Saturday, November 25, 2006

Video Good for the Soul


Andy goofing on Elvis. Enjoy ...

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving

Travel safely, folks ...


43 Years Ago Today


"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible
will make violent revolution inevitable."
--John F. Kennedy


Another Great Moment in Law Enforcement

Atlanta, Georgia: Narcotics officers in plainclothes kick in the door of the wrong house, frightening the 92-year-old woman who lives inside. Naturally, she defends herself; she grabs a gun and fires, wounding three of the cops. They return fire, killing her. (LINK)

Later, the police say they were justified. It was all done properly, they said, strictly by the book. They had a warrant, they knocked, announced themselves, etc.—as if an unseen piece of paper and men shouting and banging on the door in the middle of the night should have somehow calmed the woman's fears. How was she to know she was a suspected drug dealer?

The police also insist they had the right address. But, if it was the right address, where are the drugs? Why was there nothing inside but a frightened old woman?

This woman had lived in the neighborhood for 17 years. It was a high-crime neighborhood, supposedly. And yet, when the end came, it was not at the hands of criminals, but “law enforcement officers” whose macho, kick-in-the-door “heroics” are supposedly meant to keep us safe ...

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

An Open Letter to the UCLA Chancellor

Interim Chancellor Norman Abrams
University of California at Los Angeles
chancellor@conet.ucla.edu

Dear Chancellor Abrams:

I am writing in regard to the incident that occurred last week on the UCLA campus, in which one of your students was Tasered by UCLA’s 2001 Officer of the Year, Terrence Duren.

It may not be necessary for me to summarize this incident for you, but certain public comments you have recently made cause me to suspect you might have missed a relevant detail or two ...

The student, 23-year-old Mostafa Tabatabainejad, committed no act that a reasonable person would construe as a threat to public safety. He simply refused to show his ID. As a result, Tabatabainejad was told to leave the library. Which he did, or attempted to do. On his way out of the building, he was accosted by Officer of the Year Terrence Duren who began to Taser him.

Duren did not Taser the student just once, he did so repeatedly. Yes, it is true that, after each Tasering, the student was advised by Duren (or one of the other officers present) that he could avoid further Tasering if he would only cooperate by standing up and walking out of the building on his own. However, with each Tasering, Tabatabaineja became progressively more weakened, therefore was unable to follow the suggestion.

Eventually, the officers decided that the most efficient way to remove Tabatabainejad's paralyzed body from the building would be to carry it out. As this was being done, Officer of the Year Duren Tasered the young man once more, this time in the buttocks. Great police work.

It should also be mentioned that, while all this was going on, Tabatabainejad’s fellow students raised loud objections and demanded names and badge numbers from the officers. The officers responded by threatening these students with the same treatment. Again, great police work.

But I am drifting from my original point. Here it is …

The Los Angeles Times reported today that Officer of the Year Duren has on several occasions committed other acts of violence that have needlessly endangered lives on the UCLA campus.

On one such occasion, he used his nightstick to choke a man who had been seen “hanging around” a UCLA fraternity house. This led, not only to a lawsuit, but to UCLA officials deciding it might be a good idea to dismiss Duren. Later, inexplicably, the dismissal was reversed.

It is unfortunate that Duren was not dismissed, because in 2003 he shot and wounded a mentally ill homeless man, Willie Davis Frazier. According to Frazier’s public defender, John Raphling, there was no provocation for the shooting; the man was simply running in fear from Duren. I wonder why. (LINK)

As I say, the University of California’s failure to dismiss Duren is inexplicable. Even more inexplicable is the fact that he was hired in the first place.

In 2004, Officer of the Year Duren testified under oath that he had previously worked for the Long Beach Police Department, but was fired for his “poor report-writing skills and geographical knowledge.”

Doesn't it bother you to have a man on your police force who can neither write intelligibly nor tell the difference between the city of Japan and the continent of Chicago? It would bother me. In fact, I would expect that only trouble could come from hiring such a man.

Which is exactly what happened: trouble. And each time there was trouble--each time Duren committed some act of violence--UCLA looked the other way. Even worse, in 2001, he was named Officer of the Year.

All this might be forgiven. However, what cannot be forgiven is that, following the most recent incident--the public torturing of a student with a Taser gun by an illiterate cop with a documented history of violence, witnessed on video by the entire world--you have allowed Duren to remain on active duty while the "independent" investigation is conducted.

What is wrong with you? What kind of university are you running out there in California?

Yours sincerely,
Mack White

Cop in UCLA Taser Case Has History of Violence

The UCLA police officer who repeatedly Tasered a student last week has been identified as Terrence Duren, a 13-year veteran of the force with a history of violence.

Duren was first hired as a police officer by the Long Beach Police Department in the 1980s, but was soon was fired due to poor report-writing skills and a lack of geographical knowledge. These deficiencies, however, did not prevent his subsequent hiring by the University of California Police Department (UCPD).

In 1990, Duren used his nightstick to choke a man who had been seen hanging around outside a UCLA fraternity house. This led to a lawsuit against UCLA, as well as a move by officials to dismiss Duren. The dismissal was overturned, however, and in 2001 Duren was named Officer of the Year.

In 2003, Duren shot and wounded a mentally ill homeless man. According to the man’s attorney, the shooting was unprovoked.

And now, Duren has again distinguished himself and the university by repeatedly Tasering 23-year-old UCLA senior Mostafa Tabatabainejad while he was still incapacitated from the first Tasering.

An independent investigation of the incident is underway. Meanwhile, Duren remains on active duty with the UCPD.

Other officers involved in the assault are: Kevin Kilgore, Andrew Ikeda and Ricardo Bolanos, and Sgt. Philip Baguliao, a supervisor. (LINK)