Politics – Deputy Matt & Others Who Serve

Racism or Excuses?

I will be 51 years old here in another month. I used to be a cop.

I grew up in a racially diverse neighborhood in a middle class neighborhood in Sacramento, CA during the ‘70s and ‘80s. I played sports in the street and the nearby park with my friends from the neighborhood, which included whites, blacks, Mexicans (from Mexico), Filipinos, Japanese, and one kid whose parents were an inter-racial couple. None of us treated the others as different. None of us ever called one another racist names. Yes, we got into fights over stupid crap, but we shook hands when it was over and continued being friends.

None of us thought the others were racist.

I went to a high school where there were very few black students. Two of the four black guys in my class were in my group of friends, and one of them introduced me to biscuits and gravy (Thank you Marty!). In fact, the only guy I heard during those four years use the N word was the guy who introduced me to biscuits and gravy, and it was as he complimented me on my MacGuyver like skills by calling me “the best n****r rigger he ever met.”

I was never once accused of being racist.

After high school, I attended college and worked a large number of jobs. During two summers while I was out of school, I worked for the Sacramento County Highways and Bridges department doing road work. I worked with a bunch of rough guys from rough backgrounds, about half of whom were minorities of varying skin darkness. They all knew I was going to school as a criminal justice major and wanted to be a cop. My nickname was “5-0.”

Not a single one of them ever thought I was racist.

I worked as a bank teller for a bank on which all of the Sacramento County welfare checks were drawn, and the branch I worked at was in the ghetto in an area predominantly made up of blacks and Hispanics. In the time I worked there, I cashed millions of dollars of welfare checks for people of color.

I was never once accused of racism.

After graduating from college, I entered the Sacramento Sheriff’s Academy. At the time, I lived in some crappy apartments near Fulton and El Camino. For those familiar with the area, I lived in the apartments at 2807 Elvyra Way. My former coworkers who work District 4 will know that address well. The residents of that complex were a large mix of ethnicities, but about half of them were black.

No one ever called me racist.

After completing the academy, I got hired as an on-call deputy. The picture above is my 96 year old grandfather pinning my badge on me at my swearing in. I started work at the Sacramento County Main Jail the following Sunday.

Suddenly, I was being accused of being a racist because I was enforcing the jail rules.

Throughout my 22 career, on my weekends, I would interact with peoples of all skin colors, religions, political affiliations, sexual orientations, etc. My three sons (who are minorities themselves, as is my wife) had the usual collection of school activities, sporting events, boy scouts, and so on.

Never once, at any of those activities, in 18 years of raising kids, did anyone think to accuse me of being a racist.

Back at work, as soon as I put on that uniform and dared to stop a reckless driver, who happened to be black, suddenly I was a racist.

When I showed up to the grocery store to take the black parolee who got caught by store security shoplifting, all captured on surveillance camera, suddenly I was a racist honky pig.

Odd how I suddenly become racist depending on the clothing I wear…

But then, not one of my black, Hispanic, Indian, middle eastern or other non-white coworkers ever thought I was racist.

Then again, they were probably too busy worrying about the people accusing them of being either racists or traitors to their own race to worry about me.

In fact, a couple of my black co-workers came up to me and thanked me for writing a rebuttal to Sacramento’s mayor (at the time), Kevin Johnson, after he went on a tirade complaining about the racist cops.

Now that I am retired, I guess I get to go back to not being a racist anymore?

So I am curious what the readers think. Is it racism, or is racism just an easy go-to accusation to try and deflect personal responsibility?
-Matt

Race Baiting Chief Complains

I was still a working cop when Daniel Hahn was appointed Chief at the Sacramento Police Department. I knew quite a few people at Sac PD at the time, and some of them had worked with Hahn prior to him leaving to be chief at another smaller local agency. They said he was a good cop and they had high hopes for him.

I haven’t spoken the those guys lately, as since I retired I no longer have contact with them, but I can tell you that the working cops I have spoken to from there, absolutely do not share those high hopes. In fact, they are disgusted and morale is in the toilet.

So, in a move sure to fix nothing, unless sinking morale even further is what you consider improvement, Hahn has written a piece for the publication “Inside Sacramento” which he titled “Chief Complaint.” Fitting title since that is what he seems to be doing through the whole piece, complaining.

To be honest, I didn’t make it past the first paragraph without calling BS on something he said. He complains that “progressive black chiefs” are being fired as fallout from Black Lives Matter protests, but ignores the fact that so are chiefs of every other skin color. Additionally, not all of those black chiefs were fired, some resigned. Ironically, he is complaining about actions being taken by progressive Democrat mayors and city councils in most cases, many of whom verbally supported the Black Lives Matter movement, as does Chief Hahn himself.

