Slow Ahead

This week is going to be a bit slow with posts, I apologize for that, but my headaches have been getting bad again and my (paying) jobs require more hours from me this week. Things will hopefully be back to normal soon, but in the meantime I have a question for you, the readers, to ponder for me until I have a chance to post again.

You see, I was struck by a post made on the Behind The Blue Wall blog that simply linked to a support site for people who suffer PTSD and their families the other day. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I fully support those support groups, but what struck me is that there are support groups for all sorts it seems.... groups for people who get PTSD from being in combat, people who suffer domestic abuse, people who are victims of violent crimes...

...but, there is no support group for people who suffer PTSD from being a victim of police misconduct. Interesting, isn't it?

As I said, I support those other groups, their work is important and I hope it helps many who suffer PTSD like I do. But, while they get help, people like me can't because we can't afford it and there are no groups for us. What's worse is while PTSD from combat or other terribly traumatic events are difficult to deal with alone, PTSD from being a victim of police misconduct seems worse...

Why?

Well, a PTSD sufferer from a combat situation doesn't have to walk down a street and see people in the uniform of the people who harmed them. A PTSD sufferer from a domestic abuse situation can eventually leave their abuser and they have help to do that out there.

But we who suffer PTSD from being hurt by the police are always reminded of that abuse, we have nowhere to turn, and nobody to protect us from further abuse from our abusers. We suffer alone, constantly, and must learn to live with fear and trauma for the rest of our lives... and relive it every time we see a police car, a police officer, or hear a siren coming down the street...

If any sufferer of PTSD needed a support group, it's us... but there will never be one.

Want to hazard a guess as to why?

Oscar Grant Shooting Update - Other Officers Might Finally Be Investigated

As I reported on 01/11/09, my analysis of the publicly available BART shooting videos clearly indicated that a second officer could be seen punching Grant in the head prior to the shooting... we published that analysis a full two weeks ago, and finally it seems as though others are reaching the same conclusion that I did, as KTVU reported yesterday.

Photo of a security officer named Tony Pirone taken in 2004 at California's Lawrence Livermore Labs (pdf) matching the build, facial profile, and hair style of the officer seen in videos punching Grant and kneeling on his neck.

I also argued that it was this same second officer, now identified as officer Tony Pirone by The San Fransisco Chronicle, also appeared to be the same officer who "took a knee" on Grant's neck while he was laying face-down on the platform which would have caused enough pain to make in involuntarily squirm, which would explain what others are describing as a struggle, when it was clear he was cooperative up to that point.

This is why, when Mehserle was charged with murder for shooting Oscar Grant on 01/14/09, I argued that Mehserle should not be the only BART officer facing criminal charges. Now others are starting to agree as well and have forced BART officials to make a statement that they will order BART police to investigate the other officers who were there that night.

While it is encouraging that the media is finally taking notice to what the video evidence is showing and the BART authority has claimed it will investigate these "new revelations"... it's disturbing that, prior to today, the BART authority and the prosecuting attorney reviewing the case had indicated that they were not going to investigate any other officers up to this point.

I believe this clearly indicates the unwillingness of the investigating agencies to pursue this case, and here's why.

Let us assume that BART was being truthful when they claimed that officers at the scene of the shooting had confiscated numerous video recordings from passengers who had recorded the incident that night.

Let's also assume that even if those videos were merely taken to keep the evidence from going public and was erased, that BART authorities and others were able to review the videos that did go public... after all, they were publicly available.

Finally, let's assume that they at least had available to them the same technology I did when I reviewed the video evidence and had officers who were trained to analyze such evidence reviewing it.

If we make these very reasonable assumptions it becomes difficult to reconcile that BART officials have only just now indicated that the BART police department will now perform an internal investigation into Pirone's use of force that night and that, up to this point, District Attorney Orloff has indicated that he will not be investigating any other officers for criminal charges related to that night's events.

So, how is it that, up to today, Pirone has not been charged and was not being internally investigated by the BART PD for misconduct when the evidence released to the public clearly showed a case of excessive force? After all, if I was able to identify the actions of Pirone from analyzing the meager two videos that had been released to the public and the media was able to see it in their analysis later on, you can be certain that professional analysts and police officers who are trained to observe details would have seen it in their analysis of all the video evidence they professed to have collected that night...

Unless they merely collected that video evidence in order to cover it up.

