Dropping Like Flies

After a recent $40M judgment against a DeKalb Hotel on allegations of supporting human trafficking (AKA prostitution) another hotel has settled a strikingly similar case to the tune of $6M. Quite a savings. This does call to mind the Dunwoody PD's falsified police reports justified on the basis of protecting local hoteliers whose properties may, or may not, be hotspots for human trafficking. Is this aiding and abetting? Are these kinds of judgments and settlements headed to Dunwoody? Does anyone wonder if a jury might find the city liable should a case present itself? Are any of those wonderers at city hall? Is it at all possible for the police department to ever do the right thing, and do that thing the right way?

Are We Having Fun?

Dunwoody changed liquor laws and threw some money at a private business in an effort to turn Dunwoody Village into party central. It worked. Folks are partying like they would in an Air BnB. Right here in our little town. 

Bringing the Party Outside

Nothing quite like a swig and a smoke sitting there watching the world go round and round. 

Does That Say "No Smoking"

To be fair, that "No Smoking" admonition isn't a city ordinance and that notwithstanding, even if it were it would not be enforced. Why? Because that would require enforcement. And Dunwoody doesn't do enforcement. Never has, never will. [ed: not quite true, as early on they enforced DWB until called out on it.] Now it may be that the cops Public Safety ambassadors at their fancy "command center" got all this on camera, but so what? They didn't care about Espinoza's pics so what makes anyone think these are of more concern?

And it should be noted that their "Real-Time Crime Center" was named after the police chief whose department harbored a bad actor and has cost us millions in legal fees. What bizarre universe do these people live in? Apparently one where you put up a flock of cameras so you can sit back and watch folks speed, run red lights and do pretty much anything else illegal, and then do absolutely nothing about it. Seems like their idea of community policing is "coffee with a cop" and not actually patrolling the city. You know, so we stay safe. 

Make It Stop

Can he? Will he? These two blatant violations occurred on the same fine morning.

Another Red Light Runner

Frito Bandito: Ride Into The No-Truck Zone

And then, on another day that ends in "Y" we have another helping of Fritos.

You Can Set Your Watch By His Violations

Is anybody at city hall ever going to do anything about this? Didn't think so.

Keeping Us Safe

See the blue lights atop the police cruiser? These are not flashing, but are solid on. They're called "cruise lights" and are often used so that people, particularly drivers, are aware of a police presence as this tends to discourage the kinds of illegal on-the-road activities that plague Dunwoody. 

You Will Notice This Is NOT Dunwoody PD

As the caption indicates, this is not Dunwoody Police, for a couple of reasons. First, Dunwoody Police never, never, no not ever, do traffic patrols anywhere in or near the village. The second is, they also never use cruise lights. They are not going to patrol. They are not going to stop traffic offenders. They're not even, on the rare occasion it would apply, make their presence known so folks might behave.

They leave that to outsiders. If you see a patrol vehicle with cruise lights on, rest assured it is DeKalb Police, Sandy Springs Police or Brookhaven Police. It sure as hell is not Dunwoody PD. 

Dunwoody PD Is Hiring

You may have noticed. You know, the sidewalk signs they rolled out. Well as it so happens this advert showed up in some dark corner of the interweb. 

The Police Department of the City of Dunwoody is hiring for various positions. We are seeking qualified public safety professionals across a range of experience and we offer competitive compensation and benefits. Applicants should supply a résumé, three professional references, and several unfiltered photographs of genitalia with sufficient context for proper identification. Preference is given to candidates with prior content on OnlyFans. 

Seems like this would have top notch candidates flooding their inbox. After all, how hard can it get?

What's With The Cops?

Dunwoody PD has been advertising with their mobile signage, the kind you and I are not allowed to have. Some have taken issue with that and this has started a real goat rodeo. When one pointed out that the cops should be obeying the laws they enforce someone else pointed out that it is not the cops that are tasked with enforcing signage codes. It isn't clear if anyone, even those who should, actually enforce these codes, but it became a point of argument. Others, rightly, pointed out that the PD has had, and shows no signs of change, serious issues with internal sexual harassment, mistreatment of whistle blowers, and an incredibly bad, and unsuccessful track record in the courts. Many others, a vast majority, think the PD walks on water when it isn't frozen so anything the PD does, including breaking the law, is OK by them. It is a real shit show, but it tells you a lot about what is wrong with this city.