He continues by whining that he received criticism from lots of cops for the way he handled the recent “protests” in Sacramento. His woe-is-me complex is getting pretty thick here, and it is obvious he cannot take criticism.

“Some said I was appointed chief only because I’m Black. Others said I’m childish for speaking my opinion. And I should resign because I failed to uphold my oath by not using more force with protestors (sic).”

You completely missed the mark, Chief. You received criticism because you allowed “protesters” to vandalize private and public property and you ordered your cops to NOT arrest them. You prevented the cops from enforcing the law. It had nothing to do with the amount of force, it had to do with you letting them run wild without repercussions.

“I don’t disagree with the sentiment behind Black Lives Matter. The purpose is rooted in righteous cause.”

Really, Dan? Really? They are self avowed Marxists. Their “righteous cause” is communism. They hate law enforcement and want it eliminated. But wait Matt, read on to see how he justifies this…

”Research reveals prosecutors often over-charge Black suspects. Judges often hand down more onerous sentences to Black offenders. The list of people who have contributed to unrest in Sacramento extends beyond the criminal justice system, deep into history.”

Okay, uh, prosecutors are NOT THE COPS, judges are NOT THE COPS. Yet you are agreeing with people blaming… the cops? Additionally, you fail to mention the reasons behind most of those enhanced sentences and charges. People often claim it has to do with race, but if you dig deeper, at least during my lifetime, those stiffer sentences were due to crime enhancements, such as being members of criminal gangs, or based on past criminal activity.

And deep into history? Can we please stop talking about stuff that happened before most of us were born? Next you are going to complain about slave patrols or something other ridiculous crap like that.

”We can’t talk about law enforcement’s ancestry of slave patrols without recognizing that Black people were legally enslaved and not considered complete humans. Newspapers advertised rewards for their capture. In 1964, a California initiative called Proposition 14 legalized race-based discrimination when selling or renting a home. It passed in Sacramento County by 62 percent.”

Oh FFS Dan, slave patrols? Dude, just shut up already. Even uber liberal Snopes has debunked that crap. Law enforcement existed LONG before slave patrols were a thing.

Thus far, the most recent item of evidence you have offered about how racist society is occurred before 99% of your department was even born, and it was a proposition pushed by a real estate association, NOT THE COPS.

“These actions produce tragic consequences. Here’s one example: A 27-year-old homeless Black male, mentally ill and drug addicted, has been cited, arrested or given a notice of trespass in our city numerous times. He has been cited at least 10 times in four months for indecent exposure, attempting to light fires, threatening people, throwing himself in front of moving cars, breaking windows, blocking traffic while ranting in the streets and trespassing. Police arrest and book him or place him on a mental health hold. He is fingerprinted, cited and released, again and again.”

Wait, I’m confused. Who are you blaming for that situation? Because I know exactly where the blame lies on that one, with your progressive Vice Presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, with your progressive Governor Gavin Newsom, and with your boss, Darrell Steinberg.

That situation you described above is 100% the fault of Prop 47, which Harris disguised as the “Safe Schools and Neighborhoods Act” and her utterly deceitful title, in combination with California’s plethora of zero information voters, got that enacted. Newsom and Steinberg were ardent supporters of Prop 47 when Steinberg was a state senator and Newsom was Lt. Governor at the time. Thanks to Prop 47, the drug charges are no longer felonies, meaning in most cases they will not be prosecuted because the DA’s have no bargaining power and they cannot force the offenders into rehab programs, nor can they lock them up long enough to get sober and receive mental health treatment while in custody if they refused to go to the rehab programs.

I’m pretty sure you know all of that, yet somehow you are trying to blame that on racism? Like the same thing doesn’t happen to crazy drug addicted people of ALL skin colors…

Nothing you are describing in this entire piece has anything to do with racism, yet in your very first paragraph you blamed racism. There are indeed societal problems that need addressing, but they have nothing to do with race, and the cops are neither the cause nor the solution; we are merely the band-aid trying to hold the whole crap show together.

As a cop, you should know that.

As a cop with a platform, that is what you need to be telling the public.

How a Kid Who Hated Cops Became One

The following is a guest piece, written by a man who just recently got sworn in as a Deputy Sheriff. It describes his personal evolution.
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I got sworn in to the Sheriff’s Department as a Deputy Sheriff just recently after a long 22 weeks of POST Academy training. I remember day one of the academy thinking to myself, “Here we go. It’s going to be a long 22 weeks.” Those 22 weeks passed me by like if it was a dream. We started off with nearly 100 recruits and just shy of 70 graduated. However, let’s rewind the clock back to a different life.

