September 24 and 25, 2016


News and Views


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cascade-mall-shooting-suspect-arcan-cetin-zombie-like-arrested-washington/

Cascade Mall shooting: Suspect Arcan Cetin “zombie-like” when arrested in Washington
CBS/AP
September 25, 2016, 8:48 AM

Photograph -- Arcan Cetin, left, in an undated photo, and at right, being taken into custody by police on Sept. 24, 2016. KIRO-TV


BURLINGTON, Wash. - The 20-year-old suspect in the deadly Washington state mall shooting said nothing and appeared “zombie-like” when he was arrested by authorities nearly 24 hours into an intense manhunt, authorities said.

Island County Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Hawley said he spotted Arcan Cetin from a patrol car Saturday evening in Oak Harbor, Washington, and immediately recognized him as the suspect who killed five people at the Cascade Mall in nearby Burlington.

Hawley said at a news conference they had received information that Cetin, of Oak Harbor, was in the area. Cetin, who immigrated to the U.S. from Turkey, is a legal permanent resident who has been living in Oak Harbor, authorities said. He had been arrested once before in the county for assault, Hawley said.

“I literally hit my brakes, did a quick turn, I jumped out,” Hawley said. “We both jumped out with our guns, and he just froze.”

Cetin was unarmed and was carrying a satchel with a computer in it.

“He was kind of zombie-like,” Hawley said.

According to CBS affiliate KIRO, in October 2014, Cetin was added as a defendant in a domestic violence-related case – however, he was ultimately not convicted. At the time a judge was told Cetin was just over 18 and has no place to go. Also that month, Cetin was told not to possess firearms. The court was told it was not clear were Cetin would be staying.

Cetin was involved a misdemeanor fourth-degree assault case in Island County, Washington. He was reportedly ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation in August 2015, and that was completed as of March 2016, KIRO reported. As of Aug. 25, 2016, Cetin was in compliance with weekly sessions for mental health counseling. He complied with the alcohol assessment, according to court records, and he had a deferred prosecution review for a case involving a marijuana scheduled for 2018.

A formal no-contact order was entered for each parent, according to court records.

Authorities said four women, ranging in age from teens to seniors, died Friday in the mall shooting. A man who was wounded in the shooting died early Saturday, officials said. One of the victims has been identified as Sarai Lara, 16, according to KIRO.

The Seattle Times reported Sarai Lara’s mother said she had survived cancer as a young girl and was a happy student.

Evangelina Lara told the newspaper through a translator that she was shopping Friday night at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington, with Sarai and her younger sister, but they split up.

She says Sarai went to Macy’s looking for pants.

Evangelina Lara says it was confirmed at 2 a.m. Saturday that her daughter was among the five people killed.

The other victims have not yet been identified.

The mall was packed Friday night when the gunman opened fire with what police described as a “hunting-type” rifle. Victims described chaos on the scene as police locked it down and tried to clear the area.



In my view there is, and always will be, a continuing need for locked ward mental hospitals, several in every state, because people like this man who are really, as we used to say in the ‘70s, “out of it,” need to be contained, long-term. Some psychiatric drugs and a little counseling is not enough. It’s also inhumane to send them to death row. When these killings have occurred and the attacker is asked “why” he did it, his answer is either deeply chilling or just totally irrational. Talk therapy only works with those who can think at least a little bit.


TULSA AND CHARLOTTE


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/terence-crutcher-tulsa-man-fatally-shot-by-police-had-no-gun-chief-says/

Man fatally shot by Tulsa police had no gun, chief says
By CRIMESIDER STAFF CBS/AP
September 19, 2016, 5:07 PM

TULSA, Okla. -- A black man fatally shot by a white Tulsa, Oklahoma, police officer responding to a stalled vehicle had no weapon on him or in his SUV, the city’s police chief said Monday.

An investigation is underway into Friday’s shooting death of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher, Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan said, just before the department released dashcam footage of the shooting.

“We will achieve justice in this case,” Jordan said.

Meanwhile, a federal prosecutor says the U.S. Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting.

Authorities said the shooting occurred after an officer stopped to investigate a vehicle in the middle of a road. Police said Crutcher approached after officers arrived to assist. Police investigators said Crutcher refused several orders to show his hands and when he reached back into his car one officer deployed a Taser while another officer fired one shot, reports CBS affiliate KOTV.

The video shows Crutcher with his hands in the air as officers direct him to walk towards a vehicle, which is stopped in the middle of the road, and place his hands on it. At one point he’s seen lowering one hand and he’s surrounded by police officers, making it harder to see his actions from the police dashboard camera’s angle. Police also released helicopter footage of the incident, but his movements are obscured by the car in that footage.

Crutcher can be seen dropping to the ground.

Someone on the police radio says, “I think he may have just been Tasered.” One of the officers near Crutcher backs up slightly.

Then almost immediately, someone can be heard saying, “Shots fired.” Crutcher’s head then drops, leaving him lying motionless.

After that a voice can be heard on the police radio saying, “Shots fired. We have one suspect down.”

Damario Solomon-Simmons, an attorney for Crutcher’s family, said when they watched the video, they didn’t see Crutcher reach into the car or attack officers.

“We saw that Terence did not have any weapon. Terence did not make any sudden movements. We saw that Terence was not being belligerent,” said. Solomon-Simmons, said at a news conference separate from one police held.

Crutcher is seen in the video after he’s shot lying in the street for more than two minutes before officials render aid.

“Terrence died on that street by himself, in his own blood, without any help,” Solomon-Simmons said.

Solomon-Simmons called the video “extremely disturbing” and said family has no doubt it was an unjustified shooting. Crutcher’s twin sister Tiffany said the shooting was incompetent and negligent, and she wants charges brought against the officer involved, reports CBS affiliate KOTV.

22 PHOTOS
Controversial killings by police

Tulsa Police Sgt. Shane Tuell confirmed that relatives were shown the recordings Sunday ahead of the public release.

“We wanted them to see it before it was released so they wouldn’t be blindsided by it,” Tuell said. “We wanted to be able to have that intimate time with them, with their attorney, to see if they had any questions or concerns.

“With something of this magnitude, we’re trying an approach that we believe is necessary to further that transparency.”

About a dozen protesters gathered outside the Tulsa County courthouse on Monday morning, waving signs that read, “This Stops Now” and “Not Going, Keep Protesting.” They also chanted, “Hands up, don’t shoot.” One protester, Tulsa resident Mark Whited, said more needed to be done to “bridge the mistrusts” between communities.

Police say Tulsa officer Betty Shelby fired the fatal shot, while officer Tyler Turnbough used a stun gun on Crutcher. Both officers are white, MacKenzie said Monday.

In a statement, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma said a Justice Department probe would determine whether a federal civil rights violation occurred after a “comprehensive review” of the shooting.

“The Justice Department is committed to investigating allegations of excessive force by law enforcement officers and will devote the resources necessary to ensure that all allegations of serious civil rights violations are fully and complete investigated,” the statement read.



EXCERPT -- “We saw that Terence did not have any weapon. Terence did not make any sudden movements. We saw that Terence was not being belligerent,” said. Solomon-Simmons, said at a news conference separate from one police held. Crutcher is seen in the video after he’s shot lying in the street for more than two minutes before officials render aid.”


