Over at The Week, Mike Heine has an interview with Jim Coan, Whitewater Police Chief, about the Star Packaging Raid, and the plea of Star Packaging’s owner, Alan Petrie. I’ll leave Coan’s comments, and Heine’s text, in black, and my replies in blue, for easy distinction.
Pending a sentencing hearing, a dark chapter in Whitewater’s police history should be closed.
Monday’s plea hearing for Allen L. Petrie, the 48-year-old owner of Star Packaging, is vindication for the department and a now-retired investigator once accused of racial profiling, Chief James Coan said.
Coan shed light on the investigation by his department in an interview with The Week after Petrie’s plea hearing.
Q: What is the department’s reaction to the plea?
A: “We feel completely vindicated with the plea agreement that was reached today. It’s vindication for not only (investigator) Larry Meyer and his investigation but for our department, also. I think it will demonstrate to the public that there were in fact victims here and (they were) not the people who were working at Star Packaging.
Adams: He’s not completely vindicated; he just wants to crow that he is. Coan’s actions led to family hardship, and that makes those who were treated too harshly, leading to their deportation, victims, too.
By the way, why is Coan’s speech always a torrent of adverbs? He’s never just right, or vindicated, or correct, in his own mind. He’s always completely, totally, entirely, so. It’s an adolescent’s way of speaking. Most things in life, as seen by mature men, are not so clear-cut.
Nonetheless, Coan commonly speaks, and writes, in this overly-certain way. Hard to say if he’s just desperate to be right about everything, desperate not to appear wrong about anything, or just convinced that if he speaks categorically, no one will object.
Petrie’s plea does not address whether (1) the initial motivation was investigating Petrie or intimidating Mexicans, or both, (2) and does not address — does not express any sympathy — for any consequences of immigration enforcement as a result of a Whitewater Police Department telephone call. Is Coan too insecure to acknowledge that his actions caused hardship, or too arrogant, or too inflexible? Hard to say.
I find it nearly impossible, however, that a mature and educated man would have any confidence in someone like him.
Q: For all the effort put into this case, and the aftermath that followed, was the investigation worth it?
A: For the people whose identities and Social Security numbers were falsely used, it was. It sends a message that it is a crime and hopefully it will act as a deterrent for people who are trying to do that. From that standpoint, it was worth it.
Adams: Notice how Coan says nothing about deportations, etc. You say it was worth it for a few, but it was bad for the community, and you’re too rigid to acknowledge that.
Q: Will Whitewater police investigate employers in similar cases in the future?
A: We’re not actively investigating anybody else. It’s not a situation where we were out actively seeking these crimes. When it’s brought to our attention, we do have an obligation to investigate. We will do these on a case-by-case basis.
In the case of Mr. Petrie, we did it. There were warnings given (to him) in the past. There was ample opportunity for Mr. Petrie to cease what was going on there.
With regard to other businesses, other companies, other cases that might come to our attention, we will treat each on a case-by-case basis. I can’t make any broad or sweeping comment as to what we would do other than to remind people that it is a crime.
Adams: If Coan were a tech leader, this technique would be called FUD (spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt). He holds out the possibility that he might do all of this again, and again, at his discretion. For a while, his technique will keep Mexican families on edge, and might lead some to relocate rather than stay in a state of anxiety. There are some people in this town who would welcome a limit on Mexican families here, or a departure of some, and Coan’s effort to appear strong will please those people. At some point, without further raids on other businesses, the anxiety will lessen. Coan will have to ask himself — should I raid another businesses, on spurious identity theft grounds, to keep the anxiety level high? Hard to say — he’s a weak leader, but he’ll do what the town elites — middle and working class –want. If they’ll back him, he’ll raid again.
He won’t investigate across the board, however, because some businesses will always be off limits (regardless of the immigration status of the workforce). Petrie didn’t have clout within the city, in the way it counts here.
Q: Did you learn anything in hindsight about how the case was handled?
A: In retrospect, we did what we felt was right at the time. I’m not going to say that we would do it one way or another the next time.
All situations are different and have different factors, different variables. But we treat matters on a case-by-case basis. I can’t predict what the future might hold in other operations we might be called upon to assist in.
