Is There Life After Being Fired As A Cop?

When you’re a cop you can get fired over any allegation. The truth of an allegations is really meaningless in police internal investigations. It boils down to politics, behind the scenes deals, intrigue and even dirty tricks orchestrated by a host of provocateurs. Dubious motives such as making an end run to avoid or get criminal charges dismissed as favors are called in. The world of police discipline and internal investigations is far from perfect as the guilty go unpunished and the innocent and their families are victimized.

Fired Minneapolis Police officer Jeanne Assam suffered the extreme penalty for an offense far less than that committed by former President Bill Clinton. Clinton lied under oath about committing sex acts with Whitehouse Intern, Monica Lewinsky. Assam was fired and disgraced while Clinton went on to collect millions in speaking fees. I guess that does not say much for equality in America.

The incident that cost Assam, a four year police veteran, her job involved a public transit bus driver. She was accused of cursing at him in an act of typical copper’s frustration. Understandable and really minor but she was accused of lying about what was said. The outcome derailed her chosen career. Being fired by a police agency is usually a bar to ever working as a cop again.

Assam moved away, found another life in religion and avoided looking back. She found a home at The New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Assam found employment, shelter and acceptance within her religious community. She was trusted enough to be part of security efforts at this 10,000 member mega-church,

Sunday, Assam distinguished herself beyond her peers in her church security team and even the Minneapolis Police Department. She was way outgunned but managed to use all of her courage and training to stop the deadly assault of Matthew Murray on New Life’s parishioners. There’s no way of knowing just how many lives of men, women and children were saved since Murray carried over 1000 rounds of ammunition.

I only hope that Assam gets all of the financial and professional rewards that we give to our best rock stars and sports heroes. I’d love to see the City of Minneapolis make an official effort to reinstate Assam just because they can do it.

Yes Jeanne you have proven you were always worthy of being a cop and protector in the highest tradition. The citizens of Minneapolis lost a great officer indeed.

Video--This Cop Won't Get Laid By This Woman

I'm not sure where this tape came from other than I suspect it's for training purposes. They did not have this stuff in my academy class but did they really need it?

An Armed Hero Angel Prevented A Church Holocaust.

New Life Evangelical Church, Colorado Springs, CO--42 year-old, Jeanne Assam is an angel and a genuine hero that may have saved as many as 100 lives. Assam volunteered to perform security duties during services when 24 year-old Matthew Murray began his murderous Sunday assault on worshipers.

The plain clothed, security angel immediately sprang into action drawing her personal handgun, pursued and engaged the gunman killing him. Assam's heroic act ended any further injury or death.

Jeanne Assam is my candidate for Woman of The Year. I hope organizations such as The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission recognize our angel for her extraordinary courage and heroism.

As more information becomes available you will see it here at Crimefile News.

Heavily Armed Gunman’s Assault Stopped Cold AT The New Life Evangelical Church In Colorado Springs

Over 7,000 people came to worship here Sunday and the unthinkable happened. A heavily armed maniac with guns and explosives attacked people as they left the church. Four people were wounded when an alert female, armed civilian volunteer security guard quickly returned fire killing the gunman before more victims could be shot. Two of the wounded victims died later.

With thousands of potential victims in a seemingly soft target of this church the amount of lives saved is staggering. Thankfully this church was not operating with a Gun Free Zone mentality, as they made sure their parishioners were protected.

This clearly shows that armed resistance to armed criminals really works. I expect our lame national media to not make the comparison to similar tragedies like we had at Westroads Mall, Virginia Tech and Trolley Square.

The New Life Evangelical Church assault investigation will unfold and perhaps others may learn that soft targets need not be so soft by simply recognizing that guns in law-abiding citizen's hands do save lives.

Are Gun Control Attitudes Finally Changing In America?

We have had three mass shootings in the last year in established Gun Free Zones. Deadly and deranged gunmen invaded Westroads Mall, Virginia Tech and Trolley Square with mass murder on their minds. In those three cases our gun laws only made sure the killers met no resistance from the victims.

