Agressive driving Sebastopol Police officer

[danargraves]

Thank you Barry for sending this to Chief Weaver. In hindsight I should have gone to the SPD the very next day and filed a complaint. I will follow up with this as this kind of dangerous behaviour must be stoped.

I sent Dan's report of a second incident of aggressive driving by Sebastopol cop to Chief Weaver and he replied:....

[Dogenzip]

I disagree. Posting this on WACCO is one effective way to determine if there are other people who have had similar experiences with the police and to gather factual information which can then be used to decide whether or not a formal complaint is warranted.

What this community needs is what has been done in many other jurisdictions - establish a Police Commission where residents can file their grievances and to maintain good communication between the community and the police.

...I do not think it is fair to initiate such a complaint in a public forum like this without first going through such preliminary steps. Otherwise, one runs the risk of tarnishing our good police leadership in Sebastopol.

[danargraves]

Followup to my posting and experience of this issue:

I did call the SPD today and gave an exact time, place and accounting to a supervising sargent who will be talking to the officer directly. To my delight he informed me that the department was at the very moment going through anti harrasment training and that pertained to driving as well.

Well done Waccoites for bringing this to light and to Barry for helping this come to the attention of Chief Weaver of whom I recieved the most polite, concerned and sincere message on my phone.

[Shepherd]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Dan, for taking this step.

I have been regretting my participation in this thread, so I want to explain why. I have not always had good relations with the police, so the Sebastopol Police Chief is a welcome and kind professional. In l968 I was arrested at the National Democratic Convention, while I was still an officer in the U.S. Army, for a legal demonstration. I was jailed at Cook County Jail, not a pleasant place to be. I was found innocent, since I was merely exercising my first amendment free speech rights. I eventually resigned my commission to protest the American War on Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. I was thrown out of the military family that gave our name to Ft. Bliss, Texas.

Then I lived in Chile in the early 1970s, when the fascists took over. Among the two North Americans tortured and executed was my best friend Frank Teruggi. So I now live with survivors guilt that I have worked on for decades through the Veterans Writing Group that I have been a member of.

Then a Sonoma County sheriff killed the innocent 13-year-old Andy Lopez. I joined the actions against that unnecessary killing. Since then we have seen many more people of color gunned down by militarized police forces. It is a dangerous time, especially for people of color.

There is a concept called "retirement syndrome." An example, would be the Seattle Police Chief who was there when the demonstrators were active at the World Trade Organization (WT0). When he retired, he seemed to think differently. Other examples would be the men under arms, such as former Marine Daniel Ellsberg, who released the Pentagon Papers that were so instrumental in ending the American War against Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. After he retired, Gen. Douglas MacArthur declared that "war is obsolete." Yet we now seem to be in perpetual war without stop.

It was Pres. & Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican, who named the dangers of the "military/industrial complex," in his farewell speech. We are currently facing these dangers. The worst aspect of Trump's fascism--because that is what it is when he quotes the fascist Mussolini--is not him personally but all the deluded people who applaud him. We are in danger, and need all the protection of freedom- and democracy- loving people serving under arms, such as the SPD chief.

We need to respect those in uniform who do indeed serve and protect us. My appreciations to Barry and Wacco for providing a platform for these difficult issues to discuss openly, while we still can..

[Dorothy Friberg]

Thank you for your service! However, I take issue with "respecting the uniform" since so many atrocities are propagated under this disguise; i.e. Hitler's troops, roman collared priests. Again, we must avoid going from the particular to the universal. Not all cops are good guys in uniform or out.

...We need to respect those in uniform who do indeed serve and protect us. ...

[Jude Iam]

A police commission and good communication… uh, right.

Apparently you've failed to note that police commissions have been established and used by the public in many cities and towns for decades. They are traditionally useless, with no means of enforcing the conclusions at which they may arrive.
Thousands of deaths at the hands of US 'law enforcement' continue, despite decades of police commissions.
Locally (while it's true he's a sheriff), Gelhaus, Andy Lopez's killer, remains on the job, with an additional $30, 000 plus as a bonus.
Sebastopol's population is almost entirely white, tending towards wealthy. It is people of color and the mentally ill are by far the greatest victims.

I would like to share my recent interaction with Chief Weaver.
I had an unpleasant incident with a woman in a huge truck in a parking lot, who reported it to the police. I called to talk and straighten it out. Jeff Weaver told me the incident had been videotaped by the store security camera. When I came in, I said I wanted to have the tape to prove my statement, at which point he revealed that there was no tape, and that the police had the RIGHT to lie to make people confess. Good to know, eh?

...What this community needs is what has been done in many other jurisdictions - establish a Police Commission where residents can file their grievances and to maintain good communication between the community and the police.