Adams: Nothing, not a single admission that it might have been handled better. Nothing. The rigidity of weakness.
Q: What caused the negative view of the Whitewater Police Department after the raid at Star Packaging?
A: What transpired is a microcosm of what’s taking place elsewhere in the country. We were investigating identity theft. ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), their responsibility is that of illegal immigration. It got inter-wound and I think people viewed us as the agency that was going after illegal immigrants in the case. That was not our responsibility. That was the responsibility of ICE. Ours was to focus on identity theft, which we did.
Q: Did the investigation cause the social or economic hardship on the community because the business has virtually closed, leaving dozens without jobs?
A: We can’t forecast the social or economic consequences of something like this that we undertake. There was a crime committed. We investigate crime. The district attorney’s office prosecutes the crime. The consequences from all of this are not our responsibility. It is those who commit crime.
Mr. Petrie admitted he committed crimes. There was a plea agreement to that effect. It’s not the police department or the city’s responsibility… I would put it upon those who have committed, in one way or another, illegal activity.
Adams: Coan’s force exercises police discretion every day, in what to undertake or not, but then he turns around and disclaims responsibility for the consequences of his actions. He either pawns the blame on the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agency (whom his own officer brought into the case), or denies that any consequences are his.
Adams: Those are his words: the consequences of all of this are not our responsibility. All of this.
By this line of reasoning, any action Coan takes to fight crime is legitimate, and he is incapable of a disproportionate response. As long as it was a crime, all consequences belong to the alleged criminal.
No normal person believes this, and Coan would not himself contend that police officers could beat a person, for example, for jaywalking. But listen to how he speaks, and replies — they’re never consequences he has to consider.
That’s just amoral hand-washing. Coan should always be accountable for the consequences of a disproportionate response in a criminal investigation, even if he insists he would not be. He has the advantage, however, of running a department in a city with a lapdog Police and Fire Commission.
Q: What will people think now that there has been a plea?
A: Hopefully there will be an understanding. They’ll see the details of this. They’ll have an understanding of those who were victimized as a result of this and that there were in fact crimes committed. I hope people take a different view of this whole issue and whole case and know it’s not an issue of racial profiling from our standpoint.
Q: Will everyone see it that way?
A: I think there are some in the community who are still using this for whatever personal or political gain. I can only tell you that from our standpoint, we continue to provide, I believe, the utmost professional police service to all members of our community regardless of their immigration status. When someone calls the Whitewater Police Department, we respond and we do everything we can to help the person regardless of their race, gender, age or immigration status.
Adams: Political gain? Who is he talking about? Those who hold office in this city — and expect all the honor that comes with official rank — will not take a firm stand against Coan. Either they support him, or they are unwilling to criticize because to do so might make them seem weak on crime. It says something about how troubled our community is that he speaks and writes unchallenged by some — in office — who know better. As I wrote of Coan before, he’s a “Mynah bird of excuses, rationalizations, and self-praise, of himself, and the Whitewater police.”
Coan has no political opponents. Senators, presidents, and the jackass who runs Zimbabwe have political opponents. Coan doesn’t have political critics. He flatters himself to think so. I might be critical of Coan because he’s a mediocre manager. Alternatively, I might be critical of Coan because what he says is impossible to believe. Perhaps I might doubt him because he advocates a consequence-free authority for his force. Those are not political objections, so to speak — they’re simple expectations to hold Coan to a normal ethical standard.
Q: How do you feel about the plea agreement and that prison time will not be sought?
A: Our job is to enforce the law. As far as the court aspect of things, the trial, the sentence, that’s the responsibility of the courts. It’s up to them to decide on an appropriate sentence in this matter. We are not advocating for any jail time. That is up to the DA’s office and for the courts to decide.
We hope the strong message that it sends to (Petrie) is that this is against the law and that it’s unacceptable.
Adams: All this, for probation. That’s it — jail, deportation, a business ruined, so Coan could make a point. Are you kidding? He speaks like a little god, not a humble public servant. If there’s anyone foolish enough to trust Coan’s moral judgment, then those trusting people deserve the damage he does. For us, however, who wouldn’t trust or rely on his faulty judgment, and excuse-making, and dissembling anymore than we would trust a confidence man, we deserve better.