In the aftermath, talking heads for the gun control movement had little to say except for some level-headed requests for mental health agencies to make their records available for screening gun purchases. The amount of shrill demands for more gun laws and bringing back the expired assault weapons ban were heard barely above a whisper.

Of course the folly of the Gun Free Zone concept has been up for renewed debate. I suspect that more shopping mall gun prohibition signs will be coming down rather than being put up in the near future as our retailers come to their senses.

Americans seem to be learning that it’s better that the good folks have access to training and the tools of self-defense.

Let’s hope our Supreme Court can also use real facts and logic this session as they interpret our Second Amendment rights in the Heller vs. District of Columbia gun ban case.

Phil Spector is Due In Court Today

Today’s graphic is from an emotionally charged courtroom during the turbulent times of Salem’s infamous Witch Trials. Has American’s right to Due Process and fair trials improved since those sad days? Perhaps we have fooled ourselves into thinking that we do this stuff better today.

The embattled legendary record producer still maintains his innocence as he prepares again to fight prosecutor’s unlikely theory that the troubled Lana Clarkson was murdered. The case has not gotten any better as all the government’s resources and raw power has set out to convict Phil Spector.

For the government this is a no win situation since the overwhelming physical and scientific evidence reasonable shows that Clarkson’s fatal wound was self-inflicted.
All of the tales from women Phil Spector spurned during his 67 years on earth can’t alter the real evidence.

We may find out today if Phil Spector has a new legal team in place to spend the next year preparing for and defending an innocent man at yet another trial (In case anyone forgot Spector is STILL presumed innocent under our laws).

As soon as I learn the current status I will update this post.

Update #1:
Here is the latest article from the AP’s incomparable Linda Deutsch that covers a recent civil court victory for Spector and yet more lawyer/client discord. High octane civil and criminal litigation is usually volatile and Spector’s various cases are no exception. You can read this here.

Update #2

It’s official now that Doron Weinberg will represent Phil Spector in further proceedings including any retrial. I will never suggest that this trial will ever happen because I expect a flurry of motions that may yet derail a second trial over things that happened in the first trial. The reality is that such a trial will in fact occur.

Weinberg has 35,000 pages of transcripts to read, all of the discovery material to examine and digest before he can begin to defend Spector. That’s no small task for anyone.

Weinberg told Judge Fidler that September was the soonest he could begin this trial. Realistically I don’t expect any retrial to begin until very late 2008 or even 2009. Fidler set the next pre-trial hearing in the Sprintime of 2008.

In the mean time the Spector Defense will re-investigate every prosecution witness as they re-evaluate every item of evidence. I call that a recipe for success.

Here is the latest from Linda Deutsch right here.

The Metal Detector Society In America Is Here!

The bodies from the Omaha mall shooting are not yet cold and already the shills from security companies are out telling us hiring millions of new low wattage and poorly paid security workers are needed to screen all the shoppers of America’s shopping malls.

Thee frisking advocates say America has accepted the metal detectors as part of our culture and really won’t mind. I say these clowns are consuming way too much white powder up their noses. I just don’t see Americans lining up to be searched like criminals as they do their Christmas shopping.

They only mall I would visit under those circumstances is a virtual one located in cyberspace. The malls have already lost more than enough business with the advent of the Internet and I suspect will not warm up to the idea of losing more needed profits.

I avoid all possible commercial air travel and attending any public event where I have to deal with the un-American concept of waiving my Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure. I avoid jury duty by simply refusing to be searched entering courthouses. I refuse to waive Constitutional rights in order to do any civic duty and am always excused by the Jury Commissioners.

The real answer is to eliminate the feel good, Gun Free Zones and encourage Americans to protect themselves, families and neighbors. I guess that a really radical idea these days.

Will They Get The Message This Time About Gun Free Zones ?

How many must die first?