As a youngster in the 90’s and 2000’s, I did not like cops nor did I trust them because I had negative experiences with cops as a kid. I remember one time the first words out of a cop’s mouth toward me was “are you on parole or probation?” when all I was doing was sitting in a park watching a movie on my laptop as a college kid back in 2012.

The environment I grew up in taught me that it was an “us vs. them attitude,” them being law enforcement. I thought to myself “well f**k them then”; they don’t care about answering our calls. A car in my neighborhood got broken into, it took cops like an hour for some kind of response, and even then I don’t remember them showing up that night. The influences and media portrayals of cops were that they could do what they want and get away with things because they have a badge. The Media tends to be full of shit when it comes to those portrayals. Even the friends I had influenced me to have poor perceptions of a lifestyle I did not understand…that is until I started to fill out an application to join the Sheriff’s Department.

Initially, I filled out an application to join the Sheriff’s Department. I did my written exam and VPAT (Validated Physical Ability Test) along with my background packet. I remember scrolling through the massive background packet that every applicant had to fill out detailing every memory we could cram into our Personal History Statement. After the background packet was submitted, I had to follow up with a polygraph exam to re-confirm I was truthful throughout the entire packet. I can recall the faces of those applicants who failed the polygraph test.

To simply get hired as a recruit by an agency is very difficult because the background investigators will go through as much detail as time permits about a person’s life. Integrity and moral character are huge factors that are sought from a candidate. Take it as a hint that not every person from the street can even be considered to become a recruit, much less a cop without surviving a long hiring process and training.

One might wonder why the hell did I even apply to be a cop if I hated cops, right? As cliché as it sounds, I still have to say that my opinions toward cops did not change until July, 2016 when then Dallas Chief of Police David Brown said “We are hiring. Get out of that protest line and fill out an application.” As they say, “Can’t beat them? Then join them.” Quit being part of the problem and become part of the solution is what I told myself, and there I was, filling out an application. If it wasn’t for the random shared post that I somehow ran into which Deputy Matt shared I would have never liked his page nor become more aware of how a first responder thinks. I followed up on posts written and shared by the page admins through the years since July 2016.

Moving forward into October 2018, I remember going on my first ride along. I can recall vividly the events of that night. I remember leaving the station at the end of the shift with a different perspective than I came into the station with. It’s one thing to hear about it from news or online, it’s another thing to witness it first-hand. Later that year I was offered the position of DST (Deputy Sheriff Trainee) and got my academy start date. I was excited and naïve on what waited for me.

Throughout the academy, I learned to do many things with my fellow classmates to the point where we started to shed our individualism and come together as one. One of the hard realities that our class had to come to terms with was the risk involved with the career paths we have chosen. Deputy Matt once wrote an article about having to attend officer funerals; I believe it was for Sacramento Sheriff’s Department Dep. Robert “Bob” French. I had to re-read that article to help me get the words out of my mind as I struggled to articulate myself to write this.

I remember attending my first officer funeral and it hit home, because I can still hear the voice of a panicked deputy as he called out “officer down” on the radio; everyone stopped doing what they were doing and listened to the radio. Deputy Matt would harp on recent events and saying that there is a war on cops. I always thought that he was exaggerating a bit before I started the academy. Since then, I’ve sat down for 2 officer funerals during my academy and witnessed a department tradition done for the EOW (End of Watch) anniversaries of deputies. I can still see the sister of Deputy (name removed) cry over his gravestone after all these years.

It’s funny looking back at the entire hiring process on how stringent the background investigators are when it comes to screening applicants; roughly 4 out of every 100 applicants that get screened are selected to be hired as Deputy Sheriff Trainees. It is said that out of those 4 applicants hired as recruits, about 3 make it to graduation. I graduated with just shy of 70 other faces, who I know I will always remember. The sad truth is that I anticipate at least one of us to be gone before finishing our careers.

Now I see what Deputy Matt meant by the war on cops; it’s very real. The Media portray us as corrupt, abusive and because of that, the suspects are not afraid to pick a fight with us. The fight will come to each one of us one day and we must train and prepare for that fight when it comes.

Yes we wear a uniform, a badge, a vest, carry a gun, look serious and at times look militaristic, but underneath that uniform we still bleed, cry, love and fear like everyone else.

Instructors asked us recently “why are we here?” I’m here because as a Peace Officer, I want to use my knowledge to help close the gap of misunderstanding between the public and LEO’s and to clear the misconceptions that the media portray about my brothers and sisters in blue. Some may think that I’m a dumb, naïve boot; maybe, but I cannot let myself forget the “why am I here?” otherwise I may lose sight of who I am.

Why I Ardently Support The Second Amendment

Often at times like this, just after a cop has just been callously murdered by some shitbag with a gun, people ask me how it is that I, as a brother in blue, can be such a strong advocate of the second amendment.

