By Annette Dashofy
I’m sitting here staring at a blank page as I ponder a topic for this blog. Do I write about some of the interesting locations we have around here for cheap summer vacations now that gas prices have taken away the joy of travel planning? Do I write about the death this weekend of one of my all time favorite comedians, George Carlin? Now there was a man who could make me laugh each and every time I saw him. I’ve been watching some of his routines on You Tube and thinking that some of the stuff is dated. I mean, was fart really one of the seven words you couldn’t say on TV? Is it still? I don’t think so. Seems to me they say it several times each episode of Two and a Half Men. In case you haven’t ever actually heard that routine, feel free to click here. But be forewarned, this is not the bleeped version. If you don’t want to hear the words, don’t follow the link.
I also considered writing about a recent bout of graffiti in little old Canonsburg where a gang of kids went around spray painting nemesis on cars and houses. Do we need to bring Pittsburgh’s graffiti squad out here to Washington County??? And nemesis? Why do I think these morons just learned a new word and are showing off to the world?
I started scanning other blogs, hoping to mine ideas. Hey, if you can’t come up with an original one, steal one from someone else.
But then divine intervention struck in the form of gunshots. I’ve been hearing a lot of them lately. What makes this blog worthy (or at least, I hope it is) is the fact that I’ve been paying absolutely no attention to them. I just assume someone got a new gun and is out playing with it. Around here, surrounded by acres of pasture and woodlands, guys don’t need to go to a firing range or sportsmen’s club to sight in a new rifle. They just step outside. Not that they DON’T go to the sportsmen’s club. That’s a big social thing. But they don’t NEED to.
Somehow, I suspect that if you heard this kind of gunfire in the city, you’d be thinking the cops should be involved. Drive-by shooting? Domestic disturbance?
And then there are the war-torn cities where bursts of gunfire may have become old hat, although anything but benign.
A couple years ago, I attended a funeral for a close family member. The graveside service included full military rites. A friend of mine was holding onto me, trying to be supportive. But when they fired the twenty-one gun salute, she about jumped out of her skin. I never so much as twitched.
Which then leads to our writing. What kind of background does you protagonist have? If she heard a gunshot, would she flinch? Seek cover? Never bat an eye?
What about you? How do you react to the crack of a gunshot? And how much does your personal background affect that reaction?
Showing posts with label graffiti. Show all posts
Showing posts with label graffiti. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Citizens' Police Academy: Final Class
By Annette Dashofy
This week was our final Citizens’ Police Academy class. I don’t think it has sunk in yet that our group’s time together is almost over. We’re a diverse bunch with a variety of motives for taking the course, but we’ve all bonded over the experience.
Our last class was another two-parter. For the first hour, we listened to Sgt. Keith Nemeth and Detective Sheila Jeffries talk about the Office of Municipal Investigations (OMI). This department investigates complaints against Pittsburgh city employees and handles each investigation as if it were a homicide. They are fact finders. They do not recommend discipline. That is ultimately up to Chief Nate Harper.
On an average, OMI investigates 300-500 cases per year with the bulk of those cases being police department related.
Here’s an example of how it works. Mrs. Jones files a complaint stating that Officer Smith called her foul name and then hit her in the nose. Investigators would look at photos taken of Mrs. Jones after the incident to see if there was indeed evidence of injury. They would also search for and interview third party witnesses. These witnesses need to be impartial. In other words, if Mrs. Jones’ son vouches that the officer hit his mother in the nose, he might be saying what his mother WANTS him to say. Or if Officer Smith’s partner says, no, that it never happened, he might be standing up for his partner. So OMI would continue to seek out some other witness. If no other witness can be found and the preponderance of evidence neither supports nor disavows the claims, the case may be left as “unresolved.” Such cases remain in the database for the officer’s entire career.
OMI also looks at patterns of complaints. They may learn that Mrs. Jones has filed similar complaints against Officers Starsky and Hutch in past years, too. OR they may learn that Officer Smith has had previous complaints about calling suspects names and punching them in the nose. All this factors into their report.
Cases ultimately fall into one of five catagories: Sustained, unresolved, exonerated, unfounded, or closed. Only about 5 to 10 percent of all the cases end up as sustained and some of those are technical violations. For example, our Officer Smith has used OC spray on a suspect from a distance closer than three feet during a struggle. In such a case, he did indeed violate procedure, but it was justified.
Remember, OMI does not recommend discipline. They only file the report. Chief Harper then determines what should be done, be it retraining, punishment, or firing.
The second half of this week’s class dealt with Pittsburgh’s newest division: THE GRAFFITI SQUAD. Consisting of three detectives (Frank Rende, Alfonzo Sloane, and Dan Sullivan, all of whom spoke to our class), this group has only been inexistence since November 2006. Since then they have made 38 arrests while blazing new territory in the investigation of graffiti.
