The Importance of Police Addressing Domestic Violence Among its Members: The GPD Blake Case

I am told that my blog qualified for "Blogfight of the Week" in Yes!Weekly on the basis of a thread that occurred a week ago on the GPD domestic assault case.  It was alleged that this site consists, in part, of right-wing talking points; and that the threads are like an echo chamber.  But it paradoxically highlights the vigorous debate that took place in the domestic assault thread-- which did not even remotely resemble an echo chamber.

The Yes!Weekly description took the side of those commenters who favored unequal protection of the law based on gender.  But we learned later in the week that nearly 20% of the homicides that occur in North Carolina during domestic violence episodes are committed by women.

And the Yes!Weekly account suggested that Wendy Raines explained Police Department procedure to us when we raised questions regarding the GPD's handling of the Blake/Galloway/Sanchez incident.  But John Hammer explained on Thursday how the GPD did not handle the case in an admirable way.

It was somewhat ironic to learn that the GPD may be receiving some federal stimulus funds to help with the funding of its domestic violence squad, even as it apparently sought to sweep the most recent incident under the rug:  (HT: Stormy)

Now, how about some cash for a new police domestic violence squad and better Internet connections in the library?

Those are just two items on a revised wish list of programs and projects the city would like to see funded through the $787 billion federal stimulus package approved last month.

A national organization is devoting resources toward raising awareness about police officers that engage in domestic abuse.  This is a serious problem that merits a serious response on the part of police departments.  The issue is apparently that police departments often tend to handle these situations on an informal basis ; and discipline can tend to be very light.  And victims of domestic violence perpetrated by police officers can have some unique vulnerabilities as explained on the website. 

I should add that this site is NOT run by a conservative, "right-wing" organization.  It is a service of the Feminist Majority Foundation.  But the "talking points" it makes would tend to be critical of GPD's handling of the Ahmed Blake case.

John Hammer seemed to imply that the "assault on a female" charge apparently would not have come without the actions of Lorraine Galloway and the DA's office.  It is evident that Ms. Galloway has some education; and also is from out of town.  

In fact, I am told that she is an instructor with the North Carolina Justice Academy, and that she specializes in the area of investigations.  And she apparently was not going to play the political games typically played in Greensboro.     

Comments

[brandonB]

I'd just like to say, I finally got around to reading the YES! article today. The way they write about this blog, Mr. Bubba, Mr. Spagnola, and Mr. Guarino is ridiculous. This is a weblog provided by Mr. Guarino, that for one, is a far greater source of news than any paper we have today. Number 2, labelling Mr. Spagnola the way they did contributes absolutely nothing to the serious exchange of ideas we all engaged in. Mr. Spagnola, Bubba, Ms. Bowers, everybody was voicing their concerns. Opinions were stated, facts were brought out, people stepped out of their comfort zones to try to find resolution to an important issue. YES! weekly contributes nothing at all to the discussion. The article reminds of some TMZ b.s. By the way, Mr. Clarey, I think the cover shot of this weeks magazine is F'n stupid.

[Bubba]

It's just Clarey talking. He's just trying to be his usual excrement-stirring self.

Whenever someone like him calls me "notorious", or some similar thing, I always take it as a compliment.

[Spag]

The thing is- the quote of mine he used isn't misogynistic in the least. It is simply a statement of the law and how things actually play out on a day to day basis in court.

I have news for Brian: Nearly ALL members of the local criminal defense bar or Democrats are Left of center. A lot of them are pretty far to the Left, too. Ask any of them if what I wrote wasn't true and they would tell him that I was correct.

Quite a few might even agree that the law violates Equal Protection.

I also believe the charge against Joe of running a "right wing echo chamber" was unfair. There is really only one echo chamber blog here locally, and not only is it the most well known blog, it is also Left of center with thunderous echoes on a daily basis. So much so that you really can't have the kinds of exchanges that we frequently have here on Joe's site.

[Bubba]

"I have news for Brian: Nearly ALL members of the local criminal defense bar or Democrats or Left of center. A lot of them are pretty far to the Left, too. Ask any of them if what I wrote wasn't true and they would tell him that I was correct."

None of that matters to certain bloggers/"journalists" when there's a certain worldview to support.

"....it is also Left of center with thunderous echoes on a daily basis."

That particular blog might well be renamed "Echo and the Bunneymen".

[Joe Guarino]

Thanks, Brandon, for the kind words.

And thank you also, Sam. I think your position was entirely defensible. And I think your observations about the local defense bar are very important for readers to note for various reasons.

Bubba, you know well enough by this time that I do not agree with the premise-- that the left at times attempts to enforce-- that it is impermissible politically to have certain discussions. We will continue having them here.

[brandonB]

You guys are great! The publicity was unfair and I wonder how many folks who read the article will actually come to the blog to see the exchanges themselves. I must say, I love YES! weekly for some things, but what I read today was disturbing and uncalled for. I know you guys wont let that kind of BS keep you from speaking your mind, and that's what this is all about. Again, if YES! is simply reporting the weeks "blog war", then fine, but when Mr. Clarey makes it personal, then on top of that, has nothing to contribute to the discussion, well, that just makes him seem like an "excrement-stirrer". By the way Mr. Spagnola, what did you do to piss off YES!, besides your "misogynistic ranting"?

[Spag]

I have moved my blog to typepad, FYI.

http://spagreport.typepad.com/

[Spag]

Brandon, I let Brian know that I wasn't happy about his remarks. They simply had no basis.

I don't know Brian well, but there is no bad blood between us that I am aware of. What motivated him to label my remarks a "misogynist rant" escapes me. Usually, Clarey is pretty cool even though we rarely see eye to eye on much.

[Joe Guarino]

The interesting thing here is that there was an apparent desire to defend the GPD's handling of the incident-- but that would have violated one of the requirements of the liberal group to which I linked, which feels it important to deal appropriately with instances of domestic violence of police.

[Brian Clarey]

brnaonB: "The way they write about this blog, Mr. Bubba, Mr. Spagnola, and Mr. Guarino is ridiculous:

Bubba: "It's just Clarey talking. He's just trying to be his usual excrement-stirring self."
"None of that matters to certain bloggers/"journalists" when there's a certain worldview to support."

DFr. G: "And thank you also, Sam. I think your position was entirely defensible."

brandon B: "You guys are great! The publicity was unfair and I wonder how many folks who read the article will actually come to the blog to see the exchanges themselves."

Me: ECHO...Echo...echo...

Still: Thanks for reading, guys. We've been doing the blogfight of the week for a couple years now, and we couldn't do it without you.

[bubba]

For those who came in late:

It's just Clarey talking.

It's not like anyone actually takes him seriously.

[YB Normall]

I totally missed the blogfight article? Was it in the Yes magazine or was it on the on-line version?

By the way, I did read Jordan Green's column in Yes this week. According to Jordan, Greensboro is dying because it:
A. Does not embrace immigrants or their traditions.
B. Is a racist city in which whites accuse any "articulated" instances of discrimination as "playing the race card."
C. Does not have a flamboyant gay scene
D. Has a "seething" blogosphere that "demonizes" people.

And here I thought Greensboro was a pretty swell place to live. Now I know what a racist, xenophobic cesspool we all live in.

Thanks, Jordan!

[Joe Guarino]

YB, I believe the blogfight report was in last week's Yes!Weekly newspaper.

And YB, when you summarize the statements in Jordan Green's column, they seem a bit reminiscent of "left wing talking points".:)