The Thin Blue Line Gets a Little Thicker

May 22nd, 2012 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs

As the National Law Enforcement Memorial Week has drawn to a close both on the Mall in Washington DC and elsewhere; another 300 plus names are on the forever engraved on the wall.  We realize that many of those were not shot or injured in the last calendar year, but were from previous times and their information has now been updated enough for them to be included. However, over one –third were alive and well this time last year. What about those alive and working today? Will their name be one added next year? If you were able to ask any of those whose name was just added for this past year, one year ago if they imagined  where they would be; if  they had any fore-knowledge or suspicion, perhaps a premonition; most likely the answer would be ‘no.’

The Thin Blue Line

But, ladies and gentlemen of law enforcement does it take adding over 300 names to our memorial wall to remind us that each and every day, we are at war? War… not a career. We are as a country, a people, as our military and as law enforcement as the thin blue line of defense in America, some describe it as the thin blue line between civilization and anarchy. The truth of the matter is: we are at war. War brings death. War brings pain and suffering, injuries and disabilities. War brings separation from loved ones. War, someone once said, is hell. ‘Capt. Hawkeye Pierce’ of M*A*S*H fame said once that ‘war is war and hell is hell.’ That hell has no innocent bystanders.

When you go to your shift, whatever precinct, borough, county, city, small town or village; whether patrol, DB, homicide, vice, even attached to a Homeland Security task force, do you feel like you are going to war, to battle? My suspicion is that you do not. You read someone like me, who is writing about your role in this war against terrorists and you think I am blowing smoke. So, back to your coffee break, maybe signal out at the hospital where that cute new nurse is on duty, don’t worry about anything like terrorism happening in your little neck of the woods. That is for the big boys; the feds or anyone other than you.

November 28, 2011

“Local police bust a phone hacking ring that is sending money to terrorists. Investigators then uncovered a paper trail that proved the funds were going to al Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).”

Sept 28 2007 Local police arrested Houssein Zorkot, “who is of Lebanese dsecent, after he was spotted walking around a park wielding an AK-47 assault rifle, wearing camouflage makeup and dark clothes. Zorkot’s website includes praise for Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah.” It also links to Al-Manar, a satellite television controlled by Hizballah and contains statements such as: “Hezbollah protects Lebanon” and “Hezbollah is a national resistance organization.” Location: Wayne State University. He was a medical student there.

“In July of 2005, officers from (Torrance CA) police department arrested two suspects for robbing a local gas station. As the investigation continued to unfold, the officers came face-to-face with a direct act of domestic terrorism. An Islamic extremist group based …in California and known as “Assembly of Authentic Islam” (JIS) was uncovered. This group, operating primarily in state prisons without apparent connections or direction from outside the United States, committed several armed robberies throughout Southern California, including the one in Torrance. The robberies were committed with the goal of financing attacks against the enemies of Islam, including the United States government and supporters of Israel.” (Torrance CA has a population of about 147,000 people.)

These are just the first three examples from the first investigative website I pulled up to show you what I am talking about and yes these are a few years old, but you get my point, I hope.  You can rest assured that you are not alone in this fight however.

The retired and off-duty cops across this country have been arming themselves well based on the federal, Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act. Carrying for officers who are retired, still qualifying and capable is becoming more common place and the number of times is increasing in which retired officers are stepping in to assist an officer who is injured or happen to be in the right place at the right time as some recent church shooting crimes have gone down and these armed officers made a difference. Yes, I agree with you; there are some retired cops that should not be out there wielding a badge and a gun. The LEOSA takes care of that in the annual qualification process where they must meet the same standards as the current on-duty cops.

I urge you, cops of all agencies, specialties, patrol assignments, administrative responsibilities; remember, we, the United States of America (our people not our government) is at war with a radical bunch of people who have threatened to kill every last one of us. Start acting like you know you are at war. Teach your citizens how to protect themselves. Serve them with the professional courtesy they deserve. Be aggressive in your learning and in enhancing your skill set. Always watch your partner’s back and make certain he or she is watching yours. Go home safe at the end of your shift. Rest up and come back to the fight willing to give it everything you have. You are the thin blue line. In some places it is a little thicker than others but it is what it is and you are crucial to keeping it. God bless you, your families and may God bless America.

[Dr. Ross L. Riggs, Director Security Consulting Investigations, LLC, parent company to GSC21 –Global Security Consulting for the 21^st Century www.security-consulting.us    www.globalsecurityconsulting.us]

“The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free…”

April 10th, 2012 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs

Thomas Jefferson was a conundrum in his personal life, his life of faith, and on slave ownership. He is viewed as a racist, yet he had a lengthy relationship with a mixed race slave, fathering six children with her. Jefferson held views of limited government yet, while president, he orchestrated the Louisiana Purchase and war against Barbary pirates without Congress or the states’ involvement in the decisions.

