Cedar Posts and Barbed Wire Fences

45 Years Ago Today Apollo One

2012-01-27T08:59:00.004-05:00

President Johnson was informed of the Apollo 1 tragedy during a White House party. He read this memo to his stunned guests:

Apollo 1 was scheduled to be the first manned mission of the Apollo manned lunar landing program, with a target launch date of February 21, 1967. A cabin fire during a launch pad test on January 27 at Launch Pad 34 at Cape Canaveral killed all three crew members – Command Pilot Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Senior Pilot Edward H. White and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee – and destroyed the Command Module. The mission name Apollo 1, chosen by the crew, was officially retired by NASA in commemoration of them on April 24, 1967

More about the Apollo One tragedy here.

Cedar's Take: Just a reminder that Americans never give up!

Hat Tip to @WestWingReport

In Case You Missed It Officer Keith Trietley

2012-01-27T01:21:00.006-05:00

CMPD Officer Keith Trietley has been nominated for Officer of the Month for the January.

You might recall a little more than a year ago Trietley's Crown Vic was deliberately hit head on by a suspect while responding to an active high speed chase.

This month the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department recognized Keith Trietley:

Officer Trietley was recognized for his amazing efforts to return to full active duty after a fleeing suspect intentionally hit his police car head on. His professionalism and dedication to the job despite his injuries is what makes Officer Trietley a stand out candidate for the Officer of the Month.

Well OK that is the official public relations spin out of Rob Tufano's office.

Cedar Posts would rather tell it like it is Trietley is simply BAD ASS!

Bravo Zulu Officer Trietley!

We are very happy to have you back on the streets of Charlotte.

MPD Organized Crime Unit Didn’t Follow Spending Guidelines

2012-01-27T00:32:00.002-05:00

Charlotte and the city at the far western end of the Tennessee may have more in common than the love of barbecue and television crime reality show "The First 48".

Several Memphis Police Department officers who owned a private business to teach law enforcement techniques received improper overtime payments and other reimbursements for teaching those courses.

The audit of the department's Organized Crime Unit also determined that former police director Larry Godwin appeared to influence the career progress of a son assigned to the unit.

The draft audit said MPD officers who served as instructors with a company called Investigative Techniques Unlimited wrongfully got $183,555 in overtime pay from the department's drug fund for teaching the courses.

Over the past several years the Memphis Police Department used crime forfeiture money in a free and easy manner, spending the funds in any way the former police director saw fit, including payments to his son and using forefiture funds to pay for department operational expenses which is not approved.

According to the Memphis Daily News:

An audit of the Memphis Police Department’s Organized Crime Unit (OCU) says the unit, which includes undercover drug investigations and other covert operations, “needs significant improvement” in obeying guidelines for the use of money in the OCU drug fund.

The completed internal audit by city’s audit team released Thursday, Jan. 26, also concludes eight OCU employees should not have been allowed to work as training instructors for Investigative Techniques Unlimited because of a conflict of interest.

ITU is a company founded by former OCU officer Paul Sherman, who coordinated OCU’s undercover program. ITU had a contract to provide instructors for classes given by the Regional Counterdrug Training Academy, which is where OCU officers receive specialized training. RCTA paid ITU for the instructors who taught officers from police agencies including but not limited to the MPD.

Sherman also recommended which Memphis police officers received the RCTA training while he was still with the department, according to the report.

The report specifically concludes $183,555 in overtime paid to OCU officers from the drug fund as they worked as instructors at a training facility was not a “drug enforcement expense.”

It is the largest single amount of a total $245,710 questioned in the audit findings.

More details from the Memphis Daily News here.

CMPD Promotions List

2012-01-26T08:52:00.002-05:00

Please join us Friday, January 27 at 10:00 am in the auditorium of the Police and Fire Training Academy for a promotional ceremony. We will be celebrating the promotions of

Sgt. Julie Barry

Sgt. William Irby

Sgt. Demarco Jeter

Sgt. John Kitchens

Sgt. Susan Manassah

Sgt. Keith Martin

Sgt. Gilberto Narvaez

Sgt. Brian Trull

Lt. Tonya Arrington

Lt. Rich Austin Lt. Jeffrey Harless

Lt. Todd Blum Lt. Andy Harris

Lt. Eric Brady Lt. Blake Hollar

Lt. Jacquelyn Bryley Lt. Michael (Steve) Huber

Lt. Ryan Butler Lt. Jacquelyn Hulsey

Lt. Joe Carey Lt. James Hummel

Lt. Lisa Carriker Lt. Dave Johnson

Lt. Casey Carver Lt. Nathan King

Lt. Robert (Travis) Childs Lt. Pamela Lisenby

Lt. Robert (Spence) Cochran Lt. Todd Lontz

Lt. David Cristy Lt. David Moorefield

Lt. Shawn Crooks Lt. James Morrison

Lt. Oliver (Bill) Cunningham Lt. Fred Newell

Lt. Robert Dance Lt. Travis Pardue

Lt. Roseann DeTommaso Lt. Mark Santaniello

Lt. Gerard (Rod) Farley Lt. Ken Schul

Lt. Brian Foley Lt. Jonathan Thomas

Lt. Norman Garnes, Jr. Lt. John Thornton

Lt. Todd Garrett Lt. James Wright

Deputy Chief Veronica (Vicki) Foster

We look forward to seeing you there.

Katrina

Deputy Chief Katrina Graue
Administrative Services Group
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
601 E. Trade Street
Charlotte, NC 28202

704.432.0429

kgraue@cmpd.org

Update:

A few hours after Cedar Posts added the above list Rob Tufano sent out the following email:

From: "Tufano, Robert"
To: Media Release
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2012 11:26 AM
Subject: 2012 CMPD Promotion Ceremony

On Friday, January 27, 2012, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department will host a promotion ceremony at the Police Training Academy. This ceremony will include the promotion of 39 members of the CMPD to the rank of Lieutenant, 8 to the rank of Sergeant, and one to the rank of Deputy Chief.

Please join us in the auditorium at 10:00 at a.m. in the Police Training Academy located at 7770 Shopton Road as we honor these men and women for their accomplishments.

Attached is a list of the members of the CMPD who will be recognized at Friday’s ceremony.

Robert A. Tufano
Office of the Chief
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
601 East Trade Street, Charlotte, NC 28202
704.336.7042 (O)
704.301.8605 (M)
rtufano@cmpd.org

Arizona Gov Points The Finger At President Obama

2012-01-26T07:03:00.002-05:00

Governor Jan Brewer's issue with the president stems from the White House reluctance to tackle the illegal immigration problem. But it may be deeper than just immigration. The Huffington Post take on this exchange is here.

Tasers Back In The Hands Of CMPD Officers

2012-01-26T05:19:00.004-05:00

Watch WBTV's Story here.

Cedar's Take: CMPD Officers are once again equipped with TASERs. The six month lapse created by Chief Monroe in a bureaucratic quagmire since he doesn't understand how to transition from one product to the next and taxpayers are out nearly 2 million bucks because a couple of CMPD meatheads couldn't count to five.

If you're a lazy cop, you're not going to like the 5 second stock max, because that means you're going have to get on these idiots like you should have be doing in the past. No more just zapping away until your backup arrives.

For most CMPD Officers the new TASER is bulkier and just another thing to get snagged by a seatbelt.

WBTV Praises Chief Monroe Then Calls Him Out For Not Having a College Degree

2012-01-25T20:33:00.004-05:00

CMPD Spending Spree Continues Unchecked By Charlotte City Council

2012-01-25T18:00:00.003-05:00

CMPD won't detail up to $25 million in DNC-related equipment purchases, according to the Charlotte Observer, in fact we may never know where the money goes.

A story in tomorrow's printed editon of the Charlotte Observer says that "A year ago, the Charlotte City Council voted to give City Manager Curt Walton power to approve DNC contracts, leaving council members -- and the public -- in the dark."

But class clown Warren Cooksey told the Observer he didn't realize he had voted in February 2011 to give Kurt Walton leeway to grant contracts. He said in retrospect that might not have been the best decision, and that such police spending should be debated in a public forum.

"We are relying on trust," Cooksey said.

Cedar's Take: D'oh!

But we do have inside information as to what Chief Monroe is spending your tax dollars on. Like this "urban assult command center"

Walton signed the contract to have it upfitted to Chief Monroe's spec's and it came in under 250k. It's a bargin!

The entire Observer story is here.

Loomis (Fargo) Suspect Video Released

2012-01-25T15:05:00.002-05:00

The FBI in Charlotte has released a video of the suspect in Monday's robbery and shooting of a Loomis employee at an ATM in South Charlotte.

If you know who this person is or have any information about the robbery please contact the Charlotte Office of the FBI at 704-672-6100 or via email at Charlotte.public@ic.fbi.gov

Note prior reports used the name Loomis Fargo, the company dropped the Fargo name in 2007. Loomis Armored US Inc. "Loomis" currently operates as a division of Loomis AB with operations in the US and thirteen Western European countries.

FOX News Charlotte Slams CMPD Sloppy Police Work

2012-01-25T12:29:00.000-05:00

Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Department Stun Shields

2012-01-25T07:22:00.002-05:00

Word coming out of Uptown Charlotte, is that last week the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Department took delivery of several Electrified Riot Shields.

The Polycarbonate Ballistic shield reportedly has a stun capability. While the purchase is apparently in an effort to gear up for DNC 2012 it isn't clear if the Sheriff's Direct Action Response Team (D.A.R.T) will deploy the weapon inside the Mecklenburg County Jail as well.

The shields have the ability to stun protesters as well as the highly motivating electric arc sparking display points on the front to provide a visible deterrent.

Cedar Posts hears that at least 80 of the Electric Riot Shields have been ordered or delivered at a cost of nearly $1,000.00 each.

Charlotte Civil Service Board Rubber Stamps CMPD Chief Monore's Foster Promotion

2012-01-25T05:58:00.004-05:00

Within 60 seconds of calling yesterday's civil service board meeting to order, the group voted to go into "executive session" .

A copy of the Charlotte Civil Service Board's agenda spells it out in stark terms:

Civil Service Board Agenda
Special Meeting
January 24, 2012
CMGC, Room 701
4:00 p.m.

1. Call Meeting to Order

2. Approve Agenda

3. Approve Police Promotions

4. Adjourn

Closed session is permitted to consider the qualifications, competence, performance and so forth of officers. What is troubling is the meeting wrapped in less than fifteen minutes. In short nothing more than a rubber stamp.

Foster's promotion is effectively a "non-event" as Foster's pay level is less than 2% of what current Deputy Chiefs are paid, and she operates with impunity.

Cedar's Take: What is most troubling is the surreptitious and clandestine manner in which Chief Monroe attempts to conduct the process of promotion.

Never in the history of CMPD nor the Charlotte Police Department before it, has a Chief so perennially befuddled the promotion process.

Those who know Chief Monroe report that while Foster's promotion to DC had been promised long ago that Chief had repeatedly looked for a solid reason to promote her. As months passed he became more frustrated finally just opting to press the issue.

Clearly there are many in the executive ranks of CMPD more qualified to lead the department than Vicki Foster.

Siers on Mayor Foxx and His New Free Speech Rules

2012-01-24T21:03:00.001-05:00

Charlotte Civil Service Board To Hold Special Meeting Today

2012-01-24T12:32:00.003-05:00

According to sources Chief Rodney Monroe has requested a "special" civil service board meeting today at 4:00 PM, to approve promotions. There is no official word or listing of the CMPD Officers being presented.

Update 4:13 Sources tell Cedar Posts that the Charlotte Civil Service board just rubber stamped Chief Monroe's promotions that included Vicki Foster to Deputy Chief. The promotion ceremony will be held on Friday.

Tuesday Odds and Ends

2012-01-24T03:43:00.009-05:00

Armored Truck Robbery - Yesterday's Robbery and Shooting follows a pattern that Atlanta has been dealing with since early September 2010.

ATLANTA -- Police in Georgia are searching for at least two gunmen wanted in a string of robberies targeting Garda Cash Logistic armored trucks in the Atlanta area. They say the suspects, who killed their last victim, are becoming increasingly violent.

More details here.

While the FBI and Police won't give amounts stolen, it doesn't take an insider to know the haul can be pretty big. A weekend's worth of cash can be nearly 50,000 dollars. No dye packs, no doors to go through, no customers as witnesses, no silent alarms.

Loomis Fargo services the free standing ATM's when needed, often when the cash is completely out. ATM's flag when they are out of cash, all the crooks need to do is hang around. Plus the Loomis Fargo ATM Trucks are pretty easy to spot. So all that is left is for the thugs to neutralize the guards and grab the cash.

I would expect this thug and his get away car driver will strike again. To be sure these crooks are violent and will not hesitate to kill as many people as needed to get the money and get away.

Homicide Rate Down More Than 18% - Not in Charlotte but in Washington for the year 2011, with 108 homicides at year end, the District of Columbia which has seen an 18 .2 percent decline in homicides over last year’s total of 132. DC Metro's homicide case-closure rate is currently 94 percent, which is well above the national average and an increase over the year before.

As with the national trend, crime is down everywhere, even in Charlotte but Chief Monroe's numbers with a reduction of only 6.8 percent pale in comparison to his former employer the City of Washington DC which last year reported the lowest homicide rate in 48 years.

Occupy Charlotte - Finally Charlotte City Council passed a few new city ordinances that make it easier to give the campers the boot. It is sad that council didn't have the vision to pass these rules when the DNC selected Charlotte nearly a year ago.

Here's one occupy protester they didn't write the rules for, watch as the NYPD think about what to do with a rather pissed off Marine.

The National Anthem - Steven Tyler gave the nation's worst performance on the National Anthem since Rosanne Barr, while Kristin Chenoweth sang with 49ers fans booing because of images of NY Giants players were flashed on several television screens.

Cedar's Take: Stop asking idiots to sing the national anthem, if you can't sing it without embellishment, or adding a couple of extra riffs don't sing it. There are some people who should not sing it solo, Cedar Posts is one of those, and some who should be banned from singing it ever, Steven Tyler is on that list.

Other Bad Performances - Speaking of gaffes at the microphone did you happen to see Deputy Chief Harold Medlock and Chief Rodney Monroe addressing Charlotte City Council last night? Well it was pretty sad, I've know for a number of years that Chief Monroe doesn't have a command presence. I didn't know the DC Medlock suffered from the same ailment.

DC Medlock is at about 42.20 and Chief Monroe at 1:10 and link is here.

An Example of "Command Presence"

It is backwards to fight off the copyright goon squad. (Something Cedar Posts has done to this iconic film)

Friday Promotions Ceremony - Chief Monroe has sent out an email announcing a promotion ceremony on Friday. Noticeably absent are the names of who is being promoted. I'll give you one guess and then you can be excused to go vomit. Cedar Posts would ask Rob Tufano but he would just claim it is all "bogus".

The Final Word - Yesterday WBTV aired a follow-up to the murder of Danielle Watson that story is here. Cedar Posts received word of a CMPD Dispatch Screw Up early on the Saturday Morning while off the Florida Coast. As it turns out while CMPD clearly blew it - it is doubtful that having dispatched officers to the correct location would have saved Danielle Watson.

WBTV's Sharon Smith turned up court record and convictions regarding Mark Cox's past and it was pretty clear he's one sick individual. What is surprising is that the owners of Flying Biscuit are unwilling to talk about Danielle's death or to address the issue of hiring Mark Cox.

It seems unlikely that Flying Biscuit did any sort of background check. They simply hired him for walking though the door.

It doesn't take a lot of effort to check out the person you are considering hiring. In fact Mark Cox is easy to spot on the North Carolina Department of Corrections web site and there is no charge to search the records.

Suggested Musical Interlude for Charlotte City Council Meetings

2012-01-23T15:29:00.000-05:00

Loomis Fargo Armored Car Employee Shot at Foxcroft Shopping Center In Charlotte

2012-01-23T15:21:00.009-05:00

Loomis Fargo Truck and CMPD Officer

From WCNC:

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said a Loomis Fargo employee was shot while servicing an ATM at the Foxcroft Shopping Center off of Fairview Road around 9 a.m.

According to police, one of two employees in the Loomis Fargo truck got out of the vehicle to work on an ATM. The employee was approached moments later by a man who shot her during an alleged robbery attempt.

Police said the Loomis Fargo driver got back in the truck and her co-worker called 911 and tried to drive to Carolinas Medical Center, but was instructed by a 911 operator to stop at Cavendish Court and Providence Road so the victim could receive immediate medical attention from EMTs.
The woman victim suffered a gunshot wound to the shoulder and is in serious condition at CMC, according to police.

An alert sent by police to residents in the area told them the suspect was described as a black male, wearing a grey sweatsuit. He was last seen running toward the Camden Fairington Apartments, off Valencia Terrace.

Police and FBI will not publish the amount of money taken, but Cedar Posts estimates that is could be least 10K and than more likely much more. As some 4 cartridge machines hold 40k or more in their vault.

Atlanta Georgia had a rash of Loomis Fargo ATM robberies last year at least one where a guard was also shot.

Photo of an Atlanta Georgia Loomis Fargo ATM Service Robbery from last year.

Details are very similar more about Atlanta heists here.

Cedar Posts will post a discription of the suspect as soon as CMPD or the FBI release it.

Cedar Posts Bonus: Armored car robbery is more common than you might think. Check out the reports here. Of course you can't say Loomis Fargo without saying dumb crooks, the infamous 1997 heist isn't the biggest cash haul, but is sure is the dumbest. More here.