The lack of humanity in these situations that we keep seeing sickens me. Didn’t render aid? Where is our Christianity, or even our basic ethics? We’re becoming barbarians. Heaven help us! It isn’t just what “bad apple” cops do that bothers me, but how we as a society so often react to it. It’s like what I heard called an “old Chinese proverb,” years ago about rape. “Stop struggling. Relax and enjoy it!” I often think that this is all testosterone reactions on the part of police, but in this case it’s a woman. Shameful.



EXTRAORDINARY EVENT REASON FOR MORE POLICE LEEWAY IN PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/panthers-vikings-nfl-game-declared-extraordinary-event-amid-unrest/

Panthers-Vikings NFL game declared “Extraordinary Event” amid unrest
CBS NEWS
September 25, 2016, 10:52 AM

32 photos -- Police officers gather outside Bank of America Stadium on Sept. 25, 2016, in Charlotte, N.C. WBTV
Play VIDEO -- New developments in fatal Charlotte police shooting


CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The city of Charlotte is on high alert after several nights of unrest related to the police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott.

On Sunday, Interim City Manager Ron Kimble declared the Carolina Panthers and Minnesota Vikings game at Bank of America Stadium “an Extraordinary Event,” allowing for greater police control.

The designation also allows police more latitude to stop and search people within an area for several blocks in all directions from Bank of America Stadium and prevent protesters from gathering en masse.

Officials are worried about protesters disrupting fans or the game.

Protests in Charlotte remained peaceful for another night after the release of police video of a Scott’s shooting death at the hands of officers. Earlier in the week, the protests became violent, and one person was killed during them.

Hundreds of people walked through the city’s downtown streets on Saturday night, as they have for the past few nights. There have been marches each night since Keith Lamont Scott was shot to death Tuesday by police. One man was shot and later died in rioting that broke out on Wednesday night, but the nights since have been more peaceful.

A midnight to 6 a.m. curfew has been in effect since Thursday, and National Guardsmen have been stationed throughout downtown each night. Four people were arrested Saturday night on charges ranging from curfew violation to impeding traffic and possession of a homemade weapon.

Chief Kerr Putney said the latest video and other evidence they were releasing would corroborate their account of how things unfolded, including that Keith Lamont Scott was holding a gun when he was shot. However, earlier in the week, even Putney acknowledged that “the video does not give me absolute, definitive visual evidence that would confirm that a person is pointing a gun.”

Charlotte police shooting protests

He addressed reporters Saturday afternoon, hours after several hundred demonstrators took to the street for a fifth day and marched around downtown Charlotte.

Putney said that he decided to release the footage after receiving assurances from the State Bureau of Investigation that it would not impact their independent probe of the shooting.

Asked whether he expected the footage to quiet protesters, Putney responded: “The footage itself will not create in anyone’s mind as to what this case represents... the footage only supports the other information” such as forensic evidence and witness statements.

He also said that his officers didn’t break the law but noted that the State Bureau of Investigation is continuing its investigation.



EXCERPT – “On Sunday, Interim City Manager Ron Kimble declared the Carolina Panthers and Minnesota Vikings game at Bank of America Stadium “an Extraordinary Event,” allowing for greater police control. The designation also allows police more latitude to stop and search people within an area for several blocks in all directions from Bank of America Stadium and prevent protesters from gathering en masse. Officials are worried about protesters disrupting fans or the game.”


Several things jump out at me here. First, the City Manager has control over police powers and not higher level law and authorities, apparently. That explains why police violence is so much more frequent and extreme from place to place. Civil Rights doesn’t enter into the matter, apparently. The matter of legality in police tactics is not addressed. We need an all-encompassing federal law (or amendment?) preventing/prohibiting excessive violence by police. Second, we have, I thought, a right to assemble as long as it is peaceful. The rioting is not, of course, peaceful, but that should apply only in the given instances, and not in general whenever a large number of people have gathered together. Rioting means crowd violence. The only rioting mentioned in this article happened on Wednesday night. This is Sunday. The police right to “prevent protesters from gathering en masse” should be illegal, and I thought it was.

Three, according to the CBS correspondent speaking on the news video above, “the object on the ground” beside Scott’s body “appears to be a glove.” Well, that certainly isn’t a gun, but it isn’t a book either. The stories are confused and incomplete over what actually happened. I do strongly believe, however, that deadly force should NOT be a part of a simple traffic stop or any other encounter, like a “stop and frisk” maneuver, unless the officer is genuinely attacked or saw a genuine crime. I do see striking the officer with a fist or a dangerous object to be an attack, but I would like to see officers use their own fists, martial arts or wrestling maneuvers instead of a gun.

Four, I would like to see “stop and frisk” outlawed when the suspect/citizen is merely walking down the street with no connection to a crime in progress. I also want to see skin color as being illegal as a legitimately held “reasonable suspicion” of guilt, especially if the “crime” is merely a vague personal distrust. Whites are often “afraid” of Blacks or consider them all to be dishonest. That’s not a good enough reason to shoot them. As for the good old, “I feared for my life,” I hope the time will come when we won’t be hearing that anymore, and the responsibility to face danger will be considered a basic part of a street officer’s job. They need to prepare themselves very well for that risk without depending on a gun, especially in cases like the one in Tulsa, in which the man had just been tazed and was lying incapacitated on the ground. That is not by any stretch of the imagination, “self-defense.”

Five, we need to move strongly to the ability to talk many of those encounters down into a non-aggressive situation, whenever possible. That is a particular skill set which our police officers are usually not trained nearly well enough in doing. I want them to be PEACE OFFICERS and not warriors or “blue centurions,” or however they like to style themselves these days. I want them to be the kind of person that even a citizen of a different skin color can SAFELY approach for help. Too often for a Black man, woman or child to approach a policeman at all is to put himself in mortal danger, and the members of poor communities know that. That is causing fear, hatred, and a deep lack of true “respect.” It’s causing our neighborhoods to be literally war zones.

Six, I want to see the day when the “look” of an officer is not one of “struttin’ around like a banty rooster,” which is the case too often today. Approaching the public with great disrespect and threat is never helpful. They need to change the nature of the encounters. Getting on the news shows and solemnly warning the public to “immediately and completely comply to all commands so as to avoid deadly force” is not the right attitude, and it should be against our civil rights as citizens. Our cops are not legitimately “judge, jury and executioner,” and people who do behave that way should be charged with assault or homicide. I will say, again, if officers always patrolled in pairs as they do on the good old TV shows, they wouldn’t as often find themselves in situations of great personal danger. That’s what a partner is for.



https://www.yahoo.com/news/charlotte-march-peaceful-pressure-rises-release-shooting-tapes-055733360.html

Charlotte police release video of fatal shooting after protests
By Robert MacMillan and Mike Blake, Reuters
September 24, 2016

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Reuters) - Charlotte police released body camera and dashboard videos on Saturday showing the fatal shooting of a black man that triggered protests in the North Carolina city, but the footage did not show whether the victim was holding a gun.