Would Thomas Jefferson have carried a NRA card in his wallet? Would he have been seen sticking a ‘Guns Rights’ bumper sticker on his horse-drawn carriage? I confess that after the support the NRA gave for Indiana legislation on their ‘Castle Doctrine’ widely reported to give citizens the right to shoot police entering their home when they ‘believed’ the officer was acting illegally, I was ready to toss my NRA membership in the trash. Since then, more accurate reporting shows that the bill was in response to a difficult state supreme court last year that denied fourth amendment rights to homeowners and that even with the section on police officers, it is supported by the Indiana Sheriffs’ Association and the Indiana Chiefs of Police Association. But, I digress. What about Jefferson’s attitude toward the 2nd Amendment and how it plays out with current gun control hysteria in today’s White House?

I will share with you here some quotes and you will see they each have a direct correlation to the current battles with the Executive branch of our federal government concerning the 2nd Amendment. Pres. Obama is on record that he will require registrations by gun and ammunition manufacturers to make tracking of both easy and direct. Gun ownership under the UN Small Arms Treaty, being touted by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and President Obama, would effectively outlaw U.S. citizens from owning most of the typical handguns, rifles, and shotguns that are enjoyed by hunters, gun enthusiasts, and those seeking to save their own life. Thomas Jefferson had an opinion. To make his point, Jefferson quoted Cesare Beccaria the Italian author of On Crimes and Punishment.

Laws that forbid the carrying of arms…disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes… Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.”[i]

Consider the points that Beccaria and Jefferson make here. First, laws that make carrying a firearm illegal, only disarm those who are not criminals! In other words, the bad guys now have all the guns! The good guys have lost their primary protection for themselves and their families, if this type of legislation is applied. Opponents argue that Jefferson and Beccaria wrote at a different kind of time in American life. That is very true. Crime rates have skyrocketed since those early days! The folly of out-lawing gun carry laws is so incredibly obvious, there should not need to be paper wasted here on it. I wonder what Jefferson would say to Hilary Clinton, since both were/are Secretary of State responsible for foreign policy, not national policies like gun control.

Allow me more of an explanation than a confession here. When the Carry Concealed law was first in the House here in Ohio I was still Chief of Police for Louisville, Ohio. A ‘friend’ I had not met yet asked me to go on record supporting the new CCW legislation and I told him I could not. My reasoning was two-fold. First, I feared that state standards for training would be poor. They have made it at a satisfactory level; though it still depends a great deal on getting the right instructor. Second, I told this gentleman that anything that could cause my officer to hesitate for a split second could cost them their lives. If they sense trouble and then see a gun carried on a person, their first instinct is to draw down, move to cover, and order the subject to not move. If he moves toward the gun, he is getting shot. But what if he was reaching for his CCW credentials? Now, a ‘what if’ scenario is stuck in this cop’s head, he hesitates; the subject pulls a gun and fires. I’m talking then to a widow and some small kids who just lost their dad. Those were my concerns.

The legislation passed, and, so far, no tragic accidents in Ohio that I am aware of that involve police officers. YouTube and others went ballistic (pun intended!) about the guy stopped and threatened to be shot by the Canton Ohio cop for being ‘too stupid to breath’ because he had a gun and the cops didn’t see the Permit Card he was holding out the window the whole time. Everyone came to the side of the ‘citizen.’ But, that citizen was in the worst part of town, worst time of night, had a prostitute and her pimp in his car, had taken pleasure from the prostitute in his car and there were drugs in there too. Not the kind of guy I want having a CCW permit!

This thought brings me to my second quote to consider because ‘rights’ require responsibility.

“The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.” 

This is the first quote we will consider that is believed to be fictitious, at least as from the point of being said by Thomas Jefferson. There appears to be nothing in print for this quote prior to 2007. Could it plausibly have been uttered by Jefferson knowing what we know of his life and times? First, Jefferson, according to historians, was a very strong Republican which meant that he desired strong state government versus federal government. Jefferson preferred that the federal government steer as clear from interfering in the everyday lives of its citizens as possible. Read the fictitious quote again. From everything I have read about the well-read, former Ambassador to France, Secretary of State and President; I believe he would have agreed whole-heartedly with it. We shall do it service and not list Jefferson as the source.

How about the title quote for this article?

 “The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits.”[ii] 

This particular quote, according to American Revival is correctly attributed to Thomas Jefferson. Think on the ramifications of taking seriously what Jefferson is saying there. The policy of our government is to leave citizens free. The government is not to prevent them from their pursuit of happiness or help them. Certainly, Jefferson refers only to those pursuits that do not impinge on the rights of others, nor break the law.

However, the entire concept of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid… can those be covered by “provide for the general welfare” part of the Constitution? Depends on how you define ‘general’ and that is too big an issue to get into here. What about auto maker bailouts? Jefferson, I believe, would turn over in his grave if he heard that whole fiasco and how now the Obama White House is touting how much the bailouts turned the country around. Of course, no mention is made that it was Pres. Bush that began the bailouts and told Obama he should continue them. Such is politics. Can you grasp how Jefferson would see these social programs and financial bailouts as gross over-extensions of Executive and federal power not provided for in the Constitution?

