U.S. Uncut: Miraculously, 6 Police Officers Across the US Were Charged with Murder This Week

Americans’ confidence in police is at a 22-year low

Crooked, Indicteted Cops

Via Edward Flint: "Why am I a 'cop hater'who spreads the news of police abuses? Because change starts with saying something."

After months of sustained #BlackLivesMatter protests, there have been a seemingly unprecedented six indictments of police in the last four days. This signals a stunning departure from the long trend of non-indictments, most notably in the cases of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and Tony Robinson.

Miraculously, 6 Police Officers Across the US Were Charged with Murder This Week

The uptick in police indictments is not unique to this week, either. In fact, the rate of indictments has increased by 5 times over the course of the last 5 months, according to data compiled by criminal justice professor Philip Stinson.
The sharp rise in indictments isn’t the only change following the anti-police violence protests sweeping across the country. Americans’ confidence in police is at a 22-year low, according to a Gallup poll conducted last month.

Read up, O Gentle Ones..

Buzzfeed: How Conservative, Tough-On-Crime Utah Reined In Police Militarization

We'll be sitting on the edge of our seat, waiting to find out how the ACLU and Libertas civil liberties coalition will roll up their sleeves for the 2015 Utah legislative session.

A Marriage Made in Heaven?

In the interest of  kicking off another Monday discussion, we'll highlight an uplifting story from Evan McMorris-Santoronternet of the internet news media company, Buzzfeed.  Here's the lede:

WASHINGTON — Here’s how you convince a legislature full of law-and-order Republicans to back efforts to rein in militarized police tactics:

Take a law passed by the Democratic legislature of Maryland, get the local chapter of the ACLU (and a group of libertarians) to rework it slightly, put it on the floor, watch it pass basically unanimously.

That was the unlikely recipe used — successfully — by activists in Utah [in 2014].

Inasmuch as the article's a mite fuzzy about exactly what the aforementioned ACLU and Libertarian "players" (namely the ACLU Utah Chapter and the Libertas Institute of Utah) accomplished through their joint collaboration during the 2014 Utah legislative session, we'll incorporate a brief and helpful summary, via the Salt Lake Tribune:

• Op-ed: Utah legislators stood up for Fourth Amendment

Moving back to the Buzzfeed story, Mr.McMorris-Santoronternet provides more tantalizing information, concerning ACLU Utah's and Libertas' plans for the 2015 legislative session, as they pick up where they successfully left off in March of this year:

And after the startling images of police deployments in Ferguson, Missouri, the same group of Utah activists is pretty confident it’ll be able to achieve even greater success in the next legislative session. This time, the activists are setting out to make Utah one of the first states to voluntarily limit the way its local police forces can accept and use surplus military equipment distributed by the Department of Defense. 

“It’s definitely another catalytic event,” said Connor Boyack, president of Libertas, the libertarian group that lead the effort with the Utah ACLU. “Some lawmakers who have been shocked at the images coming out of Ferguson … [and] have expressed skepticism that those scenes could ever be on the streets of Utah are nevertheless interested in looking at this because of the images coming out of Ferguson.”

“It just feels very timely for us,” agreed Marina Lowe, legislative and policy counsel for the ACLU in Utah. “Having a real national incident helped make this very real for everyone.”

Here'as the full Buzzfeed story, for those who'd like to read up:

• How Conservative, Tough-On-Crime Utah Reined In Police Militarization

Our take?  We'll be sitting on the edge of our seat, waiting to find out how the ACLU and Libertas civil liberties coalition, (a marriage made in heaven,we think) will roll up their their sleeves for the 2015 Utah legislative session.

So what say our Gentle Readers about all this, eh?

Radley Balko 8/29/13 Event Post-mortem

Standing by, awaiting firebrand libertarian Connor Boyack's "next move"

This morning's Salt Lake Tribune reports on last night's blockbuster Salt Lake City Library public event, wherein anti-police violence whistle-blower Radley Balko presented the case for dialing back police militarization in Utah, and indeed all across the whole USA:

• Author’s ‘warrior cop’ message resonates with Utah crowd 

And the D-News competently covers the post-speech public forum/panel angle:

• Families of those killed by Utah cops rally against police militarization

Be sure to read the generally brilliant reader comments posted in the comments sections beneath each above-linked story. It's encouraging to observe normally sheep-like Utahns actually perking up their ears regarding this issue, ainnit? 

Mr. Balko also reports, by the way, that just as we predicted, last night's event played to a "full house":

• Radley Balko (Facebook)

Regarding the Libertas Institute's presumed ongoing efforts to tackle the "police militarization problem", we'll be standing by, with abated breath, to watch their next move, as firebrand Connor Boyack and his "kick-ass" libertarian crew prepare to introduce corrective legislation in the 2014 Utah legislature.

Heads-up on a Thursday's Blockbuster Event: Rise of the Warrior Cop with Author Radley Balko

Get there early, as rumor has it that this event will be packed

Heads up on a big upcoming event, O Gentle Readers, as Radley Balko, senior writer and investigative reporter for the Huffington Post, former senior editor at Reason Magazine and a policy analyst for the Cato Institute appears in Salt Lake City on Thursday to speak about how law enforcement has changed throughout history and what militarized police forces mean for citizens. His presentation will be followed by a Q&A.