Costa Concordia AIS Position Reports Graphic

2012-01-23T05:17:00.005-05:00

The graphic depicts the cruise ship's path before and after the grounding. The ship's position reports explain why the ship's damage is on the port (Left) side yet the rocky coast is on the starboard (Right) side. After the Concordia struck the coast on the port side the ship continued, then made a 180 degree turn to starboard in an attempt to enter the nearly port, before the ship began to list dramatically.

More photos of the Costa Concordia here.

Carnival Corporation press release on the Costa Concordia accident is here.

Charlotte Awash In Funny Money?

2012-01-22T15:55:00.007-05:00

Late Saturday CMPD Officers responded to the Regal Cinemas at the Stonecrest Shopping Center for a robbery call of sorts. While no gun was used the movie theater was still out $120.00. Thieves stole the money by passing counterfeit $20 dollar bills.

According to police officers the funny money was of very high quality and they dubbed the fakes "superbills" as they are so good the only way to tell that they are counterfeit is under ultraviolet light.

While it is hard to imagine that true "superdollars" or "superbills" (those so perfect that experts think they are the work of the Russian Mob or North Korea) are in circulation in Charlotte it is something to be on the look out for.

How to spot a fake $20 in six easy steps.

Cedar Posts emailed CMPD's Rob Tufano for additional details regarding Saturday's incident so far nothing but "Crickets".

Rodney Monroe Suspends Next CMPD Recruit Class

2012-01-22T05:56:00.003-05:00

On Friday word floated out of Chief Rodney Monroe's office that he was suspending the next CMPD officer recruit training class. The next class was to begin February 4th. The Chief justified the cancellation by saying that the suspension of training will save money.

It is unclear if the suspension is for the class to begin in February or the following class.

If the rumor is true it will be the first time in the history of CMPD that training has been suspended.

But that may only be half the story. Word is that the North Carolina Justice Academy is in the process of revoking or suspending CMPD's training certification, because of the ongoing finger print and records scandal.

Attorney General Roy Cooper's office has been in the process of auditing CMPD's records and apparently found hundred's of missing documents, including medical records, social security numbers, back ground check paper work and FBI finger print cards.

Word is that the audit also found fault in policy and testing.

This is not the first time, testing has been an issue at Charlotte Police Academy. Cheating and then a request to provide answers to help Chief Monroe memorize the questions and correct answers has seen more than one CMPD staffer thrown under the bus in the past. It will be interesting to see who the Chief volunteers this time.

Cedar Posts emailed CMPD's Rob Tufano for clarification and confirmation regarding the training class cancellation, and NCDOJ audit Saturday but as usual nothing but crickets.

MONDAY UPDATE:

Cedar Post might have this one wrong, word late Friday was the the February 4th class is still on. No additional details about the NCJA audit, might this rumor be bogus as well, we shall see.

Cedar's Take: If this proves true, I would expect Charlotte City Council will call Monroe in for a private chat. After an expensive recruiting junket to Puerto Rico last year, pricey new uniforms, office renovations, and spending like there is no tomorrow it strikes Cedar Posts as really poor management to shut down the Police Academy and cancel any recruit class.

Gay Plate For South Carolina

2012-01-22T05:00:00.004-05:00

Following in the footsteps of Maryland and, recently, Indiana, South Carolina will now offer a pro–LGBT equality license plate.

South Carolina's "Gay" tags cost $25, with half of that money going to the South Carolina Equality Foundation.

Following a protracted battle, Indiana recently began offering LGBT plates, with funds going to support a gay youth organization. Maryland was the first state to offer LGBT-related plates a few years back.

“The license plate was created as a way of allowing residents of South Carolina to publicly display their support of community, culture and policy that encourages and advocates for equal treatment for all South Carolinians, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity,” the group said in an email to supporters.

Cedar's Take: I'm all for it, takes the guess work out of why that girl in from of me has a buzz cut and eight dogs and is driving a Subaru with a rainbow flag.

Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Satellite Photo

2012-01-21T19:31:00.004-05:00

With permission from DigitalGlobe

The commercial satellite operator DigitalGlobe released the high-resolution satellite image of the Costa Concordia, which was taken on January 17, four days after the luxury cruise liner capsized.

Italy's Isola del Giglio, where the ship ran aground, is pictured on the left hand side of the photo. To the right, the Mediterranean Sea separates the island from the Italian mainland, about ten miles to the east.

Last week as news of the Costa Concordia cruise ship accident spread, Cedar Posts was captaining a yacht heading to Ft. Lauderdale.

Along for the trip were five Norwegian Caribbean Cruise Lines executives including two former cruise ship captains. It is considered bad luck to criticize another captain's misfortune, but my Norwegian friends were quick to point out that the shore line of Italy's Isola del Giglio, where the ship ran aground is clearly charted and marked and unlike the shifting sounds and harbors along the Florida and Georgia Coast the location of underwater hazards on that island haven't changed in 2000 years.

My iPad was a big hit as I down loaded dozens of high-res photos while 30 miles off the Florida coast. They were surprised at the loss of life, and were very concerned how the general public will view the tragedy and how it will affect the tourist season and cruise industry.

More cool photos from DigitalGlobe are here.

Waffle House Robber Gunned Down By Customer

2012-01-21T15:20:00.006-05:00

From the Associated Press wire service:
SPARTANBURG, S.C. The Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office says a man attempting to rob a local Waffle House at gunpoint was shot and killed by a customer carrying a concealed weapon.

Lt. Tony Ivey says two men entered the restaurant early Saturday morning and at least one was carrying a handgun. A customer with a concealed weapons permit drew his gun, and fired when one of the suspects pointed the weapon at him.

Spartanburg County Coroner Charles Clevenger identified the dead man as Dante Lamont Williams of Roebuck, who turned 19 years old on Saturday.

The second suspect fled the restaurant after Williams was shot. Ivey says it's not clear if the other person was wounded in the shooting.

No customers or employees were hurt in the incident.

UPDATE SUNDAY 8PM:

Authorities in South Carolina have charged a man with robbery in a botched holdup at a Waffle House that left another suspect dead.

Spartanburg County Sheriff's Lt. Tony Ivey says 29-year-old Kenneth Jowan Craig was arrested late Saturday night and charged with armed robbery and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

Investigators say Craig and 19-year-old Dante Lamont Williams tried to rob the restaurant early Saturday morning. A customer with a concealed weapons permit drew his gun and told the men to wait for sheriff's deputies to arrive.

Ivey says Williams pointed his gun at the customer, who shot and killed him.

Craig is being held at the Spartanburg County jail. Bond had not been set by Sunday afternoon. It wasn't immediately clear if he has a lawyer.

Sarah Burke September 3, 1982 - January 19, 2012

2012-01-21T06:38:00.001-05:00

Too Soon, Too Young, Too Pretty, Too Smart, Too Talanted - this is for Sarah Burke.

The Mountain

It's just after 4 and the lift line is no longer a line. I slide in, catch a chair just as the ropes go up closing the line for the day.

The chairs going down The Mountain have their seats flipped up to keep the snow off of them during the night. But it's also a symbolic gesture to The Mountain that says we are done for today.

The soft rumble of another tower and a hard wind lets me know I'm about half way to the top of The Mountain. A few boarders slip over the ridge line below, as a lone employee passes me going in the opposite direction, for he is done today as well.

The air gets colder and the wind blows even harder as I near the top and the skiers are extremely few. Most are in a hurry to get off The Mountain.

The bar goes up and I slide off the lift with a hard push to the right "taking a road less traveled".

The last run is always my time, just me and The Mountain. I risk freezing to death on The Mountain at night and avoid the ski patrol making their last sweep of the area by ducking into the tree line and coming to a stop. I wait, as the red jackets glide by, escorting the last of the other skiers down the slopes.

Daylight fades swiftly and soon I am the only person on The Mountain. I pick a groomed intermediate trail and take my time. Before long I've stopped again. I don't want to leave, not now not ever. The silence is deafening. The silence is paralyzing, mesmerizing, seducing, and intoxicating. The silence is the way The Mountain really is, for this is how The Mountain was before and will be after. She spends her nights in silence.

I push off again; quick pole plant and pivot down a double black diamond run known as "Birds of Prey", it's steep, with an easy rhythm and a short jump I get a little air, a prefect landing as I continue to push my limits. It's a world cup run but gets little use so there's plenty of good snow. The silence is replaced only by the sound of my skis against The Mountain and the rush of the wind.

I break off just before the run goes to vertical and cruise down a long wide blue trail.

Speed is all relative and with no one around I press the edges only slightly and let them run. A trail crossing and another chance for air, this time big and long, I tuck and travel fifty feet before touching down gently and making a big sweeping turn up slope to bleed off some speed. I love big fast sweeping turns.

Without the sun the Colorado air has turned cold. The speed and the rush of wind feels like flight and heaven all at the same time, but the cold is a reminder that it is only The Mountain.

She gives freely this feeling of flight, of being very alive and of limitless freedom, for these are The Mountain's greatest gifts.

I slide into a stop at the top of Centennial Trail, with Beaver Creek village still 1000 feet below. Further down valley I can follow the trail of red tail lights to the Town of Avon.

The smell of a hundred burning fireplaces fills the air, punctuated with the sound of a dog barking five miles down valley. The clanking of a snow plow working a parking lot far below before the next snow fall. The chains on the shuttle bus making the last stops of the day. I want to go back, back up, higher where there is no sound but the wind.

There's a plane overhead, perhaps 35 thousand feet or more and the silence is interrupted by sound of engines trailing far behind, along a silver shimmering contrail illuminated by the full moon. A moon that will guide my final turns back to the real world filled with laughter and the sounds of china, silver and glass. A band tries hard to cover Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA, but the timing is off and I pray for silence.

Looking out over the starkness of fresh power and a full moon, where even at midnight there is so much light that I can pick out of my favorite runs. Even the moguls look more menacing under a full moon. The bumps, this year I've noticed I have avoided them completely.

As the night progresses, lights on the mountain will appear, they will move in pairs, two lights moving in tandem back and forth and up and down the long ribbons of silvery white. The snow cats work throughout the darkness and into the new day. They work against the silence of The Mountain.

I must be getting older, because I find myself wanting to spend more time on The Mountain in silence taking it all in and less time racing to the bottom.

All of this reminds me of what I have always accepted, that The Mountain will win, and one day I'll become one with her and the silence, and I will find the peace offered by The Mountain for all eternity and one day, only The Mountain will remain.

CMPD's Vicki Foster To Be Promoted to Deputy Chief?

2012-01-20T11:31:00.001-05:00

The water cooler talk this AM is that Rodney Monroe will put his executive officer Vicki Foster's name before the Civil Service Board on Tuesday February 7th with the idea of promoting her to Deputy Chief.

Nothing could be a more divisive and pig headed move by Chief Monroe.

Monroe has tried this before, but Foster's personal antics prevented the promotion from moving forward. First it was her past due Mecklenburg and City of Charlotte property taxes, then her connection with a private security firm MVP, then a rant against non-Christians on Youtube, followed by the Walka Focka Flame shooting, and her Real Estate Side Business.

Foster who seldom wears her uniform and was most recently seen yammering away on her cell phone during Tuesday's press conference has all the signs of someone not worthy of the title Deputy Chief even though she has been paid at just under the DC rate since 2010.

Foster is well known for being abrasive at best and neurotic nut case when things are not going to her liking. The general consensus is that should she be promoted to the DC position she will receive neither praise or acceptance by CMPD boots on the street.

So here is your chance to end this idea once and for all. The names and email addresses of Charlotte's Civil Service board members follows as does a sample letter.

Faison Kuester - Chair Faison.Kuester@kuester.com

Norris Anderson - Nand1045@aol.com

Karen Burke - Kmburke1@yahoo.com

German De Castro - Gdc6337@juno.com

Henderson Hill - Henderson_Hill@fd.org

Brenda Johnson - beelady@carolina.rr.com

Jason McGrath - Jason@McGrathSpielberger.com

Faison.Kuester@kuester.com, Nand1045@ aol.com, Kmburke1@yahoo.com, Gdc6337@juno.com,
Henderson_Hill@fd.org, beelady@carolina.rr.com, Jason@McGrathSpielberger.com

SAMPLE LETTER:

Re Veronica Foster Promotion Request

Dear Charlotte Civil Service Board Members,

It has come to my attention that CMPD Chief Rodney Monroe will seek your approval to promote Major Veronica Foster to the position of Deputy Chief. I am certain that if you thoroughly review Ms. Foster's past record and carefully consider her character you will not approve this promotion.

The office of Deputy Chief should be reserved for only the highest calibre of Police Officer CMPD has within its ranks, someone who is above reproach, who has given 110% to the department and the community, and is without question of the highest level of integrity.

Qualities that I strongly feel Ms. Foster lacks.

Thank you for your time, and your service to the community.

Sincerely,

Cedar's Take: While it would be very unusual for the Civil Service Board not to approve the promotion for Foster, at least your letter will let the board know they are being watched.

Chief Monroe's Recipe for Cooking The Crime Numbers

2012-01-20T09:54:00.001-05:00

Just before midnight on January 18, 2011 a black SUV roars up North Tryon street. When the driver nears Interstate 85, he takes the service road that leads to a small northeast Charlotte neighborhood of modest sized homes.

A minute later the SUV pulls into the cul-de-sac on Kingville Drive, as the driver pulls slowly past the mailbox checking the address, the SUV's headlights wash across the front of the house, flooding the living room of the home with a noticeable flash of light.

Instinctively Marquis Owens one of 3 people home, looks out the front window and watches as the SUV comes to a stop. A second later one of the occupants gets out of the vehicle. Owens would later recall. “I looked out the window. I was like, ‘Everybody on the ground, they're about to start shooting.’

In all more than 20 bullets rip into the house, one of the bullets hits Kilona Gettys. The 18 year old screams out in pain as the SUV speeds away. She is later taken to Carolinas Medical Center for treatment of her gunshot wounds and a few days later released.

Marquis Owens and another man Kenneth Witherspoon who was also inside the home are not injured.

Photos of the crime scene here and WSOC TV's coverage of the attack is here.

A year later Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Chief Rodney Monroe is standing with other CMPD Command Staff touting the department's most recent reduction in crime.

"The numbers are going down because these officers are working in the neighborhoods," Monroe tells the gathered media, "Look at the homicide numbers, They're coming down. I can't fudge that."

During his remarks, Monroe cited help from community organizations in helping cut the crime rate.

Monroe also defended his department's compilation of crime statistics, saying he's "willing to listen" to anyone who can prove the numbers are not accurate. Monroe said police follow the criminal code, adding, "The code is clear. We follow that." (Monroe might indeed follow "the criminal code" but in this case he means the UCR Code.)

But the person he should ask was standing only a few feet away, talking on her cell phone.

Major Vicki Foster as head of CMPD Criminal Investigations unit is responsible for the way crimes are reported.

It is at Foster's direction the attempted murder of Kilona Gettys, Marquis Owens and the third man is reported as a single crime, and classified under the UCR as an aggravated assault. Anyone searching for the incident via CMPD's crime mapping system would see only the UCR classification not the real crime report as filed by CMPD officers.

While Chief Monroe is telling reporters that his staff report crimes accurately, the facts tell a different story.

The above police report lists the offense as aggravated assault even though the crime is clearly nothing less than "assault with a deadly weapon" or attempted murder. To see the real report and really what happened you need to know the the secret codes. Cedar Posts has saved you the trouble. The actual report as filed by CMPD Officers is here.

It is the UCR that gives Chief Monroe cover to use the numbers and the rules of reporting to tell the public that crime is down. You'll notice every time he talks he adds emphasis that he's following the code.

Standing next to Vicki Foster is Deputy Chief Kerr Putney who recently stated that the commercial larceny statistics had shown an increase because of break-ins at mini-storage facilities. Putney went on the say that CMPD is required to report one crime per victim or rented space. But apparently that is not the case as City News Watch turned up several reports showing just the opposite.

On Tuesday Chief Monroe reported to Charlotte's Media the following general numbers. These numbers were reprinted by the Charlotte Observer.

Homicides: 55 - down 6.8 percent

Robberies: 1,612 - down 10.2 percent

Rapes: 211 - down 8.7 percent

Aggravated assaults: 2,901 - up 3.8 percent

Residential burglaries: 6,352 - down 13 percent

Commercial burglaries: 2,184 - up 8.1 percent

Vehicle thefts: 2,665 - down 21.2 percent

Larcenies: 21,369 - down 5.9 percent

Arson: 159 - down 19.8 percent

Just one little problem, the Arson number is transposed, it is actually 195 and the Vehicle theft number is from 2010, as the correct number for 2011 is 2101.

The report prepared by Major Foster's office is littered with errors and miscalculations. Check out the headings on page two here.

Yet with these clear errors being shown to the media, typos and transpositions no one bothered to ask how such a dramatic cut in Auto Theft was achieved.

Pretty simple actually if everyone who steals a car is charged with "Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle" the Vehicle theft numbers fall.

Trouble is CMPD officers got carried away with the project to reduce felony auto theft. So where did CMPD hide 564 auto theft crimes? Just look at the increase in Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle"arrests according to one source with the department the number is 24.5 percent higher than 2010.

Cedar's Take: Clearly something is wrong with the way CMPD is reporting crime.

If we are going to rate the Chief's job performance on reduction of crime numbers rather than the effective and cost efficient management of the department why are the numbers being prepared by the chief's office?

Shouldn't there be an audit of these numbers at least on a bi-annual basis?

If I can find errors by just reading over the report, imagine what a real audit would turn up.

Thursday's Odd and Ends

2012-01-19T07:09:00.003-05:00

DNC 2012 - Is being promoted as the "Most Open Convention" in history. So there is something a miss because at the start of yesterday's six hour "Media Tour" DNC staffers told the 500 or so media types gathered that remarks made during the day long event would be off the record.

