After a British victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein, Churchill famously observed of the war in November 1942 that ….Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning…. So it is, even locally, with the War on Drugs.…
Police
City, Local Government, Planning, Police
Zoning Debates Are Often Just a Distraction from Failed Criminal Enforcement Strategies
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s the third post in a trilogy about residential housing in Whitewater. For the first two posts, see, Old Whitewater Dreams of a Student Rez and The University’s Role in Town-Gown Issues. Recap: (1) pointing to the northwest corner of the city for student rentals without actual, additional housing in that area is an empty solution, and (2) the university’s planned…
City, Local Government, Police
Common Council Session of 9.17.13: Police and Fire Commission Dismissal Proceedings
by JOHN ADAMS •
Last night’s Common Council session had a large agenda, including toward the end consideration of whether to appoint outside counsel for a possible complaint against a Police and Fire Commissioner. After a closed session of about seventy minutes, Council returned to open session and unanimously voted to authorize outside counsel to be hired for a…
City, Police
Police and Fire Commission Interviewing
by JOHN ADAMS •
Police & Fire Commission 08/29/2013 from Whitewater Community TV on Vimeo. Last week, Whitewater’s Police and Fire Commission considered whether to have the Whitewater police chief or senior police leaders present at civilian PFC interviews of candidates (promotions, etc.). (See, about this topic, Interviews & Citizen Oversight.) Whitewater’s past practice has been to assure that…
City, Law, Police
Interviews & Citizen Oversight
by JOHN ADAMS •
The responsibility to interview a candidate should – and reasonably does – require that one interviews with one’s independent judgment. If the interviewer, himself or herself, is under someone’s else’s watch, then the interviewers aren’t truly independent (and candidates see that, too). There’s a Police and Fire Commission meeting tonight, at 6 PM. The principal…
Crime, Daily Adams, Local Government, Official Misconduct, Photography, Police, Technology
Local Policing and Point-of-View Cameras
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a story about my town’s (Whitewater, Wisconsin’s) decision to equip its on-patrol officers with point-of-view cameras. A small video camera will record officer interactions with residents. Reportedly, all interactions will be recorded, and at the end of each shift, officers [will] download all videos into a general file that would get deleted automatically after…
City, Police, University
Scenes from Whitewater’s Failing Drug War
by JOHN ADAMS •
Less than a week ago, at Whitewater’s Common Council session of 5.21.13, the city heard a presentation supposedly on university policies ‘to educate young adults’ about the dangers of substance abuse. It was anything but that: after brief introductions from City Manager Clapper and Chancellor Richard Telfer, UW-Whitewater Police Chief Matt Kiederlen delivered scripted, doctrinaire,…
City, Law, Local Government, Police
Common Council Session of 12.18.12: On the Police and Fire Commission
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s my third post on the 12.18.12 session. Seeing a need to harmonize Whitewater’s municipal code with state statutes, Council restored the title of Police and Fire Commission to a citizen’s commission previously known as the Police Commission. Years ago, I remarked how odd it was that Whitewater’s PFC never addressed fire department matters, name…
City, Police
Alert Alert!
by JOHN ADAMS •
People shouldn’t steal, and that includes stealing from stores. Virtually everyone believes this. It’s harmful to merchants, and infuriating to honest customers. That some will, on occasion, commit these crimes doesn’t lessen the obligation of government to publicize that information both effectively and cleverly. It may be effective initially to post a shoplifting notice, with…
City, Police
Whitewater’s 8.16.12 Police Commission Meeting
by JOHN ADAMS •
Embedded below is the 8.16.12 Whitewater Police Commission meeting. Recording and publishing these meeting videos online is a positive development for the city. It’s a requirement imposed on our local government as part of Whitewater’s Transparency Enhancement Ordinance, at Municipal Code Section 2.62.030. Police Commission Meeting 08/16/2012 from Whitewater Community TV on Vimeo.
City, Police
Two Quick Points about Meeting Notices
by JOHN ADAMS •
There are two things one can say about the scheduling of a meeting: If the meeting is long-planned, there should be long-range notice If the meeting is truly important (and one truly cares about community opinion), then the meeting should be scheduled after normal working hours, to allow people to attend If a presumably important…
Liberty, Military, Police
Domestic drones as a threat to liberty
by JOHN ADAMS •
America’s use of drones against her foreign enemies, for surveillance and lethal strikes, has been notably successful. We are sure to build new and more advanced drones for similar uses, and to expand our naval power without placing aviators at risk. Yet, something that has served so well in combat was sure to be proposed…
Local Government, Official Misconduct, Police
Update: The Dismissal of Palmyra’s Police Chief, Charles Warren
by JOHN ADAMS •
An update to an earlier post on Palmyra’s dismissal of Police Chief Charles Warren: I withheld a comment on the matter (it was mostly fine, with one impediment), but I’d like to respond here to the contention that Warren and other officials should be accountable for their actions. Yes, I agree; I simply don’t know…
Local Government, Official Misconduct, Police
The Dismissal of Palmyra’s Police Chief, Charles Warren
by JOHN ADAMS •
Last week, Palmyra’s Police Commission, on a 2-1 vote, fired Chief Charles Warren. Warren had been police chief of the village’s force for five years. Both the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Jefferson County Daily Union reported on Warren’s dismissal. The Police Commission action followed an autumn hearing on the complaint of Gary Byers, a village…