Here are the time/place coordinates:

Date: Thursday, August 29, 2013
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: Salt Lake City Main Library Auditorium (Address/Map)

For more information on Thursday's blockbuster event, check out the Salt Lake Library online poop-sheet:

• Rise of the Warrior Cop with Author Radley Balko
  

And yes. Of course. Last, but not least, Mr. Balko is also the author of the wildly popular book, "Rise of the Warrior Cop," an item which has been selling like hotcakes via the Amazon ad which we've displayed in our left sidebar for at least the past six months.

Concerned about police militarization in Utah?

Get there early, as rumor has it that this event will be packed to the rafters.

Salt Lake Tribune: Ogden Survey Seeks Feedback on Police Department

You know what to do, folks. Do it on the net

Odd that the Salt Lake Tribune scooped the Standard on this Ogden City-centered story; but, weirdly enough, they did.  "The Ogden Police Department is asking city residents to rate their performance, Cathy McKitrick reports." The online survey’s 20 questions range from "How safe do you feel when walking alone in your neighborhood after dark?" to "In the past year, would you say the overall quality of community living in your neighborhood has increased, decreased or stayed about the same?" and "Overall, how satisfied are you with the Ogden Police Department?"

Read the full Trib story here:

• Ogden survey seeks feedback on police department

You can access the survey via this direct link:

• OPD Citizen Satisfaction Questionnaire

"Determine needed
areas of concentration?"

"In a statement Friday, Ogden Deputy Director of Support Services John Harvey said [ominously perhaps?] that the citizen responses would be "vital in helping us determine needed areas of concentration." [Emphasis added].

If you'd like to submit your input anonymously, skip the last two "optional" questions. Smart phone users might also want to consider disabling your mobile device's GPS tracking function entirely, if you know what we mean; and we think you do.

You know what to do, folks. Do it on the net.

Standard-Examiner Editorial: Our View: Review Police Raids

Some people "get it;" and some apparently don't

Yep. The Standard "gets it." Hopefully our state legislature will "get it" too. It's all about reducing the level of potential violence and keeping everyone as "safe" as possible:

• Our View: Review police raids

What's wrong with our "macho" local police administrations, we ask?

Maybe they need to lay off the Viagra, no?

The Solution: Officers of the Peace - Updated

Citizen Call to Action: Roll up your sleeves and get involved!

Encouraging new 2014 Utah legislation proposed by the Libertas Institute, tackling the "police militarization problem" which we've addressed here at Weber County Forum in recent months:

The solution: officers of the peace

Legislation will be presented in the 2014 general session (beginning in January) to restrict the instances in which forcible entry may be authorized. Suspects and police officers alike should only be placed into dangerous, high-risk circumstances when absolutely necessary, such as when a violent crime is suspected. This procedural roadblock will help protect the lives of police officers by requiring them to employ force only in cases where somebody's life or property needs protection. Such a restraint will also divorce Utah from the nationwide trend of innocent people being harmed and killed in home invasions because of drugs or other non-violent crimes.

What can you do?

Share this page on Facebook, Twitter, and your email list. Stay updated on this legislation as it moves forward by providing your email address. Talk to your friends and help them understand the need to reform how warrants are served in Utah.
Utah needs officers of the peace, not heavily armed "law enforcement officials" that put innocent lives at risk. It's as simple as that.

Click this link if you'd like to roll up your sleeves and get involved:

• The solution: officers of the peace

Needless to say, we'll be closely following this proposed legislation, as we stand poised for the opening gavel of the 2014 Utah legislative general session, which kicks off a mere 5-1/2 months hence.

Update 7/27/13 9:00 p.m.:  The Standard is all over this story too:

• Groups seek to limit raid-style search warrants in Utah

Standard-Examiner: An In-depth Look at Some Unresolved Law Enforcement Issues

We confess we're a "mite" disappointed, as we'll explain below

In view of this tantalizing teaser from Saturday's Andy Howell "Behind the Headlines" column we were particularly eager to retrieve our Standard-Examiner morning edition from the from front stoop this morning, folks.  We've been following the Matthew Stewart story and a few law enforcement-related others over the past six months, and we flat-out couldn't wait to have a look at Tim Gurrister's and Bubba Brown's retrospective overviews:

Matthew David Stewart is dead. But it looks like the effects of his case, and the divided community he leaves behind, may linger for years to come.
In a two-story package Sunday, Standard-Examiner criminal justice reporters Tim Gurrister and Bubba Brown will take an in-depth look at some of the unresolved issues surrounding the Stewart case and the overall trend of officer-involved shootings in the Top of Utah.

