More politics in the Police Bureau (Pittsburgh: to live, to move, office)

[Merge]

Originally Posted by gg

And there you go. Plain and simple, just like I have stated over and over again! The ONLY way to stop all this is have open gyms and mentors. You aren't going to educate every parent and break the trends that run in these super at risk families. You need to show the young people a different way and that different way will not come from within their own families, it will have to come from outside. Nothing about this will be easy and it won't happen overnight. It will take great amount of time. The easy fix is never going to work.

As far as the jail time stuff goes, that is all about prisons for profit. Another wonderful thing that idiot Regan did! Look at this chart!

For the record, I like your idea about mentors. Most of the problem I have with you on here is your delivery. You just tend to put things in incredibly crude ways that seem like intentional provocations. I'm never sure when you are being sincere, or "taking the ****", (EDIT: insert common British slang for "screwing about solely for one's personal amusement") so to speak...

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by Merge

Anyway... about the best you are going to be able to do with "culture" is, as was suggested above, hiring officers that best understand that culture. The best way to choose those officers is by looking to hire people from those specific communities. That seems obvious if you intend to make this about "black culture".

The City of Pittsburgh is a very diverse place, the same officers that are policing street gangs in Formosa Way are also policing the Krispy Kremes on Buttermilk Hollow and the 711's on Noblestown Road.


I can see problems if the Pittsburgh PD starts assigning all of its black officers to the hood, and limits their ability to choose other assignments in the interest of "culture", especially if the black officers have seniority and really want to try other assignments.

[Merge]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

The City of Pittsburgh is a very diverse place, the same officers that are policing street gangs in Formosa Way are also policing the Krispy Kremes on Buttermilk Hollow and the 711's on Noblestown Road.


I can see problems if the Pittsburgh PD starts assigning all of its black officers to the hood, and limits their ability to choose other assignments in the interest of "culture", especially if the black officers have seniority and really want to try other assignments.

Again... no one is suggesting we make black officers police the hood. I never said I favored that. Why are you automatically defaulting to the extreme position?

The argument of this thread is about whether or not the police department should try to actively recruit more black officers. Why is this so hard for people to understand?. There have been several very good reasons for this effort stated in this thread, but instead of actually confronting the actual reasons supplied... here we have a few of the board reactionaries blowing up the discussion into a monster of their own making.

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Here's an essay from a black ex-cop from Saint Louis outlining the situation. I suggest you read the whole thing, but the key portion...

I read the essay and this information is nothing new to black america. These issues are addressed daily in black publication across the US. I watch Washington Watch (black version of Meet the Press) and we discuss these issues weekly. It is a good read but nothing ground breaking for black america. We have complained for years and have been condemned by white americans. The issues are now in the national spotlight because of social media, protest, violent rioting, and cell phones.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by wpipkins2

It is a good read but nothing ground breaking for black america. We have complained for years and have been condemned by white americans. The issues are now in the national spotlight because of social media, protest, violent rioting, and cell phones.

Do you consider it a step forward that white people are discussing it now?

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Do you consider it a step forward that white people are discussing it now?

At this point f@#$ a discussion. We want justice and immediate action. White people discussing what we have been experiencing for centuries is not enough. I think we have reached a boiling point and this younger generation (black, brown, yellow, red & white) will not settle for less.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by wpipkins2

At this point f@#$ a discussion. We want justice and immediate action. White people discussing what we have been experiencing for centuries is not enough. I think we have reached a boiling point and this younger generation (black, brown, yellow, red & white) will not settle for less.

With the recent publicized cases in Baltimore and Ferguson, particularly, I think police officers are starting to get the message as they see the careers of officers going down the tube. There is no real reason why the police should have even stopped in either situation as there was no convincing proof that either individual was engaged in criminal conduct. You'll see cops on the street doing more to stay out of trouble in the near future.


I'm a bit more concerned about the Equal Opportunity violations of the city government and the bundle it is costing the taxpayers. What can I say, it just affects me more personally.

There is really no excuse, when the city government is paying good money for highly paid compliance officers for the city not to be in compliance with every EOE regulation on the books. The government pays 6 figures to the HR people so they should not be paying 7 figures to the ACLU.


Making an example of these folks should cut the number of offenses.

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

With the recent publicized cases in Baltimore and Ferguson, particularly, I think police officers are starting to get the message as they see the careers of officers going down the tube. There is no real reason why the police should have even stopped in either situation as there was no convincing proof that either individual was engaged in criminal conduct. You'll see cops on the street doing more to stay out of trouble in the near future.


I'm a bit more concerned about the Equal Opportunity violations of the city government and the bundle it is costing the taxpayers. What can I say, it just affects me more personally.

There is really no excuse, when the city government is paying good money for highly paid compliance officers for the city not to be in compliance with every EOE regulation on the books. The government pays 6 figures to the HR people so they should not be paying 7 figures to the ACLU.


Making an example of these folks should cut the number of offenses.

The Pittsburgh police force is not the only segment of government with questionable hiring practices. When Plan B legislation for the stadia and convention center passed minorities were promised 20% of the contracts. The newly formed Sports and Exhibition Authority awarded the contracts to white men and the white women related to them. Since women qualify as a minority in the business world, the contractors created bogus sub contracting firms in their wife or sisters names to satisfy the 20%. This was discovered early on and nothing was done about it under the Murphy administration.

Former mayor Luke Ravenstahl took the initiative to diversify city government like no mayor before him. Luke ensured equity with the construction of Console Energy arena by hiring a black owned lead contractor from Detroit Michigan. He also performed audits on city departments and ensured salary equity within city government.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by wpipkins2

Former mayor Luke Ravenstahl took the initiative to diversify city government like no mayor before him. Luke ensured equity with the construction of Console Energy arena by hiring a black owned lead contractor from Detroit Michigan. He also performed audits on city departments and ensured salary equity within city government.

My beef with Mr. Ravenstahl isn't that I don't think he's a fair man of good will or doesn't strive for equal opportunity.


The complaint is that he and/or his people didn't pay attention to detail.


In the case of the ACLU lawsuit against the Pgh Police for their hiring practices, there is really no excuse. Statistics are kept and reports are made. The regulations and case law are right there in writing for the HR professionals administering compliance to see.


Allowing a couple of million to fly out the door which produce no value for the taxpayer, when it was all right in front of them and they knew they were being watched- that's totally inexcusable. Especially for a city under state protection as a distressed municipality because of her huge debts.

[erieguy]

^^^^^

Bingo's!