“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”[iii] 

This particular quote is correctly credited to a Thomas, but not Jefferson. It was Thomas Payne who wrote this, most likely part of the Federalist Papers at the beginning stages of the Revolution. Perhaps the worst fear today is that the government has grown so large that the citizens can no longer direct its course. As it runs, like an over-sized Albatross screaming, “Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine!”[iv] All we can do is watch it reach the precipice and fall headlong over the edge, the birds not even aware of the danger of death. The government no longer fears the people but rather it manipulates and sound-bites them to death until the fiction stands like a strong symbol of truth. It is now that every conservative American citizen needs to educate themselves on the issues, talk up the strategies of the key players, read and understand, then share your views with friends and neighbors. It is not usually a question of ‘can you’ as much as it is a standard of ‘will you.’

Finally, for my cop readers who have loyally come to the Police Blotter to get some kind of an idea as to what you can expect in your neighborhoods, the SCI team has been working to piece together how the unrest in Syria will impact you. Those of you in larger metropolitan areas, especially with a lot of mixed neighborhoods or closed hoods that are intersecting with one another with competing races, this time the tables are turned. We are looking for your help. Here is what we need:

If you are in racially diverse neighborhoods, identify for SCI who the groups are. Syrians and Iranians? Chileans and Italians? Jews and Arabs? Whatever the case might be, we at SCI would like to know from you, when you have identify the groups:

• What is the key ‘hot button’ topic that will set the groups off …

• Against the other?
• Within their own group?
• What, if anything, has settled it?
• If it continues, what are the things that have been tried and failed?

• Do you see Constitutional issues at play where you are?
• What are they?
• Have either the federal or state government tried some kind of program?

The best responses, as determined by our elite panel of judges (assuming the answers are in before my granddaughter’s pre-school finishes for the summer) or an alternate set of ‘not-so-elite’ judges will confer awards. We want to reward those of you who have been faithful readers, so get your answers in. Even if you are not a beat cop, but you are seeing things that provide you with answers for the above questions, you are eligible.

You can reply directly through the ‘Comments’ part of the Blog.

[Dr. Ross L. Riggs www.docriggs.com www.security-consulting.us www.globalsecurityconsulting.us]
_________________________________________________

[i] http://jpetrie.myweb.uga.edu/TJ.html accessed 08/April/2012
[ii] http://www.americanrevival.org/quotes/forefathers.htm accessed 09/April/2012
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Disney-Pixar ­­Ice Age the movie

U.S. Foreign Policy and the Beat Cop:
The Truth Behind the Headlines 

 

April 9th, 2012 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs

You are working your beat…. Patrolling the streets as you have been doing now for what seems like a lifetime. You know every sound, especially the late night and early morning sounds that you can hear for blocks. Summer nights get hot and even with the air on in the car and your window open enough to hear the dogs barking, perhaps alerting you to a prowler, or to hear the sound of glass breaking, you recognize the sounds of normal. During the day, you know who you will see in that next block, on the corner. He is there every day. Maybe he’s a drug dealer you have busted a dozen times or maybe an elderly war vet looking for help. Whatever the sights and the sounds, it is your beat. You know it so well because it has become part of you, good and bad. As you think about your beat, ask yourself: ‘When was the last time the U.S. Secretary of State came out to ride along and see how things were going?’ Ridiculous. ‘When was the last time any U.S. Secretary of State called you prior to your shift at roll call to ask if there was anything you needed to help your shift on your beat go better?’ Nonsense. ‘When was the last time you received a letter, personally signed by the US. Secretary of State, asking you: “How things could be better on your beat?”’ Never going to happen. “Why? What does the Secretary’s role in world affairs have to do with my beat?” you ask. Everything.

Because of the way the current administration has ignored the issues in Mexico and the U.S. Southwestern borders, major Mexican drug cartels are now directing the street drug operations on your beat. Do the amounts of drugs and the sources of those drugs impact your job? Absolutely. The violence that has been transplanted north of the border is criminal. (Pun intended).

Is it possible that America’s planned withdrawal from Afghanistan on a set date, already announced by the Administration, influences the already heated relationships between Muslims and everybody else on your beat? No doubt about it.

These are just two simple examples. Do you really believe that anyone at that level of government cares about how you have to listen to some clown on the street bad mouth the U.S. military and tell you that you can’t do this or that because America is too weak and you have to listen to that garbage every day? No, of course, you don’t. So what can you do about it? Why even think about it because it just irritates you that much more and your doctor is already on you about your stress and your wife just told you that you come home from work in a negative mood. (She probably doesn’t use those exact words.)

The point is that you can do something about it! You do not have to listen to that garbage mouth guy on the street. If you choose not to just turn and walk away, you can ask him when it was that he cared enough about his own freedoms to serve in the Armed Forces. You can ask him when he had the courage to actually stand up for freedom or, for that matter, even vote! But, wait. Maybe you can’t say that because you quit voting three elections ago! You figured it didn’t matter. It does matter. It matters a great deal.

