Thursday, January 17, 2008

The Clarke-Jones Hypocrisy

Remember when Arthur Jones was the Chief of Police for the City of Milwaukee? Sykes, Belling, Wagner, et al. would hammer him on an almost daily basis for his "tyrannical" type of leadership, his ineffective policing strategy, and for treating the rank and file like dogs.

So why is it that they give Sheriff David Clarke, who rose in the ranks and was a higher ranking officer under Jones, gets such a break? For example, let's look at this excerpt from Sir Zachary the True Blue:

...This is a man who, during his tenure in office, has done more to alienate the rank and file members of the Sheriff’s Department than any of his predecessors, a fact that isn’t surprising given his penchant for calling his subordinates “losers” and “dumb,” and putting aside his lack of any kind of leadership qualities, he hasn’t really done much to fix that which is wrong with the Sheriff’s Department. This is also the same man who time and time again blames his subordinates whenever there’s a problem at the jail, leading me to conclude Sheriff Clarke’s obviously not a believer in Harry Truman’s philosophy that “The Buck Stops Here.” As Sheriff, he should take some responsibility for how the jail is operated, because that is one of his mandates as Sheriff, yet time and time again he deflects any blame off himself and on to the deputies and corrections officers that work under him, ostensibly because he’s more concerned about his own political future than he is about doing what’s right for the Sheriff’s Department - and not just David Clarke.

After all, how can anyone forget the absolute failure that was the GRIP program, Sheriff Clarke’s vaunted - but ultimately ineffective - program for taking guns off Milwaukee’s streets. I sure haven’t forgotten GRIP, because it was largely due to the GRIP program that deputies in the field were sent on a fool’s errand instead that yielded little in the way of actual results, while creating holes in coverage throughout the county.

You can read the rest of the post from Sir Zachary here.

10 comments:

  1. It goes hand in hand with the "right" wing. Once they make a positive comment or assessment they can never back off. They can never admit they are/were wrong. The other day Belling made a remark about his former idekick TRM. The worst he could say is the guy only wore a tie three times and then threw it away. No comment about his role in the largest fraud in the Milwaukee area ever and how he got a free pass to leave town rather than face the music. So once annointed never cast away. Same mentality with Bush, Thompson, McBride, Dick (the hit man do not hunt with this dude)Cheney, "Scooter", Gonzales and list goes on

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  2. Lawmaker's Daughter Faces Eight Felony Charges
    A criminal complaint alleged Amy Hoel, the daughter of Rep. Jake Hines (R-Oxford) committed fraud and failed to file proper tax returns over several years, and involving thousands of dollars in wages.

    Hoel, 42, of Dodgeville is scheduled to make an initial court appearance in Dane County on the felony charges Jan. 24. Her husband, Bryan, faces similar charges and is scheduled for a court appearance Jan. 29.

    The eight felony charges against Amy Hoel alleged she hid behind a sham trust to conceal earnings between 1997-2005.

    In addition to facing similar accusations of tax dodging, Bryan Hoel also faces trial in Dane County Court for criminal slander of title.

    Hoel has been linked to Lester and Lilac Sundsmo, who were convicted last year in Columbia County of filing false liens against government officials. The Sundsmos said they did not recognize the authority of the court.

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  3. Not that Art Jones was any great shakes, but compare the way his administration was covered with the way Hegerty's was. Yeah, the Sentinel ran plenty of stories about cops arrested (they had no choice) and the U.S. Attorney's investigations. But Hegerty seemed to glide above it all, impervious to any charges of gross mismanagement. Contrast that to what went on with Jones, who, so far as I know, had no federal probes of his agency during his watch. Wonder what the difference was....

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  4. Do you think he does that (publicly scold) to give the public a perception that he is tough on incompetent deputies. Is he using that tactic to keep the citizens at bay? I mean, if I think he is genuinely upset about the deputies who don't do their jobs correctly, I would be less likely to file a formal complaint. Kinda of like the good cop / bad cop spiel. Then, once the dust settles it is business as normal. I don't know, I guess I am thinking out loud about some of my own dealings with MCSO.

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  5. It's the old Republican love affair with anyone who hates the department they work for. County employees hate Walker? He must be doing something right. Clarke's considered a joke by the deputies? Why, that's because he's so good. Instead of fostering good working relationships, which could lead to actual solutions and better government, these people choose confrontation. It's what they do and why it's not worth dealing with them, since they're never in good faith.

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  6. Well at least Mr. McBride is still making news.


    http://blogs.wauwatosanow.com/this_just_in/archive/2008/01/14/basil-ryan-s-attorney-responds.aspx

    Anyone wanna bet Basi Ryan is toast?

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  7. Don't despair Jessica McBride, if you can't hack it as a radion talk show host, talk radio blogger or an ordinary blogger, there is always My Space and Facebook.

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  8. It's the old Republican love affair with anyone who hates the department they work for. County employees hate Walker? He must be doing something right. Clarke's considered a joke by the deputies? Why, that's because he's so good.

    My students like me. Must mean I'm a horrible teacher.

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  9. The "Don't Talk to the Media" memo is the sign of an elected official's ultimate arrogance and incompetence. Only an idiot wouldn't realize that it's like putting a "Kick Me" sign on your ass. Of course, someone will immediately copy it to the media, and that's just what happened. So what if people talk to the media? If you're running a good organization, nothing they have to say will be credible anyway. But this is what thin-skinned, insecure managers do (not calling him "a leader" was deliberate). And no, I am not now, nor have I ever been, a Milwaukee County deputy.

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  10. The man's true character shows. He is or tries to be a Republican but unlike Walker he choses to call himself a Democrat because he knows he could never get elected in Milwaukee otherwise.

    Charlie and Mark sure do like him though. But even with all their support he couldn't get past Barret for Mayor.

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