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New York, 1:14 AM
Mon Nov 9
22 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/07/09
11/07/09
It seems ludicrous. Discounting police incompetence, indifference, abuse of power, and plain old bad luck (they can't be everywhere, all of the time), how can we expect the police to protect us--wait five minutes for them to show up when an ex is threatening to torch our house---when seconds count?
And after this and the Jaycee Dugard case (and incidentally, Jeffrey Dahmer...one of his victims had been drugged, escaped, and was wandering down the street naked when a mother and daughter found him, called the police about someone who looked like a victim of SOMETHING, and the cops laughed it off when Dahmer showed up to collect his "lover"), how can anyone trust the police to deal with violent crime?
Where's the line between an honest, tragic mistake, and plain old incompetence?
No wonder people are terrified and confounded by sex offenders.
Some of them are labeled "sex offenders" for something that doesn't pose a threat to people (statutory rape between a 19 year old guy and a 15 year old gf), some of them abuse family members (not to minimize familial abuse, but admittedly, it's logically less frightening than random crimes to the public), but then some of them are people like THIS. Where the fuck were the people who were supposed to monitor this guy? Should he REALLY have been out of jail (I ask that b/c I'm sure there are plenty of former rapists who, against my own instincts and despite my disgust, are not re-offending....yet).
No wonder mayors pass half-baked, counter intuitive ordinances driving people labeled "sex offenders" from living within city limits.
The police and the parole officers here were fatally incompetent.
These cases make me feel helpless. I'm shocked when the authorities give a shit and luck favors them with evidence so that they're actually able to investigate and prosecute someone like this fruitfully...these assholes weren't even trying, but they still have the badges. What is a frightened taxpayer supposed to do? #clevelandserialkiller
11/07/09
11/06/09
"Complained" is totally the wrong word for this. #anthonysowell
11/06/09
I can't believe Elizabeth Lambert wasn't thrown off the field and out of the game sooner. Not necessarily for What she did, but for the officiating that must have turned huge blind eyes to the game at hand to miss such blatant fouls.
Players talk, ESPECIALLY women. And as a referee, you can tell the exaggerations from the truth. So what happened here?!?
Alright, I admit, at first I was scared the world was headed on a terror against girls who play hard. But that girl did Not head out on to the pitch against BYU without some prior hair-pulling, come-from-behind-tackling and cleating experience. Lambert knew exactly what she was doing, and she's only apologetic she got caught.
All she did was retaliate, and, sure, it was a little more than what the opponent dished out, but that's what retaliation's all about. Lambert was continually trying to get the upper hand, or even force her opponent into exacting her own vengeance, then get caught by the ref. Instead, she got caught. It's a risk you take, and it sucks for her.
So I suppose I'm actually a little sad for her that she got suspended, because those BYU girls weren't saints either, but how many of them will be suspended for their own unsporting behavior? #forthoodmassacre
11/06/09
If the Military Industrial Complex is such a dominant force in this country, why does it care so little for the human beings that carry out it's missions? #forthoodmassacre
11/06/09
"Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers."
--George Carlin #forthoodmassacre
11/06/09
I was sentenced to one year of probation, during which I was also required to go to bi-weekly counseling sessions (paid for out of my own pocket). I had to report to my probation officer every month, submit to random drug testing, and submit to random searches of my home. He would occasionally cruise by my house, call to see if I was home, and check on my whereabouts.
It seems like a violent offender could have been kept under better control if probation and law enforcement officers were concentrating on the worst offenders, or those exhibiting suspicious behaviors, rather than hassling someone who unintentionally bounced a check for $350. #anthonysowell
11/06/09
11/06/09
11/07/09
America clearly has it's priorities wrong. Seriously. #anthonysowell
11/07/09
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11/07/09
11/06/09
When I was working at the DA's office and interviewing our police witnesses, so often we wouldn't have ANY evidence of an assault unless it ended in homicide, because only then were they required to call detectives and take photos collect evidence. So often, our victims would tell us that the cops laughed at them when they showed up. Most memorably a guy tried to douse his girlfriend in gasoline and light her on fire -- after he'd stalked her and vandalized her car and apartment, which she had reported to the police. Yet, when the cops show up even though she is screaming and crying, they laugh, and don't even bother gathering her soaked clothing, or the gas can or ignition source, or even make a great effort at finding and arresting the guy until he shows up in court on another warrant.
It's almost like black people from bad neighborhoods just don't exist. Unless they give each other a high five or something- then they'll promptly be arrested on suspicion of selling drugs, and held in a jail cell even when no drugs are found after a search.
It's enough to really make me want to work for the PD, because the police don't seem to give a shit about helping victims of violent crimes anymore, but are more interested in the easy drug bust, or maybe high-profile white girls are missing shit, if their commander tells them its important.
11/06/09
11/07/09
11/06/09
11/06/09
When I was in grammar school, there was an older kid and his sister who gave a bunch of us a serious case of the creeps. The two of them spoke only to each other, would not respond to teachers or authority figures, and showed an inclination toward violence. Some of the students voiced their concerns to the faculty and they in turn mentioned it to our town's police. After a few months, the two students stopped showing up to school and we found out that it was because they were running from the police. In their previous home (NC), they and their grandmother had murdered their parents and fled when questioned by local authorities. They were eventually apprehended and stood trial, but the event terrified everyone in my town. Now, in that instance the authorities were unusually responsive, but I think that it never hurts to voice your concerns. They police may not listen, particularly if you aren't of the "right" type, but still, people should always speak up. #anthonysowell
11/07/09
Can we talk for a minute about the whole "neighbors thought he was strange but not dangerous" aspect of this? I understand that it seems crazy that something like this could happen in plain sight so to speak but whenever things like this happen I often find myself asking "well who WOULD think something that horrible is happening right next door?"
This disturbs me when I read about cases like this too.
I don't have much faith in the police anymore--might have for a moment.
And I get it. Who wants to be a police officer? Are people joining the ranks or the correctional system (parole officers) because they're the best and brightest, they care (a rapist is a rapist is a rapist, and this guy had more than a couple of red flags) and will back up those sentiments when confronted with complaints like this? Or is it just a job, something that pays a decent salary and a good pension? #clevelandserialkiller
11/06/09
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11/06/09
That whole scenario with Doss is weird. Not that I don't believe her, I am just baffled she was actually able to fall asleep. #anthonysowell
11/06/09
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11/06/09
If you are on parole, doesn't that throw you back in prison?
That ALONE? #anthonysowell
11/06/09
11/07/09
In the early morning hours of May 30, 1991, 14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone ... was discovered on the street, wandering naked, heavily under the influence of drugs and bleeding from his rectum. Two young women from the neighborhood found the dazed boy and called 911. Dahmer chased his victim down and tried to take him away, but the women stopped him. Dahmer told police that Sinthasomphone was his 19-year-old boyfriend, and that they had an argument while drinking. Against the protests of the two women who had called 911, police turned him over to Dahmer. They later reported smelling a strange scent while inside Dahmer's apartment, but did not investigate it. The smell was the body of Tony Hughes, Dahmer's previous victim, decomposing in the bedroom. The two policemen failed to run a background check that would have revealed that Dahmer was a convicted child molester still under probation. The officers laughed about the incident, one joking that his partner was "going to get deloused." Later that night, Dahmer killed and dismembered Sinthasomphone, keeping his skull as a souvenir. #anthonysowell
11/06/09
11/06/09
11/06/09
Pass the tissues, please. #anthonysowell
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