A dashboard camera from a police car showed Keith Scott, killed on Tuesday, exiting his car and backing away from it. Police shout to him to drop the gun, but it is not clear that he has anything in his hand. Then shots break out and Scott drops to the ground.

A second body camera video from an officer does not show the moment of shooting. It shows Scott outside his vehicle before he is shot, but it is not clear whether he has something in his hand. Then the officer moves and Scott is out of view until he is seen on the ground.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney announced the release of the video at an earlier briefing, following days of demonstrations at which protesters demanded that authorities allow the public to see clips of the Tuesday shooting.

Putney said before releasing the footage that the videos themselves were "insufficient" to prove that Scott held a gun. But the totality of evidence did, he said.

“There is no definitive visual evidence that he had a gun in his hand, you can see something in the hand, and that he pointed it at an officer. That I did not visually see in the video,” Putney said. “But what we do see is compelling evidence that, when you put all the pieces together, supports that."

Police also released pictures including one of a handgun it says was recovered at the scene and an ankle holster police say Scott was wearing.

The news conference came as demonstrators on Saturday mounted a fifth day of protests in Charlotte. They called for the end of emergency measures imposed on the city this week, the removal of National Guard troops and for officers involved in the incident to be prosecuted.

The shooting of Scott, a 43-year-old father of seven, was the latest in a series of deadly police encounters across the country in recent years that has raised questions about the use of force by U.S. law enforcement against African-Americans and other minorities.

(Additional reporting by David Bailey and Alex Dobuzinskis; Writing by Will Dunham and Peter Henderson; Editing by Leslie Adler and Mary Milliken)



I have a feeling that the tide is turning in favor of the public as opposed to old style policing. This Police Chief relented about publicizing at least some of the video within 5 days of saying he wouldn’t, supposedly because it might “prejudice the investigation” – yeah, right!



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bernie-sanders-2016-is-not-the-time-for-a-protest-vote/

Bernie Sanders: 2016 is “not the time for a protest vote”
By EMILY SCHULTHEIS CBS NEWS
September 25, 2016, 11:50 AM

Play VIDEO -- Bernie Sanders: "We don't need more Wall Street CEOs in any administration"

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders understands that some voters want to eschew Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and instead cast their ballots for either Libertarian Gary Johnson or Green Party candidate Jill Stein in November—but on Sunday urged people to support Clinton, saying the stakes are too high this year for a “protest vote.”

“I think what the focus has got to be on now is understanding that this moment in history, for a presidential election, is not the time for a protest vote,” he said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “It is the time to look at which candidate is going to work best for the middle class and working families.”

Sanders, who first ran for Congress as an independent in 1990, said he has nothing against third-party candidates; in fact, he added, he thinks they’re important to American democracy. But Sanders noted that the stakes are particularly high in this campaign—and that the difference between Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump are incredibly stark. Polling has shown significant interest in voting for a third-party candidate this year, particularly among young people.

“Look, I am the longest-serving independent in the history of Congress. When I was younger I ran on a third party here in the state of Vermont,” he said. “So I’m not here to disparage third-party candidates who historically have played a very, very important role in this country in raising issues and moving this country in certain directions.”

He cited the various “crises” the country is facing, including “a disappearing middle class, massive levels of income and wealth inequality, the issue of the increase in bigotry we are seeing, climate change, the fact that so many young people are leaving school deeply in debt.”

As for Clinton’s standing with the millennial voters that flocked so much to Sanders’ own campaign during the Democratic primary, Sanders said if Clinton focuses on the issues she’ll do well with the key demographic. He and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren have been campaigning on Clinton’s behalf in recent weeks, making her pitch to young voters.

“If she focuses on the issues she will do just really well with the American people and certainly with younger people,” he said.

One issue he cited in particular where the difference between Clinton and Trump is especially salient is climate change.

“Young people are very concerned, appropriately so, about the crisis regarding climate change,” he said. “Clinton has a pretty strong program which says we have got to transform our energy system away from fossil fuel. You know what Donald Trump’s position is on climate change? He thinks it’s a hoax, and that is really frightening for the future of this planet.”



One of the things that disturbs me in this election is the descent to the personal level assaults in this case, versus issues. I love the fact that Bernie does always deal in issues. Rightists and Hillaryites have talked about his “wild” hair, said that he isn’t a realist (meaning he should have curled up in ball and played dead rather than fighting like the true contestant that he is), criticized his religion on one hand and his lack of one on another, accused him of being a radical leftist, and complained (Wasserman-Schulz) that he “isn’t even a Democrat.” Through it all he has stuck to the pertinent and important issues like the statesman that he is.

He’s the only one of the three who actually is a “leader” in my view. The others are just doing anything and everything that they think will make the public vote for them. Being President is all they care about, and not helping our country through a terrible social/political/economic/environmental series of crises which threaten our safety and identity as a people. Keep talking, Bernie. Many people like you more than Clinton actually, and also have the sense to follow your lead to help Hillary by not hurting her. A lot of us really don’t care for her at all any more, partly because of the Arizona and DNC conventions. I felt that she deliberately stood in the way of what our country needs, and mainly just so she could “win” the nation’s most important popularity contest. I have very little respect left for her, but I still will vote against Trump by supporting her.



THINGS YOU DON’T FIND IN THE “MSM”


http://www.dailysabah.com/syrian-crisis/2016/06/11/russian-warplanes-drop-white-phosphorus-munitions-on-aleppos-residential-areas

Russian warplanes drop white phosphorus munitions on Aleppo’s residential areas
DAILY SABAH
ISTANBUL
Published June 11, 2016

Video – Russian Warplanes drop white phosphorus munitions


Footage of Russian warplanes targeting civilians in Syria's second largest city of Aleppo while using white phosphorus munitions emerged over the weekend.

White phosphorus is an incendiary and toxic chemical substance that is banned by the international treaties and its usage constitutes a war crime. The video dated June 8 shows the Russian warplanes targeting Handarat area located just north of Aleppo city center, according to Turkish military sources.

In the footage, white phosphorus is seen dropped by Russian warplanes, while burning in the air and on the ground amid explosions with white smoke.

Two children were reportedly killed and six civilians were injured in the attacks.

The usage of these munitions on civilian areas is a clear violation of United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons dated 1980 and constitutes a war crime, the sources said.

The smoke of white phosphorus causes sudden scars in lungs and suffocates people to death upon breathing, while causing an inside out burning on human body.

Handarat is located on the corridor that connects opposition-held neighborhoods of Aleppo with the rest rebel-held Syrian territory and the rest of the world. Syrian regime aims to cut off this corridor to lay siege on Aleppo, which is likely to cause a humanitarian catastrophe for hundreds of thousands civilians still residing in opposition-held parts of once Syria's commercial hub.


