Posted on 04/09/2003 11:57:42 AM PDT by Prince Charles
Police union probes Moose
Special panel to investigate why chief withheld suspect, vehicle descriptions
Posted: April 9, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Paul Sperry © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The police union here has formed a special committee to investigate Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose's handling of look-out information during the Beltway sniper manhunt, union officials told WorldNetDaily.
Officials complain that Moose, who led the multi-agency sniper investigation, withheld critical information about the sniper suspects from investigators and patrol officers, thereby jeopardizing their safety.
Chief Charles Moose
In their recently inked labor contract, the county agreed to include a safety provision that obligates Moose to share information with his officers in such dangerous cases. Moose vehemently opposed the measure, officials say, arguing that it implied he had done something wrong.
But the 1,050-member Montgomery County Fraternal Order of Police isn't stopping there.
"We want to determine when management first knew the ID of the suspects and the vehicle" during the three-week manhunt, said FOP President Walter Bader.
The 10-member committee last month began soliciting testimony from detectives who worked on the sniper case, he says. It plans to report its findings publicly in May.
"This is a serious thing," Bader said, defending the union's plans to go public with details about the controversial investigation.
"Imagine over in Iraq commanding officers withholding information from soldiers that could mean the difference between life and death," he said in a WorldNetDaily interview. "Police officers are in a war every day."
John Lee Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo
Police department sources warn that the panel's report could trigger negligence lawsuits by families of some of the sniper victims, if it concludes Moose delayed the capture of sniper suspects John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo by holding back information about them, such as their physical descriptions.
Phone calls and e-mails to Moose's office and lawyer were not returned.
Sources say at least three detectives on the case have already come forward with information that reveals Moose had a solid ID of the suspects earlier than he claims. He says Muhammad and Malvo weren't suspects until Oct. 23, the day before they were caught.
They shot their last victim, bus driver Conrad Johnson, in Maryland on Oct. 22.
But as WorldNetDaily first revealed, Moose dispatched a team of five undercover agents to stake-out Muhammad's ex-wife's house on Oct. 22, and swore them to secrecy.
"There's no doubt Moose knew [they were the suspects] either the day the bus driver was shot or the day before," said a Montgomery County police officer.
Yet, up until late in the evening of Oct. 23, Moose and the sniper task force had investigators and patrol officers looking for a white suspect in a white vehicle.
"They should have known they were black from Day One, if they had listened to witnesses here and in D.C.," the officer said.
A witness to the first shooting at a Michaels crafts store in Maryland, which took place Oct. 2, described the suspects as two short-haired black males driving a dark, beat-up vehicle, as WND first reported.
Moose has parlayed his fame from the high-profile sniper case into book and movie contracts. Despite a county ethics panel ruling against the deals, his lawyer says he plans go ahead with at least the book.
Well, I sure hope they wore gloves.
I can't imagine them making a movie about this story. They would have to portray Moose as the cop on the Simpsons. Except the cop on the Simpsons seems a little more credible.....
You throw words around, but you don't have a clue as to what they mean. Like "kill zone" This implies that someone is killed right? Well maybe someone is, but it is most likely an ordinary citizen deprived of his God given right to bear arms by cops.
You've been watching too many Hollywood cop licking shows. What facts do you have to support your position? How about none. Its all in the facts baby, the facts. How many cops were killed in NYC in the line of duty last year? Big fat zero. How many serfs were killed in NYC last year? Don't remember exactly, but several hundred.
Likewise Baltimore - in the last 10 years 2 cops (out of a force of 3000) were killed in line of duty. Hundreds of ordinary serfs were killed every year for the past ten. I once did the math and in Baltimore it was safer to be a cop (by about a factor of 2) than an ordinary citizen, so before you engage your mouth fingers, you should put your brain in gear. Making fatuous statements without any objective reality is something that liberals do. Are you a (ug) liberal?
The lousy performance on solving property and ordinary violent crime is in large measure due to the "we have more important things to do" attitude.
To restore balance, I'd say that for every year a cop wore black BDUs, they ought to wear a pink bunny suit. That by itself would weed out a lot of cops that are in that job for the wrong reasons.
I grew up around law enforcement folks (my father spent 26 years in the profession), and most of them do see themselves in a civilian role. My father-in-law (22 years on NYPD) joined because of a genuine desire to help people, and he is not out of the ordinary in that role.
Sure, there are some hot dogs who get turned on by the guns and authority, etc., but by-and-large, they are the exceptions. I'm not speaking from a Pollyanna perspective, either. I spent a day in jail and lost my license for a month as a result of a dishonest police officer, so I know they are humans who are sometimes wrong and sometimes make mistakes.
One other thing, I wouldn't necessarily say they have a lousy record on solving crimes. The one time my home was burgled, the perp was caught. Depending on the jurisdiction and the circumstances, and given the hostility they meet in many communities where people will not help them solve crimes, they do a pretty good job.