Maybe you have to get angry before you get involved? Of course, you are already serving your country as a cop and for that you should be proud. Chances are that you are a veteran, too. You should be proud of that. You cannot stop there. When the righteous no longer care enough to become involved in the political process, only the unrighteous will be. You should be writing your congressional representatives. Write your state representatives, too, it will shock the daylights out of them to hear from an ‘ordinary’ person for a change! It is a national campaign year and already the commercials and media hype are enough to turn you off of voting forever. That is all the more reason to be involved. One of those people who are jamming your airwaves will be the next Commander in Chief and will pick the next Secretary of State who, as has already been shown, impacts your daily patrol! Perhaps you are one who has to get angry to get involved. Anger turned inward is destructive. Anger turned outward is vile and ugly. Anger turned upward in prayer returns as wisdom.

Watch the link of this criminal vandalism against the graves of our WWII veterans by a disrespectful, ignorant mob of apparently non-Christians, non-Jews who present themselves as pathetic follows of Islam. (I personally know dozens of young Muslims and none of them would do what you are seeing done in this video, so don’t go throwing your anger at just anyone for what you are about to see.)

Muslim mob in Libya vandalizes Christian & Jewish WWII Tombstones

Angry enough now to get involved? No? OK, try this cartoon on for size.

Now, first things first, you must take that anger and turn it which direction? Upward, right. In prayer. Oh, you say you haven’t prayed for a long time, wouldn’t be sure how to? Not a problem. Have you talked to your patrol partner about how you feel on these issues or maybe another cop? Maybe you are one of the few who has even talked to their spouse about how they feel. Now, if you have done that, you can pray. God, the Father, the Bible tells us is ‘leaning forward, anxious to hear your prayers.’ He wants to talk to you but it is best if you start the conversation. Pretend you are on patrol and He is sitting in the seat next to you and just start talking. (Not to spoil a secret, but when you are on patrol… He is right there with you every day already.) So, tell your Partner, (capital P is out of respect for who God is as a holy and righteous God, He has earned it and deserves it), how all of this makes you feel and ask Him for wisdom. The Bible says that the third king of Israel, Solomon, asked God not for riches or fame or victories but wisdom and that pleased God so much that He made Solomon the wisest man that ever lived. You and I are not going to be a Solomon but God will give us wisdom.

Now, take that wisdom and get involved. Local politics, state issues and maybe, particularly this year, get involved in national campaign issues. Investigate all the candidates and what they say. Send them a letter or e-mail and ask them to clarify what they mean when they are playing the ‘fuzzy answer’ card. Share with others what you are learning about the candidates and get on a couple of newsletters. If you consider yourself a political conservative or just a good American, you might be interested in following Senator Ron Paul’s blogs and newsletters; he seems to have his finger on the issues and knows what he is talking about, at least most of the time. (I would have said that ‘Good American’ and ‘conservative’ are inter-changeable terms; but to keep this argument where it needs to be, I must admit that I truly believe anyone who takes an active role in understanding the issues and voting his conscience or his faith is a great American regardless of political stripe. Just remember though I said ‘takes an active role in understanding the issues.’ That is crucial.)

Personally, I hope you are a person of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is me, DocRoss, saying that, not HSN. If you would like to but you don’t know how, contact me, I will help you. The point is not just a political one or about improving your beat, but about changing your life here and the one after this one for eternity, which means forever and ever. It is also about understanding correctly the relationship Christians have to come alongside and help the Jewish nation of Israel. That is a longer conversation. We can do that, too, if you like. You cannot avoid getting involved if you want to make a difference for yourself and your beat.

In the three departments with which I have been a cop, each one had one older sergeant who was as negative a man as I have met. I have no other appropriate term that adequately describes them except they all fit a certain mold, whatever that is in your mind and I bet you just thought of someone just like that on your department. They come as standard issue. I am pleased to tell you that one of those eventually came to know Jesus Christ as Savior and his negativity disappeared and you could never meat a more pleasant man.

One great example of another that I will never forget (and I have been retired for a dozen years now). This fellow would argue you into a corner over the Ohio Lottery. The Lottery had, maybe still has, a show where they pick the winning numbers. When the State would announce that there were no winners, he was adamant that they couldn’t know that because… (Wait for it, this is too good to miss and don’t jump ahead of me)… they couldn’t know that there were no winners because he hadn’t checked his ticket yet! Do you really want this guy casting a vote for the next leader of the free world and you don’t? If for any other reason, when you think your vote doesn’t count; you could at least be cancelling his out!

Much more importantly, you are making your voice heard in a democratic Republic. That is worth fighting for and even dying for. So many already have. Please, gain wisdom, get involved.

Stay safe.

