Citizens first, hired help second.

"I have to realize every single day that I come to work that the decisions that I make -- you always have to say, how does this impact a patrol officer interacting with the community? " Roessler said. "I'm looking forward to the honor and the privilege to serve all the members of what I call the police family."

Artists concept of Roessler

No, wrong. Decisions made by government officials should be based on how they affect the citizens who employ them. Not the other way around. Decisions should not be made on the impact they will have on employees hired by the citizens to run their government.

Citizens first, hired help second.

Roessler is the latest in a long string of police executives who probably live in a bubble, a bubble that makes them fail to understand that the honor and privilege is in serving the citizens of the community and not the cops the community pays and pays and funds (And far above the national average, at that.)

It's our government, not theirs and so long as the county allows the vast majority of our well paid cops to live outside the county, it will never be their government.  Other counties have live in requirement for their police. We don’t. The cops have that kind of pull in your government.

Roessler appears to be part of, if not one of the architects of, the“us first” mentality that permeates the Fairfax County Police. But we can’t blame him. The cops have been out of control (and grossly over funded) for decades and the guilty finger for their arrogance and brutality should be directly pointed at us, the county residents, the owners of the government who keep reelecting the same old tread-mill thinking hustlers in slightly shiny suits who let the cops run rampant on our traffic jammed crowded roads (and ridiculously overcrowded schools.)

We don’t have the money for more roads (or more schools.)  But the cops have enough money to employ a dozen deputy chiefs, a navy and an air force that may or may not includes drones with a few bucks left over to hire even more cops and open even more police stations. Think about that while you sit on the beltway.

The policeman is not your friend. The Fairfax County Police Department holds its self-interest far above your wants and needs. In fact, the full time job of the several dozen assistant to the assistant chiefs of police we carry on the payroll, is to get you to trust the cops and not to ask too many questions. They need you to stay dumb. Trust us, the cops tell you, we don’t need police oversight in Fairfax County, we’ll handle it ourselves. Trust us.

Your elected officials agree with the cops. They don’t want police oversight because the hundreds of misdeeds, transgression and criminal actions the cops get involved in every year….on your dime….. would go public and citizens would be aware that the elected officials we pay to run government aren’t very good at what they do, and, proving the cops point, should not be trusted.

Trust us, the cops say. We’re hiring nine new cops this year because we need them. We won’t offer any proof, your elected officials won’t ask why, they trust us, why don’t you?

Local government, hell government in general, runs better and is more efficient in delivering services when it’s not trusted.  The cops know that and in their view,  as, long as citizens stay asleep, everything will be just fine.

Don’t trust the bastards, by not trusting them we not only empower ourselves and keep the collected elected sleaze on their toes, we give the hundreds of good, decent people who work in government, the ones who have nothing to hide, a boost up and a chance at running things, out in the open.

Roessler has been raised in the “trust me” culture of the Fairfax County Police and that form of leadership sets the tone for further abuse, mismanagement and secrecy by the police.

We need to hire a police chief not born and bred in the old south-redneck, good ole boy network that is the Fairfax County Police. It’s a new century. It's time to change things. We’ll need to look outside the Fairfax cops secrecy system, outside the county and probably outside the state to find someone capable to tear down the “trust me”-think mentality that runs the cops, someone who will attract more outsiders to the force, hiring fewer white boys with Nazi haircuts and mangers who are creative, committed to the community, and idealistic in their goals.

Fuck the police

The problem of Mentally Ill cops in America

Erin Healy Ross recalls her brother, 38-year-old police officer Ryan Healy.

“I received a text from him saying that he had decided to die and that he would be in the house,” she recalls.

Erin and Ryan’s father, a retired cop, raced to the officer’s house.

She says, “I just remember my dad saying, ‘Do you know how many times I have been on this kind of a scene? But never in my life could I imagine that it would be my own son.’ And that was just heartbreaking.”

Her brother was dead from a single gunshot wound.

Healy worked out of the West Side 10th Police District. Toward the end, he told his family he was “overwhelmed” by what he was experiencing on the job: the bodies, the violence and especially crime’s effect on children.

He told his family those kids had no way out and no hope. Then there was the squad car accident that left him seriously injured in 2011.

“Some people can handle it and they go to work and they come home and they don’t think about it,” Erin says. “But obviously for Ryan, he did think about it.”

