Tulsa County Sheriff shooting of Eric Harris

[heironymouspasparagus]

Well, I for one am surprised and I've lived here a long time. You have to have faith in leaders and policing or you have chaos. Am I surprised that absolute power is absolutely corrupting? No.

Look, we are a stratified community. A fairly large, imaginary wall protects those with money, education and power from those who have little of each. Only if you've spent time in the lower echelons of the populace have you had a chance to see the crap some of these guys get away with. Its usually considered anecdotal and not part of the system by those of us with faith.

Now we have to wonder if we've deceived ourselves and if we really care since its outside the walls.

It's those rose colored glasses!  Take them off...now!!

Have faith?  That could be true if there weren't such a pantheon of examples with reasons NOT to have that faith.  We are rife with them in this state from city to county to state.  Specifically, each city, county and state level of government.  And even more at the federal level.

My most recent witnessing of the real - not at all imaginary - large wall that separates those with money, education, and power has been detailed here for a while.  The case of Mark Allen Eaton - the guy that tried to kill the kids of some acquaintances of mine.  And for whom Judge Glassco and Tim Harris gave the protection of that wall.  You remember that don't you?  The one where the guy plead guilty at his court appearance and Glassco said, "Whoa...not so fast!!  Your connections say not to let you do that, so I won't!  It might stain the family reputation for what end?  It's just two of those lower echelon types who have no money, education or power...."

There have been many other examples - many personally witnessed, and many, many more detailed in news reports throughout the decades.  I have previously mentioned an incident where an acquaintance was told to leave the state (native Tulsan) or else...he did.  Didn't wanna die then for some unknown reason.   Wonder what happened to those two reporters that 'resigned' ??

I would like to spend some time behind that wall just to see how it feels, but not likely, since I don't have the money and power, so doesn't really matter to me that much.  Not everyone here at this site enjoys the privilege that comes from living behind that wall.

Actually goes back to the very beginning when we were "founded" by the celebrated Sooners - cheats, thieves, and liars who 'gamed' the system for their own personal advantage ahead of others.  Not even mentioning what was done to the Native Americans in those days...

But, I keep being the eternal optimist and keep working toward making things better.  It is a fairly steep uphill path.

[swake]

TW responds:

Ouster proceedings are unusual in recent decades, but not unheard of. In 2010, Pawnee County Sheriff Roger Price was removed from office after a jury convicted him on two counts of willful neglect.

Removal of public officials not subject to impeachment is dealt with in at least one portion of the state constitution and two sections of state statutes.

Article 8, Section 2 of the constitution provides for removal of "All elective officers, not liable to impeachment ... in such manner and for such causes as may be provided by law."

Title 22, Chapter 23 and Title 51, Chapter 3 of the state statutes both lay out ouster procedures. The laws date from 1910 and 1917, respectively, and appear to be little changed from when they were used to remove Tulsa Police Chief John Gustafson from office following the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot.

Ouster proceedings can be initiated by the governor, the public or, in the case of county officials, the three county commissioners or two county commissioners and the county treasurer.

The last case applies only when the subject of the ouster is the remaining county commissioner.

Title 51 allows the public to petition the attorney general to initiate proceedings at the request of "1 percent of the registered voters that voted in the previous election ... ."

Under Title 22, a complaint must be submitted to a grand jury. Title 22 is somewhat broader in its description of grounds for impeachment, listing habitual or willful neglect of duty, gross partiality, oppression, corruption, extortion, willful maladministration, habitual drunkenness and failure to account for public funds and property.

Generally, the process is similar under both titles. The charges are investigated, usually by the attorney general's office, and, if warranted, an ouster trial is held.

Typically, such trials are in district court, but in some cases the state Supreme Court can claim original jurisdiction.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/capitol_report/ouster-of-county-officials-unusual-but-not-without-precedent/article_beac54e0-c873-5c42-83af-f12ca535f966.html

So everyone needs to contact their county commissioner.

[AquaMan]

How much is 1% of the voters in the last election?

[AquaMan]

It's those rose colored glasses!  Take them off...now!!


But, I keep being the eternal optimist and keep working toward making things better.  It is a fairly steep uphill path.

I like the optimism rose colored glasses give. But I am not naïve. In fact reality is most important to me right now.

[Townsend]

Undersherriff Tim Albin resigned

[AquaMan]

Hows this for doublespeak?

