An early New Year’s Resolution

Dust off the blog.

 

I’ve been split between multiple writing tasks this year. I’m now on The American Free News Network, I still write other opinion pieces, and I’m hoping to expand my writing even more. But I want to get the A Cop’s Watch more active.

 

I don’t think I will be writing weekly intel summaries, but I will post intelligence/foreign affairs pieces of interest from my reading sources (e.g., STRATFOR).  And as soon as I can figure out how to get pictures, etc, I will start posting the Officer Down post again, They must be noted. But Google made pictures a pain in the ass. Or, more likely, I’m missing something very open in front of me.

 

Anyway, to the people who have logged on, that you for sticking around. I hope to make A Cop’s Watch more worthy of you attention.

 

Have a great weekend.

Worse Than Fair Weather Fans...

Longtime friend and host of Right on the Left Coast Darren Miller (and the guy who inspired me to start this blog...don't hold that against him) has an excellent post from Sunday. I'll try and give it an excerpt, but I suggest you read the full text on ROTLC.

Right on the Left Coast: Views From a Conservative Teacher: Worse Than Fair Weather Fans:  

By K. Lee

I had a conversation with my brother in Oregon, last night. Besides the usual family matters, he brought up a call he received from a ‘friend.’ The friend wanted to check on my brother and the family amidst rising violence toward Asian Americans. While my brother appreciated the gesture, he told his friend that it wasn’t necessary. The friend said he had been concerned about all the anti-Asian violence ever since Trump and the “China” virus rhetoric.

The friend knows my brother is a staunch conservative, so my brother got irritated. He asked the dude, what’s Trump got to do with the Georgia shootings and where was his phone call last year? The friend said he didn’t get what my brother was getting at. My brother replied that there were over 3,800 incidents of anti-Asian violence last year, yet you didn’t check on us. The friend said he didn’t know. My brother said, of course not—because no one besides us Asians cared. But now that you see a perp is a white male from the South, you start to care. You have to make this about YOU making a political statement rather than really caring about us, the Asian Americans...

...You use our victimhood, turning it into your political gains—whether to infringe on the 2A or keep portraying Trump as that boogeyman. You sided with the rich NBA players over the freedom fighters of Hong Kong. You sided with Disney and NIKE over the lives and the dignity of the Uighurs in western China. You praised Antifa while they harassed and doxxed a gay Asian journalist. You sided with the rioters and looters that stole, robbed, and burned down our shops and businesses all last summer.

Yesterday, we found out the killer in the Georgia shooting rampage is a disturbed young man who is an Asian fetishist. Not exactly the perp that my brother’s friend wished for. I find it twisted and sick that there are a lot of white folks who get a ‘hard on’ for minorities’ victimhood. It’s as reprehensible as someone who has an Asian sexual fetish. Which is confusing—because one moment we are categorized with the ‘Whites’ when we are applying for colleges and universities and we don’t get the same affirmative action benefits of other POC when applying for a job— yet we are marginalized victims again, to serve your political purpose... 

Thank you Darren for posting this. 

A Cop's Watch at Ten

On April 12, 2010, I joined my good friend and fellow Army veteran Darren Miller, he of Right on the Left Coast fame, on the blogosphear. My first post:

First Try

Hello!

Is there anybody out there?

I hope so…this is Mike from the Houston area just starting, so bear with me. Hope we have some good times together on this journey.

A decade since that first simple post. I've had great post, and some I wish I would not have posted. I've had people call me very ugly terms (usually deleted, as I say below, this is a family friendly blog), some who have complemented me, encouraged me, and said simply they liked a post. And I really appreciate those.

Where do we go from here? I don't know. I will try to post more regularly, the Wuhan Virus not withstanding. Most departments, like mine, are allowing few people to take time off. And I've gotten backed up on my emails and posts. But to all those who supported me in this, thank you, Happy Easter, and all the best!

On The Watch!

Back online

Been a crazy two weeks. Last Saturday we had the annual crawfish party and a lot more people than I though showed up. My youngest graduated high school last Sunday and we've had her party yesterday. I'm home for the first time in ages, and I hope to catch up on a few things, including the posting on my blog.

Hope you have a great week.

It is done!

I’ve been off on my blogging, among other things, the last few years, especially the last year. I’ve been working to finish my Master’s of Arts in Intelligence Studies, with concentration in Homeland Security. It has been an experience I would not trade, even with it being in the center of multiple major parts of my life (marriage, getting promoted, assigned as a Field Training Supervisor, which takes a lot of my time. But Friday I posted my thesis and it’s been accepted, I then posted a version for publication, and now I’m just waiting for my final grade. I will actually be aware the diploma in August, but I’m done.