In other words media day was top secret and not to be reported.

But leave it to local trouble maker Mark Washburn to make waves with his "How odd: A secret meeting only the media could attend" story in today's Observer which is here. WBT's Chris Miller was pulled aside after he tweeted that the meeting was "off the record" and Jarvis Holliday who is writing for Charlotte Magazine reported the say theme in his column which is here.

Cedar's Take: The Paranoia spreads.

US Airways - thinks passengers are idiots. I'm pretty sure they are right, most passengers don't know that they are being fed a constant diet of bull shit while seated in their cramped seats like cattle.

Aside from the debate about cell phone and iPad use, the one thing that really grinds my gears is Flight Attendant Nazis claiming "We have been cleared to land" even though the aircraft is clearly more than ten miles from the runway.

For the record, your captain is not cleared to land until your aircraft in the only one on the approach and the runway is clear, this is normally inside 2 miles.

When asked US Airways flight attendants claim its an "FAA requirement". Of course they lie again.

In fact the prelanding announcement is not even required, from FAA AC No: 121-24C

"A prelanding briefing is recommended and should include the following: seat belts must be securely fastened; smoking materials must be extinguished; tray tables must be secured in their stowed position; seat backs must be in a fully upright position; food, beverages, or tableware must be picked up; and carry-on baggage and movie/video screens must be properly stowed for landing."

Cedar's Take: Dear US Airways there is no requirement to "lie". Look for "Ten Lies Your Flight Crew Tells You" Next week.

CMPD's Missing Fingerprint Cards - The saga continues. Sounds like the State Justice Academy is about to release their audit of CMPD and the results aren't going to be pretty. The biggest area of concern will be records and that will include the MIA fingerprint cards.

The main concern is how many of Chief Monroe's recruits have gaping holes in their background checks because the documentation is missing. With DNC 2012 right around the corner this is not good news.

CMPD Epic Fails Look Back Project

2012-01-18T19:53:00.003-05:00

The Charlotte Observer's Tommy Tomlinson tried a social experiment a few months back. I'd guess it didn't work out so well. Tomlinson's idea was to ask for readers to play a part in the telling of a story.

The trouble was/is Tomlinson was a better writer than 99.9 percent of his readers. Cedar Posts doesn't have that problem and so I hope this works out a little better.

Here is my idea, every time some major fiasco, management failure, lie, death, or cover-up is exposed another one takes its place and the media runs after the newest "big CMPD story" and the public forgets the now "old news".

Tanisha Williams replaced Lavatae Evans the rapist who was released only to rape another victim minutes after CMPD Detectives let him walk. Now Tanisha Williams has been eclipsed by the death of Danielle Watson.

These failures taken one at a time are not so severe as to demand that Chief Monroe resign, but the baggage is adding up. The trouble is keeping track of all the misdeeds, something Cedar Posts finds overwhelming. And so a plea for help.

Name your top ten CMPD screw ups, lies, misdeeds or tragic mistakes, post it as a comment along with the date the "event" happened.

I've already named three:

Tanisha Williams CMPD Officers look the other way.
Lavatae Evans given a free pass only to rape less than 20 mins after being questioned.
CMPD Dispatch confuses Plums with Flying and Danielle Watson dies.

Here are two more:

Deputy Chief Katrina Garue misplaces 50 brand new CMPD Police Cars.
Officer hit by stay bullet, CMPD explains it as a "paint ball" attack.

The "events" that get meantioned the most will posted first, then we'll keep the list on the sidebar and keep a running record as the hits keep coming.

Chief Monroe Promotes Lower Crime Numbers - Again

2012-01-18T05:23:00.006-05:00

Majors Vicki Foster (Sans Uniform and on her cell phone), Doug Gallant, Kerr Putney, Capt Martha Dozier, Deputy Chiefs Harold Medlock and Katrina Graue at Wendover Road CMPD Office.

WFAE's Lisa Miller has the details here.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said the number of crimes dropped 7.1 percent last year, a development that Chief Rodney Monroe credited largely to officers keeping a close eye on potential criminals before they struck.

Monroe also defended his department's compilation of crime statistics, saying he's "willing to listen" to anyone who can prove the numbers are not accurate.

Monroe said the results show that hard work by police and cooperation with the district attorney's office and the community is paying off.

"Knowing who are offenders are, and paying close attention to them, has paid off," said Monroe, citing CMPD's strategy to focus on repeat offenders." That was the lowest number of homicides this city has seen since 1988, and we had a 96 percent clearance rate for homicides," he said.

Monroe countered criticism from some in the community that CMPD has manufactured lower crime numbers by the way in which they classify incidents.

One Charlotte-based blog site says numbers are lowered by classifying crimes to less-severe categories, such as vehicle thefts reported instead as "unauthorized use of motor vehicles," or drive-by shootings as "damage to property."

"The numbers are going down because these officers are working in the neighborhoods," Monroe countered. "Look at the homicide numbers, or the number of Crime Stoppers tips coming in.

They're coming down. I can't fudge that."Monroe said police follow the criminal code, adding, "The code is clear. We follow that."

Totals from the 2011 crime statistics report:

Homicides: 55 ... decrease of 6.8 percent.

Robberies: 1,612 ... 10.2 percent drop.

Rapes: 211 ... 8.7 percent decrease.

Aggravated assaults: 2,901 ... increase of 3.8 percent.

Residential burglaries: 6,352 ... 13 percent drop.

Commercial burglaries: 2,184 ... 8.1 percent hike.

Vehicle thefts: 2,665 ... down 21.2 percent.

Larcenies: 21,369 ... down 5.9 percent.

Arson: 159 ... 19.8 percent drop.

Cedar's Take: Magic with numbers, in October and November CMPD Officers arrested 32 suspects and charged them with unauthorized use, during that same time 6 suspects were charged with felony auto theft. There sure are a lot of people borrowing their neighbors cars.

Nordstrom Rock(s)

2012-01-17T22:38:00.002-05:00

Homicide in Ballantyne CMPD Major Screw Up _ Updated

2012-01-14T14:55:00.003-05:00

The failure of so many caused the death of a young expectant mother.

So many are to blame in the stabbing death of Danielle Watson that is is hard to know where to start. But anyone who has ever called CMPDs 911 system and had a waste of time conversation with the person on the other end may understand my anger. Now the police, 911, prisons, courts and others have come together to cause a young mother' to be's stocking and tragic death.

Start with the fiance' why did it take his mind nearly two hours to think something might be wrong? If my girlfriend worked nights in Charlotte and didn't answer for 15 mins after hearing some commotion in the back ground, I'd be my way.

I can't tell you how many times I've called 911 and felt like I'd just called the hope and pray line only to be put on hold and then had to left a message. It starts with "911, do you need Police Fire or Medic?" How about let me tell you rather than waste seconds before I can even speak. Charlotte's 911 Operators must have telecommunications equipment made at the turn of the last century. Why can't they get the address right the first time?

I would describe the Flying Biscuit as in the Stonecrest Shopping Center corner of Rea and Ballantyne Commons Parkway next to Chick Fil A. But I'd be willig to bet the farm that CMPD's 911 Operators would insist on having an address. Cedar Posts has asked for a copy of the 911 Call. Nothing but crickets from CMPD.

Seriously how does Flying Biscuit become Plum Biscuit? I could understand Spying Biscuit,Trying Biscuit, Lying Trisect.

When the Officer went to an address that was not a business, why wasn't Watson's boyfriend called back? Give the details why did he go out to a resisu

How did this piece of crap get out of jail in the first place? Did the Flying Biscuit really hire this scumm?

Detectives conducting a homicide investigation in the South Division

Detectives with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Homicide Unit are conducting a homicide investigation related to the robbery of The Flying Biscuit Café, located at 7930 Rea Road in the South Division. The initial call for service came in at 6:24 a.m., on Saturday, January 14, 2012, in regards to what was thought at the time to be a larceny. The victim has been identified as Danielle Marie Watson, DOB: 04/29/1986.

South Division patrol officers responded to the Flying Biscuit early this morning in reference to a suspected larceny. As officers were still on the scene conducting their investigation, they were notified by an employee of Allied Waste Services that a body was behind the trash dumpster that he was attempting to empty. The body was that of Ms. Watson, an employee of the Flying Biscuit. At this time, Ms. Watson’s vehicle is unaccounted for. We are asking that if anyone sees her vehicle, that they call 911 immediately. The vehicle is a 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier two door, NC registration: ZYX1952; baby blue in color. A photo of the actual vehicle is attached to this e-mail. The investigation is in its early stages. As additional information develops, it will be released by CMPD Public Affairs.

Crime Scene Search responded to the call for service to process the scene and collect physical evidence. Detectives with the Robbery Unit responded to the scene to assist in the investigation. Representatives of the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Homicide Prosecution Team responded to the scene as well

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 704-432-TIPS and speak directly to a Homicide Unit Detective. Detective Morales is the lead detective assigned to the case. In addition, you may also call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600. For additional information, reference CMPD complaint number 2012-0114-062401.

Robert P. Fey | Public Affairs Office
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
601 East Trade Street | Charlotte, NC 28202
rfey@cmpd.org
704.336.2338 o | 704.619.4169 c

Update Saturday 11:59 PM

During the course of the investigation, it was determined that Ms. Watson’s fiancee received a phone call which led him to believe that there was some type of commotion at the Flying Biscuit, at 7930 Rea Road. The phone call was an open line; there was no communication. The fiancé received the phone call at approximately 10:15 p.m. As time went on, the fiancé became more concerned for Ms. Watson’s safety. After Ms. Watson failed to respond to repeated text messages and phone calls, her fiancé called 911 at 12:05 a.m., on Saturday, January 14, 2012, to report that he needed the police to respond to the Flying Biscuit. He told 911 that Ms. Watson called him and hung up abruptly and that he heard some type of commotion in the background and believed that the business was being robbed.

A call for service was entered for a non-existent business named Plum Biscuits at 3930 Rea Road. The officer responded to the address, which was a private residence and did not receive an answer at the door. The officer then drove to a nearby shopping complex to attempt to locate any businesses that matched the name of Plum Biscuits. Due to the address entered into the call, the officer did not respond to the Flying Biscuit.

Detectives have signed warrants on Mark Anthony Cox, DOB: 11/05/1989, charging him with the murder of Ms. Watson and two counts of Armed Robbery. Mr. Cox was a co-worker of Ms. Watson; he has not yet been arrested. We are asking that anyone who knows the whereabouts of Mr. Cox please call 911 immediately. In addition, it is believed that Mr. Cox fled the scene in Ms. Watson’s car, which has still not been located. The vehicle description is a 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier two door, NC registration: ZYX1952; baby blue in color.

Charlotte Police Department's "Mama Berry"

2012-01-11T02:08:00.007-05:00

Martha Berry
(July 4, 1920 - January 9, 2012)

Martha Armstrong Berry, known to her CMPD family as "Mama Berry" was 91 when she passed away Monday, January 9, 2012 with her family by her side.

Martha was born in Charlotte, NC July 4, 1920 to the late Joseph and Vernie Armstrong.

A service to celebrate the life of Martha Berry will be held 11:00 am Thursday, January 12, 2012 at Heritage Funeral Home, Indian Trail Chapel. Funeral Service will be held at Thursday, January 12, 2012 at Heritage Funeral Home, Indian Trail Chapel. Burial will follow the service at Forest Lawn West Cemetery on Freedom Drive.

The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.

In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by her husband Raymond, daughter and son in law Betty Ann and Larry Burkett; sisters Betty Hannah , Ruth Armstrong and brothers Joe, Sidney and Charles Armstrong.

Martha is survived by her children; Jim Berry and wife Amanda of Denver, NC, Raymond Berry and wife Judie of Charlotte, Joe Berry of Atlanta, GA, Sally Howie and husband Bill of Charlotte; eight grandchildren; Erica Pifer (Graham), Kim Drummond (Mark), Meredith Post (Russell), Chris Burkett, Jennifer Watson (Charles), Chip Berry (Molly), Allison George (Brad) and Kellie Bowers (Jay), 17 great grandchildren; a sister , Evelyn Mitchum and numerous nieces and nephews.

Martha worked for the Charlotte Police Department from 1959 - 1987. She served in many positions during her time at CPD but she was best known as being “Mama Berry” to many sworn and non sworn employees as she guided them through their careers through her knowledge of her work and her love for her CPD family. After retirement Martha worked in the CMPD gift shop for many years.

Martha was an active member of Idewild ARP Church until she moved to The Cove at Wilora Lake where she attended church there.

The family would like to thank the staff at The Cove at Wilora Lake and The Haven at Highland Creek for their excellent care the last few years.

In lieu of flowers the family request memorial contributions to be made to Alzheimer’s Association- Western Carolina Division, 3800 Shamrock Drive, Charlotte, NC 28215 On-line condolences may be left to http://www.blogger.com/www.heritagefuneral.net.

The Berry family is in the care of Heritage Funeral Home, Indian Trail Chapel.

Note to CMPD Officers from Martha's daughter Sally Howie:

My family and I would consider it a honor and privilege if anyone in our police family would like to be a pallbearer. The funeral is Thursday at 11:00 a.m. at the Heritage Funeral Home, Old Monroe Road, Indian Trail N.C. Burial will follow at Forest Lawn West Cemetery on Freedom Dr.

Email Cedar Posts for Sally's phone number if you can help with the service.

Tuesday Odds and Ends

2012-01-10T09:01:00.008-05:00

CMPD Promotions - The new rank of Lieutenant is official at CMPD. But new it is not the Charlotte Police Department had the rank years back but eliminated it to save costs and eliminate too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

So much for saving money under Chief Monroe, the new Lieutenants will cost taxpayers plenty, in fact the uniforms alone are well over $25,000.00. Then there are the 13 RAC's who did not make Lieutenant but are being paid at the pay rate approved for Lieutenant because you can give officers a raise and a promotion but you can't take it away without a civil service board hearing.

According to sources Chief Monroe told the 13 who were not promoted to Lieutenants that their supervisory job was really only a "temporary assignment" but several of the RACS asked how could something be temporary that lasted over 3 years? Chief asked them in so many words just to be "good people" and do as they were told that in the end they would be taken care of. But for now for now they will return to the role of a sergeant but with more pay than their coworkers.

In order to hopefully avoid another lawsuit, CMPD is toying with the idea of making the unlucky 13 "Staff Sergeants" or maybe Junior Grade Lieutenants

Cedar's Take: Another brilliant idea out of Chief Monroe's office, add another layer of bureaucracy and added expense.

Occupy Charlotte now has access to DOD data on non lethal weapons, thanks to a leaked document which has been posted here. Actually it is very cool "gouge" and as much fun as L.L.Bean sporting equipment catalog with a considerably nasty component.

Example:

Modular Crowd Control Munition (MCCM)

Currently fielded by USA
Lead Agency: USA
Concept of Employment: Used at entry control points, for crowd control and other defensive actions. Capability Effect: Blunt impact.
Target Type: Counter-Personnel
Description: The MCCM has the same dimensions as a standard Claymore Mine (8”X1.3”X3”) and weighs ~ 6 lbs. Each MCCM contains 600, 0.32 Caliber Neoprene Rubber Balls

The back story is that Occupy Charlotte is getting help from all type of sources and may not be at disorganized as they seem. More about this from Robert Tiford here.

More On In Custody Suicides - The point here is failure to follow directives is never a good thing. This could have been a multiple fatality incident.

WARNING THIS IS GRAPHIC

A suspect facing a number of charges including shooting a deputy, (who survived) calmly pulls a .45 cannon from his waist band and kills himself while seated in a police interrogation room. The back story is here. The officers and deputies involved were all disciplined but no one was fired. The family sued and settled out of court. The LA Times story is here.

As with the Williams case crazy people came out of no where and claimed all sorts of nuttyness, he was executed, he was a Muslim terrorist and so on. And then there were the hate filled posted comment about the illegal Mexican needed to die, of course Ricardo Alfonso Cerna was Guatemalan.

Open Mike Night at Charlotte City Council

2012-01-10T05:17:00.005-05:00

Chris Bokis is all wrapped up.

Last night Charlotte's City Council turned on the mike, set up the 3 minute timer and converted council chambers into the Star Wars Mos Eisley Cantina.

Mainly a collection of freaks, misfits and outcasts stepped up to demand that council not approve the Gestapo like crowd-control ordinances formulated to prepare the city for September's Democratic National Convention.

The Charlotte Observer reports:

Nearly 30 Occupy protesters spoke at the council meeting, all in opposition to the proposed ordinances. A handful of speakers and audience members gagged themselves with yellow "Do Not Cross" crime-scene tape to show their disapproval.

Police escorted two speakers out of the meeting after they repeatedly violated the three-minute speaker time limit.

"I have more to say," Occupy protester Scottie Wingfield said as she was being escorted out.

"So do I," replied Mayor Anthony Foxx. While the government isn't allowed to limit the content of free speech, he said, it is allowed to restrict the manner of the speech.

"You are citizens and do have the right to speak to your government," said Foxx. "The purpose of the ordinances is to protect you, protect the general public and balance those protections with the freedom of speech."

Charlotte City Attorney Bob Hagemann has said the city will probably have a designated "protest zone," with amplification equipment for groups wishing to be heard during the convention. It will also probably have a designated route for people or groups to march.

"What is this about 'free-speech zones?' " asked Beth Henry, who spoke in opposition. "I thought our whole country was a free-speech zone."