An in the interest of sharing, here goes... Not two, but three stories, all displayed here under the nifty "picture is worth a thousand words banner" which we shamelessly yanked from this morning Standard-Examiner Digital Edition, just to make a not-so-subtle "graphic" point:

June 6, 2013 Standard-Examiner headline banner

Read up, folks! We confess were however a mite disappointed as we'll explain below:

• Local police gear up like never before but say door kicks few, far between
• Scared Top of Utah residents: Are police overstepping their bounds?
• Search warrants, probable cause complex legal issues

Sadly folks, digesting these stories, especially in view of  the high degree of community fear and apprehension about the growing "militarization" of our law enforcement agencies, both local and remote -- and with a backdrop of a mind-boggling list of 34 (count 'em thirty-four) "Top of Utah officer-involved shootings" since 1991 -- and in the context of even some sensible recent public commentary commentary urging "a much-needed discussion in Utah to reform prohibition policies and the tactics employed to enforce them," it's apparent (to us) that Weber police agencies have learned absolutely "nuttin" from either the Stewart incident, or any of the others, and that the local law enforcement response will be to merely "up the ante," and further escalate the potential violence, by, among other things, adopting policies dictating the donning of full combat gear in all confrontational police-citizen encounters, even in the most trivial of circumstances:

Last August, four  formed the Tactical Operations Group, or TOG, essentially in response to the lessons of the Stewart raid. “TOG was in the planning stages before Stewart,” Sheriff Terry Thompson said, “but that incident added to the urgency of getting it up and running.” “Stewart is the new standard,” said Lt. Troy Burnett, who administers the TOG. Meaning, he said, TOG squads will serve all warrants with full body armor and helmets as strict policy, regardless of whether the warrant is judged low or medium risk or is for a minor or major offense.

Sad, very sad, wethinks. When will our local law enforcement authorities learn that "violence begets violence?"  How many more lives will be lost because local cops showed up at a local door dressed, equipped and exhibiting a mental mindset worthy of a raid on an Afghanistan rebel stronghold?  When will local law enforcement authorities begin thinking a little less like Wyatt Earp and a little more like Utah "libertarian-style" leading light Connor Boyack?

And one more "compound" question:

And Why? And How? 

So many questions... and so few answers..

The floor's open, O Gentle Ones...

Thursday Morning Weber County Forum News Roundup

Sage editorial advice for Senator Christensen; harsh lessons in Utah civics for one eighth-grader; and local cops "dress up" like combat troops and pretend to be actual "tough-guys"

We've rounded up a few interesting local news stories this morning, just to give our ever-restless WCF readers a little something to chew on this morning. Here they are, reeled out in no particular order of importance, if only to set your idle tongues all awaggin':

1) Strong editorial in this morning's Standard-Examiner, urging State Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, erstwile winner of the 2013 Elmer Fudd lookalike contest, to exercise some restraint and to "chill" on his "solemn" vow "to make sure a bill vetoed by the governor — that allows to carry a concealed, unloaded gun without a permit — is passed early in next year’s legislative session":

• Our View: Christensen’s gun charge

The Standard advises "Christensen, and others who support an HB76-type bill to "avoid the attitude of 'this-bill-is-just-fine-as-it-is,'” "take the long break before next year’s legislative session," "really talk to the public about their proposal," and "provide sensible arguments as to why Utah gun laws are so insufficient that an HB76-type remedy is needed;" and wethinks the Standard is exactly right about this.

And why do we question the wisdom of a bill which would allow all Utah "adults" to pack their 2d Amendment heavy artillery concealed?  The unassilable fact that some Utah "adults" just "might" be a "mite" more "adult"  than some other "adult" Utahns  will effortlessly provide our "nutshell" rationale, we'll suppose:

Yep. That just about sums it all up, que no?

Fatcat OSD Bureaucrat #1

2) Harsh lessons in Utah civics were learned by a Mount Ogden Junior High eighth-grader this week, or so the Standard reports, as a concerned and enterprising Ogden school-kid had the audacity to tangle with an intransigent Ogden School District Supervisor Brad Smith (Official motto: dumbing down Utah schoolkids 20 librarians at a time) over Smith's gutting of the OSD library system.  What's clear is that Smith's mind is already made up, despite Emery Young's veritable laundry list of good ideas.  And Smith's solution to OSD's funding problem?  Send a pack of fat-cat school administrators on a junket  to the University of Virginia, to bone up on further leading-edge "school turnaround" strategies, we suppose:

• After walkout fizzles, Ogden student activist meets with super over librarian issue

A Weber County Forum Tip O' the Hat to the young Emery Young, however. It's quite encouraging, wethink, to observe a fresh new generation of steely-eyed Ogden City political activists rising up.

3) Mind boggling puff-piece in the Standard, featuring a small array of pictures showing local cops dressed up like combat troops and touting "the first weeklong training session of the fledgling Tactical Operations Group, which is planned to be an annual event":

• New Weber police unit practices door kicking in mockups

“We want to inoculate these guys to everything that could happen as realistically as possible,” says Weber Morgan Narcotics Strike Force and TOG administrator Troy Burnett, thus prompting this sodden blogmeister query:

"Are these fellers devoting any time at all, as part of their 'simulated' door-kicking warrant service practice, toward 'innoculating' themselves in the direction of developing the 'highly-practical' preliminary skill of finding the right friggin' 'simulated address' in the first-place?"

Somehow, we suspect not...

Just a thought...