One thing I do love is alumni of American Military University have full access to their library, which I will love to use. One of the eye opening experience of the program was the library. Access to countless pear reviewed journals, articles, books, that I would have to pay to access, but now I have a link to them.

I remember the first time I saw a real library. Not knocking the ladies at the public library down the street, but I was a high school junior working on my first research paper and I drove to the University of New Orleans for the first time and walked into their library. And I was astonished. Two stories of books, journals, papers, microfilm. I’m not exaggerating that for the first few minutes I took in the lobby aghast at how big this place was. And they added on two stories the following year. Life got better.

And I am looking forward to writing more serious and lengthy stuff in the future, after a break. I need it, trust me. I’m able to work extra jobs again (I need that!) and this weekend I was started a Stephen King novel. Reading for pleasure. something I haven’t done much of the last three years. And I have some catching up with the Blue Knights, and I’m going to dust off the blog and start posting regularly. I’ve missed that greatly.

I’ve also got to catch up with the family and friends. I’ve missed countless events because I was working on a paper or something. But I know it was worth it. One, the department gives me more money for a master’s. Two, it’s another point for promotion when I take the lieutenant’s exam. And I would like to eventually spend some time in the department intelligence office. I vowed to not go there while I was in the reserves. I would hate to do the same thing on the weekend as you do during the week. But it’s been over 5 years since I called it a night with the army, so the intel racket may again be in my future. One thing I do want to start posting again is my 2-3 times a week summary, “What’s Going on in the World Today.”

Well, I’m about to fall asleep (got home at 0200 after the extra job and I had to get up early for my ride this morning) so I’m drifting off. Night all. Hopefully we’ll be conversing on the net. Have a great week.

The American Thinker: The Baltimore Judicial Railroad

The American Thinker was nice enough to publish another article by me, The Baltimore Judicial Railroad

The usual suspects are outraged Officer William Porter was not convicted of a felony in the transport and eventual death of Freddie Gray. From the Baltimore Sun editorial of December 17, "...after jurors failed to come to an unanimous decision on any of the four charges on Mr. Porter no doubt will serve as a disappointment to those wished for the verdict in this case to send a clear and unambiguous message."

In contrast, the statue of Lady Justice shows her with a blindfold and balance. She's not there to "send a message" but to determine if the accused is guilty of a criminal act. And one of the basic tenets of Western jurisprudence is the burden of proof falls upon the prosecution. The obvious desire for railroading the officer by the editors of the Sun (And let's be honest, the City Attorney and Mayor, the Department of Justice, and the usual race baiting poverty pimps like Jesse and Al) reminded me of something from my first district court case.

I booked a suspect for Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) and five months later I was subpoenaed. After the jury was selected, the judge spoke to them for a few minutes. After thanking them for doing their civic duty (Truthfully, a lot of people do dodge it), he explained masterfully to the jury of laypersons (and a rookie cop) how justice works. (From an almost 15 year old memory and the names have been changed to protect the guilty!):

"Ladies and gentlemen, the defendant, Mr. Smith, sits behind the table, he sits there innocent and only you can make him guilty in the eyes of the law. Mr. Smith has the absolute presumption of innocence. He is under no obligation to speak and none of us here, including myself, can force him to answer a question. Mr. Smith is under no obligation to present a defense, although he has hired one. And I am instructing you that you cannot make any inference of his guilt or innocence because of his not speaking or presenting a defense. Those are his rights.

The burden of proof in this matter falls completely on the shoulders of the prosecution, Mr.Jones. He must prove every element of his case to you, individually and in full. Mr. Jones must prove all elements of his case, in your mind, beyond a reasonable doubt (emphasis his). If he fails in doing that, or the defense successfully raises a reasonable doubt in just one element of the prosecution's case, you must acquit the defendant. Mr. Jones doesn’t have to prove beyond all doubt; that is an impossibility. And the prosecution is further at a disadvantage because he must present all of his evidence to the defense prior to trial so they can prepare for it. Mr. Jones cannot give the defense any surprises. However the defense is under no obligation to present any evidence to the prosecution until the trial."