Only about 10 % of this graffiti is gang related. It’s vandalism. New ordinances have recently been implemented in Pittsburgh to make life harder on the “taggers.” You must be 18 or older to buy paint or markers in the city and if you buy it and give it to a juvenile, it’s legally the same as giving them a beer. Local judges are cracking down. For instance, take the case of Danny Montano. This graffiti tagger has been held in jail for seven months already and will likely serve a lot more time. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 24. You can bet a lot of these graffiti artists are watching this case.
Our three graffiti-busting detectives obviously love their jobs. They haven’t lost a case yet, mainly because they collect an overwhelming amount of evidence. They now have a graffiti database where they store photographs of various tags. So while a tagger might be busted in one municipality for one tag, the graffiti squad marches out photographs of forty more from other communities. Most of those arrested plea out or confess.
And they’ve never had a warrant contested, although they admit, they know it will happen.
Bottom line: graffiti artists are not welcome in Pittsburgh. While we were once known as a Mecca for these taggers, the welcome mat has been rolled up. Detectives Frank, Al, and Dan are on the job.
Advice for those of you who are Pittsburgh residents: if you are the victim of graffiti, call 9-1-1. That is the start of the process. These detectives, with the help of some very hard line judges, are determined to clean up the city and send these artists packing.
Next week: GRADUATION
This week was our final Citizens’ Police Academy class. I don’t think it has sunk in yet that our group’s time together is almost over. We’re a diverse bunch with a variety of motives for taking the course, but we’ve all bonded over the experience.
Our last class was another two-parter. For the first hour, we listened to Sgt. Keith Nemeth and Detective Sheila Jeffries talk about the Office of Municipal Investigations (OMI). This department investigates complaints against Pittsburgh city employees and handles each investigation as if it were a homicide. They are fact finders. They do not recommend discipline. That is ultimately up to Chief Nate Harper.
On an average, OMI investigates 300-500 cases per year with the bulk of those cases being police department related.
Here’s an example of how it works. Mrs. Jones files a complaint stating that Officer Smith called her foul name and then hit her in the nose. Investigators would look at photos taken of Mrs. Jones after the incident to see if there was indeed evidence of injury. They would also search for and interview third party witnesses. These witnesses need to be impartial. In other words, if Mrs. Jones’ son vouches that the officer hit his mother in the nose, he might be saying what his mother WANTS him to say. Or if Officer Smith’s partner says, no, that it never happened, he might be standing up for his partner. So OMI would continue to seek out some other witness. If no other witness can be found and the preponderance of evidence neither supports nor disavows the claims, the case may be left as “unresolved.” Such cases remain in the database for the officer’s entire career.
OMI also looks at patterns of complaints. They may learn that Mrs. Jones has filed similar complaints against Officers Starsky and Hutch in past years, too. OR they may learn that Officer Smith has had previous complaints about calling suspects names and punching them in the nose. All this factors into their report.
Cases ultimately fall into one of five catagories: Sustained, unresolved, exonerated, unfounded, or closed. Only about 5 to 10 percent of all the cases end up as sustained and some of those are technical violations. For example, our Officer Smith has used OC spray on a suspect from a distance closer than three feet during a struggle. In such a case, he did indeed violate procedure, but it was justified.
Remember, OMI does not recommend discipline. They only file the report. Chief Harper then determines what should be done, be it retraining, punishment, or firing.
The second half of this week’s class dealt with Pittsburgh’s newest division: THE GRAFFITI SQUAD. Consisting of three detectives (Frank Rende, Alfonzo Sloane, and Dan Sullivan, all of whom spoke to our class), this group has only been inexistence since November 2006. Since then they have made 38 arrests while blazing new territory in the investigation of graffiti.
Only about 10 % of this graffiti is gang related. It’s vandalism. New ordinances have recently been implemented in Pittsburgh to make life harder on the “taggers.” You must be 18 or older to buy paint or markers in the city and if you buy it and give it to a juvenile, it’s legally the same as giving them a beer. Local judges are cracking down. For instance, take the case of Danny Montano. This graffiti tagger has been held in jail for seven months already and will likely serve a lot more time. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 24. You can bet a lot of these graffiti artists are watching this case.
Our three graffiti-busting detectives obviously love their jobs. They haven’t lost a case yet, mainly because they collect an overwhelming amount of evidence. They now have a graffiti database where they store photographs of various tags. So while a tagger might be busted in one municipality for one tag, the graffiti squad marches out photographs of forty more from other communities. Most of those arrested plea out or confess.
And they’ve never had a warrant contested, although they admit, they know it will happen.
Bottom line: graffiti artists are not welcome in Pittsburgh. While we were once known as a Mecca for these taggers, the welcome mat has been rolled up. Detectives Frank, Al, and Dan are on the job.