THOSE BAD, BAD RUSSIANS… BUT OOPS, LOOK HERE!

https://www.rt.com/usa/360483-us-white-phosphorus-iraq/

US troops use white phosphorus in Iraq to ‘obscure’ Kurdish forces – newspaper
Published time: 24 Sep, 2016 09:02
Edited time: 24 Sep, 2016 20:47

Photograph – phosphorus dropping, © Reuters, WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT
Photograph – soldiers with cannisters, © 1st Lt. Daniel Johnson / dvidshub.net
Photograph -- Damage is seen inside a hospital operated by Medecins Sans Frontieres after it was hit by a Saudi-led coalition air strike in the Abs district of Hajja province, Yemen August 16, 2016. © Abduljabbar ZeyadUS-made bombs used in Saudi strikes on Yemen – Amnesty
Photograph -- Alleged Grad bombing near Slavyansk, Ukraine, in June 2014 (Screenshot from RT video) Ukraine, Syria civilians attacked with incendiary weapons – HRW


The US forces are reportedly using white phosphorus munitions against Islamist militants in Iraq, despite widespread perception of the weapon as indiscriminate and able to cause horrific injuries to civilians.

Images posted on a Pentagon-run public affairs website Dvids show a US Army artillery unit firing white phosphorus munitions in Iraq, identified by the Washington Post as M825A1 155mm shells.

The M825A1 shells are generally used to create a smokescreen lasting for up to 10 minutes, or make signals and markings for friendly troops. But when used indiscriminately in civilian-populated areas, white phosphorus munitions can cause severe burns.

“Coalition forces use these rounds with caution and always in accordance with the Law of Armed Conflict,” Colonel Joseph Scrocca, public affairs director for the US-led coalition, told the newspaper in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

“When M825A1 rounds are employed, they are done so in areas free of civilians and never against enemy forces,” he said, adding that the shells are being used for “screening and signaling” only.

However, on Thursday spokesman for the US-led coalition in Iraq Air Force Colonel John Dorrian somewhat revised Scrocca’s statement, claiming that the troops take “all reasonable precautions to minimize the risk of incidental injury to non-combatants and damage to civilian structures.”

Dorrian refused to elaborate on whether the US military have used white phosphorus shells against enemy forces, telling the Washington Post that the munitions had been “used generally for the circumstances which I described.”

He added that the image posted on Dvids has allegedly been taken during a US operation to support Kurdish fighters’ advance with artillery fire.

The operation, called Evergreen II, was focused on helping the Kurds secure the Gwer River Bridge, near the northern Iraqi town of Gwer, and the white phosphorus shells have been deployed to “obscure” Kurdish fighters’ offensive.

Although widely-used by some militaries, the legality of the white phosphorus munitions remains questionable. Many weapons experts and rights groups believe that the weapon is indiscriminate in nature and extremely dangerous for civilians.

“White phosphorous is widely used in armies throughout the world, as well as air forces to create smoke, in other words, to shield the movement of advancing or retreating friendly troops,” Charles Shoebridge, a former military and intelligence officer, told RT, adding that “it is an extremely fearsome weapon” if used against troops.

“It will burn on contact with air and water won’t put it out immediately. It can burn straight through skin, straight through to the bone and cause horrific and very slow to heal injuries, including, of course, death,” Shoebridge said, adding that white phosphorous will ignite any flammable material upon which it comes.

The expert also emphasized that under “international humanitarian law, the laws of war and various protocols presents a complex picture on when and how it may be used,” adding that “it should not be used where there are large concentrations of civilians.”

Shoebridge’s word were partly echoed by James Tour, a chemical weapons expert from the Rice University in Texas, who told RT that, in fact, the conventions do not exclude its use on human combatants.

“Restrictions [apply to] its use on civilians and to the cases, in which the fire is going to [directly] hit the combatants,” Tour said, adding that “when it comes in contact with the troops it becomes a chemical weapon.”

However, white phosphorous "is very good for removing forces who are hidden in bunkers because of what it does – its burning consumes the oxygen which forces troops out of bunkers,” Tour stressed, adding that what is often claimed is that “it was used to remove the combatants from their hiding places and not to directly hit the combatants.”

“What we need is the sharpening up of the regulations so that the troops know, where it can be used and where it cannot be used,” Tour said.

Earlier this month, Amnesty International said that the weapon has deliberately been used by the Saudis against Yemeni Houthi rebels. In 2014, HRW alleged that the Ukrainian Army deployed “exceptionally cruel” incendiary weapons, including white phosphorus, against anti-Kiev rebels defending the eastern city of Donetsk.

“When white phosphorus is used in attacks in areas containing concentrations of civilians and civilian objects, it will indiscriminately start fires over a wide area,” Mark Hiznay, associate arms director at HRW, told the newspaper.

“US and Iraqi forces should refrain from using white phosphorus in urban areas like Mosul, because whatever tactical military advantage is gained at the time of use, it will be far outweighed by the stigma created by horrific burns to civilian victims.”

In 2009, HRW called on NATO forces in Afghanistan to immediately release the results of their inquiry into deadly incident in which an eight-year-old girl in Kapisa province has been burned by white phosphorus munitions.

The girl died hours after the shelling because of several burn wounds on her face and neck. NATO forces denied use of white phosphorus munitions in the area and claimed that is was Taliban that may have fired the shells, but have not provided any evidence for their claim.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dozens-killed-aleppo-un-bickering-syria-russia-war-crimes/

Russia threatened with war crimes probe over Syria
AP September 25, 2016, 12:29 PM

Photograph -- A woman reacts as children are being evacuated from a site hit by an airstrike in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan town in Idlib province, Syria, September 25, 2016. REUTERS


BEIRUT - At least 23 civilians have been killed in renewed government airstrikes on the contested city of Aleppo, Syrian activists said Sunday, as France and Britain’s Foreign Ministers raised the prospect of investigating Russia for war crimes, ahead of an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting about the spiraling violence in Syria’s civil war.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power also blasted Moscow’s involvement in the carnage, reports CBS News’ Pamela Falk.

Power said that Russia is sponsoring “barbarism” in Syria, adding “it is apocalyptic what is happening to eastern Aleppo.”

After cease-fire collapses, warplanes hammer Aleppo
Play VIDEO
After cease-fire collapses, warplanes hammer Aleppo
Falk reports that after a week of acrimony between the U.S. and Russia at the UN about recent an attack on an aid convoy, an attack on Syrian forces by the U.S.-led coalition, as well as a dramatic increase in fighting, the U.S., France and Britain called and emergency meeting to deal with the desperate humanitarian crisis affecting civilians in Aleppo. Some 250,000 civilians are under siege in east Aleppo since government troops encircled the area in mid-July.

Medical workers and local officials reported airstrikes on neighborhoods throughout Aleppo’s rebel-held eastern districts as an announced government offensive entered its fourth day.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 23 civilians had been killed by 6 p.m. and said it expects the toll to rise.

Ibrahim Alhaj of the Syrian Civil Defense search and rescue outfit said hospitals and rescuers have documented the deaths of 43 people so far.

Hospitals are overwhelmed with casualties and medical workers are expecting many of the wounded to die from a lack of treatment, according to Mohammad Zein Khandaqani, a member of the Medical Council, which oversees medical affairs in the opposition areas.

“I’ve never seen so many people dying in once place,” he said from a hospital in the city. “It’s terrifying today. In less than one hour the Russian planes have killed more than 50 people and injured more than 200.”

The Observatory, which relies on a network of contacts inside Syria, said earlier in the day that 213 civilians have been killed by airstrikes and shelling on opposition areas in and around Aleppo since a U.S.-Russian brokered cease-fire collapsed Monday evening.

