by A.F. James MacArthur, Managing Editor, with T.R. Mencken, Editor In Chief
(EARLY DRAFT -- be part of the process, em
ail suggestions or corrections, or use the comments link below article)A.F. James MacArthur with Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld III. After an interview near police headquarters.
So the police kill yet another man in Baltimore, the second one in less than two weeks, and they want us to automatically give them benefit of the doubt. They tell us it was justified, and we are supposed accept this without question and go about our way. Move along people nothing to see here.
The Baltimore Sun may be content in doing this. Perhaps all of the major TV and radio outlets in Baltimore will too. Then there are all those who rashly criticized us for daring to question the police. Excuse me? So I take it the police have never lied before. There have never been any officers accused of filing false reports, wrongful death, and even murder? No cases of lies and cover up have ever been proven right? Nope, not here, no way.
DISCLAIMER: I actually like Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld. I believe overall he's doing a good job with the department. But when he asks us to trust him and his department, that's when I have to part ways. It's nothing personal.
TRUST NO ONE
Whenever someone says to me, "trust me," instant red flags go up. For me, trust is always earned, never asked for. Bealefeld along with his misguided, ill informed, fascist, US Constitution non believing, Chinese Democracy adherent PR man, Anthony Guglielmi have asked the people of Baltimore to trust them. When Bealefeld went before the Batimore City Council and was asked to explain the Guglielmi dictated policy of not naming officers involved in shooting, he said officers were threatened last year, 23 to be exact. What he didn't say was, not one single threat to an officer in Baltimore was related to an officer involved shooting. Imagine that. Have they earned your trust yet?
A born skeptic, even if my own mother tells me she loves me, I may trust her, but not until checking it out. Words have to be consistent with actions. Don't believe me, ask my ex wife, we're still friends, she'll tell you. It is a very dangerous environment indeed when citizens of a free republic just begin to unconditionally trust the government. Ronald Reagan used to say "trust, but verify." You can't just go taking someone's word because they say so.
Consider this; It was this same blind trust that allowed the Nazi of Germany to gain a foothold among the public. At first everyone proudly and openly supported them. Heck, Adolf Hitler was the popularly elected Chancellor. No one ever questioned anything. As they gained more and power due to unconditional public support, it was not until the ovens were already hot and burning, and the gas (Zyclon B) was flowing freely, gassing prisoners, it was only then did people begin to question. At that point, it was already too late. There's a simple principle illustrated here, hope it was not lost.
I suppose if I didn't have first hand knowledge of the police setting up two brothers to be killed (it was admitted to me in strictest confidentiality), I would be more reluctant to question. Now before any fool runs at the mouth saying, how do we know this is true, who are his sources? Let me remind you, remember Valerie Plame? When you deal with secret sources and operatives, particularly those still in place, the last thing you do is offer them up in attempts at establishing credibility. Just think for a moment how foolish, immoral, unethical and wrong that would be.
From my experience working in law enforcement and intelligence off and on over the years, there's a few things I've learned. One of them is; there's often more than meets they eye. Another is, the truth is indeed out there. At times in more ways than we think. If I hadn't seen the things I've seen, and learned what I've learned, I suppose I would be quick to accept whatever account of an incident the police gave. But I know better.
After being setup, jailed, embarrassed and rediculed on numerous occaisons, only to have nearly every charge against me eventually dropped and defeated, perhaps I have learned that in many instances, like the City Council of Baltimore now know, you can't always trust the police.
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A.F. James MacArthur's experience in law enforcement dates back to his days as a teenage confidential informant. Eventually going to the police academy, U.S. Marine Corps, and working for local, state and the federal government in various capacities at various agencies over the years, his journey from boyhood to manhood has been a meandering wild ride.
MacArthur has received numerous threats to his life, including some from the police. Except one instance, the threats and intimidation reported to police were dismissed without even cursory investigation. Unlike police officers, as a civilian, Mr. MacArthur is not allowed to be armed while dealing with well armed would be adversaries and assailants. One one occaison getting shot was the result, on another MacArthur had to disarm a knife wielding assailant, holding him down while police responded.
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A born skeptic, even if my own mother tells me she loves me, I may trust her, but not until checking it out. Words have to be consistent with actions. Don't believe me, ask my ex wife, we're still friends, she'll tell you. It is a very dangerous environment indeed when citizens of a free republic just begin to unconditionally trust the government. Ronald Reagan used to say "trust, but verify." You can't just go taking someone's word because they say so.
HERE ME OUT ON THIS ONE
Consider this; It was this same blind trust that allowed the Nazi of Germany to gain a foothold among the public. At first everyone proudly and openly supported them. Heck, Adolf Hitler was the popularly elected Chancellor. No one ever questioned anything. As they gained more and power due to unconditional public support, it was not until the ovens were already hot and burning, and the gas (Zyclon B) was flowing freely, gassing prisoners, it was only then did people begin to question. At that point, it was already too late. There's a simple principle illustrated here, hope it was not lost.
I suppose if I didn't have first hand knowledge of the police setting up two brothers to be killed (it was admitted to me in strictest confidentiality), I would be more reluctant to question. Now before any fool runs at the mouth saying, how do we know this is true, who are his sources? Let me remind you, remember Valerie Plame? When you deal with secret sources and operatives, particularly those still in place, the last thing you do is offer them up in attempts at establishing credibility. Just think for a moment how foolish, immoral, unethical and wrong that would be.
From my experience working in law enforcement and intelligence off and on over the years, there's a few things I've learned. One of them is; there's often more than meets they eye. Another is, the truth is indeed out there. At times in more ways than we think. If I hadn't seen the things I've seen, and learned what I've learned, I suppose I would be quick to accept whatever account of an incident the police gave. But I know better.
After being setup, jailed, embarrassed and rediculed on numerous occaisons, only to have nearly every charge against me eventually dropped and defeated, perhaps I have learned that in many instances, like the City Council of Baltimore now know, you can't always trust the police.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A.F. James MacArthur's experience in law enforcement dates back to his days as a teenage confidential informant. Eventually going to the police academy, U.S. Marine Corps, and working for local, state and the federal government in various capacities at various agencies over the years, his journey from boyhood to manhood has been a meandering wild ride.
MacArthur has received numerous threats to his life, including some from the police. Except one instance, the threats and intimidation reported to police were dismissed without even cursory investigation. Unlike police officers, as a civilian, Mr. MacArthur is not allowed to be armed while dealing with well armed would be adversaries and assailants. One one occaison getting shot was the result, on another MacArthur had to disarm a knife wielding assailant, holding him down while police responded.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Baltimore Sun Follows Us, Do You?
Get updates and random musings from the mind of MacArthur. Baltimore crime, grime and politics with a sprinkling of nonsense thrown in for good measure on twitter.com/baltospectator--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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