Forever Blue

Dedication

To My Uncles: Phillip, Edward and James Dooley,

Officers who served in the Hartford Connecticut

Police Department in the 1930s and 1940s

Prologue

The call came in from a patron of the Green Mountain Mall. Shots fired from an automatic weapon.

Police advancing in a line, guns drawn, on the open door of the mall. Screaming and frightened people were running from the doors.

Suddenly a young woman darted into the line of police, shouting Stop!!, Stop!!

The police stopped and amazingly so did the clatter of the automatic weapon in the mall.

The young woman shouted at a police sergeant, the question guns drawn??, Where is your negotiating team?? Before you escalate the situation to a small war, where is your negotiating team.

Other women came up and joined her, She’s right, where are your negotiators who will find out what’s actually happening even maybe control the cause?

Well, we all know, and are damned tired of the gun violence in the United States. We don’t want any more police escalation or physical harassment of any one, of any color, running amok in our streets. We have, supposedly, outgrown our Wild West days with the tide down guns. Our laws are not carried out in the media, evil fashion, with might being right, anymore.

The solutions to our gun violence problems are not pepper spray, or water cannons, even rubber bullets don’t deal with the root cause of any situation. Bigger and better military weapons can’t cure the root causes which may be mental disease, or revenge for previous injustices by police, landlords, arbitrary politicians with deep-seated racism, or latent white supremacy.

Shooting or racist abuse by officers who are exonerated by insensitive or racist public officials. The solution to the problem is not mob dominance of our public streets that encourage our criminal types to looting the premises of honest storekeepers.

The loss of good policemen or women leaving their chosen profession because they have been tainted with the same brush as known bad apples. Neither is divesting police departments of necessary funds instead of adjusting their calls by using the medical professionalism available in the community. The new personnel training needed so the citizen caller will be happy to see a different uniform of the appropriate person they need for their emergency. We need to think, out of the box on this one.

It’s tough and needs our best efforts.

There are those whose only motivation is selling newspapers or TV time. Other groups are only motivated by the profit receipts from municipal guilt money.

Those with genuine claims against the bad apples in some Police Departments are, believe it or not, are misdirected by our dedicated forces in Blue. We must be careful that our fine officers are not as the old saying goes, throwing out the baby with the bathwater, to cover what is really Congressional inaction in facing a national problem.

Therefore, divesting police departments of anything except, what should now be the responsibility of the more suitable City department or service is the wrong way to go. The Congress must create the long needed national criminal justice commission similar to the bill offered by then Sen. Jim Webb, a Democrat from Virginia in 2009

We have all seen how local racists, white supremacists, and authoritarian type politicians turn their town Police Departments into a Gestapo-like movement by hiring sadistic bullies to do their bidding.

Those particular Police are aware of and take advantage of Qualified Immunity to cover their violations of a person’s Constitutional rights and protections.

Also, local criminal types love to cheer on that type of police activity and are overjoyed when you’re talking about dismantling or divesting police departments disregarding the 95% of the 180,000 truly effective Police Departments who continually protect and Serve.

I repeat - this is a tough one - we have to think out-of-the-box to find the American way to go. We are known, the world over, for doing something that can’t be done. Now is the time.

CHAPTER ONE

THE PAINTED LADY

Detective Lieutenant Steve Corcoran drove up to the large Victorian mansion, known locally as the Painted Lady. He parked out front and waved to Abidiah Tutt and Phoebe Sinclair who were sitting on the porch enjoying the warm weather while reading their newspapers. This had been their custom over the several years since Abby retired as the Cliffside Police department’s senior detective, and pistol team captain.

Abby greeted his former colleague warmly: What brings you to our old folks’ home on this fine Wednesday Steve?

I just wanted to be reminded what a soft life was like. I haven’t been here since last fall.

Phoebe laughed and invited him up to sit next to her.

Steve made himself comfortable in the big wicker chair with a sigh and asked, Where is the coffee?

Abby said, If you’re serious-I’ll call and get you some.

No, just kidding -I really am here on a very serious business matter.

Oh my! Who’s in trouble now? Phoebe asked.

I’ve been ordered, by the mayor to ask the two of you to join our newly created police reform commission.

Abby replied somewhat surprised, That’s the kind of thing for city leaders and politicians isn’t it?

With all the hullabaloo these days about police officers and their abuses of their authority, the mayor and his chief want upright citizens like you, and their opinions, that will serve on the police commission. He hopes that what we do is not a flash in the pan and he won’t have to react every time some group gets all worked up and starts marching in the streets. Steve replied quietly.

Phoebe laughed and said, I only know about one cop, as she tapped Abby on the hand, I can’t handle all of the others.

Steve replied, It is a dollar a year and all kinds of aggravation.

Steve and Phoebe laughed together, and replied, Sure we’ll help. When is the first meeting?

Phoebe asked, Who else has been asked?

Harvey Silverstein, will be the Chairman, and George Martin of the police union, Mary O’Brien of the Ladies Guild, Mr. Jefferson of the NAACP, and myself

Abby laughed, Are any of those people speaking to each other??