I have recently been in the very shoes that many Sacramento PD officers now find themselves, again: a coworker murdered by a shitbag with a gun.

In fact, I have sadly been in those shoes multiple times in recent years, so I understand how emotional a time like this is. My heart breaks for my brothers and sisters at Sac PD, and for all those who mourn the loss of Officer Tara O’Sullivan.

It is at times like this that liberal politicians, leftist organizations and anti-gun groups will point to the incident and try to use images of grieving law enforcement officers as props in their attack on the rights of Americans, and try to justify that attack on rights under the guise of trying to protect cops.

Well, here is why, completely unfiltered (ie: strong language to follow).

Criminals

I look at the worthless fucker who killed Sacramento Police Officer Tara O’Sullivan and I know that long before he fired the first shot at her and the other cops on scene, he violated many laws. He was, or should have been based on his misdemeanor domestic violence conviction, a prohibited person who could not legally own, let alone posses a firearm. Just from the photos provided by Sac PD in their press release, it is plainly visible that two of the firearms he used are illegal in California for anyone to have, let alone someone who cannot legally posses a gun at all. He had a long history of violent, criminal behavior, but here he was, out on the streets continuing that violent behavior. It was his violent behavior that prompted his girlfriend to call the cops for help that day.

Suspect’s weapons – both AR’s pictured are not CA legal due to standard configuration and standard mag releases.

As cops, all cops, even the few who do support gun control, we all know the following statement to be true: Criminals do not obey the law.

Any criminal intent on getting a gun can and will get a gun, and any gun they want for that matter, if they want it bad enough.

Gun control laws do absolutely NOTHING to prevent criminals from getting guns, because criminals do not get guns through legal means. During my 22 year career, I encountered exactly two (2) people who had legally purchased gun and later used that gun to commit a crime. One of those two people purchased his gun specifically to commit his crime. He paid for it, waited the mandatory 10 day “cooling off” period, picked up his gun and drove straight to the crime scene where he shot his wife and then killed himself.

That criminals obtain their guns through illegal means is not just my opinion based on 22 years of anecdotal evidence though. There are actually several studies confirming this as fact.

Politicians & Anti-gun Organizations

The same anti-gun liberals who “never let a good crisis go to waste” (Rahm Emanuel, anti-gun liberal politician) jump on these heart wrenching scenes and try to capture that emotion to push their anti-gun agenda. Very few things motivate people like raw emotion, and they know it, and they use that.

Those same assholes that want to outlaw firearms are the same fucksticks who are responsible for the suspect who killed Officer O’Sullivan, and thousands of others like him, for being on the streets. They have been constantly decriminalizing serious crimes, including some violent felonies, both through laws they pass on their own and others they put up to the voters disguised as such lies as “Safe schools and neighborhoods act.” They write bill after bill to give convicts more rights, to release them early from prisons, to completely forgive their criminal behavior, to allow them to serve on criminal juries, while they simultaneous write bills to take guns away from law abiding citizens who have done absolutely nothing wrong.

The anti-gun politicians are nothing but unscrupulous crap weasels who spread lies and count on people’s raw emotions to get what they want. Fuck them all!

Citizens & Self Defense

Lastly, as a cop, I have seen countless times, firsthand, the difference that having a gun makes for citizens. For many, it is the difference between life and death. For others, it is the difference between being a victim or not.

You see, we, the cops, want to do everything we can to protect the innocent. We wish we could be there exactly when someone needs us the most, to protect them from the criminals, especially the criminals with guns. But the fact of the matter is, that is physically impossible. This is not Minority Report. We do not know when and where bad things are going to happen, and there are only so many of us working and any given time. I explored this topic in depth many years ago, and still stand by every single word I wrote.

When seconds count, the cops are only minutes away.

Taking guns away from law abiding citizens only hurts them, and ironically just serves to make the criminals “job” safer.

Law abiding citizens use guns, most times without ever firing a shot, nearly 2 MILLION times a year to defend themselves and others. That is hundreds of times more defensive uses than people who are killed by criminals with guns. Ask yourself, whose side are you on, the victim’s or the criminal’s?

Any and all legislation should be driven by logical thought and analysis of its potential effectiveness, never emotion.

To those who want to do something to stop all this “gun violence,” stop focusing on the tool used. Instead focus on the perpetrator. You might be surprised to find nearly every single one has a long criminal history. Instead of trying to eliminate a tool that any skilled machinist can build in their garage, how about we start eliminating (removing from the streets) the worthless sacks of shit who plague our society.

Like all my brothers and sisters in blue, I grieve over the senseless, tragic loss of Officer Tara O’Sullivan, but I will not permit others to use my emotions to manipulate me.