Even then, even if they had disposed of all the evidence they had collected from other passengers that night and ignored witness testimony that most definitely would have indicated that officer Pirone had punched Grant prior to the shooting (in the video you can hear clear reactions from witnesses when Pirone punches Grant), there is still the publicly released videos that show the same story, that Pirone had used excessive force on Grant.

So, if the prosecutor and the BART PD had seen the same evidence that we've seen, the same evidence that had led me, the media, and several legal professionals to the conclusion that Pirone used excessive force, why is it that BART has just now pledged to look into allegations that Pirone used excessive force and why is it that the prosecutor is now refusing to comment on the investigation when he made it clear last week that he was not investigating the activity of any other officers who took part in that arrest and shooting?

Because BART and the city of Oakland are still unwilling to hold their officers accountable for their actions. There is simply no other explanation.

Given this... we can only wonder at all the other instances of abuse that have gone unpunished up to this point, and wonder how many more will be covered up in the future since BART and the city of Oakland have made it clear that they are unwilling to persue cases of misconduct to the best of their abilities in the absence of intense public pressure and scrutiny.

Worst of all, we must wonder at the chances for a successful prosecution of Mehserle when the prosecutor is clearly unwilling to fully investigate what and who ultimately caused the shooting death of Oscar Grant that night and hold those individuals accountable in the absence of public pressure to do so.

I fear, given the evidence at hand, that Mehserle will not be held accountable, and this will only serve to show other officers that they too can get away with murder even when their actions have been shown to the world.

Sadly, it just serves as more evidence that there are two justice systems in America, a fake system for the police, and a completely different one for the rest of us...

Police Misconduct NewsWatch for 01-24-09

Local News

Initiative 100 Puts Seattle Jail Issue To A Vote
Tim at Apesma's Lament reports that a group called "Citizens for Efficiency and Fairness in Public Safety" have filed an initiative to force the city of Seattle to allow the citizens of Seattle to vote on whether or not to build a new jail and to force the city to study the use of alternatives to incarceration in order to save money and reduce recidivism.

Previous criticisms of Seattle's attempt to build their own jail are here and at Blogging Georgetown. The group, and others, are holding a public forum on the issue at Seattle University's Pigott Auditorium on January 28th from 6:30 to 8:30pm.

National News

Leading By Example?
Stoughton Massachusetts police chief Manuel Cachopa has been found guilty in a felony corruption trial as an accessory after the fact in relation to an extortion attempt he made on a complainant in order to protect one of his officers from a misconduct complaint.

He is currently free pending sentencing while Stoughton's board decides whether or not to fire him while he also stands to lose his $139,000 per year pension. He's also been ordered to stay away from jurors and witnesses in the case as his wife was caught rifling through jury questionnaires that had juror addresses on them (she may face charges too) and his supporters, (police officers), have been accused of threatening jurors and witnesses.

Who Polices The Police's Police?
In Oakland California, the FBI is currently investigating allegations that the Oakland Police Department's head of Internal Affairs had beaten a suspect who died a month later from the injuries he received and being denied medical care while in jail and then ordered subordinate officers to lie about the beating.

As a result the Oakland PD has suspended the head of it's IA department, with pay, for the duration of the investigation leading many to wonder how much misconduct went unpunished if this is who they put in charge of policing the police... and who thought it was a good idea to have the Oakland PD investigate the BART shooting of Oscar Grant.

This investigation is just one part of a wide-ranging FBI probe covering several high-profile incidents of misconduct, all of this is occurring as the department is still under scrutiny by a US District Court judge as part of a settlement agreement stemming from the infamous Oakland PD "Riders" scandal from 2001.

Another Review Of BART Shooting Videos Raise New Questions
Speaking of Oakland and the Oscar Grant shooting... Seems as though others have been reviewing the videos of Johannes Mehserle shooting an unarmed Oscar Grant in the back and are agreeing with my analysis of the video a few weeks ago, that the officer who punched Grant in the head prior to the shooting and who took a knee on Grant's neck is complicit in that shooting death, or at the very least he's guilty of violating Grant's civil rights by his use of excessive force.

While Mehserle is facing murder charges in that death, there have been no additional arrests even though the video clearly shows a second officer used excessive force on Grant and that escalation of force by that officer directly led to Mehserle's use of deadly force... and the prosecutor refuses to say whether there will be any additional arrests in that case, which means there likely won't be given that the corrupt Oakland PD (see above) is investigating it.