Looking at the officers who have been railroaded by the Baltimore City State's Attorney, this case has been a travesty to the cause of justice. Ms. Marilyn Mosby, with at best evidence of department policy violation, indicted six officers for multiple felonies. Announcing the charges last summer, she praised herself multiple times, referred to “I” (26 times), “my” (12 times) but “me” thankfully only once (for a moment I thought I was listening to an Obama press conference) and basically condemned the defendants in a blatant attempt to poison the jury pool. Ms. Mosby then basked in the limelight, being the subject of multiple friendly news stories, brought up on the stage by Prince during his concert, and topped off by a full spread for Vogue magazine, a mélange of political ambition and inappropriate behavior. These facts did not stop the judge from refusing the defense motion for a change of venue because the defendants could not get an unbiased jury. So much for justice being blind.

Ms.Mosby denied the officers had probable cause to arrest Gray because he didn't have an "illegal weapon," yet her office refused to present the knife he was carrying to the officers’ lawyers for examination. She accused the officer of a false arrest, because the knife was found subsequent to his arrest. Any criminal attorney (or cop on the street) knows after a suspect has been detained he can be searched, and once the weapon is found, it’s fair game for prosecution. Knowing she had a very flimsily case, she tried to stop the release of the Gray autopsy report. Ridiculously she said her prosecutors, “…’have a duty to ensure a fair and impartial process for all parties involved’ and ‘will not be baited into litigating this case through the media.’”

Almost ten years ago America witnessed a major travesty of justice when a politically motived prosecutor named Mike Nifong attempted to make his career with the prosecution of a group of white college students accused of raping a black stripper. After his case fell apart, Nifong was removed from the case and the North Carolina Attorney General took over. The three students were completely exonerated and Nifong eventually lost his law license and was jailed. As she tried to railroad Officer Porter and the other officers, will Ms. Mosby face justice like Mr. Nifong? Time will tell. Only if she faces justice in the future, Ms. Mosby should pray she receives a more justice from the attorney who judges her.

Michael Thiac is a police patrol sergeant and a retired Army intelligence officer.

Happy April Fool’s Day

Been off the net the last couple of weeks. It’s been crazy. Three shootings, two at one of my men and a block party for a “rap artist” (a bigger oxymoron than military intelligence) where two gangs went at it for a bit, one gang banger down and one gang banger in training injured. I’m still getting the hang of reviewing reports and I know when I get into work today it’s gonna be a long one.

This is my “Monday”, the first day of my work week. I’m off Monday/Tuesday, so I have the leftover reports from Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday to review. Last Wednesday I spent most of the shift reviewing the reports, oh joy. The good news is I am starting to see fewer errors and I’m getting through them a bit faster. I get the impression my guys were not used to having someone look at their reports and holding them to a standard. Good to know I can still make an impression! :<)

Right now I’m sitting in a Denny’s (and yes, there is a La Quinta next to it) with my computer, iPhone and breakfast. I needed to get my truck’s oil changed and the Wal-Mart is only a five-minute walk from Denny’s. I walk in and I discover the retiree set is in out. The place has only ten people in it, all but one will be AARP members getting their Early Bird Special. There is one twenty something white male sitting, perhaps a soon to be former resident of the La Quinta.

I wonder if I’ll be in a similar situation soon enough, but I refuse to join AARP. Obamacare pushers will never get a dime from me. Last month, soon after turning 50, I received a letter from them asking for my money, to join that group. I sent the packaging back with a simple letter to never contact me again. Yo guys, you started as a group to give seniors better insurance rates and you will die as because you sold out your members on insurance. Good riddance.

Got some time to kill so I can finally get on the blog and drink some not so good coffee. I shouldn’t say that, Maxwell House (or whatever generic this is) is ok, but I know what I like, Community New Orleans Blend. But you take what you can get and this is the best I can right now.

Just been joined by a early thirty-something with a cute boy, assumed his son, sitting just in front of me. And next a early 40s couple and then a 50 something, looks like a trucker, next to me. The working people must be getting ready to start. And this place normally packed on the weekends (Blue Knights meets here for rides) so they will be busy soon enough.

Well, onward. I get a cup of this “coffee” and head back to see if my truck is ready in an hour like they say (normally it’s not) and I have to pick up a few things while I’m out. Beth hates Wal-Mart and the old place has declined in the last few years (IMHO) but this store is fairly clean. And the people are actually nice. Then I have to take care of a few things before I get ready for work. Oh, joy. So once again we start the week. Hope your Wednesday goes well, and that is no April Fools Joke. Live Long and Prosper!

Blog being light....

Hi all. Been off the net for a bit. Work has been nuts, Beth and I are finishing some work in the front lawn and I’m completing a class for my masters degree. Been crazy the last few weeks.

Will be making a few more comments in the future…hope you enjoy.

Have a great weekend!

Life goes on….