Today, and every day, I ardently support the second amendment, because I am not a moron!
-Matt

Police Chief Fired For “Wrong Think”

A police chief of a joint college police force, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges, has been removed from office for the unforgivable crime of “wrong think.”

Technically, he was placed on administrative leave, while they search for a replacement… So yeah, basically fired.

What in the ever loving hell is going on with our society???? Seriously, WTAF?!?!

A police chief of a joint college police force, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges, has been removed from office for the unforgivable crime of “wrong think.”

In an email to the college on Wednesday evening, Smith College President Kathleen McCartney said that members of the campus community “have voiced a lack of trust” in Daniel Hect, who took over as chief of the two campuses’ shared police department on Feb. 18.

He was removed from office because, on Twitter, he had the unmitigated audacity to like two tweets, one from an unspecified user saying “BUILD THAT WALL!” and the other, gasp, when the NRA tweeted “Merry Christmas.”

Students recently drew attention to a few posts they say Hect previously had “liked” on Twitter, including one instructing President Donald Trump to “BUILD THAT WALL!” and another in which the National Rifle Association wishes people a Merry Christmas. Hect’s Twitter profile has since been deleted.

No, I am not kidding. Read the full article yourself if you don’t believe me.

Of course, the college says his firing has nothing to do with his political beliefs, but refuses to state the actual reason he was removed.

I mean, I get being concerned about something a person personally said or did, but liking a tweet? And especially ridiculously benign tweets like that?

This is beyond ludicrous!!!

Meanwhile, a UC Davis professor actually tweets that he wants cops killed and they do nothing.

America is under attack by flaming crybaby hypocrites on the left who actually are employing Nazi tactics, while they scream, point fingers and call those they differ with, Nazis. You seriously could not make this crap up.

Apparently, the college president wants to set a new precedent, where those who scream and yell the loudest get their way. Congratulations morons, way to prepare those students for the real world. (<- sarcasm)

Becerra Files for Emergency Stay in Overturning of CA’s Magazine Capacity Law

On April 1st, three days after Federal Court Judge Robert Benitez ruled California’s magazine capacity law unconstitutional, Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed for an emergency stay pending appeal.

On April 1^st, a mere three days after Federal Court Judge Robert Benitez ruled California’s magazine capacity law unconstitutional and granted summary judgment to the plaintiffs, Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed several documents requesting an emergency stay in the vacating of the unconstitutional law, pending an appeal to the 9th Circuit. In other words, he is appealing the decision and is asking the courts to, at least temporarily, undo Judge Benitez’s ruling.

In filing for the emergency stay, Becerra says the following:

“Even if this Court, or the Ninth Circuit, ultimately issues a stay pending appeal, the State will suffer irreparable injury if LCMs are permitted to flow into the State in the interim.”

I find it quite entertaining that the Attorney General is claiming that there will be “irreparable injury” to the state by allowing “LCMs” (large capacity magazines) to enter the state, when the one of the reasons Judge Benitez granted summary judgment in the first place was the fact that the state was unable to prove in the slightest that a magazine ban prevents harm, and would thus, possibly, be a reason to allow a law which clearly violates the Second Amendment.

Becerra continues further on in the application, saying:

“Defendant brings this ex parte application for good cause on the ground that the State will suffer irreparable and immediate injury until a stay pending appeal is issued. California has restricted the acquisition of LCMs for nearly two decades, and until the Judgment is stayed pending appeal, individuals will be free to acquire new LCMs, and there is evidence that sales have begun already.”

The fact that Becerra points to the longstanding prohibition in California against the importation of “LCMs” as part of his reasoning for the emergency stay should make one wonder if he even read the ruling in which the law was found to be unconstitutional. Specifically, the following two remarks from Judge Benitez’s ruling would directly apply to the entire basis of the emergency stay request.

“The AG’s evidence demonstrates that mass shootings in California are rare, and its criminalization of large capacity magazine acquisition and possession has had no effect on reducing the number of shots a perpetrator can fire.” (page 51, line 16)

And…

“No case has held that intermediate scrutiny would permit a state to impinge even slightly on the Second Amendment right by employing a known failed experiment. Congress tried for a decade the nationwide experiment of prohibiting large capacity magazines. It failed. California has continued the failed experiment for another decade and now suggests that it may continue to do so ad infinitum without demonstrating success. That makes no sense.” (page 59, line 14)

I’m no lawyer. The only law classes I have ever taken were nearly 30 years ago when I was getting my criminal justice degree from CSU Sacramento. But even this dumb former street cop is smart enough to know that using a failed argument, one that was specifically cited in the ruling of a case in one direction, really does not hold much weight when trying to argue that ruling should have gone the other way. That said, this is California, and we do have a plethora of liberal activist judges, so I would not be in the least bit surprised if Becerra is able to get this emergency stay granted.