War in Syria
War in Syria
At the U.N., British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Russia should be investigated for war crimes following an attack on a Syrian aid convoy that claimed 20 lives, Monday.

Johnson said that Russia’s air force may have deliberately targeted the civilian convoy on Sept. 19. Russia denies involvement and instead suggests Syrian rebels or a U.S. drone were responsible.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry took a slap at Boris Johnson for his suggestion that Russia has committed war crimes.

Following the British Foreign Minister’s comments, Russian ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova quickly responded on Facebook Sunday, saying:

“The foreign minister of Great Britain Boris Johnson said in a broadcast of the BBC that Russia is guilty of protracting civil war in Syria and, possibly, of committing war crimes in the form of air attacks on convoys with humanitarian aid. All this is right except for two words: Instead of ‘Russia’ it needs to be ‘Great Britain’ and instead of ‘Syria,’ ‘Iraq.’”

Controversial weapon used in massive Aleppo attack, activists say
Play VIDEO
Controversial weapon used in massive Aleppo attack, activists say
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Russia and Iran will be guilty of war crimes if they don’t pressure Syrian President Bashar Assad to stop escalating violence.

Ayrault said an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting Sunday is a “moment of truth” for the U.N.

The meeting was requested by the United States, Britain, and France, as pro-government forces extend their bombardment of the contested city of Aleppo. They are widely believed to be accompanied by Russian air strikes.

Rebels meanwhile shelled Masyaf, a government stronghold near the central city of Hama, for the second day in a row, according to the Observatory.

Masyaf is home to a large number of Alawites, members of President Bashar Assad’s sect. Assad has rallied Syria’s minorities behind his government behind fears of the Sunni-dominated rebellion.

The U.S., Britain, and France are aligned on the Security Council against Russia and China, which back Assad in the country’s protracted war, now in its sixth year.

But a broad coalition of Syrian rebels denounced international negotiations for peace as “meaningless,” earlier Sunday.

The statement released jointly by 33 factions called on the government and Russian forces to halt airstrikes and lift sieges on opposition areas. The U.N. estimates 600,000 Syrians are trapped in various sieges enforced by the government, rebels, and the Islamic State group across the country.

“Negotiations under the present conditions are no longer useful and are meaningless,” the statement said.

The factions said they would not accept to have Russia mediate any negotiations, calling it a “partner to the regime in the crimes against our people.”

The statement was signed by some of the largest factions from across Syria but did not include the powerful, ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham nor the al-Qaida-linked Fatah Sham Front.

Efforts to revive the truce have floundered. An airstrike destroyed a U.N.-backed humanitarian convoy Monday inside opposition territory shortly after the Syrian military announced the agreement had expired. The U.N. says the attack could amount to a war crime if proven deliberate, though it has not assigned responsibility yet. The U.S. says it believes Russian jets were behind the strikes.

Rebels Sunday retook an area in Aleppo that fell to government forces the day before, extending a punishing stalemate in the contested northern city.

The Observatory says rebels seized Handarat, a largely uninhabited former Palestinian refugee camp, early Sunday - a day after it was lost to government forces. The camp has changed hands multiple times and is largely devastated and abandoned.

The area is near Castello Road, a vital supply route to the city’s besieged rebel-held areas. Government forces seized the Castello Road earlier this year, besieging rebel-held districts where some 250,000 people reside.

Yasser al-Yousef, a spokesman for the Nour el-Din al-Zinki rebel faction, says rebels seized Handarat late Saturday night.



EXCERPT – “When M825A1 rounds are employed, they are done so in areas free of civilians and never against enemy forces,” he said, adding that the shells are being used for “screening and signaling” only. However, on Thursday spokesman for the US-led coalition in Iraq Air Force Colonel John Dorrian somewhat revised Scrocca’s statement, claiming that the troops take “all reasonable precautions to minimize the risk of incidental injury to non-combatants and damage to civilian structures.” Dorrian refused to elaborate on whether the US military have used white phosphorus shells against enemy forces, telling the Washington Post that the munitions had been “used generally for the circumstances which I described.”


On the term pnictogen seen in the Wikipedia article on phosphorus below, it is a (possibly new) term for the nitrogen family of elements. There’s an article on this with a lot of detail in scientific terminology that I really didn’t grasp, and it wasn’t on this subject so I didn’t read it all. These pnictogens are important to plant growth, and found in fertilizers. White Phosphorus is capable, according to Wikipedia, of burning through the skin all the way down to the bone. Think about that. It is being used militarily by both Russia and the US in Syria in ways that are skirting the edges of International Law. Russia also is under scrutiny for bombing sensitive civilian sites, including a hospital. The problem with overhead bombing is that it’s hard to tell exactly where they will fall. Truly, war IS Hell, to quote a fine old Republican.

According to the article below White Phosphorus is a key ingredient in Napalm, which we used on Vietnam many times, causing everything from trees and houses to people to burn. That very terrible old news photograph of a young Vietnamese girl running down the street totally nude and crying with fear and agony was napalm damage.. There is a happier article on her today. She survived, and has been reunited with Nick Ut, the Pulitzer Prize winning photographer.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorus

Phosphorus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Phosphorus is a chemical element with symbol P and atomic number 15. As an element, phosphorus exists in two major forms—white phosphorus and red phosphorus—but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Earth. With few exceptions, minerals containing phosphorus are in the maximally oxidised state as inorganic phosphate rocks.

The first form of elemental phosphorus to be produced (white phosphorus, in 1669) emits a faint glow when exposed to oxygen – hence the name, taken from Greek mythology, Φωσφόρος meaning "light-bearer" (Latin Lucifer), referring to the "Morning Star", the planet Venus (or Mercury). The term "phosphorescence", meaning glow after illumination, originally derives from this property of phosphorus, although this word has since been used for a different physical process that produces a glow. The glow of phosphorus itself originates from oxidation of the white (but not red) phosphorus — a process now termed chemiluminescence. Together with nitrogen, arsenic, and antimony, phosphorus is classified as a pnictogen.

. . . .

Phosphate is needed to replace the phosphorus that plants remove from the soil, and its annual demand is rising nearly twice as fast as the growth of the human population.[6] Other applications include the role of organophosphorus compounds in detergents, pesticides, and nerve agents.[7] At 0.099%, phosphorus is the most abundant pnictogen in the Earth's crust.[8]

. . . .

White phosphorus is the least stable, the most reactive, the most volatile, the least dense, and the most toxic of the allotropes. White phosphorus gradually changes to red phosphorus. This transformation is accelerated by light and heat, and samples of white phosphorus almost always contain some red phosphorus and accordingly appear yellow. For this reason, white phosphorus that is aged or otherwise impure (e.g. weapons-grade, not lab-grade WP) is also called yellow phosphorus. When exposed to oxygen, white phosphorus glows in the dark with a very faint tinge of green and blue. It is highly flammable and pyrophoric (self-igniting) upon contact with air.




