NEVADA CORRUPTION DOT INFO
Publisher: Guy P. Felton III
lLaw enforcement agencies cry for stiff citizen oversight. Frontline police work is as demanding as any other job in our country!
This writer's background includes being a police officer in New York State for a period of time.
Recruiting persons for law enforcement careers is complicated by the fact that it takes a special breed to deal with the seamy side of life on a day-in and day-out basis.
Nevertheless, law enforcement officers must be held to a higher standard than the average citizen. Those who are not committed at gut level to a personal code of serving justice and their fellow man must be identified and dealt with in a meaningful manner. Loose cannons, the intellectually-challenged, and power-trippers must be identified and helped to find other, more appropriate employment.
Persons trusted to defend justice and the common good ~ who betray that trust ~ should be tried and, if found guilty, sentenced to special incarceration facilities where they will not be mixed with other criminals.
Following scenarios prove the need for stiff citizen oversight of law enforcement in Nevada:
Reference A
John Paiva Junior was killed when he was riddled with bullets in his own home fired by Reno Police Department officers. Those officers claimed John had attempted to pull a handgun from behind his back ~ using his right hand. But! John was left-handed.
The involved officers were permitted to talk together ~ in private ~ before they were officially interviewed by superiors.
All evidence that could have proved wrongful conduct on the parts of the officers was lost, stolen, or destroyed while in police custody ~ supposedly for safe keeping.
This included the front door to John's apartment through which police bullets had been fired AND the police video tape of the killing scene.
John's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit. Without evidence, however, they realized they could not win in court and settled outside for a quarter of a million dollars. The federal judge criticized the loss of evidence, but did not order an investigation into details of that loss. This webmaster served as administrator for the Paiva family who were residents of other states.
Without stiff oversight, police feel free to destroy evidence that shows wrong-doing on their part. Judges in Nevada ~ including federal judges ~ can not always be trusted to enforce standards for police conduct.
Reference B
As touched on above, when the Gooseberry Mine in Storey County cut its staff back to only one or two watchmen because of having no remaining minerals justifying production costs, it was easy for determined thieves to steal valuable equipment from the 560-acre property.
As previously emphasized, theft reports submitted to the county's sheriff department were ignored.
Without stiff oversight, police sometimes feel free to not do what they're paid to do.
Reference C
When this site's webmaster, Guy Felton, was wrongfully arrested by the Reno Police Chief in 1999, he was never advised of his rights and was not allowed to attempt calling an attorney for 10 hours.
He was threatened by a vicious police attack dog and treated at the Washoe County Jail as a convicted criminal. He was denied medical care for a handcuff injury. He was denied food for 10 hours.
Two weeks prior to said arrest, during a meeting of the Reno City Council, then-mayor Jeff Griffin called another critic, a retired Air Force light colonel, "a smart ass"; this is documented on video tape. No person present raised an eyebrow; no one challenged Griffin's profanity. During the next council meeting, Felton felt free to call Griffin "a corrupt bastard". Griffin then ordered Felton to not use strong language. Felton then objected vigorously to Griffin's hypocrisy and was charged with disrupting the meeting. All charges were later dropped.
Felton filed a suit in federal court for wrongful arrest and violation of his right to free speech. The case was assigned to Larry Hicks, a judge who was not impartial; he had contributed to Griffin's political war chest. Needless to say, the judge ruled against Felton.
Federal judges up to and including the Supreme Court should be elected by we, the people.
Reference D
The Reno Police Department would like to enjoy the support of all Reno residents. It runs an annual phone survey (phony survey?) to allegedly sound public opinion. Following questions addressed to the RPD ~ regarding the 2008 survey ~ deserve honest answers:
*Will survey findings be determined before any phone calls are made?
*When questions pertain to persons who carry guns and who have licenses to kill, how valid and reliable will answers be?
*Will questions be couched in language that is engineered to produce desired answers?
*Who are the persons in charge of the survey who should be fired and charged with fraud if it is debunked as subterfuge?
*Will persons called be asked if a citizens' police review board is needed?
*Will persons who are subject to racial profiling be interviewed?
*Will persons called be asked if Reno police officers sometimes act as thugs?
*Will the socio-economic profile of each person interviewed be considered and honestly reported?
*Will demographics and psychographics be considered?
*Will persons who are known to be friendly to the RPD be the only persons interviewed?
*Will persons who have spent time in the county jail and who have been fed green meat be interviewed?
*Will persons killed by RPD officers be interviewed? Reference John Paiva Junior.
*Will ex-felons be interviewed?
*Will persons who give the right answers be called 20 or 30 times?
*Will persons who have been wrongfully arrested and threatened with vicious police attack dogs be interviewed?
*Will persons who have been arrested and not advised of their rights pursuant to the Miranda decision be interviewed?
*Will homeless persons and illegal aliens be interviewed?
*Will the survey employ only the English language ~ or will it employ Spanish, French, Swahili, German, Norwegian, Italian, Greek, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese, and every other language?
*What are the details of the survey's methodology?
*Does the survey have any scientific credibility? If not, will announced results be misleading? If not, will announced results be a crock?
*Who is paying for the survey ~ and how much?
*Can a police department that runs an asinine survey be trusted and respected?
*Does an asinine survey not do a great injustice to all of the truly professional, dedicated officers of the RPD?
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