Personal experiences are frequently the problem. We should try reason and intellect more often.[/quote]
Poor sport.
You don’t like reality
you don’t like facts
you don’t like experience.
You make up fairy tales
enemy of logic or common sense.
You corrupt way too much of what people say.
The facts is that a killing happened in Ferguson and that there are problems in the police department.
But a DOJ investigation is dismissed as “fake” and a “ruse”, when it’s the only action that could cause the police department to reform and implement new policies. There will likely be some data collection requirements, and a period of monitoring of the police department to gauge adherence and progress.
BTW, lots of institutions don’t collect data (facts)on purposes because they don’t want the discovery of inconvenient truths.[/quote]
I agree with brian here. In the absence of law enforcement oversight agencies such as “Law Enforcement Review Boards” and “PERB-like” agencies in place, ordering the DOJ investigation on the Ferguson PD was proper. In most jurisdictions of “flyover country,” public employees (including safety workers and teachers) are not unionized. Most people think that is for the best, since non-unionized teachers make $30-40K (instead of $60-70K made by unionized teachers) after ~15 years of service (in the absence of taking an assignment at a school serving an “underserved” student body). Actually, it is NOT for the “good of the People” because a LOT of STUFF gets swept under the rug as “biz as usual.” Why? Because there are no written procedures in place for many issues that crop up. Why is this? Because there are no unions in place to insist upon them (for the good of the employees AND the taxpayers). Govm’t “tribunals” in many jurisdictions of “flyover country” either do not exist or exist in name only and have never been staffed or used. It’s well past time for a bright flashlight to be shone on the Ferguson PD. If they turn out to be innocent of any wrongdoing, then so be it. Then they have nothing to worry about.
In flyover country, “past practice” in gubment is often the order of the day and they dare any citizen to question it. If you do … and cite the law to them in writing as to what their “duties” are … they will continue to stall for months and YEARS until you get a lawyer and file a writ in court to compel them to act in their “ministerial duties.” I’ve experienced this phenomenon first-hand in a “flyover state.” In early 2012, I helped a cousin file claims for unclaimed property he saw advertised in his local paper in the form of gas and oil royalties the gubment had been collecting income from for the 8 years prior to advertising the income as “unclaimed property” as prescribed by law. He and his 3 siblings were the only survivors left to be able to file a legitimate claim for said income. After producing MOUNTAINS of proof of he and his siblings lineage, producing the wills and Final Distributions of his long-deceased parents and PROVING beyond a shadow of a doubt that ALL OTHER POSSIBLE HEIRS were deceased and left behind no one (photos of grave markers, obituaries, SS Death Index printout and death certificates), the state treasurers office FINALLY revealed to him an operator of ONE well (out of state) and 3 (vague) parcel numbers of current active wells (in an endeavor NOT to match the sections with the exact legal descriptions mentioned in my cousins’ parents’ wills and Final Distributions). We later discovered portions of the vaguely-described sections by the state matched the parent(s)’ legal descriptions but the active wells on them were shared by several operators (in and out of state) stradding other sections of land and a couple of sections had dozens of “owners” (which is common). Further letters to the treasurer’s office asking for specific clarification were futile. Due to inadequate information provided to one operator, we have not yet gotten a full response from them. Through a great deal of research, we know who the other operators are but do not yet have the correct sections/parcels to refer to.
MY file on this matter is 5″ thick and I’m 1600 mi away, lol. As far as I know my cousin STILL doesn’t have a date for an administrative hearing on the matter (which we requested several times in writing, citing the appropriate section of law) or has been able to hire a lawyer. The state’s attorney general’s office does not deny that my cousins are entitled to their portion of these royalties, which pay out quarterly. I’m headed back there next month so I’ll find out and perhaps try to get him counsel who will work on a contingency basis :=0
Meanwhile, we figured the state is currently collecting $3.2M – $3.8M annually on royalties from these 5-6 active wells because no one has come forth to claim them but my cousins (for obvious reasons).
Even though my cousin is “retired” and lives less than two miles from state offices, has served them personally with everything (getting conformed copies) and can camp on their doorstep if he wishes to, Joe6p can’t fight city hall alone. It is clear that the state knows damn well exactly where the checks are coming from because THEY are collecting them and are stonewalling my cousin into oblivion, hoping he will get tired and go away.
One can only imagine how much other gas and oil royalty income the state has been collecting over the years due to all the (ignorant) heirs out there who don’t realize they’re entitled to them and/or don’t read the state’s published “unclaimed property” lists. It’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack and that’s exactly how the state likes it.