Steve answered, That’s why we want the two of you on the commission; you are both well-known and very active in the community, and as far as we are aware, you are unaffiliated. We’ll have our first commission meeting next Tuesday at the mayor’s private conference room at 7:30 PM. Please be there a little bit ahead of time.

Abby said, Okay Steve, we’ll be there. Will the mayor be attending?

Steve replied, Yes, he’s going to go into the rationale for the creation of the commission and lay out our assignments and deadlines for the city council to get into the discussions and hopefully act on the commission’s recommendations.

Abby replied, That means we’ll only have about six months to report. Not much time for a hot potato like police reform.

All too true, Steve answered, but we’ll stay active and respond to the city councils’ questions and reactions.

Phoebe said, I’ve been reading where the President has created a task force. Is that true, Steve?

Yes Phoebe, the whole country and 180,000 police departments and police associations are all trying to stay on top of this one, especially with all of the shooting going on around the country. The mayor and the police chief want to stay up with the latest thinking on it, and don’t want to be accused by the governor of sitting on their hands, even though we are only a small city and haven’t had any serious incidents yet.

Phoebe asked, Would you like to stay for lunch Steve? We can arrange it for you

Thank you Phoebe I’d like very much to do that, but I have to get back to the mayor’s office and then back on duty. He tapped Abby on the shoulder and went down the stairs and walked to his car, and he waved as he drove away.

Abby said, The city has a good man there, and as a matter of fact we have 75 good people in our department. We have a few macho types but they are good, sound officers and have been well trained.

Phoebe said, I agree but it never hurts to take your people through the basics every once in a while, as well as introducing new wrinkles like body cams, so that they are always up-to-date.

Phoebe, you could be a good cop! You dot the I’s and cross the T’s when necessary. I believe these new police commission is going to be doing a lot of research and adopting the I’s and crossing the T’s.

It was a quiet week until the special meeting scheduled for Tuesday at 7:30 PM. Phoebe and Abby enjoyed a nice sweet-and-sour chicken dinner at the Painted Lady earlier that evening. After a 2nd cup of coffee, they were on their way to the City Hall to meet with the mayor and the newly created Police Commission.

Mayor Howard Norcross set up the meeting for 7:30, and they arrived a little early at the City Hall Park. They drove around the park to the City Hall parking lot. It is an impressive building in the modified federal style faced, in white marble. They walked up the steps and into the lobby and across to the elevator and hit the button for the third floor. Abby, in all his years with the city police, had never been into the mayor’s private conference room. His secretary greeted them and opened the door to the conference room. They were surprised to see a very large bay window which overlooked the waterfront and the bay. The view dominated the room. Phoebe exclaimed, Why, that’s quite a view! Coming into this room made it worth the trip. The secretary said Yes, it has even impressed the Governor when he visited. She showed them to chairs at the large conference table, and left the room.

Abby said, When Norcross became the mayor three years ago he moved his office up to the third floor and cut in the window from two smaller ones. It was in all the papers and the talk of the town, though most of us never saw it in person.

Steve and Martin of the police union, along with Harvey Silverstein, the attorney and chairman-elect of the commission, were next to arrive. They shook hands. Steve and Martin sat on the same side of the table with Abby and Phoebe, while Harvey took the seat at the head of the table, with the picture window and drapes behind him.

Phoebe, curious about the drapes, asked Harvey, Why drapes not curtains?

Harvey replied, I understand the westerly sun can be very strong. the mayor had them installed so his guests would not be uncomfortable.

Mrs. Mary O’Brien, of the ladies Guild, and Thomas Jefferson, of the NAACP were next to arrive and we all got up to greet them and shake hands.

Before we could sit down, the mayor came in, walked around the table greeting and shaking hands to everyone. He then took a seat at the other end of the table with his back to the door.

Phoebe noticed and touched Abby’s leg quietly, that Mrs. Mary O’Brien was careful to sit opposite Phoebe. They seem to meet and greet with a sort of feminine body language. Phoebe smiled to herself but said nothing.

Abby, on the other hand, noticed the mayor taking the seat with his back to the door and smiled to himself (for a quick escape if necessary, a typical politician).

The mayor stood up and said, I’ll open the meeting and formally announce the creation of the Cliffside Police Commission and appoint Harvey Silverstein as its Chairman. (Abby mentally noted. An authoritarian personality.) The Mayor got right down to the point and the reason he and the Police Chief decided to create the commission. He recently read a Suffolk University survey which had explored some Police shootings in several major cities and the loss of public confidence in the Police and the demand, by some, for divesting the Police of some of their Qualified Immunity privileges.

Also, the survey notices some police departments poor attitude toward the black, brown, yellow and native American citizens as well as the migrants in general.

We know this subject is very complicated and a few of the 180,000 more or less, Police and Sheriff’s departments in the United States have attitudes that contribute to Police questionable behavior. We recognize that there are only a few that are giving all of the good officers a black-eye.

Also, we know that limited budgets keep good departments from doing what they would like to do by way of body cams and special training equipment as well as moving some emergency calls to specially trained personnel instead of to the Police.