Missed on the MSM where a couple of voices in support of ending the Occupy Charlotte Camping trip. Matthew Ridenhour offered "Free speech is not being banned, just camping overnight on city property. Pack up at night and come back the next morning".

Susan Stabley with the Business Journal was so bored she started tweeting what council members were eating: "James Smuggie Mitch is eating as apple. It looks like the most delicious apple ever" and the well timed "David Howard is eating chips, maybe Fritos".

But her zinger of the night: "I'm going to call it, this audience from occupyclt is rowdier than the pygmy goat supporters".

Cedar's Take: The "whole" mess is brought to you by the same people who gave you the DNC Convention and it is only going to get worse.

Most of Charlotte, the people you don't see at the Mos Eisley Cantina work hard, pay taxes, spends a weekend at the beach and takes a drive in the mountains in the fall.

We have simple lives and enjoy simple things. A Panther's game when a friend scores a couple of extra tickets, a run along tree lined streets in the spring. March Madness, Dogs Days, NASCAR, Sweet Tea and Cheerwine.

But come September all hell is going to break out and we would just as soon the DNC was being held in St. Louis.

How the Tanisha Williams Case Might Stack Up In Court

2012-01-09T09:45:00.001-05:00

Mine is not a very popular opinion, that CMPD officers failed in their handling of the Tanisha Williams' arrest.

But the facts, department directives, court cases where the appellate courts have affirmed, and the actions of CMPD Officers support the belief that CMPD failed to correctly handle the situation.

The opposing views are disturbing, but somewhat understandable, no one wants to think that our Police department is poorly trained and lacks proper supervision.

But some of the hateful comments from the general public are troubling:

"She killed herself, one less ghetto rat to breed, good riddance, one less animal on the streets, she did it to herself"

and so on, which do very little to objectively understand the case.

Many people feel the police are helpless to prevent someone who is intent on committing suicide. However if police can't prevent the suicide of someone in their custody, then how can the public expect police to protect them from homicide or other violent crimes?

The Question No One Wants to Ask

And then there is the question that everyone avoids, would Tanisha Williams' have received the same treatment (arrest and unsupervised prolonged detention) from CMPD Officers if she were a white teenager shoplifting in a South Charlotte store?

Even politicians like Charlotte City Council member Andy Dulin have weighed in:

"I support the CMPD on this issue. Our Officers are well trained and I believe they acted appropriately. I trust the investigation will reveal that as well."

Politicians always support the Police, so that is not a surprise but Dulin has stuck his neck out saying he blindly believes CMPD Officers are well trained and acted appropriately.

This is clearly NOT a case of Police Brutality, though the Black Nationalist Network claims there are many signs of Police Brutality. Their take on the case is here.

And then there is a little local flavor and commentary from the "Masked Hoodlum"

But somewhere in the middle is the truth, to start with no one at Cedar Posts is claiming that CMPD Officers did anything to directly cause Ms. Williams' death.

However if a court should find that CMPD Officers violated Ms. Williams civil rights under section 1983 it could have very widespread impact on the department.

The trouble that lies ahead is rooted in the civil rights movement of the 1960's. Many police departments are sued, some on a daily basis, but when a case jumps up to a Civil Rights case, it usually means big trouble and in some instances imprisonment for those found to have violated the law.

Deliberate Indifference

The term is "deliberate indifference" and it will become the buzz word when people speak of this case, for it is the required standard to find a Police Departments liable for failing to protect the lives of those in custody.

Once CMPD officers took Williams into custody they assumed responsibility for her welfare.

The police, as a general rule, owe no duty to the world at large to protect them from harm. However, once a person becomes a prisoner, a different set of rules applies. The place and conditions of confinement are under the control of the officers and the department. Having had her freedom taken away, Williams was no longer in a position to do things for herself.

With her hands cuffed behind her Williams may not have been able to push herself back up to reduce the tension on the seat belt and restore her breathing. Because she had been deprived the use of her hands she would not have been unable to remove the seat belt that in her rage tightened around her neck.

Automatic seat belts like those in a Chevrolet Impala are self tensioning. The extend to the full length when pulled slowly but "lock and tension" when pulled abruptly.

According to witnesses Williams was highly agitated and belligerent even before she was placed in the confines of the Chevy Impala. Williams is not of slight build so the smaller space of the Impala unlike that of a Crown Victoria may have also contributed to Ms. Williams death.

The close quarters allowed Williams to repeatedly strike her head on the Plexiglas screen, by some accounts as many as two dozen times. Had she been secured in a seat belt she may not have been able to maneuver in such a way to wrap a seat belt around her neck.

Also the location of the CMPD cruiser in relation to the brick column may have prevented Officers from maintaining a clear view of the suspect even when they were standing nearby.

Tanisha Williams apparently doesn't have a history of mental illness, she is without a history of attempting suicide in the past, and no one has yet come forward saying she had talked of taking her own life. This lack of history on one hand tends to rule out deliberate suicide and on the other hand makes it unlikely that Officers would have recognized her as being suicidal.

What CMPD Officers didn't do is recognize Ms. Williams agitated state as a possible medical condition known as "excited delirium", rather they assumed and understandably so that Williams was doing what many African Americans do when they interact with Police Officer and object to being arrested. Sadly the hysterics are common place and almost routine for CMPD Officers.

This acceptance of these common place antics may have contributed to the Officer's "indifference".

In a court case like this the usual claim is that the police officers knew or should have known the person was suicidal or in danger, but took no steps to prevent the suicide or injury. Simply failing to do enough is negligence.

However for the case to step up to a civil rights liability case, the constitutional standard is "deliberate indifference", not just negligence.

This requires that the officers knew or should have known that there was a danger, yet they took no steps either to eliminate the danger or to protect the prisoner.

As Williams continued to bang her head, Officers should have known there was a danger, and that their prisoner was acting far beyond normal. Based on the video tape (which Cedar Posts has not seen) and reports of Officers conversations recorded on the tape, there was adequate time to evaluate the situation. Had at least one officer monitored Williams rather than leave the prisoner unattended even for a short period they would have seen that she was in great risk of death by wrapping the seat belt around her neck.

At the point that Williams was repeatedly striking her head, they should have intervened, they didn't and the reason apparently as voiced by CMPD Major Vicki Foster is that opening the door would have invited further fighting.

Again indifference to the plight of Williams.

In order to reach the level of deliberate indifference the CMPD Officers needed to react to factors in error.

This involves; a knowing choice (conscious decision); time to evaluate the choices available; and an appreciation of the danger or risk.

The case has overtones of both neglect and deliberate indifference. First CMPD Officers allowed Williams to bang her head for an extended period of time, and later when she became verbally unresponsive they "assumed" she was acting.

At the point that officers asked her name, received no response and then told Williams that even if she didn't answer she was going to jail anyways, shows deliberate indifference.

But only near total neglect of a potentially suicidal prisoner will give rise to constitutional liability, even if there is responsibility under other tort theories.

The family could make one or more of the following factual arguments in support of
a civil rights claim:

Prisoner needed medical treatment, there was a failure to remove things from prisoner which she used to harm herself, Failure to monitor, Failed to respond to a problem and Lacked training.

One witness stated that Williams just snapped, as she was being arrested. According to reports it would seem as if Williams was over reacting to a misdemeanor charge. But to CMPD Officers her outbursts were just part of the day to day routine.

Would a TASER have saved Tanisha William's life?

CMPD Major Foster stated that if Officers had opened the door to check on Williams they would have had a fight on their hands. So did Officers hesitate to open the door because they didn't have TASERS and didn't want to risk a controntation? Would a TASER have saved Williams by giving her a chance to calm down and listen to the Officers commands?

Once Williams was un-responsive why didn't they open the door to check on her?

Clearly CMPD Officers failed to follow their own directives and therefore are negligent, after all they were only a few feet away and could have saved her life.

Had the same Officers stood by while a homicide occurred within a few feet of them and they failed to respond we would be calling for their badges.

However had the same Officers stood by and watched someone jump from a bridge we would be concerned that they didn't do enough, but because the subject wasn't "in custody" there would not be a civil rights case.

Simply failing to do enough is negligence. However, in civil rights liability cases the constitutional standard is "deliberate indifference", not negligence.

CMPD Officers failed to follow the department's SOP and directives therefore they were indeed negligent but the real question is, was there deliberate indifference?

CMPD Under Fire From Outside Groups

2012-01-08T20:42:00.004-05:00

It shouldn't come as a surprise that outside agitators have come to Charlotte to press the Tanisha Williams case.

CMPD has stonewalled since December 5th and they still have not completed their investigation. The department at first refused to release the in-car video of Tanisha Williams after she was placed in the patrol car. Then after weeks of delay, CMPD detectives appeared at a candlelight vigil offering to share the video with the family and later the press.

Major Vicki Foster's adamant statement that CMPD officers did nothing wrong added fuel to the fire as the story was picked up by national wire services.

Now two members of a Washington, D.C., group that speaks out against police brutality came to Charlotte to spread their message Saturday outside the west Charlotte store where the 18-year-old reportedly strangled herself, after she was arrested.

There is no evidence that CMPD Officers brutalized Ms. Williams. There is however grounds for a major civil suit against the department, the officers, their supervisors and the City of Charlotte.

And the reason is deliberate indifference. Details on what this means and how the lawyers figure into this complicated case Monday.

Cam Man Ron Lee Exposed

2012-01-08T16:51:00.000-05:00

Back in October the WBTV chyron wasn’t much help as Ron Lee reported live on a deadly shooting in West Charlotte. While Lee gave details of the shooting, the line “Man Killed to Death” was displayed at the bottom of the screen.

If you are an early morning person like Cedar Posts, you've become accustom to Ron Lee's in your face and over the top reporting style.

So who is the "Cam Man" and what makes him so entertaining?

"First up" there is Nothing about Ron Lee that is low key. But that is what everyone likes about the "Cam Man" who some have called the midnight avenger or nut case depending who you are asking.

A few weeks ago Cedar Posts had a conversation with another station's news producer and the subject of WBTV's Cam Man came up. We decided that if we ever had to cast a disaster film, say Armageddon 8 or something like that, we'd have Ron Lee play himself. He'd be perfect as the over the top all too serious news reporter, right up to the point where the city bus flipping end over end squished him mid sentence or a giant squid grabbed him from a hurricane damaged pier.

Then there is the wish to have Ron do the play by play of the Hindenburg disaster which would end with "Ron Lee WBTV On Your Side!"

Ron is in his forties and apparently a rabid fan of bands like Motley Crue and AC/DC. The image of a WBTV logo'd Van roaring up a rain soaked North Tryon Street with Ron Lee, his ipod max volume, rocking out to Highway to Hell or Dirty Deeds. Inside the van the bass competes for his attention with the police scanner, his mind totally amped up on Red Bull and Waffle House black coffee. Ron Lee is off to cover another Charlotte homicide, firey car crash or five alarm blaze.

But even on nights when things are quiet, Cam Man still manages to find a story to add his over the top style.

Cam Man vocabulary includes just about every news reporter cliche in the business and words like Authorities, Clash with Police, In the wake of, Killing Spree, Manhunt, Underwent Surgery, Ablaze, Cop Shop and Early Stages.

His twitter account bio is top shelf:

Me, a news camera and a bullet-proof vest, cruising the mean streets of Charlotte on the vampire shift.

A sample of Ron's over the top style:

A driver is facing charges after a collision with a scooter along Park Road left a man dead from his injuries. The roadway was shut down for hours late Wednesday night, and it wasn't going to reopen until investigators had their answers to what happened.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said a Piaggio Moped, driven by Marty Wayne Thompson was headed inbound from the 3400 block of Park Road around 7pm. That's when a Honda CRV pulled out in front of him trying to make a left-hand turn. Thompson slammed on the brakes, and ended up laying the scooter down along the roadway.

Thompson collided with the rear of the Honda, his moped hitting another vehicle nearby. First responders rushed to the scene, but were not able to save the victim. Police roped off the area while the investigation began it's early stages.

The drivers of both the cars were interviewed, as well as witnesses in the area. Charges against the driver of the Honda were eventually leveled. Lauren Marie Martindale was hit with misdemeanor death my vehicle as well as failure to yield.

The driver of the Toyota Avalon, the other vehicle involved, was not charged.

Ron Lee isn't the only one guilty of over used words or phrases, two years ago WGN management issued a memo of 119 words and phrases that needed to go, that list is here.

Ron claims San Diego, California as his hometown, but he's made his home in the Carolina's for going on twenty years.

According to WBTV's web site Ron started out his broadcasting career at KNSD Channel 39 in San Diego.

His second day as an intern at KNSD-TV Channel 39 in San Diego, he was sent to a police shootout, where a man had barricaded himself inside a restaurant in the border town of San Ysidro. After spending hours crouched underneath the station's live truck ducking for cover from flying bullets, (both from the shooter as well as police) he realized he knew he wanted to do this for a living. Mostly because of his lack of math skills.

Ron later worked for WIS-TV in Columbia and then for a station in Charlotte which has an "S" in their call letters, thought he doesn't actually say which station on the WBTV site.

"he's reluctant to divulge the station's call letters because...in his words.."the nightmares have finally started going away".

Ron describes the transition from going from San Diego to Columbia in the middle of the summer as - "slamming your head in a car door over and over again for two years".

Ron has also worked in Charleston for WCIV NewsChannel 4, before being called back up the big leagues to work at WBTV.

Then in 2004, a manager at the station had an idea to send a photographer out to cover breaking news on his own, and on that day he became "The Cam Man".

Ron Lee is WBTV's on-air reporter for the morning show and you can catch him Monday-Friday from 5:00am-7:00am whenever there is breaking news and via twitter @WBTVCamMan.

Baltimore Officers Attacked

2012-01-07T10:42:00.004-05:00

Cedar's Take: Baltimore Officers have their hands full, a big mouthy crowd, a resisting suspect and from their blind side their attacker circling calmly behind them. The attacker's back is to the camera 3 seconds into the video, then he walks away after being confronted only to come back into frame from across the street. It could have ended much worse. I fault the Officers who were more concerned about the idiot with the cell phone camera than the blind side. The time elasped to cuff the suspect doesn't help them either. Situational awareness in this case was not 360 degrees even though there are clearly threats coming from all directions. Of course the fool with the camera didn't offer any heads up either.

WBTV's "Cam Man" Ron Lee

2012-01-06T16:38:00.003-05:00

Tune in later this weekend and learn what this video has to do with WBTV's one man band Ron Lee.

We'll add AC/DC Motley Crue and a lot of Red Bull to help fill in the blanks about Charlotte's "Over The Top" on air reporter the Cam Man.

Friday Wrap Up!

2012-01-06T03:46:00.003-05:00

CMPD Reports Lowest Homicide Rate in Years - In an interview last Saturday night, CMPD Chief Rodney Monroe said homicides have declined because of the intense focus the department brings to the initial hours of death investigations. As many as a dozen investigators - from homicide, gang, assault and vice units - show up at crime scenes to talk to witnesses and share information.

Monroe also said he's been to the scene of about 35 of this year's homicides.

"When we're locking up suspects in homicide cases inside of 48 or 72 hours, people take notice of that. The good guys and the bad guys take notice of that. Our (homicide detectives) are working 24-36 hours straight. Cases aren't going cold."

More from The Charlotte Observer is here.

Cedar's Take: 35 of 55 isn't bad but that is not what the public perception is, at least according to the CP Poll that ran through the end of the year.

Chief Monroe claims he has been to "about" 65 percent of last year's homicides. But poll numbers show that the majority of respondents believe that Chief Monroe has been to less than 10%. However 8% of the voters thought that the Chief had been to all on the homicides just as he told WBTV News he would do back in 2008.

According to sources Chief Monroe has been to less than 20 of last year's homicides and they are giving him credit for as little as a drive by a week later.

Tweet of the Week! - "Given Sufficient Thrust Pigs Fly Just Fine"

CFD Fail - Cedar posts asked CFD information officers to comment about the decorative landscaping around this city fire hydrant two weeks ago, nothing but crickets. A review of city ordinance points out this is a complete fail on the part of Chick Fil A at the Arboretum.

Attractive hardscape is nice but it would be an additional challenge to Charlotte Fire Fighters attempting to connect to the 2 1/2 connections of the sides as they would have to work around the walls. The connection to the engine via the 4 1/2 would be ok though it lacks the storz coupling which may be exempt since the color coding denotes a "private" hydrant. But the whole structure is questionable. Then again maybe its ok.

Bride of Chucky?

CMPD meets all types of misfits and scary people. This one takes the prize. I seriously think this calls for some action on the part of Charlotte's Medical Community.

In Case You Missed It - August of 2010

Tanisha Williams - was arrested December 5, 2011, accused of shoplifting at a store on Freedom Drive in west Charlotte. According to police, Williams began banging her head against the window after being placed inside the patrol car. Police officials also say the young woman choked herself with a seat belt. Williams has been hospitalized since the incident and is on life support. Her condition is irresverable due to lack of brain function.

Friends and family members held a vigil last Thursday evening for Williams. NewsChannel 36, the Observer's news partner, says police officials approached family members and their attorney, William Harding, at the end of the vigil and said they would permit the family to see the video.

Cedar's Take: Really? Did they really think that was the appropriate time to tell the family the good news.

One detective told NewsChannel 36 the footage was the most horrific he had seen in his 25 years with the department. Porsha Williams, Tanisha's sister, told NewsChannel 36 on Thursday evening she would not believe the police account of the incident until she saw the video. She also said she can't believe her sister would hurt herself. Harding said he plans to view the video on Monday. Police and the family are asking anyone who might have seen any of the events on Dec. 5 to contact them.