California Attorney Named To Head US DOJ Civil Rights Division
...and yet again, from Oakland... President Obama has appointed Oakland attorney Tony West as head of the US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division which is responsible for investigating and prosecuting cases of police corruption and misconduct as well as jails accused of violating the rights of detainees among other things.

West seems a bit unqualified given that most of his experience with issues of civil rights violations appears to come from his stint as a California Special Assistant AG who was assigned to review the 1999 shooting death of Tyisha Miller by four Riverside Police officers. However, he seems at least worthy of giving a chance before determining how well he'll do look into cases of misconduct and abuse given this opinion piece (pdf) he wrote for the Mercury News in 2007 in response to California's decision to keep police misconduct records hidden from the public.

Chicago Officer Pleads Guilty To Beating Man Shackled To Wheelchair In Hospital
Chicago Illinois police officer William Cozzi plead guilty to federal criminal civil rights charges over the videotaped beating of Randle Miles. Miles' arms and legs were shackled to a wheelchair by Cozzi in a Chicago hospital when he became belligerent while seeking treatment for a stab wound when officer Cozzi began hitting him in the head with a "sap". A security camera captured the beating and Cozzi was indicted in 2007 for the beating that occurred in 2005.

...And Yet More Violent Cops In Chicago
Also in Chicago, in what the Sun times is calling a rare move, the Chicago Police Board has fired two police officers for misconduct. The first officer was found to have had a relationship with a felon while he was being investigated.

The other officer, Larry Guy, was fired for beating a teenage suspect in the head while his hands were cuffed behind his back. Guy would have likely gotten away with it if it weren't for the Target store's surveillance cameras which caught the beating...

So, of course, he was found guilty of trying to erase those tapes of the beating and was criminally charged with obstruction, battery, and official misconduct. Of course, as usual, he plead down to a misdemeanor battery charge and got 18 months of probation... and people wonder why I took it seriously when Chicago cops threatened to shoot me for what I write here?

NJ State Trooper Sentenced For Drug Dealing
New Jersey State Trooper Brian Holmes has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for official misconduct, drug possession, and drug distribution in relation to charges that he and his fellow trooper Moises Hernandez had skimmed 56 kilos of cocaine from a drug bust, laundered money, and alerted Columbian dealers when they were being investigated.

Fight Club At NY Jail Was Run By Corrections Officers
Scott at Simple Justice talks about "The Program" at the Rikers Island detention center in New York where three corrections officers have been charged with establishing a fight club by that name where they controlled a group of detainees who beat prisoners and ran an extortion racket.

Scott suggests that prosecutors should be required to spend time in the jails they help send people to in order to fully understand exactly what they subject the accused to when they impose impossible-to-pay bail amounts. Being the victim of detainee abuse myself, I fully agree with that idea.

Ever Wonder Who Stole Your Bike?
Maybe it was the cops... Three people have been indicted in connection with an alleged chop-shop operation after pieces of a stolen motorcycle were discovered in an Andrews, South Carolina garage. Interestingly, one of those charged with possession of a stolen vehicle happens to be an Andrews Police officer and another is a corrections officer in the Georgetown County Jail.

The Seattle PI - Bringing Us The Good News And The Bad

It's been reported today that the Seattle Post Intelligencer won the 2009 Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting Award in the series category from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York for their "Strong Arm Of The Law" series of reports that ran in January and February of 2008.

That outstanding series, written by investigative reporters Eric Nalder, Lewis Kamb, and Daniel Lathrop, reported on the Seattle Police Department's use stand-alone obstruction of justice charges to cover for excessive force cases and the inability of the Seattle Police Department to discipline officers for misconduct and brutality.

The Seattle PI has a long history of hard-hitting investigative journalism that critically examined both the Seattle Police Department and the King County Sheriff's Department as exemplified by their Strong Arm of the Law series and their 2005 "Conduct Unbecoming" series that examined extensive corruption in the King County Sheriff's Department that included cases of alleged child molestation, rampant and unchecked misconduct, as well as stories of witnesses being arrested for reporting misconduct.

Both of these series of investigative reports led to reforms being recommended due to public outcry and pressure on public officials who would have never done anything otherwise. Sadly, though, while some of the recommended reforms were implemented in the Seattle Police Department, the King County Sheriff's Department ultimately failed to implement most of their reforms due to budget problems. Albeit, if it weren't for the Seattle PI, a public discussion about these abuses that led to some changes would never have taken place, and Seattle would be even worse than it currently is for that.

