Whitewater Police investigator Larry Meyer, now retired, has been at the center of two controversial investigations: Star Packaging and that of a local landscaping company. The latter investigation has led to a federal civil suit against Meyer. On August 2nd, The Week, under Donna Lenz Wright’s byline, ran a story on the lawsuit, entitled, “Expert…
Police
City, Police, Press
Star Packaging — One Year On
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Police
Parsing Jim Coan’s interview with The Week on the Star Packaging Raid
by JOHN ADAMS •
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…
City, Police
Reader Mail: Inbox — Spear-o-Rama, Part 1
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve received two messages recently about former municipal judge, and perpetual vulgarian, Steven Spear. The first is from a member of the Common Council. I’ll post the message in full, with my reply thereafter. (The Council member refers to my post entitled, “Spear, Coan, and Brunner.”) From a member of the Common Council: Dear “Mr.…
City, Police, Press
Coming Attractions for the Week of July 30th
by JOHN ADAMS •
We have a busy week ahead of us, with following topics on deck: Reader Mail: A letter from a member of the Common Council. Reader Mail: People who want Steve Spear’s return as municipal judge. Reader Mail: A letter from the owner of the Double Dip Deli on ‘Public Art.’ (Yes, printed in its entirety.)…
City, Police
Inflexibility as a Way of Life
by JOHN ADAMS •
Readers know that I’ve written frequently about the Star Packaging raid. The owner of Star Packaging, Alan Petrie (to whom I have no connection) faces multiple counts of supposed conspiracy to commit ‘identity theft’ for hiring Mexican workers. As I have written before, in my post entitled The Identity Theft Excuse, Petrie and the Mexican…
City, Police
Spear, Coan, and Brunner
by JOHN ADAMS •
First, Spear. Our recently-resigned municipal judge, Steven Spear, was charged in March with disorderly conduct, following a criminal investigation as recounted in The Week: Whitewater Municipal Judge Steven Spear was found guilty Wednesday of disorderly conduct, a civil violation stemming from allegations he forcibly tried to kiss a female secretary and masturbated in front of…
City, Inbox Reader Mail, Police
Inbox: Reader Mail
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ll take a moment on this excellent and fair day to catch up on some reader mail. (As I publish pseudonymously, I’ll not publish the names of any readers, either.) Here are the paraphrases of questions or comments that I’ve been asked, and my replies. Comment: …finally some one who tells it like it is!!!!!…
City, Police
Jim Coan and Larry Meyer’s Shameful Legacy
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Star Packaging raid is nearly eleven months on, but the damage that Police Chief Jim Coan and now-retired detective and Larry Meyer did in the false name of ‘identity theft’ endures. (See my earlier post, “The Identity Theft Excuse”, for an explanation of how the raid on Star Packaging was falsely justified.) It’s a…
Police
The Identity Theft Excuse
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Whitewater police tell us, repeatedly, that the Star Packaging raid, and their former requests of motorists for Social Security numbers, were efforts to prevent identity theft. There are three reasons that Whitewater’s identity theft investigations are wolves in sheep’s clothing: 1. WPD identity theft investigations target groups where there are a disproportionate number of…
Police
The Disappearing A.D.A.
by JOHN ADAMS •
Larry Meyer, the retired Whitewater police investigator at the center of the controversial Star Packaging raid, was involved, also, in an investigation of a local businessman who’s now suing Meyer for harassment. Both of the businesses had significant numbers of Mexican workers. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line: From The Week,…
City, Police, Press
Coan on Star Packaging from the WPD Newsletter, Volume 48
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Star Packaging raid offers insight into how Whitewater Police Chief Jim Coan presents his police force to the community, and as a consequence, the message he sends to his team. No action of Coan’s force has been as justly controversial as the Star Packaging raid, and at each stage his statements underlie an unwillingness…
City, Police, Press
Journal Sentinel on Star Packaging Raid
by JOHN ADAMS •
On May 1st, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran a thoughtful, informative story on the Star Packaging raid. Georgia Pabst wrote the story, running on page B1, of the paper. Here are some nuggets from that story, that may not have been printed in local papers, with my comments following: 1. From City Councilman Maxwell Taylor,…
Police, Press
The Week on Star Packaging Raid
by JOHN ADAMS •
Mike Heine of The Week has a good summary of developments in the Star Packaging raid, where the Whitewater police and other agencies, acted against Mexican workers, and the American owner of the business, leading to criminal charges against both. Here’s Heine’s summary of the raid: Whitewater businessman Allen L. Petrie, owner of Star Packaging,…