How Could Anyone Believe This?

A local journalist is suing the City of Dunwoody, and a few of its bureaucrats for failure to comply with an open records request around an alleged issue with a cop.

Who could possibly believe this? After all the chief wins awards.

Fine, so the cops did falsify their own police reports, but it was all for a good cause, right? But allegations of violating open records laws?

Who could possibly believe this? After all the chief wins awards.

OK, fine, there was the dick-pic fiasco, but that was just a harmless example of boys being boys, right. But lying about missing text messages?

Who could possibly believe this? After all the chief wins awards.

Yeah, yeah, quit yer bitchin about the fact DPD never enforces traffic violations in or near the Village. But suggesting they willfully lied?

Who could possibly believe this? After all the chief wins awards.

Sauron

Having gotten the new School Superintendent to cave, the self-proclaimed top-cop is advocating a set of ordinances mandating cameras at hotels, apartments, gas stations, convenience stores and in designated "high-risk" areas.  

And here's a shocker: many in the public, those being increasingly and incessantly surveilled, did not really cotton to the idea. The best anyone on council could say is "this needs more work." Understatement of the century. One remarkable and incredibly accurate comment was "all this strikes me as government overreach." Overreach to enable under-delivery. And you are not alone. In fact, one commenter in the marked up doc noted: "Need consent, a warrant, or some exception to the Fourth Amendment." Dunwoody PD has previously run afoul of the US constitution to the point you wonder if the police oath includes fealty to that document. Honestly, you have to wonder if this is an effort on the part of government to get private businesses to do blanket surveillance that the government could not do [legally] without a warrant. Doesn't a mandate make this a government operation?

Then there is the abdication of public safety and community policing responsibilities to be replaced with expensive technology paid from private budgets which is not only overreach, it is unconscionable. But one also has to wonder: when the government forces public safety responsibilities on these businesses has it also transferred liability? If so, can it provide the umbrella of sovereign immunity government enjoys, or will these companies be subject to civil litigation if a crime occurs even with all these expensive surveillance systems? Are they not mandated on the premise they reduce crime?

Another council-folk pondered the policies and procedures around "high-risk" classifications. Note that this ordinance would apply to convenience stores and gas stations regardless of risk classification. Falling into the high-risk classification requires police providing service more than six times in 30 days for a specific list of serious crimes. Note that the original ask was for 3 in 30 making you wonder: why not one? There is no provision for getting off the list either by petition or a lowered crime rate. This is supposed to result in lower crime rates, right? Sorta like police patrols did in the good ole days. There is also no requirement for the PD to report on the impact all these expensive systems have on crime. Perhaps it is also worth noting that prostitution (AKA "human trafficking") is NOT listed as a serious crime lest city hall be classified as "high-risk." 

If Dino-gate has taught us anything it is that city hall is incapable of crafting even minimally acceptable ordinances. Do you remember the before times? When everyone was getting triggered and screaming "words matter?" Well, it turns out that when it comes to crafting laws and ordinances words really do matter because it is what the law actually says that will be deliberated in a court of law. Some mistakes are silly but nonetheless symptomatic of fundamental language deficiencies. For example, writing "VSS system" is kinda dumb since the second "S" in VSS IS "systems" and that is clearly stated in the definitions. Then there are actual factual issues. A requirement for 5,017,600 pixels per image is difficult to obtain from a 4MP sensor and 1440p at 16:9 resolution is 3.69 MP. Oops. What are they asking for, upscaling? The container format, MP4, is specified but the compression format is not though perhaps they think the container implies H.264 when it really doesn't. When you are writing a technical specification into law these specs need to be complete, detailed and accurate. Laws and ordinances should not be "make it up as you go along" or so says the Dino. 

And what are the mere residents to think of this city foisting safety and protection on us? Should we all be ensuring we can protect ourselves knowing the city is not there for us? Think that is unreasonable? Over the top? Well here's a thought exercise: suppose Dunwoody had its own Fire Department and operated that as well as it does code enforcement, operates the police department and crafts ordinances? Then fire trucks would only roll in the 4th of July parade, houses would burn to the ground, but we'd have it all on video.