Sadly, though, this well-deserved award comes right after the news was released that the Seattle PI will likely be shut down soon as the paper's owner, Hearst Corp., has put the paper up for sale with the provision that if nobody buys it in 60 days the paper will be shut down and the entire staff will be laid off. There have been rumors that it may become an online-only news agency, but even that is a long shot and would likely not include the kinds of resources that such in-depth investigative reports would require.

The loss of the PI would be devastating to the efforts to improve police accountability and transparency in Seattle, Washington as the PI is the only mainstream news agency that was willing to take on the powerful Seattle Police Officer's Guild as well as the other police unions and politicians who would rather have kept these reports out of the public's view.

Seattle's other main paper, The Seattle Times, is more conservative leaning and tends to give biased reports that mainly repeat official press releases when allegations of abuse break in the news and otherwise doesn't report on police misconduct itself.

Seattle's alternative press doesn't give us much hope either as The Seattle Weekly, while breaking the story of abuses in the King County Jail that led to the well-publicized investigation by the DOJ, generally ignores police abuses. The Stranger, Seattle's other alternative weekly paper who used to have a fairly good record of reporting on police brutality cases, has recently grown rather friendly with the department and has turned to giving police beat reports instead of any investigative looks into police misconduct.

Seattle's television news stations also don't give us much hope. While two of the stations, King 5 and KOMO 4, have done some reporting on specific instances of police brutality when those cases came with video proof, otherwise they have missed several cases that have been covered in the Seattle PI.

This loss would also affect advocates and citizen reporters alike as we don't have the kind of resources and inside sources that a major news organization like the PI has. We too rely on organizations like the PI to inform us, as well as the general public, when cases of misconduct we would not have heard about occur and when these cases actually form a pattern of abuses that indicate a deeper case of corruption instead of isolated cases of abuse.

The loss of the Seattle Post Intelligencer will be a devastating blow to those of us who try to bring official corruption and misconduct to light and improve our city by encouraging political leaders to implement reforms that bring much needed accountability and transparency to our police agencies.

The Seattle Post Intelligencer was an invaluable ally in the fight for a better police department in Seattle and King county and their absence will leave an impact on all our lives, not just because of the loss of such excellence in journalism, but also because the absence of an organization to keep the city honest about abuses will bring about a return to unaccountability to our police agencies and, in turn, will result in more cases of brutality and misconduct that we will all have to pay a price for.

The loss of the Seattle Post Intelligencer will be felt by Seattle long after that last paper is printed.

Police Misconduct NewsWatch for 01-22-09

Seattle Police Department's "Command Vehicle", complete with telescoping boom mounted surveillance cameras, stationed outside of an Inauguration Day rally at Seattle's Westlake Center.

Local Blogger Wonders If Seattle Is Becoming A Police State
Apesma's Lament, a local Seattle blog by activist Tim Harris, wonders if Seattle may be turning into a police state given the overwhelming presence of Seattle Police at a local rally during Inauguration Day in which different independent reporters claimed it appeared as though there were more police than attendants at the rally organized by Seattle Community College students in Seattle's Westlake Center.

Family Sues Pierce County Jail For Failing To Prevent Suicide
The family of Ralph Close is suing the Pierce County Jail in Tacoma Washington for failing to prevent Close's suicide when he was arrested on suspicion of robbery. Close was found dead in his cell after he hanged himself with his bedsheet despite officers warning guards on intake forms that Close had a history of mental problems and suicide attempts.

Economic Woes Good News For Drug Law Reformists?
The Seattle Weekly says that the flailing economy is a good thing for drug law reformers. While most politicians who were previously against reforms have grown silent about opposition to the relaxation of jail time for drug offenses  in the face of the savings that could be had by not jailing low-level drug offenders there are a few, like Seattle city attorney Tom Carr, that still insist that it's better to punish rather than rehabilitate.

National News


A Victim's Perspective Of Overzealous Police Officers
From the Western Massachusetts CopWatch site, a link to a blog post that is tongue-in-cheek about one person's experience with an officer that also illustrates just how powerless any of us feel when we are wrongfully accused by an officer who is sure they can do no wrong.

