posted on Mar, 17 2009 @ 02:16 PM
Some of the folks commenting seem almost naive about this. I live in Chicago, which has a long, sordid history of corruption and violence in its
police department. More than90% of the police here are good, honest, caring people trying to do a nasty job. But there are a few criminals who abuse
people, steal, lie, torture suspects to wring "confessions" out of them, etc. The others, while not approving, don't speak out because their lives
may one day depend on that person being there for them.
In Chicago there have been incidents where the police confiscate cameras from TV and other reporters. Of course we have only the written accounts of
this, since the cameras were destroyed or erased. The police do NOT like to have their arrests recorded. Often it is because they don't follow the
law when making the arrests.
I once wrote a blog entry that quoted a police department's definition of a gang:
A gang is an organized group with a recognized leader whose activities are either criminal or, at the very least, threatening to the community.
Unity, identity, loyalty and reward are normal characteristics that are admired, but when associated with gangs they become distorted. They are traits
each gang shares in order to survive. Gangs display their identity and unity in obvious ways, such as the use of jewelry, selected colored clothing,
jargon and signals. Members remain together in quiet times as well as in conflict. In response to this twisted loyalty, gang members are rewarded by
being accepted and recognized as a gang member.
I pointed out that many of these signs apply as well to the police, as to gangs. Suddenly my blog was getting hits by readers from the Chicago
Police. I found that worrisome, especially since hardly anyone ever reads that blog. It suggests that there is some automated process working to
detect "suspicious" (read: critical) text, and alert someone about it. How else to explain why the blog went from 3 or 4 hits a day, to a sudden
flurry of interest, all from the Chicago Police Headquarters?
But hey - maybe it was all just a big coincidence.