He Got His Camera Cop Revenue Stream

Looks like the new DCSD superintendent doesn't really grok money except how to spend it. And he has really hit the ground running. Millions in non-recurring funds on some never-ending positions. Now the great giveaway: caving on the camera cops handing six times the collected revenue that the schools get for school zone enforcement to a PD that never has and never will patrol those mean streets. 

That makes it a windfall for the city. It isn't like they ever patrolled school zones enforcing traffic laws. Or anywhere else, outside of maybe perimeter center, for that matter. Yet all along the top cop has protested (a bit too much) that this isn't about the money. You know, when someone says that it is always about the money. How do we know? Direct from the top cop. In justifying these cameras he burped this blooper: "automatic speed cameras in the city’s school safety zones is a measure they hope will address the 'constant' speeding problems faced in certain areas and increase student safety." WTF? Constant speeding? Yet, it has never been enough speeding to justify organic cop policing-only camera cops. This is an insult to intelligence. Of any creature above a garden slug (it isn't clear how many folks at city hall accept this excuse). 

Then there is the bigger farce regarding student safety. These camera cops are not going to ticket any speeders when students are flocking, to or from school. We all know why. Because when students are in the goes-in, goes-out mode there are no speeders. Instead there is horrible, stop and go, mostly stop, traffic. Ain't no speeding goin' on. So the tickets, and the associated revenue will only occur when students have asses in classes or when they are safely at home. 

And if this city, either the city manager or his underling police chief, really cared one little bit about our students' safety they would have officers directing traffic during the times when students are walking to school and being dropped off or picked up. THAT would be serving with distinction. THAT is never going to happen. Not in Dunwoody. Not with the bureaucrats we have in charge.

Play Nicely Children

Schools are back in and you may have noticed a change in traffic patterns. If you haven't, everyone hopes your Tuscan vacation is going well. This traffic is more than a reminder of the approach of summer's end, sweltering, some say "unwalkable" heat notwithstanding, it is also a reminder that the safety of our children, particularly those who do walk, is of no concern to the city.  Consider also that a majority of those walking will be among the youngest as there are more elementary schools placing more within walking distance. You would think this would put our local PD on a safety alert but you would be wrong. This is not the distinction with which they serve, unsurprising given the community is not who they serve. 

Dunwoody, along with a few other DeKalb cities, is in a pissing contest with the school system regarding Camera Cops in school zones. Dunwoody wants them because they get the revenue without doing a thing to protect the community or even show a police presence. Problem is the schools have to authorize/request these cameras. Some are boiling this down to just the money and while following the money is reliable there may be more there there. Some of that there may be opportunity. For the city to act like adults.

According to rumor there have been efforts withing DCSD to scare up some money for traffic officers during high traffic hours (usually morning drop off) to keep traffic flowing and children, parents and teachers safe. They need money because they (think they) must hire off-duty officers. You may think that odd. Any taxpaying member of the Dunwoody electorate should. And they should think that at the polls and vote accordingly. What they should not be is surprised. Dunwoody PD has made it painfully clear that traffic enforcement and community service is beneath them. One [former] resident has the emails to prove it. So does the city.

So. Is this an intractable standoff? Is this the best that is humanly possible? With the humans currently available, probably so. The easiest way to break this logjam lies with the city, not the schools. First, the city should enforce traffic laws and if anything, most aggressively in school zones during school hours and events. Presence, not platitudes. Then, they should provide traffic control during drop off and pick up. Do your job and quit asking everyone else to do it. And consider this: perhaps the reason the legislature lets the cops get the money from these cameras is to offset the revenue they lose by displaced police enforcement. But if you're not there, never have been there, and have no intention of going there then you should not get any of this money.You need to earn it.

So why don't you just try playing nice? Protect our children, our community and our schools. Make our streets safe. Maybe you'll make a friend. And then maybe they will play nice with you.

Is Third Time The Charm?

City hall just won't let it go. After being batted down twice they are lodging another, third, appeal in an unemployment case. Here's one of the funny parts (at this point how can you NOT see the humour in this expensive goat rodeo?): the police officer at the center of this case was fired for dishonesty! Cannot make this up. This guy was fired from a police department that has a proven record (facts not in dispute) of falsifying official police records--on purpose. And keep in mind that there have been no credible outside investigations of the smarmy goings-on withing the PD, instead the top cop has "investigated" concluding there is nothing to see here. Just move along. Credibility? Veracity? Is any objective observer going to associate either with the Dunwoody powers that be?