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-black-history-museum-tells-a-richer-and-fuller-story-of-america/

Obama: Black history museum tells "richer and fuller" story of America
By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS
September 24, 2016, 2:02 PM

Play VIDEO -- Oprah on opening of the "moving and profound" African American museum
Photograph -- President Obama wipes his cheek as he speaks during the dedication of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, Sept. 24, 2016. REUTERS
Play VIDEO -- A Monumental Project: The new African-American museum
25 PHOTOS -- National Museum of African American History and Culture

President Obama officially opened the National Museum of African American History and Culture Saturday, delivering a moving address on the importance of the newest Smithsonian venue and its role in providing “context for the debates of our times.”

“This national museum helps to tell a richer and fuller story of who we are,” the president said on the National Mall, where the museum was built just blocks away from the White House. Through it, “we better understand ourselves and each other. It binds us together. It reaffirms that all of us are America. That African-American history is not somehow separate from our American story … it is central to the American story.”

“It is a glorious story,” he said, following speeches by those pivotal to the museum’s opening, including civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, and former President George W. Bush. “The one that’s told here -- it is complicated and it is messy and it is full of contradictions. As all stories are.”

With exhibits on slavery, lynching, and the victims of Jim Crow, the president noted that the museum showcased the uglier parts of America’s historical treatment of its black citizens alongside African-American successes.

“Our glory derives not just from our most obvious triumphs,” Mr. Obama said, “but how we have wrested triumph from tragedy and how we have been able to remake ourselves again, and again, and again in accordance with our highest ideas.”

“Yes, a clear-eyed view of history can make us uncomfortable,” he said, but he expressed hope that it would “shake us out of our familiar narratives.”

The history told by the museum, he said, “is a story that needs to to be told now more than ever.”

In his nearly half-hour-long address, the president alluded to the recent spate of violence against black Americans -- and the subsequent demonstrations those incidents have sparked.

“This museum provides context for the debates of our times. It illuminates them and gives us some sense to how they evolved,” he said. “Perhaps they can help a white visitor understand the pain and anger of demonstrators like those in Ferguson and Charlotte.”

For black visitors, the president said it could also help them appreciate “the sincerity of law enforcement officials… who in fits and starts are struggling to understand and are trying to do the right thing.”

“It reminds us that routine discrimination and Jim Crow aren’t ancient history,” Mr. Obama said. “It’s just a blink in the eye of history. It was just yesterday. And so we should not be surprised that not all the healing is done. We shouldn’t despair that it isn’t all solved.”

“Protest and love of country don’t merely coexist, but they inform each other,” he added.

As protests in Charlotte, North Carolina, continue into their fifth day following the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, the president said, “Hopefully, this museum can help us talk to each other.”

The museum, the nineteenth and the newest of the Smithsonian Institution, came to be after a yearslong fight for funding. Lewis co-sponsored the legislation that authorized it, and Mr. Bush signed it into law in 2003.



EXCERPTS -- “This museum provides context for the debates of our times. It illuminates them and gives us some sense to how they evolved,” he said. “Perhaps they can help a white visitor understand the pain and anger of demonstrators like those in Ferguson and Charlotte.” For black visitors, the president said it could also help them appreciate “the sincerity of law enforcement officials… who in fits and starts are struggling to understand and are trying to do the right thing.” “It reminds us that routine discrimination and Jim Crow aren’t ancient history,” Mr. Obama said. “It’s just a blink in the eye of history. It was just yesterday. And so we should not be surprised that not all the healing is done. We shouldn’t despair that it isn’t all solved.”


He does express here the way I feel. I’m angry and sad in equal proportions that racism still exists and is still a virulent disease like Ebola or rabies. I want us to wade patiently as a society through this societal negativity which is our effort to become a great nation, as we claim to be.

In these two years since the Ferguson killing and the rise of BLM emerged in the news, during which time we keep seeing more and more almost identical incidents around the country, I have also seen some changes in half a dozen city police forces in the way they are doing their jobs. They’re revising philosophies and training, even in a couple of situations disbanding the PD and starting over. I’m glad to see that, because this is no matter of “a few bad apples.” I will still continue to do my job, which is to highlight incidents as they appear and try to add some information as well as merely preach the gospel of fairness and humane behavior.



TRUMP/CLINTON – THREE ARTICLES

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hillary-clinton-aide-playing-donald-trump-debate-prep/

Top Hillary Clinton aide playing Donald Trump in debate prep
By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS
September 24, 2016, 11:00 AM

Photograph -- gettyimages-84199284.jpg, Secretary of State-designate and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, refuses to take questions while waiting for an elevator with her press secretary, Philippe Reines, at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 7, 2009, in Washington, D.C. CHIP SOMODEVILLA, GETTY IMAGES


Mystery solved.

The question of who will be playing Donald Trump during Hillary Clinton’s debate preparations is finally answered -- and unlike what the rampant speculation has suggested, the stand-in for the GOP nominee is not an A-list actor, a comedian, a “Shark Tank” investor or a member of the U.S. Senate.

Instead, it’s longtime Clinton aide, Philippe Reines, CBS News’ Nancy Cordes confirmed. The New York Times first reported the news.

Reines, who served as deputy assistant secretary of state under Clinton, is known in Washington circles for his bullish, combative personality -- traits that often mirror Trump’s personal debate style.

In her book “Hard Choices,” Clinton described her trusted aide as “passionate, loyal and shrewd.”

“He usually knows what Washington’s movers and shakers are thinking even before they do,” the former secretary wrote. “And I can always trust him to speak his mind.”

Reines faces a tough challenge in accurately portraying Trump. To reporters earlier this week, Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton’s communications director, laid out the challenges in preparing for two possible Trumps.

“You’re not sure who is going to show up,” Palmieri said Wednesday. “He may be aggressive or laid back.”

Trump, for his part, has said that he would not be involved in any extensive debate preparations.

“I don’t want to present a false front,” he told the Times last month. “I mean, it’s possible we’ll do a mock debate, but I don’t see a real need.”

The first presidential debate will be held at Hofstra University in New York this Monday, Sept. 26.



https://www.yahoo.com/music/bruce-springsteen-calls-donald-trump-170200851.html

Bruce Springsteen Calls Donald Trump a 'Moron'
Rolling Stone
September 23, 2016

Video -- Bruce Springsteen on writing his autobiography


Bruce Springsteen spent the summer playing stadiums with the E Street Band and preparing to release his autobiography, Born To Run, while largely staying clear of this year’s presidential campaigns. In an excerpt from an extensive interview that will appear in the next issue of Rolling Stone, Springsteen shares his thoughts on Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, while addressing his own absence from the trail.

What do you make of the Trump phenomenon?

Well, you know, the republic is under siege by a moron, basically. The whole thing is tragic. Without overstating it, it’s a tragedy for our democracy. When you start talking about elections being rigged, you’re pushing people beyond democratic governance. And it’s a very, very dangerous thing to do. Once you let those genies out of the bottle, they don’t go back in so easy, if they go back in at all. The ideas he’s moving to the mainstream are all very dangerous ideas – white nationalism and the alt-right movement. The outrageous things that he’s done – not immediately disavowing David Duke? These are things that are obviously beyond the pale for any previous political candidate. It would sink your candidacy immediately.

I believe that there’s a price being paid for not addressing the real cost of the deindustrialization and globalization that has occurred in the United States for the past 35, 40 years and how it’s deeply affected people’s lives and deeply hurt people to where they want someone who says they have a solution. And Trump’s thing is simple answers to very complex problems. Fallacious answers to very complex problems. And that can be very appealing.