Updates On The Ryan Frederick Trial
Radley Balko at The Agitator brings everyone up to date on the trial of Ryan Frederick in Virginia who is facing murder charges for killing a police officer during a grow operation drug raid where the only thing growing were Japanese Maples and the warrant depended on testimony from informants who burglarized his home, but didn't give police any evidence of the supposed grow operation. Frederick has claimed all along that he thought the burglars had returned and didn't realize that the people busting down his door that night were police when he opened fire.

BART Cop Gets High-Priced Lawyer For Free
Johannes Mehserle, the BART police officer in Oakland California who is facing murder charges for shooting Oscar Grant to death while Grant was laying face-down on a mass-transit platform, is replacing his current lawyer with a lawyer with a reputation for representing the worst of the worst and getting them off scott-free... a lawyer Mehserle would never have gotten if it weren't for the state-wide police fund that pays for such lawyers. Yet another example of how cops aren't treated like the rest of us, they never have to pay for their own defense.

Harvard Paper Calls For Police Reforms After Oscar Grant Shooting
Meanwhile, Harvard University's The Harvard Crimson asks that the murder of Oscar Grant be used as an argument for a more restrained police force in the US. Seems that they also came to the same conclusion that I did in that it was the over-aggressive behavior of BART officers towards the people they detained that ultimately led to the shooting death of Oscar Grant by Johannes Mehserle on New Years Day.

Peoria Police Contemplate New Use-Of-Force Policies After Lawsuit
The Peoria police department is looking into a policy change that will automatically initiate the review of dahscam footage whenever a use of force report is filed in response to a lawsuit filed by Bryce Scott who claims officers peppersprayed, tasered, kicked, and beat him when he surrendered to them after he fled police and then stopped on his own to surrender, but never filed a formal complaint with the department.

As you may know, we recommend against filing complaints since police departments just cannot be trusted to investigate themselves. This is even true in cities like Seattle who have civilian review boards since those boards have been neutered and aren't even allowed to review investigations, let alone discuss them or their findings in a transparent manner. In the end, all internal investigations are meant to do is prepare a defense against civil litigation, not find the truth and discipline officers who participate in misconduct.

NYPD Officers Arrested For Framing Drug-Buy Suspects
Two NYPD officers have been indicted on numerous charges over an undercover drug-buy operation where the officers purchased three bags of cocaine from a dealer, only reported purchasing one bag, then used the other two unreported bags to frame another man and his brother. One of the officers later went back to the bar where the bust occurred in order to copy security camera footage that showed the two officers never interacted with the people they framed.

A Convoluted Tale Of A Cop Retiring With Benefits While Standing Accused
My head hurts today, so if you can make sense of this story about stained police union carpets, search warrants, and a demoted Connecticut cop who stands accused of sexual misconduct being allowed to retire with full benefits... let me know.

Officer Wins Lawsuit Against Another Officer Who's Police Report Led To Murder Charges
An ex Detroit Michigan police officer once accused of murder has won $500,000 in a civil lawsuit against the Michigan State Trooper who filed the police report that caused the officer's arrest and trial. The officer was later acquitted of second degree murder involving the shooting death of a homeless man named Eric Williams.

The trooper blamed an inaccurate police report filed by the Detroit officer was responsible for him being charged with murder in that death.

International News

Inquiry Underway In Robert Dziekanski Taser Death
The inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekanski in a Vancouver British Columbia, Canada airport has begun. A video of officers repeatedly tasering Dziekanski after he appeared to be non-threatening at the time sparked recriminations when no criminal charges were brought against the officers involved.

While the inquiry won't result in any criminal charges if it determines the officers were in the wrong, it can result in officers being found guilty of misconduct.

British Columbia Cops Arrested For Robbery And Assault
Meanwhile, in a nearby Vancouver suburb, three off-duty Canadian police officers were arrested for allegations of robbery and assault. The three officers, all from different area departments, are accused of beating and then robbing a newspaper delivery person after he stopped and asked for directions outside of a Hyatt hotel. No charges have been filed yet as police claim they are still interviewing witnesses and the officers who were involved in the incident.

Is Turkey Getting Better On Human Rights Than The US?
60 people, including police officers, prison guards, and soldiers are facing trial in Turkey over the brutal beating death of 29 year old Engin Ceber who was protesting against police brutality last year.