An Unholy Trinity - No Option But War



February 17th, 2012 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs

While on what most would consider a ‘state visit’ if the ‘state’ was a legitimate rather than criminal entity, Hamas “Prime Minister” Ismail Haniyeh recently visited the Iranian regime.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh,
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

While enjoying the hospitality of the enemies of democracy and humanity, he was recorded as saying in reference to the diplomacy between Israel and the Palestinians, “Gun is our only response to Zionist regime. In time, we have come to understand that we can obtain our goals only through fighting and armed resistance and no compromise should be made with the enemy…”  He followed that up with another statement aimed at deflecting world opinion away from the Arab atrocities against humanity, their own people and against the Jews; “[The] presence of [the] Zionist regime inside Palestine is the root of all regional problems and this presence poses a threat not only to Palestine but also to the whole region…”

When Haniyeh arrived in Tehran on February 11^th, he spoke at a rally and there should have put an end to any self-delusions by the Obama administration that they might still seek to negotiate their way to a mid-East peace. Haniyeh stated clearly, “They (West) want from us to stop resistance and acknowledge Israel but I herewith announce that this will never happen…” I am not certain what it might take for those in the White House to stop pandering to these terrorists and to acknowledge that if there were ever a time when our true ally, Israel, needed to know that American has her back, it is now.

In the fanatical derision that Tehran has come to be known for in the international press, Ahmadinejad addressed reporters. He “stressed Iran’s continued support for the Palestinian nation, and said resistance is the only way to liberate Palestine from the occupation of the Zionist regime.” The on-going celebration of the 33^rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution, which was used to highlight the loyalty between Hamas and Iran, was also an opportunity for Ayatollah Khamenei to express the hopes for a caliphate that includes the Palestinians who are by majority Sunni in allegiance with the predominantly Shia Iranians. The ‘supreme leader’ told reporters while standing with Haniyeh, “Iran saw the Palestinian issue as a problem for Iran and emphasized that Tehran supports the Palestinian resistance.”

Ayatollah Khamenei

This blog has always been dedicated to helping local law enforcement put the international terrorism issue into perspective particularly when it comes to seeing the ways in which terrorism is funded and supported on the streets of America where they work every day. This particular post brings to light the fact that any hope that there will be any peaceful solution to the Iran-Israel-Palestinian standoff is only a whiff of a wish across a birthday candle. From biblical prophecy to the stark reality of the evil within this unholy trinity, the message is clear.

Law enforcement across this country needs to come to grips with this fact. A group of nations and criminal terrorist groups have declared war on this country and on America’s people in her towns and neighborhoods. As cops, you need to take this threat seriously. Each and every officer who wears a badge and carries a sidearm needs to be prepared, mentally, physically and spiritually. There is no greater threat to America’s way of life, this country and the Constitution than those who stand on the international stage and so boldly thumb their nose at America and compel those who would share their twisted sense of convictions to become homicide bombers to murder innocent women and children on America’s very streets. Israel has had to come to grips for dealing with such bombers and the antidote is not an easy one. But you, brothers and sisters in blue, know this to be true. Anyone you encounter who has strapped a bomb upon themselves has made their choice as clearly as if they held a gun pointed in your direction or at another and were pulling the trigger. You must act accordingly, immediately, and decisively. War is at hand. There are no more choices except the one you make to live bravely, act professionally, and respond accordingly.

May God bless you and your families.

[Dr. Ross L Riggs –Global Security Consulting a subsidiary of Security Consulting Investigations LLC]

Back in Time

 

January 28th, 2012 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs

I begin with a disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the following are those of the author, alone, and are not necessarily those of anyone affiliated with the Homeland Security Network, SSI or any of its subsidiaries. –R. Riggs

Not long ago, I wrote about traveling through time with Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman in the Wayback Machine. A few of you thought perhaps that I had finally been separated from what remaining part I maintained of my senses!  I assure you that I am as sane as I have ever been. True, that is perhaps not as reassuring as it first was when I thought of it; but nonetheless, it is the best I have. Some others, have, however, considered the possibility and it is not as far afield as it first sounds!

There have been some discussions regarding the necessity of determining what common characteristics those who have been guilty of acts of terror against the United States in the past have; so as, to identify those who might seek to commit acts of terrorism against the United States in the future. In other words, that are more succinct: if it walks like a duck… This has been given an inappropriately negative valuation under the now politically incorrect moniker of ‘profiling.’ Back in time, it was called ‘good police work.’

As a street police officer through the rather raucous 1970’s and 80’s, I had my share of good collars. Being a good patrol officer meant knowing your beat; whether that beat was a 10 block radius in a downtown or a three square mile population of a small town. If you could not, while sitting having coffee anywhere in town, be able to recite the position of each exterior lock mechanism at a strip mall set of stores to know when the door was locked or unlocked, you probably had not rattled enough doors in your career. You also knew which vehicles, vehicle types, individuals or individual types did not ‘fit’ in a given neighborhood at a given hour of the night. If you couldn’t, then why were you collecting a paycheck?  Good cops knew their beats.
Back in time, good cops could recite an ‘articulable suspicion’ based on factors of what is known about their patrol area.  So, when either someone did not fit in an area or a suspect car was seen that did fit the type known to be voted ‘most likely to be carrying a stolen television or bag of dope’, you made the stop and completed the F.I. card. (For those who never believed in their existence, in this computer generated age some thought they were an urban legend; I assure you that Field Interview cards, which really were 3×5 cards you filled out by hand, really did exist. And yes, we carried a pencil because ink pens didn’t write in the rain, and they would tear a wet card.)

