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The lede of today's Daily News story by James Nash says that wire cutters were found on car-theft suspect Stanley Miller when he arrested and bonked 11 times with a flashlight by LAPD officer John Hatfield. But were they found "on him?" Times reporters Matt Lait and Scott Glover write above the fold on page one that a source says the cutters were actually recovered after the arrest in the stolen car, 200 yards away from Miller. Precision matters here because officers have apparently cited the presence of wire cutters as justification for roughly subduing Miller. So what evidence does the DN story include to back up the lede? As I read it, only LAPD Commander Eric Lillo telling the police commission yesterday that wire cutters were found, but with this disclaimer: "Lillo wouldn't say whether Miller had the wire cutters in his pants or whether they were found elsewhere at the arrest scene." If that's it, the lede should been more careful and exact. From their side, Miller's attorney says he didn't have any wire cutters at all.
* Thursday backlash: Community and LAPD leaders react in the Times to the report that officer Peter Bueno found the wire cutters, the only weapon connected with Miller, far from the suspect.
Oh, but Robert, that is the genius of law enforcement ... to make things worse .. to lie ... to obfuscate ... to crawl into their bunkers and cry that people "just don't understand" what it's like to be a cop .... so they have to make up stories about people grabbing their balls and threatening them with wire cutters and leading them on 100 mph chases .... when the simple truth would have sufficed to turn public opinion on their side if it had been told in an honest and forthright manner ...
if only they stepped forward and told the truth, apologized for whatever screw-ups they made and went forward ...
but they're So Nixonian ... they believe the press is out to get them and will destroy them given half an opportunity ... so they dig themselves in, deeper, deeper and deeper ....
Maybe you didn't notice, but the usual bunch of self-appointed pooh-bahs wre marching on 77th Street and demanding "somebody's head must roll" (John Mack) before even the preliminary inteviews could be completed.
This is exactly my point overall. The same parade that began in 1991 and continues to malign Tim Wind today is what will keep the truth from being easily found now. These officers have to dig in at the first sign of trouble because Najee Ali and John Mack smell a power grab, and will destroy an innocent cop to win it.
If they just "appologize for the screw up" that will be the end of a lot of people's careers - even their liberty – whether it ought to be or not.
If the cops made a simple mistake, knowingly abused an unarmed man, or actually did the right thing, that mob will settle for nothing less than extended prison time.
That's no incentive to be forthcoming and honest. Which is the real tragedy of the whole thing.
Posted by: Robert Parry at July 14, 2004 01:55 PMSUPPORT THE LAPD.
Posted by: ROXANA at July 22, 2004 03:47 PM
of LA Observed
If you look at both stories, and all the stories going back to last month, there is some question as to who said he had them where. The Times cites one officer as saying, through his attorney, that the police report statement that they were 'on Miller's person' was wrong. If that officer wrote that, it could be huge, but I doubt an attorney would allow his client to admit to submitting a false police report.
There is a lot to get into here, and the devil is in the details - details which will be hard to get out of cops who now have no incentive to be honest. Idiots like Jack Weiss and his comments about the Chief only make things worse. And, then you have Parks who doesn't think gangstes are thugs.
When will someone of leadership take reponsibility for getting to the truth of this mess, rather than making things worse?
Posted by: Robert Parry at July 14, 2004 11:18 AM