And which police officers are the ones wearing black BDU's? Are those the ones that drop out of the black helicopters at night when no one is looking?
You're right, I do have a love of authority. Honest, constitutional, civilian authority that we the people vote into power. What I dislike is corruption and politicians who embed themselves in office through cronyism and then appoint incompetent and/or corrupt civil officials to act as their henchmen.
Your comment about the police in Baltimore and Detroit does not even make sense. The police do not enact legislation and do not make gun ownership illegal. Politicians do that. And I can't even follow the last sentence: "The homicide rate among ordinary citizens in both of those places is a lot higher than among the police in there." Are you upset that civilians murder each other at a higher rate compared to police officers murdering each other? Or, are you upset that police officers don't murder more civilians?
And if you truly believe that police officers go around "gunning down" innocent civilians for the fun of it, as you seem to be implying, then you have a problem. They are human and they make mistakes. And don't forget, the stories you hear in newspapers and on television are filtered through an anti-police bias in the media. Take a ride along with an officer sometime (many communities have such programs) and maybe you'll change your attitude.
Seems like Moose has a problem with white guys in general and guns in particular.
The police do not enact legislation and do not make gun ownership illegal. Politicians do that.
This statement is completely false. The police have paid lobbyists who actively take part in and support gun control hearings and legislation. The one I knew who worked the GA legislature was named Meridith Melvin. Her salary was paid directly out of taxpayer funds allocated to the department of public safety. The arrogant little twit once told me that she would look over any pro gun legislation that our gun rights group got our legislative leads to sponsor and let me know if it was acceptable. So don't tell me the police don't influence legislation. They most assuredly do. and they do it at taxpayer expense. You may be unaware of it since it is not highly publicized, but it is real, and I guarantee they ain't on the side of individual rights.
And I can't even follow the last sentence: "The homicide rate among ordinary citizens in both of those places is a lot higher than among the police in there." Are you upset that civilians murder each other at a higher rate compared to police officers murdering each other? Or, are you upset that police officers don't murder more civilians?
I thought that this was straightforward, but apparently not, so I'll explain what I meant. What I meant that there was less risk of being killed by a criminal if you were a police officer than if you were an ordinary citizen. In spite of what the police propagandists say, their job is safer than just being an ordinary serf (at least in Baltimore which is the only city that I did the calculations for).
And if you truly believe that police officers go around "gunning down" innocent civilians for the fun of it, as you seem to be implying, then you have a problem. They are human and they make mistakes.
Are you trying to tell me that Chris Braga and Lon Hourouchi made honest mistakes? I don't buy it for one minute and I don't think too many other people do either.
Besides, suppose I shot someone or ran over some teenage girl in the beach, killing her in an "honest mistake." I haven't yet, but supposing I do. Do you think that I should get of scott free with the statement "It was a good shoot because I was following my departmental guidelines?" Do you think that I should not be punished, or at the very least brought to trial for manslaughter? How is my killing someone by accident any different that the police killing someone by accident. In reality there is a huge difference; they get a free pass. Makes for carelessness at the very least when you know that you will never face any serious consequences if you kill someone.
And don't forget, the stories you hear in newspapers and on television are filtered through an anti-police bias in the media.
Anti-police bias in the media!! You gotta be kidding right? The only time that there is any anti-police bias in the media around here is when the victim is black. Since the local media outlets - particularly the paper - are hell bent on catering to the black community you will see anti-police bias when a white officer does something to a black. Otherwise, nothing the government does is ever criticized in the media.
It may prove interesting to "triangulate" their separate views....
First of all, by the very statement you posted, it was not the police who lobbied Georgia's legislature for anti-gun laws. Politicians can put money and appropriations into any department's budget they want. The lobbyist was paid by taxpayer money all right, but, as you say, it was money allocated to your state's Dept. of Public Safety by politicians. The lobbying was not done by police. I've known very few (actually I can't think of any) anti-gun cops.
The mental image that appeared with this headline was far too disturbing to reveal on a family site...
That is an absurd and ignorant statement.
Are you trying to tell me that Chris Braga and Lon Hourouchi made honest mistakes? I don't buy it for one minute and I don't think too many other people do either.
No, what Lon Horiuchi did was simple murder fueled by arrogance. Ideally, he should have been tried for murder in a Federal court since he is a government agent and committed his crime while on duty. Of course the Clinton Department of InJustice would never have done so, so the state of Idaho should have "been allowed" to try him for murder, but since the Tenth Amendment was abolished in 1865 at Appomattox, that couldn't happen either.
Anti-police bias in the media!! You gotta be kidding right?
No, it goes hand-in-hand with the left-wing media's bias against our military and all things conservative/Republican.
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