The family believes he may have suffered from PTSD.

The Chicago Police Department recognizes PTSD is real among officers and has programs to diagnose and treat it. There are also suicide-prevention programs, but the officer must come forward himself and ask for help. In the tough culture of law enforcement, that is often hard.

Ryan’s family wishes that he had reached out for help somewhere along the way.

There’s a plaque at the Chicago Police Memorial for officers who have died in the line of duty. It reads: “It is not how they died that made them heroes. It is how they lived.”

His family believes that applies to Ryan Healy, too

Stuck in traffic because we don’t have enough roads? No, you’re stuck in traffic because the cops got your road improvement money.

 “The insufferable arrogance of human beings to think that Nature was made solely for their benefit, as if it was conceivable that the sun had been set afire merely to ripen men's apples and head their cabbages.”  Cyrano De Bergerac

 

Stuck in traffic because we don’t have enough roads? No, you’re stuck in traffic because the cops got your road improvement money.

The cops in McLean spent $20,000,000 of your money...…money that won’t go to schools or road improvements or a library……because they wanted to make a few improvements to their office space. Twenty million dollars’ worth of improvement.   Constructing a new building would have cost less.   

“The roof has been leaking for years and we don’t have anywhere to park our cruisers,” said Supreme Allied Commander Janickey.

Leaky roofs?  Oh come on. The red necks you hire never knew a roof didn’t leak until they came way north to Fairfax County. How do you think they got water into the house?

When we in the non-millionaire class have a leaky roof we don’t build a new $20,000,000 home. We repair the roof.  You call a roof guy, he shows up with a hammer or something and closes the leaks and you pay him.

So are we clear, Mister Howl?  You repair the roof you don’t build a new building. I don’t care what “That’s Gerry with G Dearie” Hyland told you.

The second “good” reason Commander Spendthrift has to build a $20, 000, 000 addition to the existing police station (while salivating at the possibility of building a second station a few blocks away) is parking.

That’s right. There is a parking shortage at red neck central so the morons are spending $20, 000,000 of your money on their home improvements.

“We don’t have anywhere to park our cruisers” Super Commandant Janickey whined.

Well, just park like you do at home back in Prince William County where almost 90% of you live….park on the front lawn next to the ole truck up on cinder blocks that don’t still work no how.

Star Fleet Commander Janickey apparently thinks we are all blind and can’t see through the open chain link fence around the McLean police station with its half empty parking lot and two dozen unused police cars sitting idly within.

Want more room in your half empty lot?   Get rid of the two dozen cop cars you don’t use, that’ll give you room in your parking lot.  Here’s another idea to make more room. Get rid of some of the 180 people you have on staff.  You could get by with half that number of people on staff and you know it. 

Since this is obviously a case of the police out of control we went straight to the bastion of control in Fairfax County, the board of supervisors. 

“If I had a backbone, I’d stand up to these cops” said McLean area Supervisor John W. Foust “instead I’m going to pretend this isn’t an outrage and pray it goes away. If it doesn’t we’ll just toss more money at it until it does go away.”

“And I’ll be there to catch it,” said Sharon “show me the money” Bulova, although no one asked her.

“Of course they can have two new police stations and twenty four new cops for a crime problem that doesn’t exist!” said Supervisor “Gerry with G” Hyland. “Money is not an issue. I have spent my entire life in government and in those many years of avoiding real work I have learned that when you need more money you simply send someone out to the magic money tree to get it. And that’s exactly what we’ll do here. The people should kneel before the police to show how grateful they are. I’m always on my knees when it comes to the cops.”

In other words, the board of supervisors, the people you elected to protect your interests, have nothing to say on the issue.  

So as you sit in traffic, late for everything and burning gas remember the words of Commander and Spend Janickey who said, “It’s a good time to be at the McLean station.” And he’s right.  Life for your local police is very, very good.

FAIRFAX COUTY POLICE TALKING OUT OF THEIR ASS

  

Earlier this year, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority reported an increase in crime across the Metro rail system.  This news has tossed Dan Janickey, grand imperial wizard, or something like that, of the unnecessary McLean Police Station to leap into action…..again.   He gives the sense that the opportunity to hire more cops with our money does for him what porn does for a pervert.