In the short term, a stay placed on the ruling, and the pending appeal to the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals is bad news for California gun owners. It would mean that we are still in the same boat that we have been in since 1994, and that being we are unable to legally purchase standard capacity magazines.

BUT this appeal will be good news for the entire nation, because if the 9^th Circuit hears the case and agrees with Judge Benitez, it will only strengthen the case law standing of the original summary judgment ruling. If the 9^th Circuit disagrees with the ruling, then the case will be appealed to the Supreme Court, which I would hope would hear the case so as to finally establish some continuity to the various circuit and district court rulings on the matter, and the fact that the Supreme Court continues to grow more constitutionally conservative with the appointment of new judges, this would be a good thing for gun owners across the country.

Administrators vs. Leaders

Anyone who has worked in law enforcement for any length of time can tell you which supervisors are the administrators, and which are the leaders. There is a distinct difference between the two.

Anyone who has worked in law enforcement for any length of time can tell you which supervisors are the administrators, and which are the leaders. There is a distinct difference between the two. And yes, someone who is a leader can also administrate, but someone who is seen as an administrator rarely functions as a leader. In fact, filling the role of a leader does not even require rank, just the act of taking a leadership role. Speaking as a line level guy, we love to see leaders promoted as it shows someone recognizes their leadership abilities. Sadly, as a line level guy, we sometimes, or often depending on the agency, see people promoted who are destined to be nothing but lousy administrators.

Which brings me to Lieutenant Yulanda Williams of the San Francisco PD. And before I go any further, I am going to preface this by saying this has NOTHING to do with her ethnicity, although I guaran-damn-tee you someone is going to claim it does, but rather is specifically in response to her apparent total lack of officer safety, and just plain old common sense. However, if you were to do an quick google search of her name, you would find she is a darling of the mainstream media, because she is fighting “racism in policing,” and stuff.

Here is a picture from 2017 of then Sergeant Yulonda Williams. This was picture was taken in the Richmond Walmart. Please note she is shopping, in full uniform, but has no duty belt. It is not just the lack of a duty belt, but in fact she has no gun at all (she is right handed based on other photos). Besides the lack of a firearm while in full uniform, please note the slip-on shoes which are also clearly not part of the uniform.

To people not in law enforcement, this might seem nitpicky, but every cop on the planet knows, or should know, you don’t go out in public in uniform unarmed. Especially not to a Walmart in the hood! Believe it or not, there are people out there who don’t like the cops, who have ambushed cops based on nothing more than their uniform, and without a weapon you are nothing but a victim waiting to happen.

The fact of the matter is, most agencies, including the one I just retired from, have policies against this very behavior for the very reason I noted.

Jump forward a couple years, and up one rank, and here is now Lieutenant Yulanda Williams at a department related function, in full uniform, posing in line with a number of other administrators, including the actual Chief of Police, Bill Scott.

I am completely flabbergasted by this woman’s hair.

Not because I have anything against a black person sporting a natural hairdo, not that a fro is really “natural” anyway, but because this woman has less officer safety related common sense than my 11 year old son, who has been known to run out in front of cars in parking lots. Look at how far her hair is protruding forward from her face. She would be lucky to have a 45 degree field of view.

Seriously, her hairdo reminds me of a young Carrot Top.

And for the non-cops in the room wondering; “Why is that an issue?” Again, it is officer safety 101. You do not do something to artificially limit your field of view because it makes you susceptible to an attack from the side or rear. The human field of view is around 180 degrees, granted the closer you reach the periphery of that field, the less clear the image becomes, but you can see things there, like a person walking toward you, or a punch coming your way.

To test this is rather simple. When facing straight ahead, extend your arms out from your sides and slightly back at shoulder height. While still looking straight ahead, bring your arms forward until you can just see the movement in your peripheral vision. Now turn your head and see where your arms are. If you have never done this, you might be surprised.

Now, take your hands flat, fingers extended upward, and put them up against your cheeks forming a tunnel through which you can look. That is the field of view that Lt. Williams has thanks to her hairdo.

Now, from a layperson’s perspective, can you see where that HUGE lack of field of view just might be an officer safety issue?

There are reasons that law enforcement agencies have grooming standards and uniform policies, and it has absolutely nothing to do with “institutional racism” or any of that other SJW crap. One of those reasons is to protect people too dumb to understand the importance of officer safety issues from themselves. Apparently, either SFPD has no uniform policy at all, or they just refuse to enforce it with certain people whom the media has made their social justice darlings, and nothing destroys a law enforcement agency’s morale faster than hypocrites running the show.