We have another horrible story of mass murder. This time it was 20 year-old Robert A. Harkins, a convicted felon, deranged and suicidal gunman attacking a soft target rich with unarmed people to kill. No armed security or armed civilians with concealed weapons permits are allowed on the property. Any gunman or terrorist is reasonably guaranteed that no one could or would be able to fight back or provide any challenge at all.

Nebraska was one of the last states to allow law abiding residents to obtain a permit to carry a concealed firearm. Of course when that provision passed places like the Omaha, NE Westroads Mall rushed to bar the permit holders through posted signs.

The Westroads mall management had in every way facilitated and abetted Hawkins during his violent rampage by making sure everyone was helpless and unprotected.

The armed 20 year-old whack-job was wearing camouflage clothing while armed with a stolen SKS .30 cal rifle. Hawkins was unstoppable until he decided to end his own life. Mall employees and shoppers had no choice but to run, hide and pray they’d somehow avoid being shot.

Malls or any institution that deals with crowds of people are ripe for similar assaults. They need a plan to deal with this kind of attack. They need experts to assist them and their local police agencies may be a part of the problem rather than a solution because they echo the sentiments of the gun rights hating mayors that run the larger cities. The police chiefs are told to promote the idea of more Gun Free Zones, to advise businesses to maintain unarmed security and to never challenge armed maniacs. I guess the plan is to dial 911 and then wait to die or if you’re in luck the maniac/s will simply run out of ammunition.

I guess we don’t remember that only one of the 9/11 hijacked planes did not strike its target. That of course was flight #93 where passengers revolted and made the attack impossible for the terrorists. Of course the revolt was too little and too late to have prevented the breach of the plane’s flight deck. That and the FAA made sure trained and certified local police officers could no longer carry guns on planes while off duty. Two such disarmed officers were on those doomed 9/11 planes.

America cannot afford another mass shooting in such environments as Westroads Mall.

For better public safety all event venues must:
1. Allow all off duty cops and people authorized to carry firearms the right to do that within the venue.
2. Hire only trained and armed security people.
3. Have a couple of .223 rifles available for accurate shooting over longer distances.
4. People entering these venues should be observed for behavior profiles.
5. Mall operators need to let the local cops know they are welcome whether on or off duty with their firearms.

To continue down the road of simply hoping that won’t happen here has to end and such places as Westroads Mall have to become tougher targets for violence.

Stand by now for the COPY-CATS and I don't mean some rock group!

Free Speech In Wisconsin Is Not So Free

WEST BEND, WI – The Long Arm Of The Law (West Bend police) grabbed a school teacher who’s nonsensical and politically incorrect remark was deemed to be a crime.

James Buss, 46 of Cudahy was arrested for his Internet posting on a Conservative blog. Police said a writer using the name, "Observer" wrote in to say the West Bend teachers' salaries made him sick, and said the killers in the 1999 Columbine shootings had the right idea. "They knew how to deal with the overpaid teacher union thugs. One shot at a time! Too bad the Liberal rip them; they were heroes and should be remembered that way," was the posting that led to the arrest.

Okay this posting was stupid, showed incredibly bad taste, was grossly insensitivity to the Columbine victims and their families but this is just another goofy opinion, not a crime!

I’m surprised to learn that Wisconsin has enough prison space for all the clowns who say silly, insensitive and disturbing things as they vent everyday frustrations.

I guess the West Bend cops are starving for crimes to investigate and people to arrest, fingerprint and photograph. I wonder just how much the taxpayers will have to shell out to cover the cost of the pending criminal case and of course the follow up civil case for violation of Buss’ civil rights.

Barack Obama Is Leading The Very Toxic Hilary Clinton

The polls in Iowa are showing Barack Obama is slightly ahead of Hilary Clinton in the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination. That says a whole lot about Clinton’s chances being over-rated.