Increased crime on the metro has space commander Dan all aroused.  But increased crime from what? That’s the question. What are we talking here?  From no crime at all to 1 crime a year? Or, are we talking crime wave like from a Batman movie?

Where did the crime increase? Virginia? Maryland? DC?  Our immediate concern should be Northern Virginia.

And what sort of crime increased? Is it the sort of crime that a competent police force could hinder…calm down Janickey, I said competent…….See what too much sugar on your donuts does?

Artist rendering of Private Janickey on the day the metro opens

  Anyway, Supreme Field General of Overreaction Dan is all aflutter.

“We’re doubling the amount of stations we’ll have in Fairfax County,” he said, which begs the question…….what does he care about the rest of Fairfax County? He’s supposed to police McLean. Let the other guys worry about their end of the county.  Don’t worry about three other stations. Again, see what too much sugar on your donuts does?

Where the hell is Pear Head Morris when you need him? He’d be happy here. Mclean used to be an orchard. Shouldn’t he show up here five days a week……I refuse to use the word work in regard to the police….instead of the Mister Excitement they’ve sent us?

“It’s going to change the way we police.” Janickey said in what was either a question or perhaps a threat.  

Oh no it isn’t…….., enough with the drama already…..it’s just a fucking metro station, it won’t hurt you. Calm down, things change.  Relax. Go to the evidence room, have a Quaalude, put your feet up. Everything is going to be okay. 

Gees.

Janickey said his “officers are ready to police the expanding area”….well I should fucking hope so.  Why do you think we pay you? To hand out self-aggrandizing awards to each other?  Oh by the way, the McLean cops gave cops 13 awards to themselves in one season. Thirteen.

Artist rendering of Corporal Janickey.  Interesting side note here, many say that originally the name Janickey meant “Don’t look at me, the cows are dying, that’s what causing the smell”

“They’re excited about it,” said Corporal Janickey of the police. “It’s going to be interesting to see how things go when the stations open.”

Yeah, their excited about it. Can you picture the Fairfax County Cops high fiving their donut laden hooves in the air shouting “Holy Moly!  We get to guard a railroad station! I knew that five years of high school would pay off!”

No, that didn’t happen and it’s not going to happen and if there is any cop anywhere in the world who is excited about guarding a metro station, we need to get that cop a new job with a sound medical plan.

Janickey also said the cops are “ready for anything”…..okay, that’s enough. Dude, get a fucking grip. Again…… IT’S A METRO STATION for God’s sakes not an invasion of hostile brain eating aliens from another galaxy out to destroy a boring suburb.

Artist’s rendering of Glorious Field Marshal Janickey preparing for metro Station opening 

No more coffee or war movies for Janickey and let’s keep him away from the microphones as well.

There were 157 crimes committed in 10 of Virginia’s 20 metro stations, or about 3 crimes a week that resulted in only 17 arrests in one year in those stations.

Not a hot spot of criminal activity.  There are only six metro stations in the county and none of the Metro stations with the most crimes overall are in Northern Virginia. Those stations are in DC or PG County.

Most of the crime increase on the Metro system, system wide, from 2011 to 2012 was attributable to an increase in theft of small electronic devices and from pickpockets, about 670 incidents in all.  The system covers over 1,500 miles that includes 150 miles of track. 

So what we have is 670 crimes, narrowed to specific places, during 215,000,000 passenger trips, policed by less than 500 transit cops. If Metro were a state, it would be the safest state in the union.  

Metro police are doing their job to decrease those crimes through a successful program that places undercover cops holding decoy electronic devices in order to become “victims” and make arrests. It’s working.  In 2012, undercover Metro cops made 149 arrests.  Paltry statistics for what is the second-busiest rapid transit system in the United States (in number of passenger trips) after the New York City Subway.

Fairfax County Cops will do the most good sitting outside a station staring off into space, but even there, Metro station parking lot crime reached a ten-year low in 2012.

 There were 157 crimes committed in 10 of Virginia’s 20 metro stations, or about 3 crimes a week that resulted in only 17 arrests in one year in those stations.

The primary mission of the Fairfax County police is to increase the size of its already bloated force and incredibly lavish budget and that’s what this is all about. Let the Metro police handle the Metrorail. They know what they’re doing. Let the McLean station police sleep it off in the parks.  

So we rigged this here machine to wake us up just before the shift ends...