A line from one of my all-time favorite movies, iRobot, comes to mind: “Lead by example.”

As a supervisor, as an administrator, what kind of example is Lt. Williams setting? What kind of message does this send to the people she is supposed to supervise?

Knowing nothing about the woman at all except what I see in these photos, perhaps the criticism she claims to have received in the past, which she took as racism, was instead people pointing out simple facts to her, such as the fact that she clearly has a complete and total disregard for basic officer safety practices.

And with her basic officer safety so ridiculously lax, I can only imagine what her work product (cop work that is) is like.

However, the fact that she was promoted to the position of lieutenant, despite her obvious officer safety shortcomings is not surprising. Especially not when you consider the SFPD chief just wrote a policy that prevents officers from making suspects sit while they are detained, yet another very basic officer safety move.

When SJW politics become more important to police administrators than the physical safety of their cops, things go very rapidly downhill. In an era where it is impossible to recruit enough qualified candidates to fill vacancies, one would think administrators would be doing a better job to try and retain employees, but some instead seem to be trying to chase them off, taking the natural leaders with them, and leaving nothing but the administrators behind. If that is not a recipe for disaster, I don’t know what is.

Media and BLM, You Are Making Things Worse, Not Better!

This morning, I woke up really early and was chatting with a buddy of mine who is a graveyard patrol sergeant with my former agency. He was telling me about something that happened with his shift last night. This is something the public absolutely NEEDS to hear!

We cops, or former cops in my case, know this to be true, but unless you see it first hand, you would never know because these stories are NOT reported by the media, unless of course they publish the story of the “poor, innocent person who was harassed by the cops” as if it were gospel, and without any opportunity for the cops to tell their side.

Rather than me retell the story, with his permission, I am just going to put the transcript of the conversation here, other than removing the names of people involved.

Me – Hey bro, what’s up?

Sarge – It’s 4:30 why the hell do you get up this early?

Me – I can’t sleep. Haven’t been able to for years. I’m lucky if I get 5-6 hours. I went to bed last night at about 9:30 because I was beat tired. So here I am, wide awake at 4am.

Sarge – You’re going to love this…

Sarge – A fine example of how the media lying and pushing a false narrative causes problems……tonight one of my guys tried to stop a car driving real fast with no headlights. The driver failed to yield so several more units jumped into it as the driver continued to refuse to pull over.

We followed him to a ghetto apartment with a dark parking lot where he finally stopped. The initial deputy approached the car (we discussed this after) and directed the solo driver (young black male) to get out of the car. Right away the driver is yelling “fuck you what did I do wrong” blah blah blah.

Deputy pulls him out dude wont cooperate as two deputies try to cuff him. He gets twisted up but no more than needed. He is screaming for help in the complex because we are “going to kill him”. He didn’t stop because he was afraid the cops would shoot him

22 yrs old, driving home from his Walmart job……suspended license but no criminal history. His girlfriend came down and we had a long discussion about why there were so many cops and her boyfriend’s poor choices. She said “well he’s scared cuz white cops be killing black men”……

Anyway dude got a bump on the head and expensive citation….his girlfriend and I left on good terms but she still thinks cops are out killing black men…..

Thanks media you’re fucking chaos has created this!! Dumbass kid probably would’ve gotten a warning Had he stopped……

Me – Kevin ****** and I almost shot a Hispanic kid one night back in late 2014. He would not put down a knife because he knew we were going to kill him just like we did Mike Brown.

Me – Thank God we finally convinced him to put it down

Me – Kid was only 14 or 15 years old

Sarge – Yup had one or two of those….seems so much worse right now…..this chick tonight was convinced we are killing people. I told her I’d be happy to sit down and talk to her about it…..but tonight we agreed to disagree

Anyone with knowledge of the actual facts knows cops are not running around killing young black men, especially those who are not doing anything wrong. The statistics, at least during my entire lifetime, have NEVER supported those claims. In fact, the statistics prove the exact opposite, but thanks to the mainstream media insatiable desire to air stories that cause societal discord, because it makes them money, and thanks to racist, criminal sympathizing anti-cop groups like Black Lives Matter, huge portions of the population, and sadly it is the portion that is most likely to come into contact with law enforcement, do not know the truth because they only see what they are being spoon fed.

In the story recounted by my buddy, had the young man driving the car not been poisoned by the media and BLM, he likely would have just pulled over when the cops lit him up (activated their lights to pull him over), and at worst, he would have gotten a ticket for driving on a suspended license and potentially had his car towed. Instead, he ran from the cops, got twisted up, cuffed, got to sit in a cop car for a while, and he got a MUCH more expensive ticket.