The lawyers hired by the city for this appeal, on your dime, probably a few million of them, may be ignorant (willfully?) of the city's fear of veracity and allergy to transparency but he has stones saying: "The GDOL needs to finally right its wrongs in this case, and the Board of Review now has a third opportunity to do so." [emphasis added] Very gracious of him to offer them yet-another-chance. Wonder if this work is pro bono. Seriously, would this money be better spent on rank and file police?

The Embarrassment Never Stops

At least not when the Dunwoody PD is involved. 

A recent decision by the Georgia Department of Labor has found that the city's case against a police officer they fired just doesn't hold water. That officer is getting the unemployment that was always due though it isn't clear if the city will launch an appeal. And with their transparent-not-transparent approach to operations it is likely we'll never know exactly how much they'll [continue to] spend on protecting what is clearly a failed department. 

When will the mayor and council pull the only lever the city charter has given them?

Speed Is NOT The Problem

Looks like someone did not play nice with one of Billy Boys toys. 

But speeding is clearly not the problem. How do we know? Because the solution is obvious: put cops on the street to enforce our speed limits. But the city manager and his top cop are NEVER going to do that and no one seems to know why. What everyone does know is that there is not nor will there ever be enforcement of our traffic laws. Not speed limits. Not no truck zones. Not...

Too busy checking in on the prostitutes and their hotel partners in Perimeter Center. 

The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

Do actions still speak louder than words? Even after a decade of hordes chanting "words matter?" And does this hold true in Dunwoody? If so, this city is shouting:

1. Prostitution: good.
2. Alcohol: bad.
3. PD? Just plain ugly.

In the first case the Dunwoody PD is shielding hotels who turn a blind eye to pimps and prostitutes by refusing to release the names of these businesses. Then we have a sting looking for businesses selling alcohol to underaged buyers and these businesses are named and shamed. 

Are they trying to get sued? Can you really get away with treating one business with kid gloves and another with brass knuckles? Given our own PD has anthropomorphized our hotels is this not also true of other businesses? If so, should they not bet equal treatment? 

When is the next election?

Above The Law

In a normal place and time the last thing you would expect is police openly evading the law, in spirit and perhaps in fact. But this is Dunwoody where the ends justifies whatever means folks at city can think of. The logic, however, is convoluted:

“I think if we had to put the exact address, then we might as well stop trying to enforce human trafficking,” Grogan said. “If we started saying, ‘Okay, we made 15 arrests here at the Crowne Plaza today.’ Well, then, the Crowne Plaza could get bad publicity from that, and then say, ‘Hey, y'all, this is hurting our business. We're not gonna allow you to do this.’”

 Ponder that a bit...done? Okay, if you made 15 prostitution (they word-inflate to "human trafficking" but it IS prostitution) arrests at Crowne Plaza in one day, then that isn't a hotel, it is a brothel. And, maybe, just maybe, they, the pimps, the prostitutes and the hotel managers should be run out of town. Instead, Top Cop wants to molly coddle them. Why? In his own words because he fears if the Crowne gets upset they're "not gonna allow you to do this." What? Really? Top Cop says some hotel manager can keep his police force from enforcing the law. Wow. That is so incredible, so unbelievable that the only explanation for those words to ever float thru the air is that the speaker thinks anyone who hears it is an idiot.

Are we that stupid? Or, are we smart enough to vote in a mayor and council that will make the changes necessary to stop this madness?

Stasi?

When police keep secrets, how long before they are secret police? When government is not transparent but what is clear is it does not serve the people, how long before that government is feared and hated? How close are we?

Citizens United

Remember Citizens United? That decision anthropomorphized corporations and other groups endowing them with rights previously restricted to flesh and blood people enabling unlimited donations in politics. Dunwoody has decided to take that ball and run with it. They have decided that local hotels are really people. Specific people. Specifically they are confidential informants and thereby offered protection from public scrutiny. So say the city: in all public crime reports regarding prostitution busts [more on that in a bit] the scene of the crime is listed as City Hall. Wonder where they got that idea?