Officers using unnecessary force, physically as well as with their weapons, have gotten a lot of press lately. Press that blames the Police and the politicians that control the budgets, and overlook unsuited Police Officers for budgetary reasons. They know of racist and white supremacists but do nothing about it.

How to deal with mental health persons with guns and the parents that won’t alert the authorities about their children presents a threat to the public safety. It needs to be dealt with. What do we need to do in Cliffside and how do we do it to prevent these tragedies happening here?

We have six months before our next city Council meeting hopefully we can offer some ideas for them to study and perhaps create new laws for the benefit of everyone. We have chosen you as good representative samples of our public and those living in small cities like ours. Discuss it, analyze the problems, and find potential solutions out of the box if you can. The city Council and the city administration will do all it can to support you and make it happen.

By the way, you won’t have a salary but you will have an expense account. I’ll find what you need-if it is humanly possible. I thank you for your willingness to help. Good luck and no questions now please.

Mr. Chairman, the ball is now in your court. Harvey Silverstein caught his breath and said, Okay that’s our challenge. I’ve been thinking about what the mayor was going to say, we’ve all been reading about the shootings and the gun violence, as well as the shootings in the malls. I’m going to suggest a meeting here in two weeks and offer what you think you can do in your own area of influence

Mrs. O’Brien and Phoebe Sinclair, you look into the family things mental health homelessness guns in the home and the like of that. Mr. Jefferson you think of police racism, profile stopping of cars, And a general attitude of the police towards the minorities in our city. Steve you and Martin take profiling racism in unnecessary force and training from the police point of view. Abby budgets, qualified immunity, body cams and training in the police departments. I’ll take the legal problems cash bail, false arrests, withholding body cam evidence and the newspapers and TV that are just trying to sell new newspapers and TV time at our expense.

We’ll talk about all of them at our next meeting here in two weeks. I don’t expect there is going to be any quick solutions to any of these problems but we have to begin somewhere and eliminate the problems that the city doesn’t have as a problem and want to do things that we have to deal with. I wish you all good luck and I’ll see you in two weeks"

Phoebe was quiet as they drove back to the painted lady. Finally, Abby broke the silence asking, what did you think about the meaning?

Phoebe said, I think it’s an awful big complicated and sensitive subject. The police I suppose do need scrutiny but the good people are fond of their neighborhood police and the job they are doing. Some may resent our sticking our nose into their business. The colored nonwhite people have an axe to grind and maybe want revenge for some harm done to them or to a relative in the past. Maybe you and I should stay out of this one? What do you think?

Abby could see that she was very apprehensive and said, "I’ve been on the police side all my life and very proud of it. But I know and have even met some real bad apples wearing the blue and have felt sorry for those who have been abused by them. But they have, sooner or later been caught or let go in most cases. Good officers have been drawn into good departments or have improved their departments in time from within.

There is still much to do and we have decided individually, in most cases to suck it up and get things set straight as we go. We know there will be hard times, embarrassments, and even casualties but serving the public good needs doing so we’re going to stick with it. We know what has to be done and we know that good officers will do it and don’t want to see them abused by amateur do-gooders.

Our country is facing some serious internal and sometimes violent changes. January 6th in Washington at the Capital was a challenge to the our very Constitutional Democracy. "That was a serious attempt by the president and his followers to carry out a coup d’état and overthrow, with the military, the legitimate election. Thanks to the Lord and the sound judgments, the military stayed out of it until Congress called them for help.

Many persons are afraid and almost unable to deal with it and the gun violence that is going on in many of our cities.

The police must be the strong stable force to secure our way of life against all of our enemies especially those from within our very cities and states."

Phoebe slid over next to Abby rubbed his nigh and said, okay we go for broke, I’ll call Mary O’Brien in the morning.

Abby said, fine but you and I should discuss the items not mention by the commission but need some thought on our part from many of my years of experience.

Phoebe asked, what will that be?

Abby responded, first, I think we need to survey and root out our racist sympathizers no matter what color or creed they seem to be opposing, whether it be black or brown or yellow for our American Indian. Hopefully, we won’t have anything that is too violent or our City Council infiltrated by white supremacists or terrorists." If they were with that well infiltrated they could cut the police budget, forbid the use of budget for body cams and other valuable equipment that we use in the modern investigating techniques. Such as long-range cameras and sound equipment. The criminal element in town of course would just love to see the police department limited in any way shape or form. The other thing of course is the mental cases that are planning a shooting in the Mall or a suicide by cop.

Phoebe said, oh my God I hope not.

Abby continued, in 30 years as a policeman I’ve seen it all so I know how real it is. We need millions in federal money to create a national data bank of terrorists and bad guy policeman then the police departments can share data. The Floyd Justice of Policing acts by Congress certainly will help. Federal laws prohibiting States that hide evidence tampering and allow their cops to lie and testify to half-truths have to be rooted out and prevented from doing further damage.

Abby continued, "how do we keep one of our major political parties from continuing the big lie technique? The Republican Party of Lincoln has melted into a do nothing but obstruct even needed national bipartisan restructuring Bills that are before Congress this moment.