Ben Breedlove's This Is My Story - By now you have seen clips of Ben Breedlove's You Tube Video on national main stream media. Ben passed away Christmas Day just a few hours after he posted this video.

But amazingly what the MSM doesn't talk about is Ben's several encounters with death. They completely miss the point of his video because they didn't take the time to watch the entire thing. You should. Both Parts.

CMPD's Foster Defends Officers

2012-01-05T05:54:00.008-05:00

While the public condemns 18-year-old Tanisha Williams, who for all practical purposes is already dead, CMPD Major Vicki Foster is telling reporters that what happened to Williams is acceptable.

“It certainly appears that those officers didn’t violate policy,” said Maj. Vicki Foster.

Foster added that police don’t immediately intervene simply because someone is banging their head. She said that could escalate a situation to a point where an officer has to use additional force.

“It’s not an automatic thing that we do,” Foster said. “If we open the door for everyone that bangs their head, we’re going to fight every single time.”

But the department’s directives manual, says otherwise. In 500-008 the directives require:

“Visual observation of prisoners must be maintained by the transporting officers at all times, except during certain medical examinations that require privacy. Under no circumstance will a prisoner in custody be left unattended in a transport vehicle or other.”

But CMPD directives don't stop there, under 500-003 Management of Subjects In Extreme Distress the directives require that officers summon EMS, and do everything in their power to protect a subject.

Excited Delirium: is defined as a condition in which the heart races wildly, often because of drug use or mental illness, and finally gives out causing death.

1. Excited delirium is the result of a serious and potentially life threatening medical condition. The person can appear normal until they are questioned, challenged or confronted. Further confrontation, threats and use of force will almost certainly result in further aggression and even violence. Attempting to restrain and control these individuals can be difficult because they frequently possess unusual strength, pain insensitivity and instinctive resistance to any use of force.

Once it is determined that a subject may be at-risk, the incident shall be managed as a medical emergency, in addition to whatever law enforcement response may be required under the circumstances, including the use of reasonable force.

Given the hysterics and extreme violent reaction to being arrested for such a minor offense CMPD officers should have recognized that they had a potential life threatening situation on their hands.

Cedar Posts spoke with two veteran CMPD Officers who both agree that the officers on the scene clearly failed to follow the directives.

Cedar's Take: So why does Foster continue to spin the event and claim CMPD Officers reacted appropriately?

The only explanation is that Foster is delusional, and truly believes what she is saying despite the over whelming evidence. A symptom of the Rodney Monroe regime that operates with a policy of deny, distort, diminish and disavow while controlling the states largest police force.

CMPD Spin Control Out of Control

2012-01-04T09:17:00.005-05:00

Main Stream Media has to pay by certain rules that require them to check all the facts and check them again before going on air with a story. Blogs like Cedar Posts make a sincere effort to check the facts but lack the resources that you'll find at news power houses like the Charlotte Observer.

Even so the Observer runs retractions and corrections every day.

What makes the job of being correct and accurately reporting the facts difficult for both blogs and MSM is the endless spin coming out of CMPD.

For example, when WSOC questioned CMPD "tool in residence" Rob Tufano about CMPD Officer David Jones 240 hour suspension, Tufano said while he can't legally say why Jones has been suspended, many officers suspensions are for minor issues.

“Showing up late for court, showing up late for roll calls, violations of your uniform -- those are suspendable kinds of situations for us,” Tufano said.

WSOC rolled on and didn't press the issue.

But seriously did WSOC really believe that CMPD gives 240 hour active suspensions for being late to work? Jones was given a month and a half without pay for a serious violation. According to sources Jones suspension was for "excessive use of force". Use of force that required the hospitalization of a suspect.

Just after Midnight on New Years Day police scanners where pretty active, a call for a noise disturbance blended into hundreds of others. But a smart WBTV reporter heard a call regarding an injured officers that sent them scrambling to Waterford Lake Drive in the Steele Creek area of Charlotte. At the scene WBTV was told it was nothing, that the Officer was fine and was hit by just a paint ball. WBTV shrugged and rolled on.

When Chief Monroe was interviewed about the low number of homicides in Charlotte last year, WSOC asked the chief how many homicides scenes he has been to, Monroe answered that he's been to the scene of about 35 of this year's homicides. Again "spin" because "about 35" is not a truthful statement. The correct answer is exactly 22 active homicide scenes.

Chief Monroe is a natural born liar and embellisher, and so it should come as no surprise that the CMPD Command staff follows his lead. Truth has become a rare commodity at CMPD. They spend untold amounts of time trying to determine the source of leaks and spinning the most insignificant events.

CMPD's Spin on the case of Tanisha Williams is most troubling. Tufano along with Major Vicki Foster along with Tufano told a group of reporters who viewed the video of Williams “It certainly appears that those officers didn’t violate policy."

Yet CMPD Directives 500-008 say otherwise:

"Visual observation of prisoners must be maintained by the transporting officers at all times".... Under no circumstance will a prisoner in custody be left unattended in a transport vehicle".

The directives are here.

You have to ask yourself, if Rob Tufano is going to lie about a wayward bullet striking a Police Officer, news that should have been reported promptly and truthfully in the first place or the near death of a prisoner, what keeps him from lying when the Chief's butt is really on the line? What keeps him perjuring himself in a court of law, when the stakes are much higher?

New Year's Eve 2011

2012-01-03T20:55:00.006-05:00

Slipping under the Ravenel Bridge just before midnight on New Year's Eve 2011. Such a perfect still night on Charleston's Harbor.

Is CMPD Deleting Emails In Violation of North Carolina Public Records Law?

2012-01-02T10:56:00.006-05:00

Here is an interesting item turned up by City News Watch.

In a June 16, 2011 memo CMPD's Ron Horton explains some in's and out's of email deletion. His memo sent to all of CMPD addresses concerns about accidentally deleted emails, but it also sheds light on CMPD's ability to purposefully and permanently delete emails.

Notice Mr. Horton's comment on CMPD's "enterprise vault" and that he admits it doesn't always work. The purpose of using an enterprise vault is to provide a digital record of "every" email, document, spread sheet and correspondence ever created.

You might recall that CMPD Detective Arvin Fant was fired for destroying his personal notes taken while investigating the murder of Officers Sean Clark and Jeff Shelton. Could it be that CMPD Officers and Staff are doing the same thing, destroying notes, emails and records everyday?

From: Horton, Ron
Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2011 11:02 AM
To: _CMPD everyone
Cc: Hampton, Denise; Sterrett, Todd

Subject: What happens to emails you delete - and a caution

We have received numerous Help Desk tickets concerning items that were deleted by accident and cannot be recovered.

It will help to understand how the City email system now handles Deleted emails, as it is different from how CMPD used to do it - and different from how standard Microsoft installations of Outlook (such as you may have at home) do it.

The MOST IMPORTANT thing to understand is:

Each time you exit Outlook, your deleted folder is emptied.

If you want to find an item you deleted and you have exited Outlook since you deleted it, then it will NOT be in the deleted folder. The next step is to go to "Tools" then "Recover Deleted Items." If the item was sent or received in the last few days, it may be there. If it is not, you'll have to open a Help Desk ticket and give as many details as possible for us to pass on to the City so they can search for your deleted item in the Vault.

"But don't we have an Enterprise Vault that stores every email ever sent?" you may ask - and we do have such a vault.

But the rules of what gets in there are tricky. For example, yesterday when I looked in the Vault for a particular deleted email, there were no items in there for April, May, or June.

It's still worth a try - click on the "Search Vaults" or "Archive Explorer" icons in the very top menu bar in Outlook - they are on the right beside the "?" Help icon. If you can't find it there, then submit the Help Desk ticket.

"So how do I avoid completely losing items when I accidentally delete them?" One way to do this is to create a folder that you label "Deleted storage" or something like that and then if you get ready to delete an item you MIGHT want to recover (I know, it's a judgment call) then instead of deleting it, just drag it over to that folder. Then periodically go into that folder and delete items that are old enough that you feel comfortable you will never need them.

Just remember - consider the Delete key permanent, and handle your email accordingly.

If you have any questions please direct them to me or Cheryl Campbell.

Ron Horton
Computer Technology Solutions
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
Work 704.336.7252
Cell 704.619.4016
rhorton@cmpd.org

CMPD Officer Struck By Falling Bullet

2012-01-01T04:35:00.001-05:00

During the first moments of 2012 a CMPD Officer was apparently struck by a falling bullet.

There is no indication that the Officer was targeted, rather the errant bullet was fired into the air in celebration of the start of 2012 and oddly enough struck the officer in the shoulder.

The unnamed officer was transported to CMC by his Steel Creek Division Response Area Commander (RAC) Lt. Pam Lisenby, and was released from the hospital a short while later. The Officer's injuries were limited to serious bruising.

This is were it gets cute, apparently RAC Lisenby told Officers to delete the Officer's name from the report and list the victim only as "Person" specifically ordering officers to alter the report to keep it out of the media.

No explanation from CMPD for the "Cover Up" but Rob Tufano's "action report" issued on Sunday states "no officers sustained injuries" during CMPD patrol efforts in conjuction with New Year's Eve.

Cedar Posts emailed Tufano and RAC Lisenby as usual nothing but "crickets" from Tufano or CMPD Command staff.

Cedar Bonus:

From Wikipedia, bullets fired into the air usually fall back at speeds much lower than those at which they leave the barrel of a firearm. Nevertheless, people can be injured, sometimes fatally, when bullets discharged into the air fall back down. The mortality rate among those struck by falling bullets is about 32%, compared with about 2% to 6% normally associated with gunshot wounds. The higher mortality is related to the higher incidence of head wounds from falling bullets.

A study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 80% of celebratory gunfire-related injuries are to the head, feet, and shoulders.

MythBusters covered this topic in Episode 50: "Bullets Fired Up"

Using pig carcasses, they worked out the terminal velocity of a falling bullet and had a mixed result, answering the question with all three of the show's possible outcomes: Confirmed, Plausible and Busted.

They tested falling bullets by firing them from both a handgun and a rifle, by firing them from an air gun designed to propel them at terminal velocity, and by dropping them in the desert from an instrumented balloon. The "busted" result applied only to bullets traveling on a perfectly vertical trajectory, which tumble on the way down, creating turbulence that reduces terminal velocity.

The "plausible" result was cited because they found it was very difficult to fire a bullet in near-ideal vertical trajectory, so bullets were likely to remain spin-stabilized on a ballistic trajectory and fall at a potentially lethal terminal velocity.

The "confirmed" result related to their research which verified cases of actual deaths from falling bullets.

Cedar's Take: Only a moron would randomly fire a gun into the air and this same moron will start running his mouth. Only a matter of time before this idiot is charged.

Charlotte City Council Accountability Gap Personal Email Accounts

2011-12-31T01:36:00.005-05:00

There is something inherently wrong with allowing Charlotte and Mecklenburg County elected officials to conduct "City Business" from personal email accounts.

Charlotte City Council Members Cannon, Howard, James, Barnes and Cooksey all have "Private" email accounts. Mayor Foxx, and Council Members Fallon, Pickering, Kinsey, Mayfield, Autry, and Dulin have opted for the "new" Charlottenc.gov email address.

But still Dulin and Kinsey have private email addresses that they routinely use to communicate with each other and with citizens.

Recently South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has been under fire for the deletion of email records and the use of "personal email" accounts. Additionally, former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's staff deleted thousands of emails during the final days of his administration.

Many suspect that Mayor Foxx' assistant Tracy Montross deleted emails from her private Yahoo.com email account, but who really knows? More so who within Charlotte and Mecklenburg County government is responsible for making sure public records are not deleted?

The more pressing question is, why does a full time City of Charlotte employee like Montross conduct city business, via a private email account in the first place?

Clearly the deletion of emails is a violation of public records law. For all the promises of transparency in government made by elected officials, something is just not right if the only person controlling the email account is able to delete records on a daily basis.

Cedar's Take: It is time North Carolina's elected officials take action and forbid any City, State or County employee or elected official from conducting business via a personal email account. It is time that Charlotte City Council members stop using private email accounts.

I am personally calling on Charlotte's City Council to put this concern on the agenda as soon as possible. To ignore this concern will only add to the belief that Charlotte's elected officials have something to hide.

Cedar Posts has emailed Mayor Foxx and Members of Charlotte City Council. We'll let you know should they respond.

Update: January 5, 2012 Nearly a week later only newly elected Council Member Claire Fallon responded and stated she intended to use only the City of Charlotte email address.

If you would like to contact Mayor Foxx and City Council about this matter you may do so at the following email addresses:

mayor@charlottenc.gov, councilmancannon@gmail.com, cfallon@charlottenc.gov,
info@davidhowardclt.com, bpickering@charlottenc.gov, pkinsey@charlottenc.gov,
JamesDistrict2@aol.com, lmayfield@charlottenc.gov, barnesdistrict4@aol.com,
jautry@charlottenc.gov, adulin@charlottenc.gov, warren@warrencooksey.com

Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx Glosses Over Montross Quid Pro Quo Attempt

2011-12-30T17:28:00.004-05:00

The following is from Keith Richardson with the City of Charlotte Corporate Communications Department.

Attached is a memo and statement concerning personnel action related to Tracy Montross and her communication to the Charlotte International Cabinet. The Mayor and the City Manager will not be making any further comments to the media on this matter.

Statement from Mayor Anthony Fox(x):

I want to thank City Manager Curt Walton, outgoing City Attorney Mac McCarley and incoming City Attorney Bob Hagemann for reviewing the facts and issues related to Tracy Montross's email within a week.

When I learned about the highly inappropriate email last week, I was stunned and disappointed. The matter is a serious one, and in the intervening time, I believe it has been treated as such. Specifically, there has been a thorough review of the facts, legal issues and a full range disciplinary measures have been considered. Ultimately, the city manager looked at the facts and determined that disciplinary action is appropriate. I agree with and respect his decision.

While Tracy made a mistake, this experience will cause her to consider her words and actions much more carefully. She is a hard worker and brings energy and focus to everything she does. I look forward to having her back to work.

Anthony Foxx

The complete set of documents is here.

Cedar's Take: Oh come on now. Could it get any better than this? Let's just sweep it under the door mat and refuse to comment further. Yep that's how Mayor Foxx is going to roll. Bonus: go public with your decision on a Friday before New Year's Eve. Perfect! You'll notice not a peep from the local press.

Uptown Killer Caught In The Act

2011-12-28T08:30:00.005-05:00

Uptown Charlotte's Photographer in Residence Bill Fehr caught the killer and his pigeon victim Uptown. Bill explains: "I shot this image of a Red tailed hawk dispatching a pigeon after knocking it out of the sky, and then slamming it onto the sidewalk of the 200 block of N. College in front of the ITC."

You can find more of Bill's photos here.

Town of Ballantyne?

2011-12-28T07:56:00.001-05:00

If consolidation talk won't die; Southern residents need Town protection

A push is underway (for the umpteenth time) to 'consolidate' city and county governments. The net effect of 'consolidation' will be to give the City Council and Mayor totalitarian control over suburban residents. The net result will be a massive tax increase on those in the burbs.

Predictably, the Towns have opposed these efforts because they know how bad life would be under the thumb of a new consolidated City Council. Towns were formed, in part, to escape being under Charlotte's thumb. Most suburban areas a few miles from the center city are in towns (Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Pineville and Mint Hill). There is one very large area of suburbia that is not and it deserves to be protected by forming a new town.

The area south of 51 between Matthews and Pineville - a large portion of which is known as Ballantyne, should be given the option to form their own town and self-govern. Because these folks are in the City they pay a large tax burden that Town residents don't pay. Because they are mostly Republican they have zero say in City policy that is dominated by liberal Democrats that view them as merely a deep pocket to pay for their social programs. Worse, time and again, Charlotte's liberals try to come up with new ways to drop low-income housing into Ballantyne something that should be under the control of their own citizens.

The costs of a 'urban municipal society' are paid by these suburban city residents; something not paid by Town residents who have a much lower tax rate. The CMPD is mostly an urban police force with a large inner-city presence. The costs of CMPD are primarily paid for by suburban City residents who see little of their tax dollars returned to them.

Suburban residents (Town or City) receive about $3,500 per child from CMS for public education while inner-city residents receive $12,000 per child. A large amount of the funding difference comes from suburban residents in and around Ballantyne.

So, if consolidation is to be discussed; I say now is the time to 'Let my people go' (to borrow a Biblical phrase).

The NC Legislature should consider authorizing a ballot vote on the formation of a new 'Town of Ballantyne' (with or without the City of Charlotte's approval).

To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson; "Government that is the closest to the people governs best".

Bill James
County Commission
District 6
Twitter: @meckcommish
Facebook: meckcommish
Web site: http://billjames.org

Join me on facebook at 'meckcommish' or view my twitter feed at @meckcommish.

If Only USAirways Had Flight Crews Like This

2011-12-27T19:17:00.004-05:00

Frankly I'm pretty tired of over zealous rule enforcing "Stew-Nazis" that thanks to the AFA have kept their jobs at USAirways long past their ability to enjoy working with the public.

I'd like to see USAirways fire about 1/2 their overweight cranky attitude flight attendants and hire some new blood.

Jerry Orr vs Rodney Monroe Turf War Brewing Over CDIA Police Unit

2011-12-27T16:40:00.004-05:00

It had to happen sooner or later, Charlotte's two biggest egos going head to head over the Charlotte Douglas International Airport Police. Now word comes that Rodney Monroe is apparently ready to start a turf war with Charlotte Douglas Airport Director Jerry Orr unless his demands are met.

Word from inside CMPD is that Monroe has had his eye on the Airport Police for quite a while.

