I think Mr. McMartin is too kind to the current police action scale. Many of
us remember the Stenvig era, and the brutality now is simply more targeted
and protected. Charlie Stenvig was a blowhard, but the police culture has
softened little, especially in Minneapolis. Frankly, even when I was living
for ten years in detroit, during the 70s, the Minneapolis department was
legend for its violence.
We are under a very real threat from police departments everywhere. For some
reason, the public is too forgiving - in complicity with media outlets - of
the vehement and rampant resistance to free speech and assembly
demonstrations, but the Minneapolis cops are especially mean - that's mean -
like vicious dogs - when given the license to beat heads during legitimate
protests.
The ISAG demonstrations betrayed the Minneapolis law enforcement community
for the increasingly fascist-like behavior of its officers toward legitimate
expression. These are sad days for democracy and the Constitution.
Andy Driscoll
St. Paul
> From: "Rich McMartin Rich McMartin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2001 12:31:00 -0600
> To: "Multiple recipients of list" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Re: Chief Olson's reappointment
>
> Yes - anyone who lived through the Stenvig era is from a different
> universe than those who are complaining about the current police problems.
> If there were a Richter scale of police brutallity the force during the
> Stenvig era was a "7.5" and what we have now is a "2.0" and that takes
> into account the logarithmic aspect of the Richter scale.
>
> It is true that CODEFOR was not invented here - we were about the 3rd or
> 4th city to adopt this methodology. So maybe that isn't his innovation.
> Both New Orleans and New York preceded us.
>
> Without CODEFOR we could have the old Minneapolis from 1995 that we all
> knew and loved - 8 crack houses on my block in one year, gunshots 20 out
> of 31 nights in May, 4 murders within a block of me - 95 in all of
> Minneapolis. Perhaps you would like it that way again. I want nothing to
> do with it.
>
> If you are comparing management and control of the troops between Stenvig
> and Olson you are standing on very shaky ground. Olson Is soooo much
> better that Stenvig. Probably not perfect but certainly the best that
> Minnepolis has had in 25 years.
>
> Rich McMartin
> Bryant Neighborhood.
>
> Mr. Ferman -- Would you care to expand on your statement about the
>> "innovation to
>> MPD - CODEFOR..."? I fear that we must inhabit very different universes.
>>
>
> <...>
>
>>
>> ferma001 wrote:
>>
>>> Those who find fault with Olson have apparently not read Minneapolis
>>> police history. Given the long pull of my memory, I would have to rank
>>> Olson as either the first or second best chiefs that MPD has ever had.
>>> Anyone remember Charlie Stenvig, for example. Olson has worked to bring
>>> innovation to MPD - CODEFOR, for example. It will be interesting to see
>>> how McDonald's opposition will play out at the upcoming Minneapolis DFL
>>> city endorsing convention.
>
>