Been a long week. I finished up Phase One of Sergeant Field Training and all goes well. I have started Phase II and I’m dealing with great people, it’s the night shift. I hate night shift. I guess the reason is I could never get used to it. I would do two weeks on nights and then the Army would have me for a few days. Then I’d have to get back on day.

Thursday was one long ass day. After getting off at 700am I checked into court and fortunately was able to take a nap in the officers down room. I get told just after lunch I will have a trial for a speeding ticket. After three hours with that I get a conviction. And nine hours of overtime. I drive home, take a long shower, dinner and I take the next night off. Called in to my station and told them after 17 straight hours there was no way I would make it through the night and they agreed. How the hell I made it to 1000pm I still don’t know. With the exception of a three-hour nap I was up 32 hours. But I slept the sleep of the dead until 900am Friday.

Did get to have a great lunch with Beth to celebrate her 30 days of not smoking and then spent a few hours looking at possible lots to buy for a future home. We know this place is a good for us now bit big for retirement. But it will be paid off long time before we retire so it will make a great rental property.

God help us all, got all the kids over here. Adele turned 14 and we had the family dinner on Friday night and it was great to get out with everyone. Everything was great but the weather. Rained all night. Not that I’m really objecting, we needed the water but it could have waited one day! ☺

Then the real fun was upon Beth and I. We have six teenage girls upstairs for the night. Adele’s party is a sleepover and tomorrow we get to feed them all breakfast. That is always fun. Elmer has a lot of fun begging people for bacon.

Some good news on our favorite dog. He seems to be putting on some weight. After we came home from a week long vacation he looked emaciated. He probably didn’t eat much at he boarder because he missed the family. But we’ve been feeding him like a horse and he is looking fuller.

After two almost heart attacks last week, I hope for a more certain end of the game tomorrow with the Saints and the Texans. A couple of days ago I made a bet with an old friend who is a life long Bears fan. Dinner on whoever’s team drops from undefeated first. Looking at the schedule of both New Orleans and Chicago I’ll give it a better than 50/50 chance that our bet will be decided when New Orleans goes to the Windy City on October 6. Hopefully the Saints make it alive from the airport to the stadium. I see 13 people got shot in one drive by in the Windy City. Damned that gun control works!

And on the good side, one more assignment in my 3rd class for the masters degree. Barring a major oh s%^&, next Sunday I’ll be one quarter of the way done. Thank God. With a little luck it will be finished by this time next year.

To celebrate I’m outside with Beth smoking an excellent Monte Cristo Cabinet Selection and enjoying it with some great scotch. Bugs are alive but not that bad. Beth has told me a lot of things taste different now without the smoking. She tried a puff of the cigar (granted, this is a Robusto not a medium cigar) and it was overpowering. But she has gone down to the 14mg patches and is slowing weaning herself off the nicotine. In another month she’ll be off the patches and only using the eCigs to keep up with a smoking habit.

And good to know I can still start something on my blog with some comments. I really like it when one of the "Anon" commentators calls be out for "...losing all objectivity." Yo moron, I'm not objective, don't claim to be. If you want to be lied to about being objective, look up PBS.

Well, here’s to a great week starting off with a fantastic Sunday of football. Hope you are enjoying this time as well as I. Night all

Taking it easy for a bit....

Blogging will be light for a few. This is the view from the back porch of our cabin at the 7F Lodge outside of College Station TX. Some of you may not know but I got married on Saturday the 9th. As Beth and I are both in college and can't take a full honeymoon, so we have this mini-moon. A few days in the great woods with no TV (not a real loss), only cell phones and no internet except the stuff I'm paying for.....waaaaaa.

Wednesday we're going to tour the George HW Bush Library at Texas A&M then topping off the mini-moon with a five course meal at the Messina Hof Vinery. If all goes well we will be back late Wednesday. If we are a bit too plastered then Thursday morning.

As I sit in a rocker with my beautiful new wife, smoking a Romeo y Julieta Romeo Churchill and enjoying a Shiner FM 966 Farmhouse Ale, I have to say life is pretty good right now. Hope yours is the same. Have a great few days till I'm back on!

Back online

Hi All

Blogging has been a bit off lately because of a crash. My computer went DOA and I'm just starting to recover. Will have some stuff to catch up on. Hope you're having a better luck with me!

Taking yourself too seriously

Got this from Legal Insurrection l last week, You’re just a tree falling in the forest, lady.  As a blogger who loves anytime someone posts to my blog or refers to me I am happy.  Not this woman.

And no one is going to hear you.

I was going to link to a quite interesting post, with an excerpt, regarding the “Violence Against Women Act.”