Now there is a new breed of cop out there. He is the PC cop. He is the one always on the lookout for violations of political correctness. The PC cop would be quick to question why you singled out an individual to do an FI card on at 3:40a.m. in the back alley of the upscale leather shop just because the card says he is the member of some newly protected species.

Can you imagine a National Geographic special on these new endangered species? I can almost hear the narrator: “The (fill in any politically correct name of any PC protected species) is known for rapid flight at low altitudes –upon viewing a police officer. This species’ mating habits can be accelerated by introduction of a six pack of Milwaukee’s finest into the nest. The male of this endangered species is known to leave the female as soon as she becomes pregnant, to return at the same time each month, right around the 1st of the month, preceded by a visit to the nest by a local postal worker. He will leave the nest again as soon as another female of the species is visible on the horizon, usually a much younger version of the initial mate. This species has an inherent attraction to things of value owned by opposite species which are endangered only at tax time. The PC protected species will go to great lengths to enter the nest of the opposite species to remove items to which they are attracted and will be found within an hour of their hunt at a local watering hole, meeting other males of their species to exchange the items taken for hallucinogenic, naturally regenerated vegetation, (which is usually dropped by the species when in flight as described above.)” That is a National Geographic special worth watching!

However, our topic here is terrorists, although they too may be on the PC Protected Species list. Already certain terms related to Islamo-terrorism and jihad are facing extinction from U.S. government printed law enforcementtraining material on terrorism. Oh, that’s correct (politically correct), Islamo-terrorism and jihad are on that list also. (See Senator Joe Lieberman’s List of Seven Dirty Terrorism Words You Can’t Use in Literature) CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) and other pro-Al Qaeda groups have pushed for U.S. officials, including FBI Director Robert Mueller to direct what is printed in law enforcement counter-terrorism materials to be in line with PC  Standards. (Thankfully, Congresswoman Sue Myrick, R-NC, has pushed back and the brakes may be on…[i])

Back in time, we could identify the enemy combatants against the United States so that every U.S. citizen knew who it was we were fighting, why, and how to help. Let me be clear: The U.S. should not be fighting a ‘war on terror.’ We should be waging an all-out war against terrorists and anyone who gives safe harbor or any type of assistance to a terrorist. In some of my earlier writing, I used the terminology of the day, ‘war on terror’ but it is time for a redaction and correction. If any country or government decides to give aid to our enemy, like a flotilla of ships with civilians to bring aid to someone with whom we are at war (including those who have attacked our allies*); they should also be considered an enemy combatant. Any civilians, who take part in such an operation, should be considered enemy combatants and if they are American citizens they should be arrested and tried for treason.
                                                                                                          
Back in time, people honored their commitments. American people, in general, I believe, still do even if our government doesn’t. We are at war. Just as we were at war on December 8, 1941 and just as we were on September 12, 2001, we are at war today. Terrorists like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have sworn to wipe us and our ally Israel “off of the map.” He runs a pseudo-army called Hezbollah from Lebanon which has individually, collectively and corporately killed American GI’s in Iraq and Afghanistan. He funds HAMAS and stockpiles for them and other Palestinian factions: mortars, rockets and weaponry that are fired at, and have killed, our allies living as peaceful civilians in the sovereign nation of Israel. Whether Ahmadinejad has currently the ability to put a nuclear weapon on the end of a rocket, or not, he has already gained the exclusive right to be blown right to his reward, whatever that might be. The Iranian people, although they should have stopped this madness themselves, deserve to be free from this tyrant who is putting their lives and the lives of their children in dire jeopardy every time he thumbs his nose at Israel and the United States. We are used to small people thumbing their noses at us, that is not the problem. The problem is that same thumb rests against the switch of major military weapons and enough is enough.

And for you, the street cop who is probably a United States military veteran, have patiently read my diatribe hoping that somewhere in here I will get to the point; are one of those that deserves to be the angriest. Your family and even your children’s children will be forced to live with the consequences of the action or inaction of us who now stand guard. The Bible says, “Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.” (Psalm 127:1) The reckless spending, the non-existent foreign policy, the political correctness that makes it nearly impossible for you to do your job effectively and especially the complete disregard for the Christian principles upon which this nation was founded are all reasons you deserve to carry a righteous anger. I hope you carry it all the way to the voting booths this spring and in November. I hope you carry it as you decide whether to support causes like safeguarding the Second Amendment. I hope you carry it with you and pass it to your children and your co-workers and anyone else who will listen. After over 230 years of American history, will we be the generation that allows our colors to come down from the ramparts of Fort Sumter and hundreds of other proud military bases around the world, a nation lost to the history books; devoid of any good thing? I don’t know about you, but I say, NOT ON MY WATCH!