But for as long as anyone can remember the Airport Police have been a small somewhat unknown group operating under the direction of the Airport Manager Jerry Orr. Technically they are not part of CMPD, and have operated autonomously for years.

Now with DNC 2012 on the horizon Chief Monroe apparently wants more control.

One concern expressed to Cedar Posts is that if Monroe has his way the CDIA Police will become a part of Monroe's fiefdom and gone will be the Airport Identity and Image, replaced with that of the CMPD.

Monroe's immediate vison is reported to be a "shared responsibility" with CDIA Police inside the airport and CMPD outside the TSA area and fences but that all CDIA Police Officers would report to a CMPD Captain.

But this is more than just a power grab, since there may also be a lot of money on the table. Since CDIA is on the hook for Airport Security and with the DNC coming to town big dollars might end up in the airport's coffers vs that of Chief Monroe's CMPD.

Chief Monroe has already started the finger pointing with regard to the Tisdale incident. Even going on record promising security improvements that where far outside of his scope of operations.

Of course there is also the prestige factor. Monroe seems to want total control of Law Enforcement in Charlotte and doesn't want CMPD to be upstaged by Airport Police.

Charlotte Observer Takes Mayor Foxx and his Aide to Task Over Email Threat? Hardly

2011-12-26T23:16:00.007-05:00

The Charlotte Observer's Board goes to press this morning with an editorial titled:

"Email threat deserves stern rebuke"

Which is mainly a rehashing of the Observer's reporting summed up with:

While Montross works for Foxx, she technically reports to City Manager Curt Walton. In an email to the Observer, Walton said he would not discuss an employee’s performance issues in public. He did say, however, that Montross “is an extremely talented employee that I look forward to working with for years to come.”

That seems to indicate that Montross will not be fired over this mistake. Fair enough - a singular error in judgment shouldn’t cost an otherwise valuable employee a job, unless that mistake is a whopper. Montross came close, in our opinion, and we hope the discipline she gets sends that message.

"...a singular error in judgment shouldn’t cost an otherwise valuable employee a job, unless that mistake is a whopper"

Oh come on Charlotte Observer this was hardly a "singular error" rather a pattern abuse that escalated over a period of weeks and this is certainly a "whopper", one that would even make the Burger King proud.

Rather than side with Curt Walton and the elitist clique that runs our City County Government you would think that the Editorial Board would close ranks with the taxpayers of Charlotte and stand, just once on the side of ethics and transparency?

Normally the Observer would be quick to publish the emails, but when it comes to Mayor Foxx nothing but silence. So where are the emails? Where are the copies of correspondence leading up to the "hell to pay" email? Where are the copies of the correspondence after the "hell to pay" email?
And where else has Mayor Foxx crossed the line with the help of his aide Tracy Montross?

In defense of Mayor Foxx, corporate travelers know that a Charlotte to China trip is a tough haul. Riding in coach/economy on such a flight is punishment no one should have to endure on a business trip. But if the rules say you ride coach then ride coach or don't go.

But those of us in the corporate world also know that with salary comes responsibility, the idea of "discipline" for a executive staff member is laughable. Ms. Montross should have resigned weeks ago.

Cedar's Take: The Charlotte City Council and Mayor's "Code of Ethics" (which is here) section 3.a clearly addresses the issue at hand, and the Mayor is clearly guilty of violating the code. The Charlotte City Council must vote to censure the Mayor. Which I would think would be a political road block to higher office.

WRFX DJ Mr. Bill Speaks Up About His Arrest

2011-12-26T08:02:00.000-05:00

Last week Cedar Posts learned the reason behind the firing of long time WRFX on air personality Bill Summerville. Local broadcasters blamed the firing on the shift away from local programing in favor of more cost effective syndicated radio.

But the truth is Mr. Bill found himself in some legal hot water and Mr. Bill got the axe. Pretty low if you ask Cedar Posts, considering the charges look like they will end up being dropped.

Meanwhile Mr. Summerville responed to a couple of comments on the orgial story which is here.

Silly Blogsters. Here's the facts: I was attacked on my patio and in my home by a drunk welfare mother neighbor who was sticking her nose in my personal matters.

I never threw a punch at anyone. When I called the police on her, she and my now very angry girlfriend, lied to the police and said I assaulted them. And my girlfriend has already admitted to the police that she made up the allegations in anger. 2 charges down.

The drunk neighbor? She's being evicted from that home the end of the month over this. And the charge from the neighbor mentions nothing about hitting, punching or any such action. And because of her drunken outburst, I am out one cool gig.

The Fox does not deserve the black eye I may have caused them. To the post suggesting the you've seen me getting into arguments or physical confrontations with women, that's BS.

The 5th post is closer to the truth. I take care of that woman and have never harmed her in any way. Just ask her. Not one person in this town can recall a time when I got drunk and beat anybody up, let alone the woman I love.

Sure, you've seen me drinking in bars all over town, it's part of the job. But an angry drunk? You don't know me. After 15 great years, it's sad you all want to pull me down in the mud and have at it. Can't stop you. Hope you have a great Christmas! Mr. Bill

Haunted Christmas Tree

2011-12-25T23:45:00.001-05:00

So here's the story:

There is this lighted Christmas Tree and drifts out on to the golf course behind my house. By sunrise the tree is gone. This has been going on for years during Christmas week. One night it is on the green, another night far away in the woods. It is never seen during the day.

So I decide to go have a look, its like 5 AM of Christmas morning. The first photo I take is above. I have no explanation of the fog circling the tree. There was no fog in the area that I could see. Yet there is fog in the photo. I took another 12 photos with my Blackberry and not one of them recreated the fog circling the tree. An hour later the tree was gone.

Now I'm sure the tree is moved each night by one of our neighbors who uses a portable power source. Maybe the golf course folks are part of the mystery.

But the fog circling the tree, I'm still baffled.

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-25T03:43:00.008-05:00

Here's wishing you the best of the season, "cemented" in the joy of family and good friends. May your future be bright and the foundation of your dreams "concrete".

I could go on about the "aggregate" of holiday food and gifts, but that would be a "set-up" and I wouldn't want to "form" a bad opinion. So have a great Christmas and don't get "mixed-up" in any crazy family drama.

Merry Christmas!

Alaska Airlines "Santa One"

2011-12-24T16:10:00.000-05:00

Need just a little more joy? How about this:

On Dec. 10, sixty disadvantaged kids and their personal elves gathered at Spokane International Airport in preparation for the special day. After getting their boarding passes, they went through security (and customs, of course), and then boarded the plane.

The elves charted a Boeing 737, fondly known as "Santa One," from Alaska Airlines. It is one of the few jetliners available with a navigation system designed to reach the North Pole.

The purpose of trip was simple: Kids with disabilities are challenged each and every day of the year. Santa wanted to make sure these children had not lost their sense of wonder. He told his elves to bring them to the North Pole so that they could spend some time together.

Christmas Message Charlotte's Little Church on the Lane

2011-12-24T04:00:00.001-05:00

Later tonight like I have done for so many years, I will join friends and family at Charlotte's Little Church on the Lane. I'm not sure how we got started going to the small Church in the heart of Myers Park, but it is something that I really look forward to every year.

If you have never attended a Moravian Christmas Eve Service you have been missing out. The Christmas message delivered by Pastors Billy Flippin and Steve Wilson is always to the point and delivered in a faith filling yet holiday style.

The congregation of the small church graciously embraces all comers at 2, 4, 6 and 8 o'clock service each Christmas Eve for a "Love Feast" the highlight of which is sweet coffee and the lighting of your own bees wax candle. As the light of the candles fill the darkness in the church as did the birth of Jesus Christ you can't help but be moved.

The Christmas Eve service is attended mainly by members of other churches and all non-Moravian's, in fact the service is so popular with non members that the congregation holds their own Christmas Love Feast the Sunday before.

Join me at the sevice tonight, but keep in mind that the service at the small Church is in such demand that those in the know arrive an hour before to be sure to have a seat.

Merry Christmas!

Mayor Foxx: Aide's Behavior 'Highly Inappropriate'

2011-12-23T20:15:00.008-05:00

In a shocking turn of events Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx today apologized to leaders of Charlotte's International Cabinet after his special assistant warned them to "please expect hell" with future budget requests if they failed to upgrade him to first-class on a November trip to China.

Even more shocking is that the $72,000 aide is still employed.

From The Charlotte Observer:

In a letter today to Sharon Reed, executive director of the International Cabinet, Foxx apologized for an email from aide Tracy Montross. Foxx called Montross's email "highly inappropriate."

"I cannot tell you how disappointed and surprised I was to read its contents," he wrote, "including an implication that the funds supporting the Charlotte International Cabinet would be jeopardized unless a request to reimburse my travel expenses was granted."

Two days after being re-elected, Foxx led an 11-member delegation to China in an effort to broaden the city's economic ties to the country. He and the delegation, including Montross, met with business and political leaders in Beijing, Shanghai and Charlotte's sister city of Baoding.

Email correspondence shows Montross sought the upgrade at least three times since mid-September. The International Cabinet turned it down.

"After considering the past practices and present financial capabilities of the organization and its stewardship of public dollars allocated to the CIC, the executive board unanimously voted NOT to fund the additional (money)," CIC Chair Maha Gingrich wrote Montross in September.

Writing from China, Montross emailed the cabinet to "please expect hell with your presentation to Council on next year's budget."

"There is no reason for (Foxx) to support this expenditure in years to come. His position has not changed but has become more resolute. Thanks for your consideration in advance of our return."

Thursday, a contrite Montross emailed Foxx. "I am incredibly embarrassed by my actions and my amateur approach in communicating with the Charlotte International Cabinet about this matter," she said. "I am equally devastated that my stupid mistake could bring into question your leadership commitment to our community."

Montross declined comment. Foxx could not be reached.

Montross, who earns $72,000 a year, was hired as the mayor's special assistant in the summer of 2010. She replaced Kevin Monroe, who left the city to work for the local host committee putting on the Democratic National Convention.

She had previously worked as a scheduler for Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana.
In her e-mail to the mayor, Montross said she was the "principal planner" for the China trip.

The mayor's assistant works for the mayor, but technically reports to City Manager Curt Walton.

Walton said in an e-mail to the Observer Friday that "Tracy's employment status is unchanged. Any performance matters with any employee are discussed privately with the employee, not in the media. I will say, however, that Tracy is an extremely talented employee that I look forward to working with for years to come."

Montross, who earns $72,000 a year, was hired as the mayor's special assistant in the summer of 2010. She replaced Kevin Monroe, who left the city to work for the Democratic National Convention Committee. Montross works closely with the mayor, advising him on some policy issues and at times working with the media.

She had previously worked as a scheduler for Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana.
In her email to the mayor, Montross said she was the "principal planner" for the China trip.

City of Charlotte policy calls for employees to be reimbursed only for economy-class tickets. Emails from CIC board members said the group didn't have a specific travel policy.

"Outside agencies are not bound by our policies," Walton said, "although I suspect they are similar."

Charlotte City Council member Michael Barnes, Foxx's fellow Democrat, said the email was "completely inappropriate."

"I don't expect staff to be threatening anyone over their budgets," Barnes said.

The Charlotte Observer story is here.

Cedar's Take:

Is this the perception of our City County Government we want to share with the world in less than 12 months? If this is what we learn months after the fact what kinds of things are we not learning? What kind of shady dealing is his honor Mayor Foxx doing behind closed doors?

Why does our appointed by City Council City Manger offer nothing more than a flippant response to something that speaks volumes as to how our City County Government is being run.

Keep in mind that this is not the first time a member of our City County Government has been cornered after a shake down attempt.

We as citizens would like to think Charlotte is above the politics of Detroit or Chicago. But there is a former Governor in the "Windy City" who is looking at serious jail time because he to thought he was entitled to a better seat on the Obama bus.

Note: The above story is from the Charlotte Observer as noted. Cedar Posts has posted the entire story because the Observer has removed the comment option from their on-line edition, thereby removing the countless calls for Mayor Foxx's resignation and the firing of Tracy Montross.

Update December 25, 2011

Investigation sought of threat by Foxx aide

Councilman Andy Dulin wants to know if there was 'Quid Pro Quo' demand involved.

A Charlotte city councilman is demanding an investigation into whether a veiled threat of a budget cut might have prompted a city-funded group to change its stance on travel reimbursements for Mayor Anthony Foxx.

Councilman Andy Dulin asked for the investigation in an email sent on Christmas Eve to the mayor, other city council members and city officials. He suggested the city attorney or an outside investigator handle the matter.

The full Charlotte Observer story is here.

CMPD Responds In Mass to SouthPark and Carolina Place

2011-12-23T07:01:00.006-05:00

The re-release of Nike's Jordan XI Concord basketball shoe in Charlotte may have caught CMPD by surprise. Around 5:30 this morning calls for additional officers to respond to SouthPark Mall started coming then a few minutes later the radio exploded with traffic.

Pineville Police and CMPD also responded in force to Carolina Place Mall.

One report has no less than 30 CMPD Cruisers at SouthPark and another report stated that more than 2 dozen CMPD and Pineville Police Officers were now at Carolina Place.

Carolina Place Mall manager tells WBTV Camera crew to leave the property denying that riots were occurring. "There were no incidents, I don't know about any fights."

Carolina Place Mall manager later tells reporters: "Overall, I think it was a successful event."

While Carolina Place tried to keep order SouthPark Mall had CMPD Officer clear the mall. At 6:30 those who had waited in line found themselves outside facing tresspassing charges if they failed to leave the property. No word on any arrests as of yet.

More from WBTV is here.

Rumors that the Bobcats store at Time Warner arena had 500 pairs of the shoes causes a crowd to swell in uptown Charlotte.

The Charlotte Observer reported:

Shortly after 11 a.m., a Bobcats representative with a megaphone addressed the crowd.
"No one ever got 500 pairs of shoes, anywhere...You guys are making it unsafe," he said. "We have people pushing, and small kids."

The store was sold out of shoes; season ticket holders had been allowed to shop first, and had snatched up all the pairs. But the Bobcats did offer a pair of tickets to next Friday's game against the Orlando Magic and a t-shirt to anyone waiting in line.

Some in the crowd yelled that they didn't want tickets, they wanted shoes, and stayed put.
CMPD Major John Diggs addressed the crowd a half-dozen more times with a megaphone. "Just so you're clear, there are no more available at this location...The store is not opening...there are no shoes left for purchasing," he said.

More details from the Charlotte Observer here.

Friday Wrap Up!

2011-12-23T01:11:00.004-05:00

Richland County K-9 Officer Killed - Police dog Fargo remembered in Columbia.

Richland County Sheriff's Department police officers bow their heads in prayer during a memorial service for K-9 officer Fargo at the Richland County Sheriff's Department Headquarters. A Belgian Malinois born in Holland, Fargo came to the sheriff's department in 2006 when he was just 9 months old. He was trained in narcotics detection, tracking, and criminal apprehension.

Last week, Fargo was shot three times and killed while attempting to apprehend a suspect in an armed robbery in north Columbia.

More about Fargo is here.

CATS Bus Crash Sends 12 of 20 to the Hospital - Twelve people feigned injury Thursday morning in a accident on Charlotte's North Tryon Street.

There are conflicting reports, the Charlotte Observer says that none of the injuries appear to be life-threatening, But a local television reporter with WSOC says that one person does appear to have life threatening injuries.

Reports say that the CATS bus was outbound on North Tryon Street when it collided with a pick-up truck. Damage to the bus on the front right side and damage to the left side of the truck supports the police report that states the pick-up truck attempted to make a left turn on to Tryon Street.

Seven of those hurt were taken to Carolina's Medical Center, and five went to Presbyterian Hospital. Those claiming to be injured were seen being transported on stretchers with neck braces.

Raw Video from WBTV.

Cedar's Take: A certain segment of our population has no shame.

Best or Worst Christmas Gift Ever - Doggie Doo Game

Forget the Fruit Cake the gift most likely to make you gag this year is game called "Doggie Doo". As the name implies this game stinks and kids love it.

Kids feed a Dachshund plastic blocks – then roll a dice to see who cleans up the resultant poop.

Incredibly, this stinker of a toy has been the surprise hit of the year. Currently sold out at Toys R Us in Charlotte but they expect more this morning.

Around 15 years ago, toy inventors at Lund and Company Invention created a pooping dog game that made loud farting sounds as you squeezed the dog’s leash! Since most kids on the face of the earth find humor in all bodily functions, Lund was sure this pooping dog would be the next craze of the late 90’s. All they needed was to find the dog a master — a “toy industry expert” to adopt the concept and turn the dog into the next mega hit game!

Time after time, day after day, the game was reviewed and passed over by those so called experts who believed that it just wasn’t a “proper” fit for their company. After years of trying to find a taker, the pooping dog game was left in the dog house.

Well the rest is history and game has sold over 1 million copies. Even Chelsea Handler has keyed in on the pooping Doggie Doo on her show Chelsea Latley

The Village Idiot of the Week - Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James wins hands down. This award normally goes to Wilma Leake, her nonsensical ramblings add color to the already dysfunctional Board of County Commissioner meetings. But it is Bill James' lack of knowledge this week that surprised many, Cedar Posts included.

During the meeting James tweeted: "I'm Chiquita banana and I've come to say - moving expenses are here to stay..." (paraphrasing 1944 Chiquita song)....."

Later during the board's discussions James tweeted: "@MeckCounty commish mtg. Vilma Leake just referred to #Chiquita as the "banana company"."

Soon after James tweeted that some speakers were voicing objection to Chiquita because of "supposedly making payments to drug cartels I think this was in the media in 2007".