"The release of this document(s) was unauthorized and we are examining how the release occurred. No action was taken at the time, but the existence of this document demonstrates this office's willingness to investigate and review any allegations of policy violations. We will not comment further."
http://www.fox23.com/news/news/local/document-reveals-concerns-over-robert-bates-past-a/nk2xd/#sthash.AFxwf9rf.dpuf

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/oklahoma-deputy-who-mistook-gun-for-taser-not-properly-trained-report-says/ar-BBiJtZh

This is getting to be an obnoxious fight for control of the versions of the story by the press. Note the use of the words and phrases in this article explaining how he was shot. He.... "was struggling with an officer on the ground", "pulled his gun instead of taser". Not much of a struggle with a knee on the back of your neck by a burly deputy, and certainly wouldn't call it fighting. And no, he didn't pull a taser in the heat of the struggle. He emerged from his vehicle with it in his hand.

The outlandish remark from his attorney that he didn't need additional training because he had been a police officer 25 years ago. Not for very long and not sure why he left but....You know back before cell phones, dash cams, tasers etc when strangleholds were legal during arrests. No problem.

[Hoss]

And it begins:

http://www.newson6.com/story/28907392/tulsa-county-undersheriff-tim-albin-announces-retirement

[swake]

And it begins:

http://www.newson6.com/story/28907392/tulsa-county-undersheriff-tim-albin-announces-retirement

"I will continue to examine my organization, and there will be more changes in the coming days as I work to restore the integrity to the Sheriff's Office which the public has come to expect," Glanz said.

I like how Glanz is now tossing his people under the bus while still admitting to nothing himself. That's really adding to Glanz's public image.

The only way to "restore inegrity" is for Glanz himself to quit. His buddies need to be canned too, but if he stays nothing is really changed.

[AquaMan]

I'm told he has an out. His ego is blocking the door. One prefers to leave a proud legacy not one of being forced out.

[Vashta Nerada]

I like how Glanz is now tossing his people under the bus while still admitting to nothing himself. That's really adding to Glanz's public image.

The only way to "restore inegrity" is for Glanz himself to quit. His buddies need to be canned too, but if he stays nothing is really changed.

Momentum.

OTOH, some things need to stop right away.
No more drug task force, or QT beer theft task force, or violent anything task force thats going to involve military weapons like tear gas, flash-bangs or tanks.
No more shoot-em-up safaris with the FBI or U.S. Marshals.  Driving 100 through midtown or planning sting operations outside of schools must end.

Nothing is going to happen soon.  Police have been planning for a sort of a civil war for years, and its going to take just as long to unravel this mess.
Next in line:  The Huckaby Klan, including the #fuckyourbreath deputies.

[Vashta Nerada]

What. The. Hell.

Brewster is not helping.

His argument is that selling a firearm for $300 to an old white man meant that Eric Harris was prepared to die? He ran from the police because he wanted to die? He cried out "I can't get my breath" because he wanted to die?

Brewster may have his own problems now:

On the recording, Bates suggests he did favors at the sheriff's office for Brewster, his attorney in the federal case. When Berman asks Bates about his legal costs, Bates responded that he had not yet received a bill.
"I haven't paid him yet," Bates said, then chuckled. "Let's say, I mean, he knows I've done some s--t for him at the sheriff's office for some of his clients."
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/ap-report-tulsa-reserve-deputy-robert-bates-boasts-of-connections/article_6f65484e-0e4d-5ce8-b578-3023f9cfb776.html


...and then CLEET, the people that certify cops (and should be pulling the certification of bad ones but dont), were OK with Bates training from 50 years ago.

[cannon_fodder]

Same story:

The "f*** your breath" guy was being supervised by daddy. Not only a bad idea, but yet another direct policy violation.

Funny how Glanz (which, by the way, is pretty much Latin for d!ck head) can know the policies, know the facts, and see no policy violations. The press has to learn the policy and pry the real facts out, but can see multiple policy violations. The word we are looking for starts with a C, it ends either with ronyism or orruption. Maybe both.

[swake]

KWGS reported this morning that the 2009 report had Glanz's initials on it, meaning that he read and approved the report. Does that make him culpable for the death along with Bates?

[heironymouspasparagus]

KWGS reported this morning that the 2009 report had Glanz's initials on it, meaning that he read and approved the report. Does that make him culpable for the death along with Bates?

If one accepts the concept of responsibility of management, then yes.  He is culpable.

Or does management only accept responsibility when they want to??

[Ed W]

The Frontier has done excellent coverage on this story due to sources inside TCSO. I've followed their Twitter feed for the latest: @readfrontier