Human rights groups say Ceber was beaten by officers when he was taken into custody and then beaten again by guards in jail before he died in October of a brain hemorrhage. In regards to the case, the Turkish justice minister issued an appology to the man's family and admitted that Ceber suffered mistreatment.

One thing is for certain, US prosecutors never file charges against that many officers  when similar abuses occur here and no government official would ever admit it happened and apologize for such abuse.

Building Bridges To Today

I grew up in Ohio during the 1970s while neighborhoods were still somewhat segregated and some still showed scars from riots that occurred just a few years prior to my birth. Since my parents were separated I would spend time between them in some very separate worlds. My mother, who came over to the US from a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea called Mykonos as a small girl, lived with her mother in a very mixed neighborhood while my father lived in an almost exclusively white suburban neighborhood with his parents.

It was an odd existence for me, at least in the terms of race relations, since I never really grew up having any real prejudices that I can think of. I had friends of all different backgrounds from the time I spent with my mom, but when I lived with my father my friends there were all white… at least until Tim moved in a few blocks away from my father's house. Tim, as it was, happened to be part of one of the two sole African American families in my father’s town.

I never really thought much of it, Tim and I hit it off pretty well from the start for some reason and I spent a lot of time over his house, but he never really came over to visit me except for once, and never came over again… I wasn’t allowed to bring him into the house even though my other friends were welcomed there. But that didn't really seem to change our relationship, even though my father's and grandparent's attitudes confused and upset me at the time.

Tim was a good kid and his parents were always warm and welcoming to me, despite how my family might have treated him, I was always welcomed at his house and would spend the night from time to time even. I never really thought much of the arrangement back then, but I marvel at it now that I'm older, that they would welcome me even when they themselves weren't welcomed.

Tim, his older brother, and his parents would take me to the stores they go to on the side of town I never really knew about. The store was much different than the one my parents went to, and the neighborhood was much more similar to the one where my mother lived than my father’s… and I was the only lighter colored person there.

Same thing at the church where Tim’s family took me once, one of those Baptist churches, that more resembled a warehouse filled with folding chairs than anything else. It was one of those churches where everyone sang and jumped up to dance and shout at the drop of a hat, eager to bear witness loudly to their faith, and much different than the tame churches my mother would take me to from time to time.

Still, everyone was very nice and they did their best to make sure I understood what I was seeing and made me feel comfortable about joining in a bit… something hard for a shy kid like me to do back then. It’s one of the very few memories of my childhood that I’ve held onto all these years, one of the warmest ones among all those times that Tim and his family made me feel welcomed while my family would do their best to make Tim feel unwelcome.

Today, now, I’m watching as President elect Barack Obama is about to be inaugurated as president and I wonder what Tim is doing at this moment and what he thinks of all this. I lost contact with him many years ago after we both moved pretty far away…

But, I can’t help think of how his family sought to bring people together even while others still made efforts to push them apart… and I can’t help but think that, perhaps, this historical day is the result of people like Tim’s family, who quietly built bridges where those bridges weren’t wanted, and connected with people even when they didn’t want to be connected, and showed grace and forgiveness in the face of adversity and outright racism.

It’s easy to be angry in response to anger, respond to hate with more hate, and respond to racism with more racism. But they showed me that responding instead with reason, understanding, patience, and forgiveness, in the long run, bears much sweeter fruit… and that it is better to build bridges than to burn them down.

As I watch our new president being sworn in, I can't help think that a day like today is proof of that... proof of the bridges that people like Tim and his family built to today.

Visitor Of The Day

As do most "bloggers", I use tracking services to monitor the site traffic and these services give me information about how people found the site, what they did while they were here, and other sundry details that help me figure out if the site is communicating its message well.

These services also help me find out which police department any death threats or various harassing messages were sent from... not that I can do anything about it, but at least I know where not to visit.

Every now and then, though, we get an... er... interesting visit that makes me just scratch my head. Like visits from the US Dept. of State or visits that come in with really bizarre search terms.

Anyway, today we were visited by this hapless guest and I thought I would share... because sharing is caring.

..and in case you didn't feel like clicking it to see if full size, this visitor came to us via a Google search which queried:

"I need information on going to another police department after being fired for offduty misconduct/dishonesty"

While I'd like to say I hope this gentle-person finds what they're looking for... I really don't, so I won't.

But don't say I didn't warn you to keep an eye out for any new police officers transferring in to a location near you.