Cedar Posts replied "@meckcommish Not so much supposedly since they entered a guilty plea brokered by Eric Holder. 25 Mil fine. In 07"

Followed by: "@meckcommish The Banana Co made payments to Colombian paramilitary+guerrilla groups who killed 1000s of workers and labor union leaders"

Nothing but Crickets from Bill James who later deleted his tweet regarding "drug cartels".

Cedar's Take: James is known for his outspoken manner and his in your face style, often concerning gays, and minorities. Take it or leave it, that's his way of seeing things. As my grandmother liked to say "He loves to stir the pot".

What troubles me about Bill James is his lack of knowledge concerning major funding requests. In this case he had no clear understanding of Chiquita's criminal past, and clearly could have cared less, making him the Village Idiot of the Week.

Chrismas Tree Launch

2011-12-22T15:33:00.001-05:00

CMPD Throws Officer David Jones Under The Bus

2011-12-22T14:28:00.000-05:00

From: "Tufano, Robert"
To: Media Release
Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2011 5:05 PM
Subject: Officer David Jones III

Case Update, December 21, 2011

On Wednesday December 21, 2011, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department suspended Officer David Jones III without pay and cited him for termination from the department as the result of an internal investigation. The recommendation for this action was the outcome of an Independent Chain of Command Review Board which examined the information gathered during the internal investigation.

The investigation was launched following a December 7, 2011, incident in which Jones was accused of assaulting an individual. There is still an active criminal investigation being conducted by Matthews Police Department concerning the incident.

================================================

On Friday, December 9, 2011, an arrest warrant was obtained for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer David Jones III. Jones was charged with assault inflicting serious injury.

It has been alleged that Jones assaulted an individual who struck the vehicle of a family member of his during a motor vehicle collision on December 7, 2011 in Matthews. The individual who Jones is accused of assaulting was treated at a local hospital and was arrested and charged with DUI upon his release.

Jones turned himself in to the Magistrates Office this afternoon and is in the custody of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office.

Officer Jones has been with the CMPD since September 27, 2000. He is assigned to the South Division and is currently on paid administrative leave pending a parallel criminal and internal investigation. The criminal investigation is being conducted by the Matthews Police Department. Detectives with the CMPD Internal Affairs Division will conduct the department’s internal investigation.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or has any information concerning the event is asked to call the Matthews Police Department Criminal Investigations at 704.847.7755.

Robert A. Tufano
Office of the Chief
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
601 East Trade Street, Charlotte, NC 28202
704.336.7042 (O)
704.301.8605 (M)
rtufano@cmpd.org

World Gone Mad CMPD Charges Driver With Death By Vehicle

2011-12-22T06:05:00.006-05:00

According to WBTV's "Over The Top" one man band Ron "Cam Man" Lee:

A driver is facing charges after a collision with a scooter along Park Road left a man dead from his injuries.

The roadway was shut down for hours late Wednesday night, and it wasn't going to reopen until investigators had their answers to what happened.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said a Piaggio Moped, driven by Marty Wayne Thompson was headed inbound from the 3400 block of Park Road around 7pm.

Marty Wayne Thompson

That's when a Honda CRV pulled out in front of him trying to make a left-hand turn.

Thompson slammed on the brakes, and ended up laying the scooter down along the roadway.

Thompson collided with the rear of the Honda, his moped hitting another vehicle nearby.

First responders rushed to the scene, but were not able to save the victim.

Police roped off the area while the investigation began it's early stages. The drivers of both the cars were interviewed, as well as witnesses in the area.

Charges against the driver of the Honda were eventually leveled. Lauren Marie Martindale was hit with misdemeanor death my vehicle as well as failure to yield.

Lauren Marie Martindale

The driver of the Toyota Avalon, the other vehicle involved, was not charged.

Link to WBTV's Story is here.

Cedar's Take: What is wrong with CMPD? A known drug user (Thompson) slams into the back of a Honda CRV and dies. The driver of the Honda CRV (Martindale) is sober, has all the correct papers and insurance, never been arrested and they charge her?

Why is CMPD to quote Ron Lee "Leveling Charges" against this woman, it is clearly pointless and burdens our courts with cases that will be dismissed.

Had he slammed into the side of her car or had she hit him head on, sure charge her. But running up on her and hitting the back of her vehicle is a automatic non qualifier.

Tell me if I'm wrong or too "old school" but my thinking is anywhere from the rear quarter of the CRV back is the fault of the Liquor-cycle rider.

His death while tragic is a simple accident on rain soaked streets at a time when it is normally daylight through out most of the year.

CNN's Jeanne Moos Takes on the FedEx Delivery Guy

2011-12-21T20:24:00.002-05:00

Be sure and catch WBTV's "knock off" of Moos' CNN story tonight at 11:00. They nearly copy her story word for word.

Kevin Siers on The GOP's Tax Cut Fail

2011-12-21T15:12:00.004-05:00

He Should Have Ducked At Least Once

2011-12-21T13:48:00.003-05:00

Cedar Posts wonders how bad did the other guy look, if Brandon Riha is the guy CMPD arrested. Or maybe he fell getting into the Police Car?

CMPD Homicide Units Earns Kudos

2011-12-21T05:16:00.005-05:00

Most of Charlotte missed the Observer's story about CMPD Homicide Detective's being honored last week. If you did you shouldn't have, the reason is that CMPD's Homicide unit has closed 85 percent of this year's homicide cases. Compare that to Baltimore's 47 percent, or North Charleston's 73 percent and you get the idea why this is a big deal.

When it comes to CMPD the truth is always in the details, but even if you discount Chief Monroe's shady dealings you still have a group of men and women who do a top shelf job in a rather unseemly business.

From the Charlotte Observer:

As Dee Sumpter addressed a roomful of Charlotte-Mecklenburg police detectives Thursday afternoon, she pointed to a few and thanked them individually. The detectives she singled out were the ones who investigated the killing of her 20-year-old daughter more than 18 years ago.

Sumpter is one of the co-founders of Mothers of Murdered Offspring, a local group that supports families whose loved ones are victims of homicide. On Thursday, the group honored Charlotte-Mecklenburg police homicide detectives in a ceremony at Little Rock AME Zion Church in uptown.

They praised investigators for their efforts and their recent high number of cleared cases.

Police say they've made arrests in 85 percent of the homicides committed so far this year - a number comparable to recent years. But the case clearance rate jumps to 92 percent when including arrests made in 2011 in murder cases from previous years, police said.

Maj. Andy Leonard, who leads CMPD's Criminal Investigations Bureau, said that for about the first six months of the year, police made an arrest in every homicide case. Now approaching the year's end, only about five cases from 2011 remain open, he said.

The rest of Meghan Cooke's story is here.

In Case You Missed It FedEx Fail

2011-12-20T10:29:00.001-05:00

Watch how this FedEx Driver "carefully" delivers a computer monitor. Next time use the Brown Truck!

North Charleston Police Say Suspect Dies After Ingesting Cocaine

2011-12-20T08:36:00.003-05:00

A drug suspect was encouraged by his older brother to eat a large amount of cocaine to destroy some of the evidence, North Charleston police said Monday.

He died in custody less than an hour later.

The details from the Charleston Post and Courier here.

In Case You Missed It CMPD Issues a BOLO for The Grinch

2011-12-19T20:04:00.003-05:00

Hill's homemade Grinch

WBTV is reporting the following:

A couple of Christmas grinches are lurking in south Charlotte and police want your help in locating them both.

Anthony Hill spent hours this year making a homemade grinch as part of his outdoor Christmas decorations, based on the beloved book Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas!

"Our neighbors have loved it this year," Hill said. "We received a card hand drawn by neighborhood kids depicting the scene and another family sent us a card thanking us for the decor."

But sometime in the early morning hours of Monday, a real-life grinch stole the decoration, along with the ladder he was on, from the side of Hill's house on Covedale Drive in the Sardis Woods community.

Hill made the six foot tall grinch out of chicken wire with green fur over the wire, he said. A wooden sign that said, "Welcome to Whoville" was also taken.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is investigating and listed the stolen decorations at $300, according to the incident report.

Anyone who sees or knows where either grinch may be hiding is asked to call Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.

"Hopefully, it will show up," Hill said.

Mister Grinch whose full name is:

Mister Doctor Hector Sylvester Jerome Smitty Susan Anna Jumanji Judster HuckDuck Little Banzooga Dink Grinch has not yet been recovered.

More photos along with WBTV's report is here.

The Arrest of William Summerville aka WRFX's Mr. Bill Leads to Termination After 15 Years

2011-12-19T12:58:00.008-05:00

WRFX Host Mr. Bill on the right.

Clear Channel was the topic on WBT last week, Larson and even Vince Coakley noted the demise of "Local Programing" in favor of syndicated broadcasts following the termination of Bill Summerville as afternoon DJ with station WRFX.

Most listeners responding to these discussions portrayed Clear Channel as the evil empire.

Bill Summerville, also known as "Mr. Bill" to rock listeners of WRFX-FM 99.7 was fired after 15 years at the station last week.

"There are some new adventures I've always wanted to pursue and now I'm free to do so. It's a good feeling in some ways, sad in others. I love the Fox and I always will," Summerville posted on Facebook.

Thus is the way of FM Radio these days right?

Not so fast.

Something is just not right in Who-ville. Normally radio personalities who have a long track record get a royal send off of some sort and a mid week firing is unheard of, so what really happened? WRFX is mum, but the numbers have been steady the station is one of the major forces chasing Country Power House WSOC FM.

Maybe this mug shot from the Catawaba Sheriff's office explains a little.

Photo Courtesy Catawaba County Sheriff's Department

And then there is this from Unifour News:

Multiple assault charges have been filed against a Catawba County resident. 51-year-old William Charles Summerville of Sherrills Ford was arrested by the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office. He’s charged with three counts of assault on a female. Following the arrest Summerville was placed in the Catawba County Jail under no bond. A court appearance is scheduled for January 23rd.

Cedar Posts has contacted WRFX Program Director Jeffery Kent who forwarded the request to Market Manager Charlie Wilkinson. Nothing further from Clear Channel - WRFX.

The question is was Mr. Bill fired due to a domestic altercation and arrest? Cedar Posts is for now "Flying Low and Beating the Radar" no reply from William "Mr. Bill" Summeville as of this afternoon.

A Trailer Palace Christmas

2011-12-18T02:29:00.010-05:00

I admit it; at one time I actually dated a girl who lived in what she called a "trailer palace". Since my idea of dating has always been a total head first all in commitment, that means I lived in a mobile home for a time. This is not something I'm particularly proud of, but over the years it has given me perspective and a profound sense of what Christmas means to so many who have so little.

Christmas Eve and on this cold star filled night the temperatures are hovering just below freezing. Aside from a tent, you can't get more outside while living inside than in a mobile home.

The wind blows and with each gust, the wood and steel frame groans and creaks. The trailer shudders with each shift of even the slightest breeze. The cold doesn't just creep in when the wind blows, is barrels through the walls, pushing the furnace into overdrive on frigid nights like this.

When you are young certain things don't matter, the thickness of the walls or the sturdiness of a home's foundation were the last thing on my mind in my early twenties. All I knew was that sex on a water bed was amazingly fun, though I have to admit that I questioned the ability of the small single wide mobile home to support the weight of the water and our combined sexual enthusiasm.

Somewhere south of Charlotte, off a wandering ribbon of asphalt called Potter Road there was a trailer park. Pine trees looming overhead, their fallen needles carpet the gravel drive that circles around the small group of aluminum clad flat roofed homes set at odd angles from the rut filled road.

The layout is simple, garbage cans to the right, parking to the left. A clothes line along the front and junk in the back. The unmistakable sound of pine trees standing against the winter wind echoes across the cold expanse of Carolina red clay. The trees bend and flex in the frozen air and they rain pine needles that fall gently like snowflakes across the ground. The sound of the wind on a winter's night is amazing.

Not long after midnight the rumble of diesel engines steady in the night remind her of the CSX railroad tracks that run behind the property. The low and steady sound is warning that all hell is about to rain down on her small trailer palace.

There's a large "W" on a creosote soaked post that sits less than 25 yards behind the trailer. When Angela moved into the "new to her" mobile home she failed to notice the proximity of the railroad tracks or understand the significance of the "W".

But to railroad enthusiasts and train engineers the W was as common as mile posts on an interstate highway. The W marked the approach to the "grade crossing" just down the tracks from the trailer park. The W is for whistle and its placement requires sounding of the massive three tone air horn on the diesel engine regardless of time of day or night whenever passed.

She lay in her bed listening to the pulsing sounds as the four diesel electric engines grew closer, when trailer began to vibrate she knew the horn was about to open up. The sound so deafening that it isn't something you could sleep through. It is so loud and so close that it had startled many a drunk who had passed out on her couch.

A couple minutes later the fading sound of the last freight car passes and the silence of winter begins to return. The cold echoes of steel wheels chasing the last freight car down the tracks toward Monroe, a reminder that the night is clear, and crisp.

In order to save money Angela turns down the heat at midnight and fights the temptation to nudge the pointer past 50 on the analog thermostat until at least 6am. Her ability to stretch out her LP gas I find a little concerning, since one of her ideas is to run her laundry in the dryer during the coldest hours and unhook the gas dryer so that it vents to the inside of her trailer. During the winter this provides additional heat. I offer my advice that it’s not safe, but even so it’s still money she says. On this night she accepts my advice and so a couple of frozen bath towels hang outside in the winter moon light.

The back window of her minivan is covered in plastic. A sad reminder of a mistake made only a week before. It was a brief lapse in thinking for an otherwise smart young single mother.

The trip to Toys R Us by herself was a success. She had had arranged for the kids to spend the night with Nana and PawPaw, and she spent nearly all of her $300 bonus from the trucking company she works at, on toys and stocking suffers for her children. The two for one coupon offer on the family size lasagna at the grocery store was all she needed to complete her shopping. She hadn't planned to be in the store for more than a few minutes. But that was all the time the thieves needed.

In the parking lot outside of the BiLo, she didn't give a second thought to the two women nearby loading a car full of purchases. She didn't notice that they spotted the stash of toys in the back of her minivan as she closed the rear door. But they watched their mark enter the grocery store and it took them less than a minute to brazenly smash the rear window and empty all but the smallest of gifts from inside Angela’s Honda Odyssey and vanish into the night.

There were no tears shed, she didn't even bother to call the police. She knew better, and thinking about it she noted she could either be angry at herself or go on, and go on is what she did.

I imagine it was a cold lonely drive home by herself with that back window busted out, but she never complained. Living in a trailer palace, tempers your emotions she told me on more than one occasion.

Its around 3 am when she quietly moves the carefully wrapped packages into place around the small artificial tree. It is too cold to linger and inspect her handy work. She stops only briefly to admire the one thing that means the most to her. A baby's first Christmas ornament purchased for her son. The math surprises her, could it really be three years? The thought comes and goes as it does she smiles. She glances in the mirror at the scar on her forehead, faded over time and it makes her laugh out loud and shake her head in disbelief.

She had bought the Hallmark ornament with the last 15 dollars she had in her checking account or so she thought. But she had forgotten the bank service charge and the debit left her account with only a $1.50, the NSF charge of 35 dollars then caused two other checks to bounce even after her paycheck was deposited. The end result was that the ornament cost her more than 100 dollars. The scar on her forehead was a gift from her then (now ex) husband after he opened the mail somewhere between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. The following year was a blur of police, and courts. The fights were just a haze of screaming rage directed her way not just from her ex but from his family as well.

The name calling and sworn testimony by her ex mother in law about her infidelity and drug use hurt the most, those lies and fabricated documents were the last straw. Thankfully the judge saw though that, and gave Angela full custody of her son and daughter.

Now three years later she seldom receives the monthly child support payments. The father hasn’t been heard from in over a year. She checks the second bedroom out of habit, both little angels are sound asleep. Neither child stirs as she gently lays another blanket on each twin bed.

It took me four stops and three hours to replace the stolen toys. I distracted her kids with popcorn and a VHS tape of A Charlie Brown Christmas while she wrapped the gifts in the back of her minivan outside.

Nearly 30 minutes after she whispered "Its time for Santa to come down the chimney", she returns to bed, her warmth is overwhelming and welcomed. Her soft voice, a quiet but breathy "Thank You" are the only words spoken during the next two hours.

More years have passed than I can count, Angela long ago remarried, her kids have grown into young adults and even though the years have gone by we still talk from time to time. The trailer palace a distant place in her past as well.

But looking back I don't think you can really appreciate life or fully embrace the wonder of Christmas Eve until you have spent at least one in a “Trailer Palace”.

How Rodney Monroe's Culture of Lies and Dumbed Down Crime Numbers Failed Victim Number 3

2011-12-17T22:55:00.001-05:00

Early on the morning of December 15 CMPD detectives with the "Sexual Assault Unit" now headed by Major Vicki, interviewed Lavatae Evans for more than an hour. Police knew they had the right man, but were not sure if a crime had been committed because CMPD detectives felt that both victims ages 19 and 20 were lying about their relationship with Evans.

It is a well known fact that CMPD Officers are under pressure to show lowered crime numbers to Chief Monroe, particularly with regards to violent crime. Adding two rapes to an already violent month would not look good on CMPD's Compstat reports.

CompStat (short for COMPuter STATistics or COMParative STATistics) is the name originally given to the New York City Police Department's accountability process that has since been replicated in many other police departments including CMPD. But, the program is a number driven process that is inherently flawed.

Evans is a career sexual predator and criminal with a history of sex offenses. Information that was available to CMPD included prior arrests and convictions for first-degree rape of a child, first-degree sex offense against a child, kidnapping, auto theft, robbery and drug charges.

