From the PD --
Loomis said the city has enough money to put 100 more cops on the street immediately.
Loomis also took issue with Councilman Kevin Conwell, who last month said he would oppose a proposal to buy more powerful weapons for officers. Conwell said then that the move would come "Over my dead body."
Loomis referred to Conwell's statement today and said it looked like the move would come "over Derek Owens' dead body."
Union officials also faulted local prosecutors and judges who they said are too willing to plea-bargain with hardened criminals and agree to light sentences for serious crimes.
Loomis noted that the last five Cleveland police officers killed in the line of duty were killed by repeat criminals. He said that the man arrested in Owens' death, Willie Wheeler, was sentenced to time served last year after he pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed weapon. More....
.... if his accusations on the money being there for more officers is true - Cleveland Mayor Frank Johnson has some explaining to do.
Regarding the accusations about Bill Mason and his prosecutors being inept, lazy, and unwilling to do their jobs of keeping criminals off the street - I could not agree more. Mason being a political hack is only concerned about conviction rates and clearing cases.
The judges being lenient - well that is what the residents get for continuing to elect liberal judges that would give Ted Bundy probation or time served.
Stronger firepower and more police would not have stopped the killing of Officer Owens. All the policeman in the world armed with grenade launchers will not stop the crime in Cleveland. The tragedy of this senseless killing is that prosecutors and judges could have possibly stopped this killing by simply doing their jobs.
Prosecution to the fullest extent & judges sending the message with strong sentences on repeat or violent offenders would be a start and may save the next officers life!
The judge who gave Wheeler time served was Democrat Ron Suster.
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Thanks Prince!
ReplyDeleteI was remiss in checking to see who the judge was - sorry. But then again since most of the judges in Cuy. Co. are democrat... other than it being McGinty - it was a safe call.
Also, it shouldn't come as a surprise that one of your "favorite" Republicans donated to him.
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they released wheeler today. that is why it is premature and immature of loomis to throw bombs before the evidence is in. he should know better. his bombastic rants will make him a one term president. he's an embarrassment.
ReplyDeleteAnon - Thanks for commenting and reading.
ReplyDeleteyeah it looks like Loomis stepped in a pile. As union president maybe he could have held his tongue a little longer.
I will not judge the guy and would prefer the police he represents do that. If you are, then your remarks are well taken.
As for what he said though...
I do believe more policeman should be put on the street. I believe the longer it is delayed the harder it will be for our police to clean up the mess. Then after they haul the trash in, they have to worry if they are going to get a sweet deal and be on the street a short time later. Real morale boosting - huh?
I refuse to believe that the prosecutors office and the judges cannot be a little harder on these thugs with records a mile long.
I would also be willing to bet when the real shooter is caught and most likely the guys with him will have a record and somewhere in the recent past got a sweetheart deal from the court.
On firepower - Councilman Conwell is an idiot. I bet anyone of the patrol guys would love to take him out on a weekend for patrol. He gets shot at a couple times - I bet he is the one sponsoring legislation for bigger guns.
Officers of any police dept should be holstered with weapons that are superior in firepower to criminals. Having a weapon that will easily dispatch an armed suspect is safer for the officer and John Q Citizen.
In Cleveland I would like to see them carry 12 Ga. Street Sweeper type shotguns (12 rds.)as backup in the patrol cars. I believe clips in an officers firearm should carry no less than 16 (15+1) rounds w/ 2 extra clips. They should also have ready access to high power weapons if needed.
Some people may find this hard to believe but except for the Barney Fife here and there, most policeman would rather go their whole career without ever having to unholster their weapon. The last thing they do is go to work Wanting to shoot someone. They just want to make sure they go home.
For anyone that would disagree larger weapons are needed - go spend one night in 4th District. In fact better yet... drive from 131st & Kinsman through Mt. Pleasant on your way down to Garden Valley - all the while thinking about police having enough firepower for these "Angel Thugs."
But this will not stop the crime and would not have stopped Officer Owens from being murdered. The only way to stop or decrease this crap is to turn CPD loose and let these guys do their job. Trust me - show them support, support them in court watch these streets get cleaned up.
Let them be policeman - they know how to do it much better than reporters, mayors, union presidents, pundits, etc...
If one of these thugs is going to get a break - let the polce be police - THEY will give it to the guy in the field. They deal with them on a daily basis. They know firsthand who deserves the breaks, who are the thugs, dope boys, gang members, or a guy just screwing up one night.
Is this dispensing justice that should be done by the court?
I believe it is allowing a policeman to do his job. Allowing him to use his judgement on what is best in that instant and/or situation.
So Loomis may be a blowhard and may have been wrong in how he put out the message, but we do need more officers and they can use bigger guns.
there were two quality candidates that ran for the union position in the last election. both were enormously more qualified than loomis. loomis has no credentials. how he won is a mystery to many.
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