Thursday Morning Northern Utah News Roundup

There's so much happening on our local "red meat" political news front, we hardly know where to start

As luck has it, our "usual" Northern Utah news sources are over-brimming with red meat political news this morning.  There's so much happening on our local news front, we hardly know where to start.  Here's our short list however, which we'll throw out in no particular logical order:

1) Matthew Stewart Pretrial Motions. There's more news this morning concerning the Matthew Stewart death penalty case, as the Salt Lake Tribune reports that "2nd District Judge Noel Hyde on Tuesday denied a previous motion from defense attorney Randy Richards declaring the death penalty was  unconstitutional," additionally holding that "the Utah Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the death penalty was constitutional."  This ruling does not however dispose of a second pending defense team motion in which, according to the SL-Trib, counsel assert that the Court should "toss evidence related to marijuana cultivation" because Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force agent Vanderwarf allegedly 1) asked for the search warrant based on "stale information," and that this officer 2) "lied" in his foundational search warrant affidavit, under circumstances which Richards characterizes as a "blatant fabrication":

• Matthew David Stewart says police lied on search warrant

Oh my! Is it concivable that an Ogden City police officer might actually lie in a search warrant affidavit? "Say it ain't so, Joe!"

2) Governor Herbert - Snake Valley Pipeline Agreement. Both the Standard and the Tribune gleefully report that "Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has rejected an agreement with Nevada that would allow Las Vegas to pump massive amounts of groundwater from the states' shared border," in an apparent effort to spare Utah's Snake Valley residents, (and "downwind" Wasatch Front residents ) from the potentially devastating effects of a Nevada water-grab which might mimic the disastrous environmental results which happened decades ago in California's once agriculturally-productive Owens Valley following a similar Los Angeles, CA water grab:

• Herbert won't sign water deal for Vegas
• Herbert rejects Snake Valley water pact with Nevada

We're scratching our heads wondering what's happened to Governor Herbert lately. With last week's veto of HB76, and Wednesday's rejection of the proposed Snake Valley intra-state groundwater pact, Herbert's suddenly become a "Man of the People," one of those rare birds in Utah politics who don't necessarily serve as obediant lapdogs to economic development interests, but actually listen to to their lumpen constituents. Seems that "Governor Gary" is transforming himself from a political zero to a gubernatorial hero, right before our very eyes.

3)  FBI investigates West Valley City Police. "The FBI has agreed to investigate allegations of  corruption within the West Valley City police department's disbanded  drug unit amid reports of a cover-up involving the officer-involved  shooting death of an unarmed woman," the Standard reports this morning:

• FBI to investigate West Valley police allegations

Sodden question: Now that the FBI is poking around in WVPD's affairs, would it be good idea  for these federal law enforcement authorities to take the short drive  north to Ogden City, to take a quick peek under the Ogden Police Department "hood"? We know that there are at least a few folks round town who might think so; but even more importantly, howbout you?

4) Ogden Hinkley Tower Closure Lawsuit. Looks like it'll be a full employment economy for Northern Utah lawyers, as the Standard-Examiner breathlessly reports that "The Ogden-Hinckley Airport is joining a lawsuit to try to stop the federal government from shutting down 149 air traffic control towers across the nation in an effort to cut spending":

• Ogden-Hinckley Airport joins lawsuit against FAA to keep towers open

Will Ogden-Hinkley airport officials, along with a whole potload of other hopeful plaintiffs succeed in compelling the Federal Aviation Administration to spend monies that have been denied by the U.S Congress? Will a  U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. have the audacity to rule that "public safety" trumps the our federal Congresscritters' tightfisted, and ideologically-driven "push toward U.S. fiscal austerity"? Will Congressman Rob Bishop, and the rest of the Utah federal legislative delegation continue to embrace massive across-the-board, meat cleaver-style spending cuts, except of course when negative consequences are felt in their own backyard?

5) Women's Legislative Council Event.  In connection with the above story, we'll also take the opportunity to alert you all of a Weber County Women's Legislative Council (WCWLC) special event, which is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9.  The featured speaker will be Utah Speaker of the House Brad Dee.  This might be a grand time to ask Rep. Dee what (if anything) the State Legislature has in mind concerning possible assistance which the legislature might have planned for the Ogden Hinkley sequestration problem, wethinks, in the event that the FAA lawsuit plaintiffs fail to succeed with their lawsuit, inasmuch as the meeting agenda calls for "discussion of sequestration is affecting Utah," and further provides for "questions from the audience." Check out our link below for the full "skinny," including time, date and location coordinates:

• Women's Legislative Council - April 9, 2013 Event

We've eagerly followed on WCF similar WCWLC events in the past, which graciously hosted events are always open to the general public.  So we encourage all Ogden-Hinkley Airport boosters to put this event on their calenders and plan to be in attendance.

That's it for now folks.  So who wants to throw in their own 2¢?

Standard-Examiner Editorial: Our View: Militarization Versus Liberties - Updated

Let's have less talk and and more action, please

We'll direct our readers' attention to a strong editorial appearing moments ago on the Standard-Examiner website, expressing extreme and well warranted concern over the growing trend toward police militarization in general, and increasing local occurences of  once-per-week “door-kicking” commando-style, militarized police raids in particular.  Hopefully this same editorial will likewise show up in the S-E hard-copy edition very soon, for the edification of the S-E's print readership:

• Our View: Militarization versus liberties

"Better guidelines need to be established. If that’s done, the number of SWAT-style breaches should decline," says the S-E editorial board, citing the recent Matthew Stewart, Todd Blair, and the Hill Family cases, and the doubling of Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force warrant service operations over the past five years.