Back in time, a man’s word stood for something and his Christian faith drove his honor. I hope and pray that we, as Americans, get our values straightened out and our country back – in time!

[Dr. Ross L. Riggs, Director Global Security Consulting – a subsidiary of Security Consulting Investigations, LLC your premier private investigative service internationally] 
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(*allies – defined: A country, government or people group with whom we have sworn an allegiance to share mutual protection, an allegiance which cannot be broken by any one administration; old English term as in WWII – not known in the current vernacular, see United States, history of; Revised. See: Israel, history of; Revised)

Are You Believing a Lie?

January 24th, 2012 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs

POLICE BLOTTER - What would it take for you to use your law enforcement authority against a neighbor you knew had never broken a criminal law? “That could never happen!”, you say. That is because you are a good cop, a good citizen of your community, a patriot of your country. But, what if someone changed the definitions on you? What if the definition of what it means to be a good cop, good citizen etc. changed? What if a whole new set of laws came down of which your neighbor is definitely ‘guilty?’ Even if at first, you are not sure you believe the new laws are right, so many people, the majority it seems, believe that they are. That is impossible!

Wrong!   

January 27^th is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Set to the anniversary day of the liberation of the Auschwitz Death Camp, the Holocaust Remembrance Day comes in an era when Holocaust deniers are prolific, the nation of Iran is threatening to eliminate Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah cry out for killing of all Jews. The Jerusalem Mufti this past Sunday called for “Jews to be killed wherever they are…”[i] a repetition of the words of Haj Amin Al Husseini, the Mufti’s predecessor, who helped Hitler and Eichmann in their quest to exterminate the Jewish race.

But what does that have to do with me, a cop in 2012 in America? The greatest act of terrorism ever committed against a people began with one man spreading a new definition of ‘good’ and a new list of laws that the people allowed themselves to be told were for their betterment. All of the blame for the bad economy, the crime, the hunger… everything that was wrong could be blamed on one people. All the ‘good’ people had to do was rid the world of these ‘criminals’ of the Jewish faith. One man. Just one. So when it happens here, will you be one of the few who stand up and say “NO! Not on my watch!”? Will you? Really? When they take your family? When your children are starving? Really?

Romani children at Auschwitz January 27, 1945

The only way to prevent such horrific acts of terrorism is to stop it before it can begin. As funny Deputy Barney Fife comically said, “Nip it in the bud!” Well, Don Knotts was a very funny man but this is not funny. Madmen such as Ahmadinejad of Iran must be stopped long before they can wield the power that he already does. The world, and the United States in particular, should have taken care of this issue long before now but as you, the beat cop patrol tonight and the nights leading up to January 27^th, if it is really cold where you are; think about those freezing and frozen Romani kids at Auschwitz when those first American and Allied tanks rolled up to the gates. Maybe someone like you could have stood up for them long before they ended up in a German death camp. Maybe someone wanted to – but didn’t.

If you believe it cannot happen again, are you believing a lie? George Santayana, a Spanish philosopher once wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”[ii]

[Dr. Ross L. Riggs, Director Global Security Consulting a subsidiary of Security Consulting Investigations, LLC your premier private investigations consulting service worldwide www.security-consulting.us]

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The Mass Extermination of Jews in German Occupied Poland (Dec. 10, 1942)

[i] Jerusalem Post reported by Joel Rosenberg in Flash Traffic Jan 25 2012

[ii] All photos courtesy Wikipedia on-line: holocaust

Too Stupid to Breath ?

 

January 20th, 2012 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs
 

I am writing this blog from about 32,000 feet, soon to be back in one of the more interesting places on the face of the earth for people like us. Time to think as we cruise along at breakneck speeds, indiscernible because of our altitude and the dark night sky helps me write. (Some guys just use a study and a desk; I have to have a million dollar aircraft!) Recently a YouTube copy of a dash-cam recording of a traffic stop went viral. This was much to the dismay of the police department involved and for me personally. I know the department and the many good men and women who wear its shield. The officer’s diatribe and vicious anger toward someone eventually charged with Carrying a Concealed Weapon (failure to notify law enforcement officer of permit) was disgraceful. By now, I am fairly certain any weapons charges against him will be dropped for a number of reasons unless his Blood Alcohol Content put him under disability. First, it is amazingly apparent in the video that the subject was trying, from the time he was stopped and asked for his license that he was trying to tell the officer he had a permit and showing him the permit itself, but the officer refused to look at it or even acknowledge the driver. He had tunnel vision on the passenger.

