis United, whose earlier draft of proposed ordinance changes had been shot down in July.

How can they get away with it, you say?  You could vote them out, which would be not-getting-away-with-it.

Since most people tune government out because of these kinds of antics, or because we are too satiated with celebrity news to pay attention to anything else, or because we are working two or three jobs to make ends meet and are too tired to watch -- that enables the dysfunction to continue.

As the charge of “anti-police” goes, Conrad voted against the compensation and benefits that police had asked for earlier in the year.  On the contrary, Memphis United members had supported the police union then.  Funny how nobody slandered them at that time.

Shouldn't police officers and teachers be paid more like doctors and lawyers?  Those are important roles in society, in position to do a lot of good and a lot of harm.  Many police-related problems that show up on the news result from policy makers rather than the men and woman in the field.  Hiring standards, policy, training and culture -- which starts at the top -- most impact citizen complaints.  Did you know that the number one trait which predetermines an effective police officer is outgoing personality?  De-escalation usually works better than amping up the tension.  

The better narrative and action for the city, the police and the police union to follow would be to build a bridge with the community, rather than a wall of belligerence and suspicion.  Sure, they have community policing and outreach programs now, but citizen oversight of complaints hits more at the essence of the job.  Criticism does not have to be taken as a personal attack, and police don't have to play the persecution card.  No doubt, it's hard out here for a cop.  But, unless we critically self-examine, we will never improve.  Better police and better Memphis seem like worthy goals.

Most of this video came from the City of Memphis media archive, and you may notice an audio lag when people are speaking.  Website:  http://www.memphistn.gov/Government/CityCouncil/ArchivesofMeetings.aspx

Watch the video, then if you really want to geek out and be informed, below are links to the following documents:

1---Resolution passed unanimously by city council May 6, 2014, which tasked Memphis United, a coalition of concerned citizens and local community organizations, with holding nine town hall meetings across the city; researching civilian oversight of police, and reporting back to council with their findings – at no charge to the city.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/03molt619zbelru/CLERB%20resolution%20May%206%202014.pdf?dl=0

2---Amended ordinance proposed to city council by Memphis United on April 7, 2015:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9intft8jrf9c4us/CLERB%20Primary%20Draft%20Amendment%20to%20Ordinance.pdf?dl=0

3---Edited ordinance as ready to be voted on July 7; this version of the ordnance made two key concessions to police – taking away subpoena power from the oversight board and taking away the board’s power to conduct an independent investigation:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8mz5g0tchvkllf5/CLERB%20Ordinance%20Amended%20July%207%202015%20PrimaryDraftAmendment%2007072015%20as%20amended%20blue%20highlights.doc?dl=0

4---Version of the ordinance prepared by the city administration and up for vote Aug. 4, 2015:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9uuz8usbm3ygp2e/CLERB%20ordinance%20Aug.%204%20FINAL%20REVISED%20CLERB%20Amended%20Ordinance.%20080415.pdf?dl=0

5---The original CLERB ordinance which was enacted in 1994:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/y6ct5zta9ifie18/CLERB%20ordinance%20original.doc?dl=0

6---Memphis United’s findings and report as commissioned by and presented to Memphis City Council:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qsn0dlrojt358x1/CLERB%20Report%20Increasing%20the%20Effectiveness%20of%20Civilian%20Law%20Enforcement%20Review%20Board.pdf?dl=0