We'll be keeping our fingers crossed that Mayor Mike and our Ogden City Council are attentively listening up. What should be clear from the video transcript of Tuesday's (March, 26, 2013) City Council session is that substntial numbers of outraged and liberty-loving Utah lumpencitizens expect less talk... and far more action.

If it's necessary to transform this pressing and still-unattended issue into a 2013 Ogden Municipal Election issue, then so be it, we guess.

So what say our gentle readers about all this?

Update 4/2/13 6:30 a.m.: Just as we'd hoped, this fine editorial has now made its way to the S-E hard-copy edition:

• Our View: Militarization versus liberties

This is an issue which everyone within the Standard's readership needs to chew on, wethinks.

March 26 Ogden City Council Meeting: Part Deux

Bonus video: A most interesting Council session from start to finish

In the interest of wrapping up our discussion of  last Tuesday's Ogden City Council meeting, wherein the council considered, among other things,  the Paris Cafe Zoning/Conditional Use Permit matter and the un-calendered "Not Going Away! Group Talk-in," we're delighted to discover that the full council video has now popped up on the City Council website, providing a particularly interesting glimpse into the Council's treatment of these and other matters. It's an interesting video from start to finish, wethinks, kicking off with a heart-warming ceremony at 01:08 in which Councilwoman Wicks read a special Council resolution honoring Ogden Homeboy and Mountain Climbing World Legend Jeff Lowe, and Mayor Mike awarded your blogmeister's old high school chum a much-coveted and richly-deserved key to Ogden City.

Following this and a prolonged discussion of amendments to the City's Capital Improvement Plan, the video gets down to the WCF-topical nitty gritty at 1:14:24, with the Paris Cafe discussion, where, following another laborious "background" presentation and discussion, the Council finally gets around to approving Mr. McKown's subject "social hall definition amendment" by a 6-1 vote, where a very curmudgeonly Councilman Stephens can be observed to be visibly scowling,  whilst casting the single Council "nay" vote over in the right corner of the video player screen.

From there, interested readers can skip the intervening "Infill Project" discussion and fast forward to 1:47:45, which commences what you've all been waiting for, i.e., the "Not Going Away! Group Talk-in," wherein no fewer than sixteen steely-eyed, concerned citizens bent the Council's ear for over forty minutes about the growing evils of police militarization, door-busting warrant service tactics, police violence in general and a law enforcement-fearful citizenry in particular.  It works out to be a pretty effective presentation, we believe, inasmuch as not only Mayor Mike but also Councilmembers Garner,  Hyer, Stephens and Van Hooser practically leap out of their chairs to thank the "Not Going Away! Group" upon the end of their extended and inspirational presentation, but also to further attempt to reassure these dedicated citizen activists to the effect that they're "taking their issues seriously," and working quietly (but feverishly) behind the scenes to solve these obvious problems.

We got the impression that the Council were quite favorably impressed by the NGA! group's ad seriatim, mostly highly-articulate and touching presentation.  But why take our word for that, when you can view the video evidence yourselves:


So what say you, O Gentle Ones?

• Does it appear that Paris Cafe proprietor Mr. Mckown is finally making progress; or is it evident that he's merely getting the usual City Council "Big Government" runaround even now? 
• Did the "Not Going Away! Group" "get through" to the Ogden City Council to a degree sufficient to precipitate any actual action to solve the all-to-obvious and troubling "Ogden police violence" problem? 
• Was it overly "tacky" for Councilman Garner to recite the text of the Ogden Council's "Standards of Civility" prior to opening the floor for the "Not Going Away!" group's public comments?
• Wasn't it great to see Jeff Lowe get some public recognition beyond his earlier and unfortunate association with Boss Godfrey's failed Ice Climbing Tower, (otherwise "affectionately" known around these parts as the "The Fortress of Mayoral Ego")?

 Let's hear your ever-savvy analysis and commentary, folks!

City Council Heads-up: Big Doin's at Tonight's "Not So Regular" Ogden City Council Session - Updated

We encourage all you couch potatoes out there to mosey on down to the council chamber tonight, to join in on all the fun!

For those Weber County Forum readers who might be interested in tonight's Ogden City Council happenings, we've scoured tonight's Council meeting agenda and packet, along with other online sources, and find at least two 3/26/13 Council items which neatly fit our own WCF topical discussion agenda which we'd like to bring to our Gentle Readers' attention, concerning tonight's Regular Council Session:

1) Paris Cafe Permit/Zoning Matter.  First, the Paris Cafe special use permit & zoning matter, which we've been eagerly following since our first WCF story on this topic on March 9, once again rises to the surface as item 7a on tonight's agenda. WCF readers will remember of course that during the last council go-round it appeared that Mr. Earnie McKown's carefully-engineered zoning amendment redefinitions and conditional use permit might might have scored an easy Council slam-dunk, but for Councilwoman Gochnour's last-minute obsession about ignoring the Ogden Planning Commissions own recommendation, and instead micromanaging the precise hours during which Mr. McKown may be allowed to keep his business open and feature the "live music" events which permission he has requested.  Now that the Council has had the additional two weeks to stew over these trivial details, we'll be looking forward to the council's "waking up" as the Standard-Examiner suggests, thus providing Mr. McKown a much needed thumbs up to operate his business in a manner which will not only breathe new life into the dilapidated Harrison Plaza shopping center, but also allow his very economic survival.