Having spent thirteen years on the streets before moving to become a Chief, (I started to write “moving up to Chief” and I don’t necessarily subscribe to the vertical part of that statement), I think I can write intelligently about the issue, unlike many who have filled web pages with misinformation. This post would go on for pages if I were to document all of the mistakes, tactical errors, prejudicial and hate-filled comments of the officer. The same is true of the subject who was driving his car in the worst part of town, giving rides to drug dealing pimps and their prostitutes and taking payment for the ride in trade and carrying a gun, even with a state issued permit!

As the dust settles, the court cases continue and the officer has been fired from the department. I have worked with officers with short fused tempers, a couple of them very sharp, intelligent cops but their anger cost them and their partners, not to mention their departments. My concern, demonstrated so clearly in this case is the extreme tunnel vision that can occur, not just in someone who has anger issues but for any cop too focused on the collar. In this case, while the drug dealing pimp is pulled out, arrested cuffed and stuffed, the senior partner is now focused on the group on the sidewalk, mostly druggies and prostitutes. The junior, though certainly no rookie, was climbing in and out of the backseat of the suspect vehicle looking for the drugs. In and out, the driver: never removed from the car, still sitting behind the steering wheel with car keys in the ignition, and carrying a gun! Again, the senior officer walking around dealing with the persons on the curb, not watching his partner’s back even a little bit.

Then, finally, the second officer gets to the driver and as he has been since the beginning is trying to show them a card indicating he is armed. When the second officer sees it and realizes how close he came to be a “hero” by forgetting tactics completely his adrenalin goes through the roof and the driver is brought out of the car and introduced to the trunk lid. Now Officer Congeniality goes viral! Again the diatribe goes on for some time with the officer telling him that he is too stupid to be taking up oxygen needed by real people and that he should shoot him right now (by this time he is cuffed in the back of the patrol car, but while you watch, you expect to hear a gunshot at any time!)

Colleagues behind the badge, I know you work long hours. I know that court cases eat up sleep time. I know that on certain shifts in certain zones you deal with what seems to be a ‘different’ class of people. I know how dangerous it is and how trying to keep alert, (we used to use the term on ‘Yellow’) all the time ready to go to ‘Red’ can wear you down. But… too much is riding on you doing your job, doing it well, doing it safely and doing it smartly for you to be content with ‘just getting home at the end of your shift.’

Don’t get me wrong, I am a firm believer that getting home in one piece at the EOS is a priority but if it comes at a cost of doing a good job, it isn’t enough. You might have what we used to term the “I’m caught by a train” mentality. We all know officers that always seem to time their arrival on scene at the same time everything is under control. No matter their location when the call comes out, they never seem to be first through the door, unless it’s the squad room door and someone brought in donuts.

In my article “SARS)))))” published in the Counter Terrorist a couple of years ago, I remarked on the sign that stands at the entrance to the National Fusion Center. “Today is September 12, 2001” We must adopt the mentality that comes with that thinking. We have to be as sharp and alert as we were on September 12, 2001. It is great that there have been no major attacks on U.S. soil since 9-11; but many know that it is not because of the enemy’s lack of trying! It is because of the vigilance of so many and the dedication to duty by officers from all jurisdictions.

George C. Scott in the opening monologue of the classic movie “Patton” says, “I don’t want to hear about anyone of you dying for your country. You live for yours. Let some other dumb “SOB” die for his country!” Our families deserve to have us come home at the end of a shift and we’d like to retire and enjoy the fruit of our labor but everyone who dons a uniform and every family member who watches with pride their cop go off to work also knows that any shift could be their last. Make it count for something. Don’t give up your precious life because you lacked clarity of thought, were careless or you did not ‘watch the hands.’ If you are on top of your game, you are doing everything just right and your number falls, then it is what it is. If you are called upon to pay the ultimate price, make sure you bought something worthwhile with it.

Terrorists continue to threaten our homeland. The stats are overwhelming, particularly through the porous southwestern and northern borders. Follow every lead. Turn over every rock. If you are going to get angry, get a righteous anger. Be angry against those who would try to terrorize your country, your community or your family. But even in your righteous anger, allow it to motivate you to do more and to do it better. Let it motivate you to be sharper mentally and more powerful physically. Let that righteous anger drive you to the gym to work out and stay in shape and let it push you to read more, take more training and be better at communicating with your citizens in the very neighborhoods that seem to hate your presence, know that it is here that people on the street know when something is up.

I believe it is a good thing that this one vociferous, antagonizing, hot-headed out of control cop is done. That department will be better for it. Administrators and chiefs (one is cop the other isn’t – it’s my blog, my opinion not HSN’s) you have no excuse for not keeping your ranks trimmed from officers like this. I used to blame civil service or the actions of previous ‘administrations’ for the officers I knew should not be out there. But even with unions and arbitration and a sensational chasing media; you have the tools if you take the time to use them to get these folks out from behind a badge.

Keep focused. Let’s find the bad guys and put them away. Let us send a message across the globe and in our neighborhoods, “If you intend to try to harm us – we will find you and we will throw the full force of the law at you.”

Stay safe and God bless.