Hilary may be popular with some Democrats as she rides on her part-time husband’s coattails. America has come a long way in race relations but never far enough that we will elect a Black as President no matter how well qualified. Obama is hardly qualified to take charge of the USA and his being Black has ended this election before it began. A Black president is not going to happen because it’s impossible. I’m enjoying watching Obama spin his wheels, as he goes nowhere fast.

Hilary Clinton is absolutely loathed by Conservatives and Libertarians. Clinton is not really that popular with the Left leaning Democrats either. She changes her position to suit the weather and has supported the Iraq war.

Seeing Obama ahead in Middle America is a clear message that Clinton is doomed to fail. Of course I’m no fan of either of these Bolsheviks and would love to see them both drown in a river.

God only knows who will be our next President. I would like to see both nomination slates cleaned and see a whole new list of candidates. None of our candidates seem to want what the American people want. The biggest example is immigration where 70% of Americans want the illegal aliens rounded up and deported. You’d think we’d have 70% of our candidates on board that idea.

Chicago’s New Top Cop Is Announced

Chicago-Retired Special Agent In Charge of the Philadelphia FBI office, JP "Jody" Weis is Daley’s choice for the new Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. Although Weis has solid investigative credentials he was never a street cop and does not know the job. He will fly by the seat of his pants while he collects $300,000.00 a year as a South Michigan Avenue desk pilot.

Weis is a civilian and an outsider as was the late, great Orlando W. Wilson who had experience as a street cop in his youth. Under Wilson police salaries tripled within two years. The police communications hardware was reinvented. Other changes included new blue and white color schemes for the beat cars, the trademark blue overhead light/s and that great mechanical siren with the baffle in it that made a really unique and identifiable sound. Most Chicago cops today have never heard that siren wail. Wilson brought us that trademark checkerboard field hat that instantly made cops identifiable from security guards and other police agencies. Officers with college educations were promoted along with the clout heavy boys.

What made Wilson a great superintendent was that he not the mayor or politicians ran the department. That was the way it was for a while but soon the likes of Vito Marzullo, Parky Cullerton and Fred Roti were really running the department again instead of Wilson. Wilson retired and things soon went bad for the rank and file cops.

The real obstacle that the new superintendent will have is Richard M. Daley who will continue his lousy micromanaging job of the department’s day-to-day activities. I just don’t anticipate morale lifting for the working cop after being at an all time low

I will wait and see how this all shakes out but I won’t get my hopes up. Oh and a Post Script. The appointment is pending the automatic rubber stamp of Chicago's ethically challenged Aldermen.

Did Daley just buy himself a new friend from the Justice Department in order to have a little influence with his own ongoing federal investigations?

Drew Peterson Is Being Haunted By Phantoms And The Worst Kind Of Gossip

Thankfully our courts forbid most kinds of hearsay evidence. We don’t convict people basis of he said, she said. Now we have sensational double hearsay that will never be repeated in any courtroom. There are some exceptions to the hearsay rule but they don't apply here. You can add this to the growing list of non-evidence against retired Bollingbrook, IL police sergeant Drew Peterson.

Micheal Sneed of the Chicago Sun Times reported that an unnamed source claimed that an unnamed clergyman alleged that the missing woman, Stacy Peterson in an August 2007 conversation said her husband, Drew Peterson bragged to her and unspecified others that he killed former wife Kathleen Savio and made it look like an accident.

If this assertion was really true why weren’t authorities contacted in August? It sounds like someone needs attention as a national newsmaker perhaps for promotion of a possible book deal.

As this case progresses don’t be surprised to hear from a variety of freaks and flakes coming forward with more sensational publicity motivated fairy-tales.

I have not taken a position on Drew Peterson, or his roles if any in relation to these unfortunate events involving his wives. I do have a position that we investigate and present any real evidence if any should surface to a Grand Jury or other fact-finding
Body.

Until real evidence surfaces its time to let the publicity machine rest on this matter. Should Stacy Peterson surface alive somewhere there are going to be some very red faces.