Here's a link to tonight's Council packet, for those readers who'd like to dig a little bit deeper:

• 03/26 City Council - Regular Session Packet

2) "Not Going Away! "Group" Talk-in".  Here's another interesting item which unfortunately is not technically included in tonight's agenda, but which we can reasonably expect to dominate the council's attention once the agenda turns to item 9, Public Comments, nonetheless.  By way of background, the Standard offered a slightly tangential preview story on this subject last week, wherein it reported that "[Matthew] Stewart’s family and friends are lobbying the Ogden City Council on issues from the [Stewrt] case," among other things:

• Stewart backers pushing Ogden council, police for information

Upon a little more internet digging, we find that tonight's planned appearance falls a little more broadly than the Matthew Stewart matter alone however, and that members of the activist "Not Going Away!" group's council chamber assembled-membership actually plans to lobby the council tonight, and additionally address a full range of "police militarization" issues similar to those embraced both in Tim Gurrister's most informative March 24 S-E front-page story and those also set forth in our own WCF on March 7 writeup, in which we described the ACLU's recently announced  nationwide police militarization investigation.  For our readers' convenience, and to provide a little "background," we link accordingly each of these articles below:

• Why more SWAT-style raids? A 'militarized' world
• Breaking: ACLU Launches Nationwide Police Militarization Investigation

And here's a link to the "Not Going Away!" group's Facebook page, for those readers who'd like to learn a little more about the objectives of this recently emerged citizen activist group, which plans to address the Council tonight:

• Not Going Away! - Facebook

We've learned privately, by the way, that this group's had resistance in getting this matter formally calendered for tonight's session, so they're adopting an alternative tactic of stepping up to the council mik and getting their message across, ad seriatim, during the council's regularly-allotted three-minute segments instead. We've coined in the headline the term "talk-in," which is our term and not theirs, although we do believe it captures the "gist" of tonight's "group" political action tactic.

Needless to say, tonight's Council Session stands to be informative and possibly quite lively.  Perhaps tonight might prove to be the kind of event you won't want to miss; so we encourage all you couch potatoes out there to heed our advice and mosey on down to the council chamber this evening, to join in on all the fun!

Big Meetin' Tonight!

Update 3/27/13 5:15 a.m.: The Standard carries a Mitch Shaw post-meeting story this morning, reporting that the Council finally got around to approving the zoning ordinance amendments which Mr. McKown has been ever so patiently awaiting, although now he faces further city red tape. There's a "catch," Mr Shaw reports, inasmuch as Mr. McKown will now be compelled to trot right back back over to the Planning Commission, to apply for a conditional use permit to get the city’s approval for live music, thus beginning another Big Government process which could conceivably chew up at least another couple of weeks:

• Ogden council votes to amend code on ‘social hall’ for live music purposes

Something to carefully ponder, wethinks, the next time one of the local print media rolls out one of those infernal puff pieces touting Ogden City as a "great place to do business," No?

Strangely enough however, there's not even a peep from the Standard concerning last night's Not Going Away! Talk-in, although we do learn from the group's Facebook page that there were apparently "many good comments and statements" and a "pretty good turn out." Elsewhere on Facebook, one rally attendee also hinted that the Mayor and Council gave the group's presentation what we'd characterize as a "cool reception," for what that's worth. So we suppose we'll have to wait for the release of last night's council video, which should provide a glimpse of  the group's public comment segment, in order to wrap up last night's Council session story and determine how it all worked out.

Breaking: ACLU Launches Nationwide Police Militarization Investigation

Many concerned American citizens have been asking the question, "What the hell's happening with our formerly trustworthy American police agencies?"

Following up on yesterday's most encouraging Huffington post story, both the Standard and the Tribune report this morning that our local Utah American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) "affiliate" has apparently teamed up with its "parent" ACLU national organization, in the latter organization's "better late than never," nation-wide investigatory campaign to "determine the extent to which local police departments are using federally subsidized military technology and tactics that are traditionally used [only] overseas":

• ACLU wants info on ‘militarization’ of Utah police
• ACLU requests records from law enforcement agencies for number of times SWAT teams are used

In something of an investigatory blitzkrieg, "[t]he national ACLU and its local affiliates in 23 states have already filed more than 255 public records requests," according to a 3/6/13 article posted on the ACLU website.

In the midst of the recent flurry of local and national stories exposing the disturbing trend toward a scenario where "American neighborhoods are increasingly being policed by cops armed with the weapons and tactics of war," we're delighted to observe the ACLU's much needed, albeit belated, high profile entry into this soon-to-be-blossoming political fray.

Many concerned American citizens have been asking the question, "What the hell's happening with our formerly trustworthy local police agencies?"

We'll incorporate with our hearty approval  the summary comments from "Huffpo source" "Cheye Calvo, the mayor of Berwyn Heights, Md., who was the victim of a highly publicized mistaken raid on his home in which a Prince George's County SWAT team shot and killed his two black Labradors":

"I wish the ACLU success," Calvo said. "And I suspect that once they force the police agencies to cooperate, they'll find that this problem is even more dramatic and pronounced than most people know. But then the question is, now what? Even if you can show that people are being victimized and terrorized by these tactics -- and to no good end -- if no one cares, then what does it matter?"