You haven’t chosen to do anything with the campaign this year. Have you lost faith in whatever power you might have to affect these things?

I don’t know. I think you have a limited amount of impact as an entertainer, performer or musician. I feel what I’ve done was certainly worth doing. And I did it at the time because I felt the country was in crisis, which it certainly is right now. I don’t know if we’ve been approached or not to do anything at the moment. If so, I would take it into consideration and see where it goes.

No, I haven’t really lost faith in what I consider to be the small amount of impact that somebody in rock music might be able to have. I don’t think people go to musicians for their political points of view. I think your political point of view is circumstances and then how you were nurtured and brought up. But it’s worth giving a shot when it’s the only thing you have.

Is there a lack of enthusiasm for Hillary on your own part?

No. I like Hillary. I think she would be a very, very good president.


The rest of this interview will appear in the next issue of Rolling Stone.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-campaign-chair-ohio-county-resigns-obama-racism-remark/

Donald Trump campaign chair in Ohio county resigns over Obama racism remark
By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS
September 24, 2016, 9:55 AM

Photograph -- Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump uses a bullhorn to speak to supporters during a campaign stop at the Canfield County Fair in Canfield, Ohio, Sept. 5, 2016.


Donald Trump’s campaign chair in a key Ohio county is resigning, following a firestorm over comments she made regarding racism and how it didn’t exist before President Obama took office.

In an interview with the Guardian earlier this week, Kathy Miller, former chair of Trump’s campaign in Mahoning County, asserted that, “growing up as a kid, there was no racism, believe me.”

“I don’t think there was any racism until Obama got elected. We never had problems like this,” Miller said. “Now, with the people with the guns, and shooting up neighborhoods, and not being responsible citizens, that’s a big change, and I think that’s the philosophy that Obama has perpetuated on America.”

Miller made other controversial comments in the interview, saying, “if you’re black and you haven’t been successful in the last 50 years, it’s your own fault. You’ve had every opportunity, it was given to you.”

“You’ve had the same schools everybody else went to. You had benefits to go to college that white kids didn’t have,” she said. “You had all the advantages and didn’t take advantage of it. It’s not our fault, certainly.”

After Mark Munroe, the GOP chair for the county, heard the comments, he told the Guardian that he contacted the Trump campaign in Ohio to have Miller dismissed.

“We should not let those really inappropriate comments affect the Trump campaign,” Munroe told the paper.

Miller resigned shortly after, saying in a statement that her statements had been “inappropriate.”

“My personal comments were inappropriate, and I apologize. I am not a spokesperson for the campaign and was not speaking on its behalf,” she said. “I have resigned as the volunteer campaign chair in Mahoning County and as an elector to the Electoral College to avoid any unnecessary distractions.”

The Trump campaign’s Ohio state director, Bob Paduchik, then tapped Tracey Winbush to replace her.

But Winbush, who was the Ohio GOP treasurer and had been involved volunteering for the Trump campaign in Mahoning County, is on the record as having previously bashed the Republican presidential nominee -- back when she was still a supporter of Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, Winbush, a black woman, said in March: “I have a problem as an African American to have someone at the top of the ticket who doesn’t stand for the values of the Republican Party.”

Soon after taking over the pro-Trump efforts in Mahoning County, Winbush also deleted several tweets that were harshly critical of Trump.

One Twitter user, political reporter Henry Gomez of Cleveland.com, took photos of Winbush’s messages before they were deleted and posted them online:

Here's one still showing up. pic.twitter.com/Ta9KQmpd4u

— Henry J. Gomez (@HenryJGomez) September 22, 2016
Another old Winbush tweet that was still showing up a moment ago. Not her words, but she shared the headline & story. pic.twitter.com/F6TrzmrGYY

— Henry J. Gomez (@HenryJGomez) September 22, 2016
When asked by CBS News’ Weijia Jiang about how she now viewed Trump, Winbush responded: “I take him as an uncle -- we all have an uncle that is unfiltered. But when it comes down, at the end of the day when somebody goes to bat for you, he’ll be there.”



“In an interview with the Guardian earlier this week, Kathy Miller, former chair of Trump’s campaign in Mahoning County, asserted that, “growing up as a kid, there was no racism, believe me.” “I don’t think there was any racism until Obama got elected. We never had problems like this,” Miller said. “Now, with the people with the guns, and shooting up neighborhoods, and not being responsible citizens, that’s a big change, and I think that’s the philosophy that Obama has perpetuated on America.” Miller made other controversial comments in the interview, saying, “if you’re black and you haven’t been successful in the last 50 years, it’s your own fault. You’ve had every opportunity, it was given to you.” “You’ve had the same schools everybody else went to. You had benefits to go to college that white kids didn’t have,” she said. “You had all the advantages and didn’t take advantage of it. It’s not our fault, certainly.” After Mark Munroe, the GOP chair for the county, heard the comments, he told the Guardian that he contacted the Trump campaign in Ohio to have Miller dismissed.”


A lot of fairly well-meaning whites have never looked much at racism and what it means to our legal system, public health, social status system and attitudes, our idea of whether or not Blacks are as intelligent as whites or perhaps even of the same species. They have been told a white-oriented set of views as long as they can remember, so they believe it all for the same reason that they believe the sky is blue. It’s the first thing they learned, culturally.

People in the wealthier and, in my opinion, conceited North have considered themselves free of anything that could be termed racist, just as they considered the South to be the center of such problems. What the election of Obama did was to make such fairly self-righteous people suddenly aware that Blacks are on the move upward and the previously comfortable Whites were both angry and afraid, in spite of themselves. It is also true that Obama didn’t speak out against Black Lives Matter, and even defended their pressure on white society as being part of a fair American system in which political demonstrations are part of a needed change. He also backed the Black Atty. Gen. Eric Holder, who had the courage to stand firmly against mainly Rightist White police unions and local officials. What the horrid and highly publicized events at Ferguson did was to point to the fact that the social cover which we had fondly considered to be the TRUTH had been blown sky high by the presence of Smart Phones with built-in cameras. Cops just can’t get away with doing those things like they ALWAYS HAD in both the North and the South, and therefore everybody is up in arms on both sides of the color barrier.

It certainly is not Barack Obama’s fault, nor is the justice system wrong to enforce the laws we already have on the books against an overly powerful, undisciplined, poorly trained and above all, poorly selected policing system. We must expect more and better of our officers, if we have to fire every one of the old group and rehire totally. That sounds unfair and extreme, perhaps, but it has already been done in two localities – I don’t remember which ones, except for the one in Waldo, FL where the PD was totally disbanded and officers from a nearby town took over all law enforcement there. I just Googled the question and found a first page full of entries, one of which calls that a rumor, so I’m not sure. Go to Google and searched “whole police department replaced.”