The author, someone I had never heard of, writing at a website I never had heard of, made some excellent points.

My hope was to call attention to her post, hopefully send some readers over there (like an Instalanche, only smaller), and maybe get others interested in her excellent points.

But when I headed back there this morning to prepare the post, I saw this:

You’re not that important. Neither am I. Neither is anyone on the internet.

Get used to it.

Now your excellent points will not be heard.

Again lady, you're not that important.

Blogolanch!

Last Sunday I posted on a great billboard and I sent Legal Insurrection the link. Dr Jacobson and his crew were nice enough to link to my blog. Man, did this up my stats!

June 25th was my greatest blog hit day of all time, 2056. Normally I get 100-300 a day. As of this morning the total number of hits on this post are 2526. But the really funny part is I only got three comments on the post and they are an argument on my white text on black background!

Again, thanks Legal Insurrection for this!

Vermin walking on a great woman's grave.

Forgive me if I’m blunt but what is happening with Dr Sally Ride after her death is disgusting.

Until the day after she died I had no idea of her sexual orientation. OK, she is gay and has been in a relationship with another woman for 27 years. Now many in the blogosphere/Twitterverse are trying to make that the issue of the day.

This is a woman of multiple accomplishments throughout her life. A doctorate in physics, professor at a university, was a member of both shuttle loss panels and ran her own business to encourage young women to go into science. Oh, BTY, she was the first American woman in space.

But starting with a Twitter comment by Andrew Sullivan the world knows something she decided to keep confidential for three decades. Gee, where are the privacy advocates on this? Not to mention Sullivan seems to want to use her death to push for expanded benefits for gay parters.

Yo Andy, Dr Ride wanted (for whatever reason) to keep her orientation private and you’re using her death to push your political objective. Excuse me if I call you a leech. So please, STFU and go away and let her parter and family bury her while celebrating her life and accomplishments. You are quite capable of making an ass of yourself on other matters.

RIP Dr Ride...hopefully these morons go away.

You know this is gonna be a great day....

As Beth and I are heading to Jefferson TX to link up with Pat and Steve (And So it Goes in Shreveport) we saw this just a little southwest of Lufkin (just outside of Dibol). It took a second to realize who was on the picture and we turned hard about, laughing our asses off. Well we got there without being killed by an 18 wheeler off of US59 and there was another couple already there with the same idea!

This post is to be continued!.....

A COP'S WATCH......Special Assignment

For the next month and a half my blogging will be on/off.  The promotion test has been announced, I have all three sources to read and a junior college library awaits.  Till late June my life is pretty much on hold.  

I will post from time to time.  If I don't take a break from police supervision techniques, office procedure and law enforcement strategy I will lose it.  

Hopefully I'll be celebrating later this summer!

Have a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day

Allah be Praised!

I found out how to blog old school!

A little over a week ago blogger changed it's interface. And it may be a case of the 10% Rule in full effect but for me is was a cluster f$%^!. For some reason typing enter would not put a line in, when I tried to edit a post it would delete the post, etc. What Harvard genius came up with this!

Well as I was screaming at the computer I saw a options bar and it had "Old Blogger Interface" listed. And I hit it! And I saw the classic interface I loved and actually worked. So I should be blogging a bit more now.

Oh, the 10% Rule. You must be at least 10% more intelligent than the equipment you are trying to operate!

Intel will be light for a while.

As many of you know I'm a STRATFOR addict and I put a lot of their intel on this blog. However last week I got an email from them saying they had been hacked by a group called Anonymous and they would be off line for a while. If you go to STRATFOR.COM right now this is what you get:

You have have heard about this in the news and I'm like a lot of their customers waiting. Will advise when they are back on. Until then, Happy New Year!

I need a song

As readers here know I commemorate a fallen officer with Taps.  Now I like to commemorate executions as we get rid of murders from the human gene pool and I'd like to add a song.  Any suggestions?

I really can't use  Another One Bites the Dust as Ken Hamlin uses it....I've been tempted with Renegade by Styx

Oh momma I'm in fear for my life from the long arm of the law
Lawman has put an end to my running and I'm so far from my home
Oh momma I can hear you a'crying you're so scared and all alone
Hangman is comin' down from the gallows and I don't have very long

The jig is up the news is out they've finally found me
The renegade who had it made retrieved for a bounty
Never more to go astray
This will be the end today of the wanted man

Winner of the contest gets a free block of government cheese! :<)

A great view on the upcoming election...

From Iowa Hawk Blog on Twitter.

President Obama's toughest re-election opponent: Math.