Hopefully, with the full resources of the ACLU (and its affiliates) employed in focusing on this effort, we'll soon get to the bottom of this mess.  Whether our government-compliant populace will ever find the political will to actually do anything about it is of course anybody's guess.

For starters though, we need an answer to the basic general question, we suppose:

Don't let your cat get your tongues.

Standard-Examiner Editorial: Our View: Raid Inquiry Leaves Questions

To our own sensibilities, a proper examination of this matter somehow seems unfinished

Mainly for the sake of archival consistency, we'll put the focus on yesterday's Standard-Examiner editorial, the latest item from the S-E editorial board concerning the botched 12/20/12 Hill Family arrest warrant raid, in which the Standard comments on Ogden Police Chief Mike Ashment's newly released internal investigation report, and opines that "[a]s to what actually occurred on Dec. 20, questions remain":

• Our View: Raid Inquiry leaves questions 

The Standard frames the post-investigation situation thusly:

The Ogden Police Department’s internal investigation into a botched raid by its officers that threatened a family, including two young girls, leaves questions unanswered. People who are already skeptical of the Ogden police will not be convinced by the internal investigation, which finds no violation of policy but calls for changes in its policy.
In non-bureaucratic speak, what that means is that the policy that led officers to terrify an innocent family in the early hours of the morning was really poor.

Gotta confess we were more than a mite amused and impressed by WCF reader Blackrulon's characterization on the S-E comments board, which pretty much expresses the same point, but with slightly more brevity, elegance and artistic flair:

It appears that the response by Mayor Caldwell and the Ogden police department is "we didn't do anything wrong but we promise not to do it again".

"One question: why were law enforcement officers following a policy that did not prioritize those procedures already?" the Standard-Examiner asks.

Good question, wethinks.  And just to stir the pot, we'll toss in a few of our own:

• Have we reached the end of the line with Mayor Caldwell's inquiry?  
• Is Chief Ashment's report, and the various associated nuts-and-bolts policy changes now newly-enacted by the OPD all that a concerned Ogden City citizenry's gonna get from here on out?  
• What about the possible further independent investigative inquiries Mayor Caldwell earlier hinted about?
• And even assuming that no OPD policies were violated, does that rule out a finding of individual civil culpability/liability on the part of one or more involved OPD agents under general civil principles of  negligence?

So what about it folks? What other questions regarding this matter yet remain unaddressed? To our own sensibilities, a proper examination of this matter somehow seems unfinished. That means, we suppose, that we agree with the Standard-Examiner on this.

Sodden thought:  Perhaps we'll have to await the inevitable Hill family lawsuit to have some of the other unanswered questions flushed out.

Ogden Press Release - Ogden City Police Department Has Concluded Its Investigation Into the Mistaken Identity Incident - Update

Ogden Mayor Mike Caldwell: “Officers will also be [henceforth] required to weigh the public safety threat of the wanted person and the risk of serving the warrant during nighttime hours.”

Somewhat encouraging news forwarded to your Weber County Forum blogmeister via one of our All-star political pals.

From: Undisclosed Source
Date: January 22, 2013, 3:46:49 PM MST
Subject: Ogden Press Release - Ogden City Police Department has concluded its investigation into the mistaken identity incident

OGDEN, Utah-The Ogden City Police Department has concluded its investigation into the mistaken identity incident that occurred in Ogden and Ogden City Administration is recommending changes to its arrest-warrant policy.

“Based on the recent police report on the mistaken-identity incident we will make changes to our arrest-warrant policy and procedure, ensuring officers are making use of available resources and verifying addresses on arrest warrants,” said Ogden City Mayor Mike Caldwell. “Officers will also be required to weigh the public safety threat of the wanted person and the risk of serving the warrant during nighttime hours.”

Changes will also include strict guidelines for warrants served after 10 p.m., such as background and address verification checks before officers can make contact at a residence.

“In response to the incident, Ogden police thoroughly reviewed policies from eleven agencies within Utah and seven agencies outside the state,” Mayor Caldwell said. “We found our policies regarding the serving of arrest warrants are consistent with the policies and best practices studied. Nevertheless, we think that policy improvements can be made to increase safety for our citizens and officers.”

On the morning of Dec. 20, Ogden police received a message from the U.S. Army. It contained a felony no-bond arrest warrant for Derek Billmire for being absent without leave. Utah State law and Ogden Police Policy states that felony warrants may be served any time, day or night.

“Officers followed both state law and agency protocol when they arrived at the listed address on the warrant and came in contact with Hill who resembled Billmire,” Mayor Caldwell said. “Once Hill produced identification, the officers explained how they came upon the address, apologized to Hill and his family and then left the residence.”

Caldwell continued, “We are deeply sorry for any fear or unintentional stress the Hill family felt and have offered our sincere apologies. The primary goal of our officers and my administration is to keep the public and our police officers safe. These changes will allow us to continually improve on that goal.”

Billmire was later located in Harrisville, taken into custody and booked into the Weber County Jail and later released to the custody of the U.S. Army to resolve the charges.

The Ogden Police Department has made several attempts to speak with Eric Hill and his wife following the incident, but they are currently refusing to cooperate with the investigation.

The Ogden Police Department’s summary report is attached.

