“Stay Out of Downtown For Now”

16 thoughts on ““Stay Out of Downtown For Now””

1. Cherry picked BS provided by police union to Fox propaganda machine.

2. Except cops were given such orders. That's the order police got, no matter what was discussed in the "unified command" center (what the hell was "unified command"? Sounds like some Battlestar Galactica term.)

   "Hold the line"? This included not arresting the guy who cut the firehose. Even though cops were right near by. And that's not according to the FOP or Fox. That's according to a reporter whose photographer took the damn picture of the guy slicing the hose!

3. mediaite.com/tv/larry-wilmore-blasts-fox-news-for-defending-baltimore-police-slowdown/ Some of those clips come from your source.

   Police were overwhelmed. How many cops does it take to make that arrest. The guys got a weapon; what are the chance that someone doesn't get hurt. I wasn't there so I am not going to second guess that call, but it might have been a mistake. It doesn't even come close to proving your thesis especially when the guy ended up getting arrested and charged. For all I know the command staff was concerned about one of Baltimore's "finest" deliberately f***ing up such an engagement to cause even more problems. BPD has been exposed as being deeply dysfunctional and corrupt despite your rose colored glasses view presented on this blog.

4. What do you think about the "enjoy your ride" sign. Idiotic cops who still don't get it or overwrought media?

5. Baltimore FOP's after-action report:
   fop3.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/AAR-Final.pdf

6. Thanks Adam. This totally confirms my comment #1. "Cherry picked BS provided by police union to Fox propaganda machine" bears repeating. Of course, you all will repeat and repeat the BS. Ultimately, the union's response in terms of the slowdown did short term damage to the BPD and Baltimore, but has inflicted long term damage on the Union. Bargaining is gonna be a real b*tch going forward and the law regarding employment protection and use of force for police is likely to change for the worse across many jurisdictions, but I'm sure this report provides a good rallying cry for the troops.

7. I'm more interested in facts than your opinion. Is there any part of the FOP report that is factually wrong? What was left out or cherry picked? To me it seems well reasoned and basically correct. But as to opinions, which of the recommendations do you not agree with? Which part of the analysis do you think is wrong? It certainly jibes with everything I've heard from police officers.

8. I suppose these are just more stooges of the FOP?

   "Baltimore faith coalition… calls for Anthony Batts' resignation"

   baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-build-anthony-batts-20150708-story.html#page=1

9. I see nothing in that BUILD statement other than politics. It basically states, we need a scapegoat and that scapegoat is YOU. Also, BUILD states it has partner "labor unions" but doesn't state who those are. Finally, there is a substantial set of Baltimore politicians especially Ed Reisinger who are pro FOP and anti-Rawlings is my (admittedly) sketchy reading. I don't think its any coincidence that this guy is your prototypical old, white guy. baltimorecitycouncil.com/District10/default.htm

10. You say politics, I say blaming failed leadership. You say scapegoat, I say placing blame where it is due. And we might both be right.

    But what exactly is a prototypical old, white guy? If there were an archetype, he would have moved to the suburbs a long time ago.

11. Baltimore Sun editorial board weighs in:
    baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-riot-report-20150708-story.html

12. Yeah, the Sun. Just more stooges to the FOP. (I'm being sarcastic, to be clear.)

13. But you can be sarcastic and right. And to your question, Reisinger represents a constituency probably includes a lot of city employees who haven't fled to the suburbs (a lot of cops is my guess). I wouldn't be surprised if his kid(s) are cops or firemen

14. Anonymous,
    City cops, by and large, do not live in the city. And Reisinger's district, District 10, is pretty diverse. Brooklyn, Curtis Bay, Cherry Hill, Sharp-Leadenhall … hardly constituents whose opinions you'd expect would align with the FOP's. Truth is, a wide range of folks have been extremely critical of Batts; it's not just the FOP. And the Sun's editorial board has been quite critical of the police union and BPD culture in general. They are hardly stooges of the FOP.

15. Which leadership, however? I don't hear anything on that which indicates such an order came from SRB or Batts.

16. But even that would be a failure of leadership.

    You know, I hate the chain of command. There are much better ways to run an organization. The only real good argument for a chain of command I've heard is for large-scale crisis situations. You know, like a riot. So it's frustrating to see chain of command still fail in the one situation it might actually be needed.

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