This is problematic on so many levels. 

Government transparency should not be available only when convenient. Especially when the "convenience" is for a police department. Where a crime occurs is an important piece of any crime report and while there certainly have been hijinks in the PD, City Hall is not the only location in Dunwoody with prostitution. 

There is also the semantic massage, a common tactic in this City. A concrete highway lane is not a "path" and a prostitution bust is not a frontal assault on the root causes of human trafficking. Or even the proximate causes for that matter. Fact is, local yokels are working the streets, attacking the retail element and not the supply, logistics and distribution. As an analogy, it is the local role to round up the street dealers because those are the bad guys they have contact with, not the drug cartels. So to claim they are battling human trafficking is more than disingenuous. Regardless, "human trafficking" sounds so much more dramatic than "prostitution" so expect the term to become well overused here in Dunwoody.

And "sting?" Really? Let's say that is the proper term and further let's say these stings occur on a routine basis. And, suspend your disbelief here, let's say that if the location is not disclosed in a police report that the yet-to-be-stung will not have a heads up (pun intended) and will slot right in behind the already stung, awaiting their turn. So, by doing this could it still be called a sting or is it entrapment? Have they set up a honey pot? After all, city officials justify this practice by its results, without clearly disclosing what those results might be (another secret?).

This ends-justifies-the-means rationalization never comes to a good end. Just look at this PD's track record of violating constitutional rights. Again, ends justified the means. They are distorting the law beyond all recognition, playing fast and loose until the courts jerk them back to reality. Maybe they should have started there. In reality. 

The notion that reporting the location might "hurt the reputation of the hotels" is absolute bollocks. How in the world can that thought survive the simple scrutiny of "well, the johns know which hotels to visit even if your police report doesn't tell them?"  Do you really think no one else will figure this out? As for the possibility that hotels may no longer "cooperate" we don't even know what that cooperation looks like, even in a general form, because, well, lack of transparency. And if transparency hurts their non-sex-trade business that just might encourage them to be proactive in eliminating prostitution at their establishment rather than turning a blind eye. After all it is highly unlikely that these hotels don't know what is actually happening or they wouldn't be much of a confidential informant. Would they?

Governments fight transparency. Dunwoody is no exception and has worked aggressively to install opacity from (even before) the beginning. This will not change until voters make changes in representation and that representation makes THE meaningful change at City Hall.

Who Was Arrested?

And when? These questions regard the double murder of Roger and Dorothy Abbott who were murdered in their home July 1, 2010. Why does anyone care about a 12+ year old crime? Because one group, Dunwoody Police, seem to have "forgotten" as this crime is not listed amongst their unsolved crimes. Does that mean they've bagged the bad guy? Or does it mean their failure is a black mark, far worse than their bungling of the Schneiderman murder investigation, that they would prefer everyone forget. Just like they have.

Go Set A Watchman

No. This is not about that book. But since we're on the topic, if ever there was proof that Truman Capote wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, it is Watchman. This actually about some interesting cameras cropping up in our community.

This one is just (barely) outside a school zone and sports a wired connection to nearby telecom service cabinet. Police departments, who insist on NOT doing their own damn job have been pressuring the school system to install, or rather contract with a for-profit firm, to install and operate traffic enforcement systems. This includes the Dunwoody Chair Force.

This invokes an interesting thought exercise to answer a pressing question: since the city refuses to enforce laws where can we, the mere citizens turn? Well, decades ago public schools charted a course away from education towards a land of expansive wrap-around services. The greater community, including Chair Forces, have not only supported this expansion they are now demanding it. Why shouldn't we? We already know that schools have a police force. Now we know they can levy fines outside the school grounds. Or they can at least contract it out. So, here's the thought: what other laws can they enforce and what other fines can they levy? How about this: maybe these cameras can be used to track illegal truck traffic through the school/no-truck zones and issue some hefty fines to egregious offenders. Like Coke, who sends multiple trucks each day into violation. Makes you want to drink Pepsi or go all Birkenstock against all manner of fuzzy brown sugar water. 

So maybe we should just agree with city hall and give up on the city ever doing their job and direct our efforts to the school system. They'll at least try. 

Dunwoody PD Visits Italy

Was Espinoza The Tour Guide?