Advice for those of you who are Pittsburgh residents: if you are the victim of graffiti, call 9-1-1. That is the start of the process. These detectives, with the help of some very hard line judges, are determined to clean up the city and send these artists packing.
Next week: GRADUATION
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Express Yourself
By Annette Dashofy
Some people try to get through life unnoticed, anonymous. The rest of us feel a need to let the world know who we are, what we’re about, and what we believe. There are a number of ways to accomplish this. Blogging, of course, is one. Writing books, another.
However, I have noticed recently some other methods people have used to get their individual message across and I sometimes wonder if what they’re putting out there is really what they’re aiming for.
Example: a while back, I sat in traffic behind a Chevy S-10 Blazer. The entire back of this small, older vehicle was plastered with decals and stickers. There were several of those buxom naked lady silhouettes that usually adorn tractor trailer mudflaps. There were also a wide variety of confederate flags and some rather repulsive (I’m sure he thought they were funny) bumper stickers. I never got a good look at the driver. But I wonder if he realized that his SUV was screaming “I am a racist, sexist, redneck and proud of it!”
Cars seem to be used as a platform for their owners’ opinions quite frequently. Remember how after 9-11, every car sprouted an American flag? And when the local sports teams are hot, their banners fly from at least every third or fourth vehicle. How many of you have one of those magnetic ribbon things stuck on your mode of transportation? I like the ones that say “I support the troops.” Well, DUH. Don’t we all? Even if you don't support the war, you support the troops fighting it. Bring those boys home!
Speaking of anti-war…
The other night I was driving along Second Avenue. This road is bordered on one side with an ancient stone wall. Someone decided to use this long wall as the medium for an extensive, very anti-war message. There was also a segment about “Kill your TV” which I don’t quite get, but that’s beside the point. The message was SO extensive that the author apparently ran out of paint. After several color changes, the words just fizzle into nothingness. Lesson: if you’re going to make a statement, make sure you have enough supplies. This is why I keep several back-up ink cartridges in my cupboard.
Another faded sign (spray paint on plywood) I spotted along the road a couple months ago read “PARTY! Food/beverages. Saturday the 22nd.” There was no mention of a month or year and the sign looked almost permanent. Do these people throw a party every time the twenty-second falls on a Saturday? When does that happen again? Let me check my calendar. Hey, there’s a Saturday the 22nd this month! Let’s all head over there. Apparently, everyone’s invited!
So, if you really think about it, what does your car or your house or your yard say about you? And have you seen any examples of other folks attempting to express themselves lately?
Some people try to get through life unnoticed, anonymous. The rest of us feel a need to let the world know who we are, what we’re about, and what we believe. There are a number of ways to accomplish this. Blogging, of course, is one. Writing books, another.
However, I have noticed recently some other methods people have used to get their individual message across and I sometimes wonder if what they’re putting out there is really what they’re aiming for.
Example: a while back, I sat in traffic behind a Chevy S-10 Blazer. The entire back of this small, older vehicle was plastered with decals and stickers. There were several of those buxom naked lady silhouettes that usually adorn tractor trailer mudflaps. There were also a wide variety of confederate flags and some rather repulsive (I’m sure he thought they were funny) bumper stickers. I never got a good look at the driver. But I wonder if he realized that his SUV was screaming “I am a racist, sexist, redneck and proud of it!”
Cars seem to be used as a platform for their owners’ opinions quite frequently. Remember how after 9-11, every car sprouted an American flag? And when the local sports teams are hot, their banners fly from at least every third or fourth vehicle. How many of you have one of those magnetic ribbon things stuck on your mode of transportation? I like the ones that say “I support the troops.” Well, DUH. Don’t we all? Even if you don't support the war, you support the troops fighting it. Bring those boys home!
Speaking of anti-war…
The other night I was driving along Second Avenue. This road is bordered on one side with an ancient stone wall. Someone decided to use this long wall as the medium for an extensive, very anti-war message. There was also a segment about “Kill your TV” which I don’t quite get, but that’s beside the point. The message was SO extensive that the author apparently ran out of paint. After several color changes, the words just fizzle into nothingness. Lesson: if you’re going to make a statement, make sure you have enough supplies. This is why I keep several back-up ink cartridges in my cupboard.
Another faded sign (spray paint on plywood) I spotted along the road a couple months ago read “PARTY! Food/beverages. Saturday the 22nd.” There was no mention of a month or year and the sign looked almost permanent. Do these people throw a party every time the twenty-second falls on a Saturday? When does that happen again? Let me check my calendar. Hey, there’s a Saturday the 22nd this month! Let’s all head over there. Apparently, everyone’s invited!
So, if you really think about it, what does your car or your house or your yard say about you? And have you seen any examples of other folks attempting to express themselves lately?
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