>>Valley Patriot>>
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Criminals and Cop Haters "Educate" the ACLU
How People Hear What They Want to
Hear
(05/07/07)
Last month the ACLU came to Lawrence for a meeting with
citizens who had a beef with the Lawrence police. Packed
in the large function room at Casa Dominicana
on Essex St. were criminals, malcontents, racists and cop
haters, all eager to take the microphone and tell their
sad, sorry tales of woe at the hands of the evil, racist
Lawrence police department.
One father stood up
to tell everyone how his good boy of 17 was
roughed up by the cops after being arrested for violating
his parole. This father stood at the microphone
with gang tattoos up and down the insides of his arms as
he told the crowd how his angel was a victim of police
brutality for being a Latino.
Real choir boys, these two.
Then there was Lawrence businessman Julio Meran. It was
Meran who had invited the ACLU to Lawrence in order to
whip up fear and resentment against the Lawrence police
within the Latino community. He even likened the Lawrence
police to Nazi Gestapos when recounting
his own tale of abuse at the hands of a
Lawrence cop.
According to Merans own account, he was given a
ticket after a police officer cut him off on Merrimack
Street, even though he was perfectly polite
and treated the officer with the utmost respect. In his
own words, however, Mr. Meran wasnt abused. He wasnt
assaulted. He wasnt arrested. He was not called a
racial epithet. No, no, Mr. Merans tale of
victimhood was simply that he was given a ticket by a
police officer who cut him off and then demanded his
license, Gestapo style.
Not one of the six Lawrence city councilors sitting in
the audience objected to Lawrence cops being likened to
the German Nazis who executed millions of people in World
War II. But one of them did side with the criminals.
But,
Was Anyone Actually Listening?
Then there was Ramon Vargas,
a stalky, intimidating looking man who weighed at least
300 pounds. Vargas started off by showing pictures of his
bruised face andbody. Bruises he claimed were the result
of police brutality and, of course, because he was a
Latino. But as Vargas told his own story in
his own words, it was pretty clear that the injuries he
received took place because he was resisting arrest and
being combative with the police, not the other way
around. Vargas himself said that he was at a party when
Lawrence police showed up and told everyone who did not
live in the apartment to leave. This is standard
procedure when cops break up a house party.
Vargas freely
admitted to the ACLU that he argued with the cops because
I sleep there on weekends and didnt see
any reason why he should have to leave the apartment. The
cops asked him three separate times to leave the property
and when he refused the third time, a cop told him he was
being placed under arrest. Vargas then admits
he resisted arrest and fought with police who sprayed him
with Mace while they were trying to put on the
handcuffs.
At the end of his epic story, Vargas claims that he only
tried to kick out the windows in the back of the police
cruiser because he had asthma and he needed
fresh air from all that Mace that he had
ingested. Yet, even according to his own recounting of
events, all of the other partygoers left the apartment
when the police ordered them to leave. None of them were
beaten. None of them were arrested. None of them were
sprayed with Mace. None of them were the victims of
racial slurs.
Only Ramon Vargas.
Thats when, Vargas says, Lawrence police stated (in
his presence, of course), Lets hurry up, we
have plenty more of them to get, supposedly
referring to Latinos.
The audience, including some Lawrence city councilors,
gasped in horror as Vargas told his story, evidently
discounting his own culpability in the situation because
of their preconceived notions about the Lawrence police.
City Councilor Nunzio DiMarca (who has his own personal
vendetta against the police) burst out loudly, this
is why we are here, to put a stop to this kind of thing!
Perhaps if Mr. Vargas had left the party when he was told
to the first time, he wouldnt have any bruises and
he wouldnt have been under arrest at all. And if
Ramon Vargas had complied with police officers and put
his hands behind his back, he would not have been Maced
during the arrest. But the very fact that he was Maced
while cops were trying to put on the handcuffs
kind of says it all, doesnt it? Im sure
that if Mr. Vargas was white and behaved that way towards
police he would have received the same bruises at the
hands of the same cops who were lawfully taking him into
custody.
But dont tell that to Councilor Nunzio DiMarca. He
wants the City Council to take up the matter of police
brutality and have more public forums so that he
can be the white knight in shining armor to save the poor
down-trodden Latinos. Once again, Mr. DiMarca is trying
to out-Latino the Latinos. Its
political pandering at its worst.
No
Lawyers, Lots of Media
Of the dozen or so people who
spoke that night, not one of the cop bashers had a clear
and convincing story that would stand up to the scrutiny
of an objective legal challenge. Maybe thats why no
lawyers have come forward to represent any of them in
suing the city. Think about it. If any of the people in
the room that night had a legitimate case against the
Lawrence police, there would be dozens of lawyers
soliciting them for representation. But that hasnt
happened. If it had, these victims wouldnt
be speaking at a public forum about their cases. The
first thing any good lawyer will tell you is : DO NOT
speak publicly about your case because any inconsistency
in your story will be used against you later in court.