The most interesting is this one, in which the human outreach and basic investigation functions of police officers are being taken over in non-violent crimes by uniformed, unarmed and trained civilians. That almost sounds like the old idea of the Bobbies in England who don’t, I have heard, carry guns. See these two articles below. The second one is interesting because residents had complained that some young officers had begun to look “thuggish.” That’s why tattoos have been banned. The same thing should probably be done here in the sense of cleaning up their image and appearance along with, of course, their manners and human interaction skills. Stop swaggering and start speaking more politely when a young nonviolent Black person is before them, for instance! There is no good or logical reason why cops should approach people in such a rough way. It inflames anger and hatred against them, so then whole neighborhoods start throwing rocks and bottles at them – and lately, shooting them. They should, I would think, want to avoid that kind of blowback.

For a fascinating new trend of using unarmed civilians for simpler tasks and for some of the public outreach, go to these two articles to read about them. Since some of the worst incidents have happened when an officer was dealing with a non-violent and simple situation, I think a large crew of civilians trained especially in a gentle and polite approach would be of a great deal of help. No more family members suffering a mental breakdown ending up shot, and perhaps a new policy of actually calling the rescue squad to take such a patient in hand rather than a swat team. This policeone website is a very good one, in my opinion. It probes real issues.

https://www.policeone.com/community-policing/articles/6017729-After-firing-entire-police-force-NJ-city-adds-new-unarmed-officers/,
https://www.policeone.com/international/articles/6014102-UK-police-chief-bans-tattoos-on-officers/



https://www.policeone.com/community-policing/articles/6017729-After-firing-entire-police-force-NJ-city-adds-new-unarmed-officers/,
After firing entire police force, NJ city adds new, unarmed officers
Dozens of unarmed, uniformed civilians will be trained to collect evidence, respond to radio calls for nonviolent crimes

Oct 23, 2012

By Darran Simon
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Photograph -- In this March 3, 2011 file photograph, off-duty and retired police officers and firefighters fill a street outside the Statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., during a rally to protest staff cuts and promote public safety. Newark, Trenton, Paterson, Atlantic City and Camden, all densely populated cities with significant crime problems, have made deep cuts in their police departments. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File)

RELATED ARTICLES
In wake of 270 cops laid off, Camden, NJ reworks force
Camden, NJ braces for deep police, fire cuts


CAMDEN, N.J. — Next year, when a new county police force starts patrolling Camden, replacing an embattled city department, residents will see many new faces beyond the armed officers.

Dozens of unarmed, uniformed civilians—without arrest powers—will be trained to collect evidence at crime scenes, respond to radio calls for nonviolent crimes, and relieve officers so they can complete reports once a scene is safe. In some cases, a civilian police aide may be the only person in uniform that victims will encounter. A handful of aides will assist in domestic violence investigations.

Some police aides will work out of the public eye and for the first time will monitor the city's matrix of 81 cameras throughout the city. Other civilians will be trained to work as crime analysts and intelligence analysts or to handle support and administrative functions.

The civilians' greater role in the new force will extend the reach of staff and free up officers to police streets, cutting costs, said Joe Cordero, a former East Orange police director and architect of the new force.

The approach, which other departments across the county have adopted, received a sound endorsement from a police expert who called it "forward thinking." Camden residents, though, offered mixed support and wondered about the extent of training.

"This agency is really at the forefront of the changing face of policing," said Cordero, a former director in the state Attorney General's Office specializing in gangs, guns, and violent crime.

Last week, the county began the process to hire 401 sworn officers, including superior officers. In addition, 69 civilian police aides and other civilians will be hired. About four crime-scene technicians and four crime and intelligence analysts will be hired, Cordero said.

Eventually, 100 to 115 civilians will be brought on. Cordero predicted the county would save about $6.4 million annually by hiring aides instead of the higher-compensated sworn officers.

Currently, the force employees [sic] about 45 civilians who work in administrative roles and dispatch.

Waterfront South resident Shaneka Boucher, a county force supporter, said she welcomed police aides' taking burglary reports - "as long as the report is going back to the station," she said.

In fact, the presence of unarmed police aides may quell angst some residents feel about the force, she said.

"The community has said time and time again, they are fearful that the county cops would not have experience dealing with minorities and that they would be trigger-happy," said Boucher, an executive assistant for a nonprofit and a graduate student at the University of Phoenix.

Some residents and police unions have opposed the force, saying it amounts to union-busting that won't keep the city safer. So far, suburban towns have balked at joining.

The county has said it will not hire more than 49 percent of the current city force, in order to avoid having to comply with the terms of the union contract, which expired four years ago.

The police union and county continue to negotiate.

John Williamson, president of the Camden Fraternal Order of Police, said he wasn't "necessarily opposed" to using more civilians, but he wanted city residents considered for those jobs.

"You can verbally lay out the perfect scenario of what you would like something to be, but until somebody reviews an action plan, it's only words and theories." he said.

A degree in criminology or experience in law enforcement, forensics, accounting, or analyzing financial crimes could serve as valuable strengths for some of the civilian positions, Cordero said.

County officials are particularly interested in those familiar with the city who are interested in a law enforcement career, he said.

"It's forward thinking, and it's simply good common sense," said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit think tank in Washington. "There is something here to be said for putting the right people in the right places."

Camden's move follows a continuing national trend. Cash-strapped governments—many forced to lay off officers and freeze hiring—have turned to civilians, who are paid less.

In Camden, police aides, who will make up the bulk of civilian employees, will make around $39,000, compared with patrol officers, whose pay ranges from $47,177 to $87,409. Further, the civilians will not be eligible for the state's police and fire pension system.

County officials continue to negotiate with Gov. Christie's office to pay the force's projected $5 million to $6.5 million in start-up costs.

"While the governor continues to express his support for the countywide police force, no final determination has been made with respect to a state contribution," a governor's spokesman said Friday in an e-mail.

County officials said the new force would cost about the same as the present Camden department. The city budget for the 272-member force last fiscal year, which ended June 30, was nearly $60 million.

In Nashville, civilians now make up a third of the metropolitan department's 18 crime scene investigators, according to the department.

Some police forces, though, have long used civilians to perform traditional duties.

Philadelphia's roughly 6,500-member department has used civilians as crime scene investigators for at least two decades, spokesman Lt. Raymond Evers said. Civilians also work as crime analysts, but most of the 800 civilians perform administrative functions, he said.

In Camden County, the Gloucester Township police department hired one civilian crime scene investigator about two years ago. The investigator, a former township officer, allowed one of two detectives assigned to the unit to focus on other duties, Chief Harry Earle said.

"Obviously, there is a role for civilians in policing," said Earle, whose agency also hired a civilian crime analyst a few months ago. "But deciding what tasks they perform must be very carefully analyzed to determine if their level of skill, experience, training is appropriate, especially when dealing with citizens."

He added: "There are some aspects of policing where the specific skills and training of an officer plays a role."

Maki Haberfeld, a professor of police science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said using civilians to perform the duties of sworn officers is never a good idea.

For instance, analyzing crime statistics requires an understanding of operational and tactical aspects that civilians may not grasp, she said.

"Someone who is looking at a second or third career is not as invested as someone whose career depends on this," she said.

East Camden resident Constance Williams, 71, said she wanted to learn more about the training for the civilians before pledging support.

But Williams, a former Camden school board clerk and city recreation supervisor, said a police presence is more reassuring on 911 calls.

"They would know what to do, what to look for," she said