Wasting Tax Dollars To Appease Those Who Cannot Be Appeased

The following was written by an academy classmate of mine who not only did a full career in the military, but is still continuing his long career in law enforcement. Because he is still on the job, it requires that this be published anonymously.
-Matt

So, after two thorough, exhaustive, expensive investigations (Sacramento County District Attorney and California Department of Justice), the feds are now launching a third investigation specifically into whether Stephon Clark’s civil rights were violated.

Let me just throw some fuel on the fire… Clark’s death was entirely his own fault.

This does not mean his family isn’t grieving his death, but it is time that society at large, and politicians in particular, stop pandering to people (to be clear I am referring to a socioeconomic group, not a specific race) who have been told for generations that they are victims, have no hope and must rely on the government to help them.

My question is, when do folks wake up to the fact that that help will never come from the government? There may be band aids applied, but the doctor is out, the surgeon isn’t coming.

Now, with the victim mentality drilled into them so deep it is essentially part of their DNA, they feel as though they can tear cities apart if things do not go their way.

This unfortunate shooting was not due to a lack of training on the part of the officers. Experience teaches us the dangers faced by officers, and they are taught to respond appropriately to those dangers.

There should be NO DOUBT in the minds of anyone with a modicum of intellectual honesty these officers were in fear for their lives and fired in self-defense. Not in aggression, but in DEFENSE! And why were they defending themselves? Because of CLARK’s ACTIONS.

The race of the suspect is completely irrelavant when you are in pursuit of a felony suspect and that suspect suddenly becomes a (justly) perceived threat to your life.

Not only that, I submit to you that cops get more training in “implicit bias,” biased based policing, and other racial issues than just about any other profession.

So exactly why is the US Attorneys office opening an investigation? Is it to appease people who will never be appeased because emotion rules and facts don’t matter? Is it to show that the Federal Government “cares?”

I don’t know, but I do know it is a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars and further victimizes an entire community who abide by the law, who don’t assault their girlfriends or wives, who do not get drunk or high and run around disrespecting their grandparents by smashing up their neighbors’ property, then confront cops in their backyard.

The simple truth is Clark is not the victim.

The officers, who had to make a sudden decision in fear for their lives are now affected for the rest of their lives, their wives, girlfriends, children and other family are affected. The community has been hugely affected, large sums of taxpayer dollars have been spent (and yes, a thorough investigation must be done to ensure the officers acted within the law), and why? The sad truth is because Mr. Clark continued his pattern of poor life choices.

And now two officers who acted appropriately are under tremendous scrutiny, lawmakers are pushing very hard to make it even more difficult for all officers to do their jobs and go home safely. If and when that happens, and officers can’t chase, can’t apprehend criminals, or are concerned with the consequences of doing something to defend their lives, only to be second guessed by attorneys or activists sitting in comfortable chairs in a well lit office, with their chosen beverage sitting on the table in front of them.

Who is it that pays in the long run? Winning answer is, the law abiding public.

Is it harsh to call out Mr. Clark? Maybe it is, but we have gotten so far away from speaking the (sometimes ugly) truth in the name of appeasement that the moral compass is spinning like a top. Time to stop spinning and call it like it is. Things will only get worse if we continue to lie to ourselves and allow the agenda driven politicians and media to lie to us.

Fascistbook Can’t Help But Fascist

The fascists at Facebook just cannot help themselves. Over the last few days, news has reached the national level, once again, about their lopsided enforcement of non-violations of their community standards. Specifically about them removing posts and banning people who are sharing images that show the distinct difference between Corporal Ronil Singh, a legal immigrant who achieved his American Dream of becoming a cop, and the illegal alien criminal gang member who murdered him.

Facebook reversed their decisions on all of the previous incidents that I know of, but now they are apparently going after other people for the very same image, an image they have already, repeatedly said does NOT violate their policies. Just last night, New Years Eve, they deleted a post from the page Conservative Cops and they banned the user who posted it.

This just goes to show how deeply ingrained it is in the people who moderate Facebook that if they don’t like something, they can just consider it “hate speech” and remove it. What should I expect from a company run by a bunch of millennial snowflakes? If these dipshits cannot moderate a social media platform and follow its own rules, what does the future hold when they get put in positions of power in the government? Honestly, that prospect scares the hell out of me.

UPDATE: In further news, it would appear now that the fascists at Facebook are removing posts sharing this very article, about them removing posts. The page mentioned in the removed post pictured above, Enough is Enough, shared this article this morning. There are only two administrators of that page currently, and neither of them removed the post, but it is no longer there. It also appears that Facebook is doing this in shadow mode as neither of the administrators nor the page itself were notified the post was being removed.

Excellent way to disprove the claims that you are silencing people, by further silencing them…

And here I thought conservatives were the Nazis…