Yet, there they were. Not in a court of law where
ques-tions can be fairly asked of both sides to discern
the truth. They were not in a neutral setting where the
complainers could be questioned and their stories could
be challenged. They were at an ACLU meeting with
like-minded people who had already made up their minds
that the Lawrence police were racists, corrupt and out of
control. And the Latino media lapped it up like Al Gore
at a Global Warming convention.
The saddest part of this whole fiasco is that the Spanish
language media accepts these abuse claims as gospel.
Span-ish media reporters do not investigate allegations
for their validity. They do not question the motives of
the criminals. They only question the actions and motives
of the police. Then they portray the criminals
point of view as fact. This kind of reporting
creates more fear and mistrust by Latinos towards the
Lawrence police, all the while it is the hard working
Latinos in Lawrence who are most often the victims of
crime that the police are trying to solve.
Whats even worse is that the Latino media takes
individual allegations of abuse and corruption and
strings them all together to make the entire department
look corrupt. The fact is, most Lawrence police officers
(white, Latino, and others) are willing to take a bullet
on a moments notice to protect the lives of any one
of the cop bashers crowded into the room that night. They
are hard working, honest and decent law enforcement
officials who follow the law and put their own safety in
jeopardy to protect all of the citizens of Lawrence,
regardless of ethnicity.
What
About Real Police Brutality?
So, what about the police officers in Lawrence who do
abuse their authority? What about the cops who really are
heavy handed and disgrace the uniform? What about the few
cops who really are racist and target Latinos, or blacks
or whites because of the color of their skin? What
happens when a complaint is filed against a Lawrence cop
and a citizen really IS abused by someone whos
supposed to serve and protect?
Lawrence Police Chief John Romeros policy is to
have Lawrence police officers investigate claims of abuse
and misconduct within the ranks of the Lawrence police
itself. Just imagine, youve been abused or
mistreated by a Lawrence cop and Chief Romero expects you
to go to the Lawrence Police Station (which is
intimidating enough) and file your complaint with one of
the abusive cops colleagues. Then you are expected
to let Lawrence cops investigate Lawrence cops and take
their word for it if they say no law was broken.
How can anyone expect to take the word of the Lawrence
police when your complaint is against the Lawrence
police? How can anyone expect that they will investigate
objectively and put one of their own under the same
investigative microscope that a district attorney or
state police investigation would?
Its just not realistic. Nor is it fair to the
public, the complaining citizen, or the police officer
who is being accused. No matter how this kind of
investigation is concluded, even if the Lawrence police
follow the letter of the law, the mere fact that Lawrence
cops are investigating Lawrence cops takes away any
credibility or legitimacy with the public. And it plays
right in to the propaganda game of cop haters like Julio
Meran, who use this fact to discredit the entire
department, further adding credibility to their claims of
corruption and cover-ups.
Of course, there are a few bad cops in the Lawrence
Police Department. But each of them should be
inves-tigated individually without casting a stereotype
on the rest of the cops in the department. Every
suspected bad cop should be investigated by an outside
agency (like the DA or the sheriffs department) to
restore the faith and trust of the community. And, when
found culpable, should be fired or put in jail for
disgracing the badge and uniform.
But lets not compare the cops who pulled over Julio
Meran with the cops who are truly racist or abusive. Lets
not liken the police officers who rightfully arrested
Ramon Vargas with those who are out there committing real
crimes. That kind of moral equivalence and sinister
rhetoric only serves to provide shelter for the abusive
cops while the rest of the community is busy going after
the cops who were only doing their jobs.
None of the evidence (if you want to call it that)
presented before the ACLU last month showed any hint of
systematic corruption, racism or abuse by the Lawrence
Police Department. Believe me, if there was even one
person who appeared to have a legitimate claim of abuse
or corruption, The Valley Patriot would be the very first
to investigate and publish his story.
I can tell you that there is little I despise more than a
corrupt or abusive cop. Those cops disgrace the badge and
uniform my father lived and died for. Renegade cops
jeopardize the lives and the livelihoods of every good
cop doing his job on the street. They make it so much
harder for the cops who truly care and strive to gain the
publics trust to make a positive difference in the
community.
Whats worse than a corrupt cop, however, is a
loud-mouthed, racist malcontent who makes false
allegations against police and cannot back it up. Or a
city councilor who campaigns for office by bashing the
police and pan-dering to criminals. And thats
exactly what happened at the ACLU meeting last month. Its
just shameful that the Spanish language media didnt
take advantage of this op-portunity to build bridges
between Latinos and the police by doing a real
investigation and telling the truth about who these
people are.
But I guess thats what happens when your mind is
made up before all the facts are all in.
Tom Duggan is the president of Valley Patriot,
Inc., a former Lawrence School Committeeman, and hosts
the Paying Attention! Radio Program on WCAP, 980AM, every
Saturday afternoon from noon-2pm. You can email your
comments to Tdugjr@aol.com
.
A side note on Siglo21's inaccurate reporting on Kurt
Charenza who attended the ACLU meeting but did NOT claim
abuse. >>>>Siglo21
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The MAY 2007 Edition of
the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
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All Contents (C) 2007, Valley Patriot, Inc.
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