4. Why so few meetings? If one looks at the schedule of PFC meetings, they meet regularly – if they do – only quarterly. Many other Commissions meet more frequently. Is their work more important? Notes from one meeting are not approved until the next – an entire season goes by before they are approved.…
Police
Police
The Police and Fire Commission Meeting for August 20, Part 3
by JOHN ADAMS •
3. City Manager’s Oversight? Our small city has a council-manager form of government, and the appointed city manager is Kevin Brunner. On the City of Whitewater website, the city lists the dozens of functions of the city manager. Among that number one sees that he claims oversight of the Police and Fire Commission. Should that…
Police
The Police and Fire Commission Meeting for August 20, Part 2
by JOHN ADAMS •
Police
The Police and Fire Commission Meeting for August 20, Part 1
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s Police and Fire Commission will meet tonight. Here’s the first of some quick questions. 1. Who prepares the agenda? By Wisconsin statute, the PFC oversees the police department, not the other way around. One who drafts a meeting agenda typically controls the meeting. The current PFC agenda, like others before it, says that it…
Police
Something’s Rotten about Policing in the State of Maryland, and Elsewhere
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve written about what’s rotten in the state of Maryland before: a tradition of spying or intimidating political critics. It’s a problem that began under former Democratic governor William Schaefer, and apparently resumed under former Republican governor Bob Ehrlich. There’s more trouble in that troubled state: an apparent pattern of excessive force, sometimes wholly mistaken,…
Police, Uncategorized
Police Accreditation in the June 26th Register
by JOHN ADAMS •
I recently offered an assessment of the accreditation of our police department. My post from June 17 on the subject is available on my website. I noted four deficiencies with accreditation. First, accreditation is a self-selected status, and does not test or measure all departments in the state. Second, a list of several hundred standards…
Police, Press
Question about the Register‘s Headline
by JOHN ADAMS •
UPDATE: 6/19, 6:50 PM — What? No big story, no banner headline, no headline at all? I’m stunned, shocked, and super-surprised. Although I would not purchase a copy of the Register myself, I spent at least an hour this afternoon persuading a drunk in Starin Park to let me see his copy. (He’s apparently one…
City, Police
Whitewater Police Department Re-Accreditation
by JOHN ADAMS •
Update: 6/17, 6:58 p.m. At our Common Council meeting tonight, Chief Coan predictably lauded his department’s position (and implicitly his leadership) as one of only 16 accredited departments in the state, out of over 600. He didn’t say how many even bothered to apply for accreditation. (See Point 1, below.) One more point, not minor…
City, Police
Common Council’s June 3rd Meeting: The PFC
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Police
Ed Burns at Reason on “30 Years of Failure”
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at Reason, there’s an interview with Ed Burns, the co-creator of HBO’s The Wire. The Wire was an account, for five seasons, of criminal justice in Baltimore. The administration of justice is seldom depicted accurately, and in any event, Whitewater is almost nothing like Baltimore, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, or New Orleans. Burns…
Police
Accreditation
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve received questions about my view on the re-accreditation effort of the Whitewater Police Department under Jim Coan. What should matter most to a person (or an organization) is actual conduct and statements, not the assignment of certification, accreditation, or external honors. The latter cannot supplant or erase the former. Accreditation should be the effortless…
Police
Officers and Rights
by JOHN ADAMS •
Someone wrote to me, and mentioned that in the comments section of the Janesville Gazette stories on FREE WHITEWATER, some of the most supportive comments on free, anonymous speech came from those who are apparently police officers. (See, City Officials Seek Blogger’s Identity and Blogger Keeps a Watchful Eye on Whitewater.) I’m not surprised. Most…
City, Libertarians, Police, Press
To the Municipal Opponents of Free Speech
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good afternoon, readers from across Wisconsin. Earlier this Sunday, the Wisconsin State Journal‘s veteran reporter, Dee Hall, published a story describing my recent experiences as a blogger in Whitewater, Wisconsin. It’s on the front page of the State Journal, and is entitled, “Whitewater Police Pursue Anonymous Blogger, Critic.” Her story recounts how City of Whitewater…
City, Libertarians, Police
Front Page: The Wisconsin State Journal Covers Municipal Actions Against Free Whitewater Website
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning, readers from across Wisconsin. This Sunday, March 16th, the Wisconsin State Journal‘s veteran reporter, Dee Hall, published a story describing my recent experiences as a blogger in Whitewater, Wisconsin. It’s on the front page of the State Journal, and is entitled, “Whitewater Police Pursue Anonymous Blogger, Critic.” http://www.madison.com/wsj/topstories/277169 The story details how City…