Thanks to one of our bestest Ogden City pals over the years who for unknown reasons wishes to remain unidentified, we now learn that  “Ogden City Police Officers will [henceforth] be required to weigh the public safety threat of the wanted person and the risk of serving the warrant during nighttime hours."  Not a half-bad interim result, for starters... AFAWC...

Here's the referenced "summary," by the way:

• Internal Investigation Summary

Update 1/23/13 8:05 a.m.: Both the Standard-Examiner and Salt Lake Tribune are all over this story this morning too:

• Ogden PD to make policy changes following probe of wrong house raid
• Ogden police making changes after mistaken identity incident

Predictably, all OPD agents in the Hill Family raid have been "exonerated" following the OPD's own investigation.  However we'll be sitting on the edge of our seats awaiting the Hill family's filing of their own inevitable civil suit, the sole procedural avenue where liability issues are likely to be properly revealed and resolved.

Standard-Examiner Letter: Ogden Council Appreciates Dialogue in Police Incident

One Gentle Reader's reasoning - what's the council's?

By: Miffed Ogdenite

In regards to today's letter to the editor from the city council, in which the full council reminds everyone that the botched Hill family raid is the mayor's problem, but that they're all eagerly looking forward to reviewing the results of the Mayor's OPD internal investigation on this matter anyway (whenever it comes out), I would like to think a few of them thought:

"THIS IS F****** B******* MR MAYOR - SHOW SOME F****** B**** AND LET'S GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS NOW!"

That's my reasoning - what's the council's?

And what say our other ever-gentle WCF readers about all this?

Much Cognitive Dissonance in Ogden City These Days

It'll be interesting as to see how all these semi-diverse "stories" shake out, won't it, Ogden City lumpencitizens, no?

But Hill opened his front door and was met with six men who he said were dressed in black, with no police identifiers that he saw. Three had assault rifles, Hill said; two were carrying tactical shotguns.

Salt Lake Tribune
Ogden family distraught after police mistake husband for wanted man
December 29. 2012

But the chief is not ready to concede five of the officers carried assault rifles and shotguns in the 2 a.m. entry Dec. 20 at the home of Eric and Melanie Hill.

Standard-Examiner
Ogden Police apologize for raid on wrong house
January 1, 2013

Two of the five or six officers he counted on his doorstep carried an M4 assault rifle, the same model he uses as an Army specialist with two tours in Iraq. “My wife and I asked them if the M4s were really necessary,” Billmire said. “I asked them if it was because of the shootings that have happened around the country and they only said ‘No, it’s just procedure.’ ”

Standard-Examiner
AWOL soldier speaks out about search
January 11, 2013

Here's the SE article of the day on this subject:

• AWOL soldier speaks out about search

It'll be interesting as to see how all these semi-diverse "stories" shake out, won't it, once Ogden City lumpencitizens and their gummint, including the "bulletproof"  Mayor Mike Caldwell set the investigative mechanisms in place to find out why the hapless Eric and Melanie family ought to have suffered life-long trama due to a ridiculous OPD error.

Standard-Examiner Editorial: Our View: Council Protest Appropriate

Joining with the Standard in hoping "that the Hill family incident can be a catalyst toward a re-evaluation of how local law enforcement handles its duties, particularly concerning raids and late-night police procedures." 

Another strong editorial in this morning's Standard-Examiner, applauding "[c]itizens who gathered at an Ogden City Council meeting on Tuesday night to protest the police department’s handling of a botched arrest warrant [and]  deserve both appreciation for their public spirit and their efforts to call attention to the need to review law enforcement procedures":

• Our View: Council protest appropriate

Notwithstanding the fact that management of the Ogden Police Department falls under the statutory authority of the Mayor's office (and not the city council) under Utah's Council-Mayor form of government, we'll go along with the Standard on this, and commend the Ogden City Council for opening up Tuesday night's  meeting, and providing an open public foum for Ogden citizens to air their concerns and grievances about "public perceptions that in some cases, [suggest that] calling in the police might exacerbate violence rather than keep the peace." 

We'll thus join with the Standard in hoping "that the Hill family incident can be a catalyst toward a re-evaluation of how local law enforcement handles its duties, particularly concerning raids and late-night police procedures." 

Added Bonus: Check out the Tuesday night council video, incorporating the public comments on this topic, which begin at approximately 20:39:


Pretty stirring stuff, wethinks...

Don't let the cat get your tongues, O Gentle Ones.

Ogden Residents Rip 'Sloppy' Police Raids at Night

Many describe police agencies as rogue and out of control

As a followup to Monday's WCF announcement, both the Standard and the Tribune carry morning stories, reporting on the  Enough is Enough! protest rally, which went off as planned before the Ogden City Council last night:

• Public demands Ogden police policy review
• Ogden residents rip 'sloppy' police raids at night 

Among the pleasant surprises reported this morning, we learn that the aggrieved Hill family,  Eric and Melanie, were personally present to relate their "harrowing" stories to the ever-attentive Council. 

A Weber County Forum Tip 'O The Hat to the Utah Liberty Institute for putting this all together.

Hopefully the knowledge that the steely-eyed and withering gaze of the the liberty-minded Ogden lumpencitizenry, which is keenly affixed upon this situation, will deter the tyrannical elements of local government from the temptation to sweep these matters under the rug.