Despite questioning Evans for less than an hour, and even though Evans had not requested to leave, CMPD Detectives told Evans he was free to go. Within minutes of leaving CMPD headquarters Evans had zeroed in on his 3rd victim in less than 12 hours.

When the 3rd victim called police and identified the suspect as Evans, CMPD knew they had a major public relations nightmare on their hands. But when CMPD's Public Information Office first released information about the Evans arrest they failed to mention that just hours before they had Evans in custody, as a suspect in the first two rapes.

When Cedar Posts received the anonymous email early Friday morning it was clear that a major cover up was underway. So why did CMPD fail to mention that Evans had been in custody just hours before he committed his 3rd attack in less than 12 hours, when they first announced his arrest?

The answer is simple CMPD is totally consumed with the public perception of their operations and lying is the way they have elected to control perception.

With the heat turned up on Chief Monroe and questions from all directions thanks to the email, CMPD's plumber Rob Tufano began to deny and minimize.

CMPD's spin presented by Major Foster during a 3 o'clock Friday afternoon press conference was pure political posturing. Foster stated that as a result of the "inconsistent statements" by the victims, police didn't have sufficient evidence to charge Evans or enough probable cause to hold Evans while he was at the Law Enforcement Center.

Probable cause is defined as "a reasonable belief that a person has committed a crime".

Major Foster went on to say that investigators can't rely only on a victim pointing out a suspect to make an arrest.

"We have to do an investigation," she said. "We want to be fair to both parties."

Foster said Evans was free to leave at any time but cooperated in the investigation. She said officers had his address and believed they'd be able to find him if charges were later filed.

"The best we could do was try to verify the information."

Yet CMPD's over the top response to Evan's 3rd attack that included both SWAT and VCAT units dramatically conflicts with Foster's statements. If CMPD detectives were so confident that they could re-interview Evans at anytime why the SWAT and VCAT response?

The bottom line is that Evans should not have been released before CMPD Detectives had re-interviewed the victims. While Detectives might claim they didn't have probable cause, they certainly would have if they believed the victims. But in a culture where crime numbers mean everything Officers and Detectives are driven to "dumb down" the numbers. A rape becomes just an assault, and victims are minimized. The result of this culture is that victim's statements are often discounted, particularly minority victims.

In this case CMPD failed to protect victim number 3. The physical and emotional damage done to this victim is beyond what civil lawsuit that is sure to come can compensate. The damage to CMPD's reputation and that of the Chief is beyond recovery as well.

Did CMPD Release Rape Suspect Hours Before He Raped A 3rd Victim?

2011-12-16T06:45:00.013-05:00

Early this morning Cedar Posts along with Rick Thames of the Observer, Crime in Charlotte, and the news desks of WBT, WBTV, WSOC and News14 received an email that claims CMPD detectives released a rape suspect from custody only to have to arrest him hours later after he raped a 3rd woman.

The arrest as reported by CMPD goes something like this:

Lavatae Evans, a 31-year-old felon, was taken into custody, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.

Police said two people were sexually assaulted Thursday morning on Equipment Drive, off West Sugar Creek Road near Interstate 85.

As police searched for Evans, the suspect in the attack, he assaulted another person about a five-mile drive away at a home on Brewton Drive, police said.

A SWAT team was called to the home, which is located in a neighborhood between Statesville Avenue and Interstate 77. Evans later surrendered

But is this the whole story? Did Evans attack two women, then find himself in Police custody only to be released and rape again? If so why did CMPD's PIO cover up the facts?

Or was Lavantae Evans simply arrested as CMPD has said after a stand off with CMPD Officers including a SWAT and members of the VCAT unit?

The email in its entirety.

To whom ever will listen,

The information you have received from CMPD concerning the arrest and actions of Lavantae Evans is not completely true.

They have lied in an effort to cover up their mistakes which lead to an innocent person being sexually assaulted and held against her will.

Police responded to the Sunset Inn at 5301 Equipment Dr around 6 a.m. on 12/15/2011. During this altercation Evans was named and positively identified as a suspect in the kidnapping and rape of two female subjects.

Evans was found hiding in another hotel room a few doors down from where the assault took place. Once Evans was located he was positively identified as the person who raped and kidnapped the two women. He was then voluntarily transported to the Law Enforcement Center to be questioned by detectives.

At some point Evans was allowed to leave police custody and not charged with the rape and kidnapping of the first two women.

After being allowed to leave police custody he then kidnapped and raped another (3rd) woman which led to the police standoff with the SWAT team responding.

It was only after Evans was involved in the raping and kidnapping of a third woman that detectives went and obtained warrants for his arrest for the first two women that he assaulted.

CMPD completely failed in this incident and allowed a dangerous, violent and disturbed individual to walk the streets and a few hours later lead to the rape of another woman that could have been completely prevented.

Please, I implore you to dig harder and see that the information released to you by CMPD is not true in its entirety.

All that I have said is documented and available for public record. Please look more into this story and report the truth about what happened with Mr. Evans and CMPD's failure to protect this community.

I am contacting you on the basis of anonymity and do not wish to be contacted or spoken to.

Thank you

Updated as of 3:00PM CMPD admits to omitting the fact that they released Mr. Evans just hours before he committed the 3rd rape.

From WBTV:

Evans sexually assaulted two women at a motel on Equipment Drive early Thursday morning, said Maj. Vicki Foster with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's sexual assault unit.

Foster said after interviewing the two victims, Evans voluntarily came in for questioning at CMPD headquarters between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.

The two women's stories did not add up and because Evans was being cooperative with the investigation CMPD allowed him to leave.

Upon leaving, Evans boarded a CATS bus where he met a third woman who needed directions to South Park Mall, Foster said.

Foster said Evans misled the woman and took her to his residence on Brewton Drive where he sexually assaulted her around 12:30 p.m. Thursday.

Cedar's Take: There are many reasons a suspect is released. CMPD's public information office in an effort to cover up the facts via omission, is in its most simplistic form, wrong and is just another indication of the troubling changes at CMPD since Chief Monroe's arrival. In no uncertain terms heads need to roll, starting at the top.

Tweet of the Week!

2011-12-16T05:43:00.000-05:00

Fernando Aguirre - Chiguita CEO

"@FdoAguirreCEO: #CLT is the Jerry Orr airport. Even the male PA voice sounds like him!"

Cedar Posts: De hecho, me gustaría que este tipo después de todo.

Friday Wrap Up!

2011-12-16T02:26:00.007-05:00

Great Seats, Loyal Dog, Couple of Stadium Blankets and Starbucks, I'm all wrapped up for the holidays how about you?

Christmas Count Down - Beyond the shopping malls and office parties there are those of us who view the impending doom of Christmas Day with despair. It is about this time each year that Christmas begins to go into as investment experts would say is an "Over Bought" condition.

This irrational exuberance is often caused by setting standards for holiday excellence that is unobtainable. The perfect dinner, the perfect tree, the perfect gift, and the perfect husband, wife and or spousal equivalent.

Yes Boys and Girls, Santa is about to slide down the chimney and like wise your emotions. The prospect of College Bowl games and the end of football season shortly there after along with the post holiday blues is something I never look forward to. The mere thought that baseball is still more than 90 days away and its 111 days until CBS airs the Masters causes uncontrollable sobbing of my soul.

CMPD Chief Rodney Monroe - Chief Monroe who's management style is kindly referred to as "re-active" has again proved true to form by addressing the MSM's firestorm and piling on of CMPD Officer David Jones.

“We work hard each and every day to try to gain and maintain the trust of the community, and sure, this hurts,” Chief Monroe told WSOC TV.

After more than a week of silence since the news broke that the off duty officer hammered an intoxicated Richard Samuel McVicker, Chief Monroe contacted WSOC to make a couple of statements including:

“We will be looking to take appropriate action as relates to anything that's sustained in reference to his behavior,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Rodney Monroe

Interestingly enough the Chief failed to address the DWI charge against Officer Beatrice Andres or the assault charge against Officer Dan Tran.

South Charlotte Weekly - Takes a pro-CMPD view of just about everything the department does. From fluffing crime reduction numbers to flowing accolades of Chief Monroe, "The Wet Thing in the Driveway" went all in this week with the David Jones story.

"Sources close to the family also say preliminary blood-alcohol tests indicate McVicker, of 11018 South Point Drive, Charlotte, had a level almost three times the legal limit when he began banging on Jones car and screaming, scaring her and her grandson. Valdes said a preliminary breath taste taken at the scene is not admissible and not part of the investigation, and her department is waiting on results of a blood test. "

Cedar Says: Yes you read that right a "breath taste".

More over the top reporting from the Weakly on the McVicker vs Jones altercation is here.

Hatley v. City of Charlotte - Was set to begin a jury trial to determine damages last week. Reportedly lawyers for both sides are in discussions and moving towards an out of court settlement and payment amount. Experts suggest that it will be a figure approaching 7 figures as Officer Hatley's career is over and her retirement plans laid to ruin thanks to Chief Monroe.

Yet CMPD and City officials must also weigh the ripple effect of any settlement as other RAC's who were demoted or failed to be promoted to Lieutenant will also seek payment riding on the coat tails of Hatley v Charlotte. Total cost of this Rodney Monroe failure could top 10 million.

More Christmas Vacation Triva

2011-12-15T17:26:00.002-05:00

The scene where the cat bites on the Christmas lights cord and gets electrocuted was nearly cut from the movie. Prior to the first test screening. the studio execs wanted the scene taken out, fearing that it might offend some viewers, but producer Matty Simmons begged them to leave the scene in, and they eventually gave in to his request. After the first test screening, the test audience had scored the cat electrocution scene as the No. 1 favorite scene throughout the entire movie.

Even if you love cats, this is funny. If you hate cats you will spit your coffee even if you have seen this 100 hundred times.

Christmas Vacation

2011-12-15T16:52:00.004-05:00

Clark: I can't believe you're standing here in my living room, Eddie. Never thought the day would come.

Eddie: Yeah I'm excited about it too.

Eddie talking about Snot Eddies dog

Eddie: If you scratch his belly, Clark, he will love you till the day you die.

Clark: I really shouldn't, Eddie. My hands are all chapped.

Christmas Vacation Trivia: Frank Capra III, the grandson of It's a Wonderful Life director, Frank Capra, was the Assistant Director of Christmas Vacation.

Christmas Vacation

2011-12-15T00:47:00.003-05:00

Clark: We're kicking off our fun old fashion family Christmas by heading out into the country in the old front-wheel drive sleigh to embrace the frosty majesty of the winter landscape and select that most important of Christmas symbols.

Audrey: We're not coming all the way out here just to get one of those stupid ties with Santa Clauses on it are we?

Clark: No, I have one of those at home.

Rob Tufano Chief Monroe's No. 1 Plumber Spins the Officer Jones Suspensions

2011-12-14T20:57:00.006-05:00

WSOC in their own "pat on the back" story claimed this: "When officer David Jones was charged with assault, Eyewitness News started asking questions about his record with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department."

The Eyewitness News story continues:

"Police confirm that has the attention of police brass, who are fast-tracking their own internal investigation."

“Absolutely, his job status is being looked at,” said police spokesman Rob Tufano.

But Tufano said while he can't legally say why Jones has been suspended, many officers suspensions are for minor issues.

“Showing up late for court, showing up late for roll calls, violations of your uniform -- those are suspendable kinds of situations for us,” Tufano said.

Cedar's Take: Rob Tufano Chief Monroe's No. 1 Plumber might try to spin Jones' prior suspensions, but trying to brand a one month suspension as a "minor issue" is laughable. Seriously how stupid does Tufano think the general public is?

Trying to explain away Jones' 240 hour suspension as nothing more than a dirty uniform, or being late for roll call is an insult to every officer who has done their job without any grievances.

Tufano has his hands full, with at least 3 high profile CMPD officer arrests inside two weeks. But is this normal for a large department? Some people say yes and still others say this is unacceptable. Makes you ask where is Chief Monroe?

Christmas Vacation The RV

2011-12-14T08:20:00.000-05:00

Clark: So, when did you get the tenament on wheels?

Eddie: Oh, that uh, that there's an RV. Yeah, yeah, I borrowed it off a buddy of mine. He took my house, I took the RV. It's a good looking vehicle, ain't it?

Clark: Yeah, it looks so nice parked in the driveway.
[Raises class to his mouth]

Eddie: Yeah, it sure does. But, don't you go falling in love with it now, because, we're taking it with us when we leave here next month.

[Clark nearly chokes on his drink]

More photos of Eddie's RV here.

Charlotte Firefighter Will Not Be Charged In Shooting Death

2011-12-13T20:37:00.004-05:00

FOX News Charlotte is reporting that the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office and CMPD have determined that no charges will be filed against the off-duty firefighter involved in this shooting and that his actions did not rise to the level of criminal conduct in the death of James David Lambert.

Lambert

During the course of the investigation CMPD detectives determined that the resident positioned himself between his car and the truck Lambert was operating in an attempt to detain Lambert until police arrived.

Evidence gathered indicated that Lambert accelerated his vehicle in the direction of the property owner presenting a reasonable fear of imminent death or serious bodily harm to the off-duty firefighter.

More details from FOX News Charlotte here.

Lambert had recently been arrested on charges consistent with domestic violence, including assault on a female, interfere with emergency communication, communicating threats and false imprisonment.

More Christmas Vacation

2011-12-13T15:25:00.002-05:00

Rusty Griswold: Dad, this tree won't fit in our back yard.

Clark: It's not going in the yard, Russ. It's going in the living room.

Follow-Up On Sunday's MC Murder

2011-12-13T01:26:00.002-05:00

WBTV's Sharon Smith is reporting that Jamie Reney Knox has been arrested in the shooting death of Chapel Bernard Waymyers. More of Smith's report is here.

According to police Knox walked into a meeting of the Outcast Motorcycle Club on Commercial Avenue around 2:25 pm Sunday and Shot the victim several times.

Police say there are at least ten of these types of clubs in the Charlotte area, most they consider non-violent. It is not clear if CMPD spokesman was stating that there are 10 "Black" Motorcycle clubs, or the level of which they monitor them for gang activity.

Cedar's Take: Someone has been watching too much SOA.

Christmas Vacation

2011-12-12T12:41:00.004-05:00

Ellen: What are you looking at?
Clark: Oh, the silent majesty of a winter's morn... the clean, cool chill of the holiday air... an asshole in his bathrobe, emptying a chemical toilet into my storm sewer...

Cedar's Take: In honor of my brother who just called to say he was on his way from Atlanta. Since he's out of work he figured he'd come up a week early for Christmas. Oh sure why not?

Chiquita Bands a Rotten Deal For Charlotte?

2011-12-12T08:00:00.007-05:00

When Charlotte City Council votes this evening to approve paying Chiquita $875,000 in cash, they will do so without any notable criticism.

Charlotte and Mecklenburg County will each pay Chiquita $875,000 plus tax investment grants, the State of North Carolina will fund other grants for a deal that combined tops out at over $22 million,

The idea, that having Chiquita Brands call Charlotte home is a major score for Charlotte has already begun to fade as the reality and perhaps buyers remorse has set in.

Not everyone agrees that the Chiguita name is something Charlotte should be associated with, there are after all those pesty murders of South American labor union workers and organizers. Not to mention millions of dollars paid to right wing para military groups in Columbia and El Salvador.

Plus taxpayers still have to come out of pocket for the deal.

As things often go in Charlotte this deal was sealed behind closed doors back in September. City Council members who support the move and are proud to say that bringing Chiquita to Charlotte is good news add that it won't cost the taxpayers an additional money as the dollars will come from the city's capital reserve fund. In other words "we'll use the money we have already sucked out of your collective pocket".

Under the deal, according to Charlotte Observer Mecklenburg County will also pay the company $875,000 over three years. So make that "sucked" out of both pockets.

The city and county payments will be tied to the company meeting job-creation benchmarks over three years. The company will eventually have at least 417 jobs at its corporate headquarters, according to the agreement. But as we know these job creation numbers are really just fluff and never come close.

"The payments have a 10-year "clawback," meaning Chiquita must repay some or all of the money if it leaves the city in that time or reduces the number of jobs it has here." Again this is really just for show.

In addition to the cash payments, the city and county are tentatively set to offer Chiquita a business investment grant of $730,000. The grant is 90 percent of the new property taxes Chiquita is expected to create over the next five years. After five years, the company would pay its full share of property taxes. More from the Observer is here.

And here's a strange twist, two completely opposite groups the Tea Party and Occupy Charlotte also opposed the funding.

This from Pundit House and Christian Hine:

The President of CAUTION, a Charlotte based Tea Party organization, and a spokesperson for Occupy Charlotte announced today that their respective organizations stand in opposition to a proposed incentive package for Chiquita Brands International that will be voted on by the Charlotte City Council during their December 12 meeting at the Government Center.

The membership of both organizations voted unanimously at their most recent meetings to oppose the use of taxpayer money for the benefit of any one particular company.

The rest of the Pundit House coverage is here.

Cedar's take: The amount of money as for the big picture goes is not great, neither is the nice smoke up your butt idea that Chiquita will bring 400 plus job to Charlotte. But it makes you wonder if maybe Charlotte City Council would have taken such a keen interest is doing something to save First Union or fight off the Fed's slaughter of Wachovia that we might be a little better off. How did Charleston land a Boeing Plant and Greenville a BMW factory expansion and Charlotte end up with Banannas?

But things are deeper and more troubling. There is the strange connection with US Attorney General Eric Holder and Charlotte and Chiquita.

When President-Elect Obama selected Eric Holder as his choice for attorney-general, several observers raised questions about the nominee’s role as a private lawyer defending Chiquita Brands. Holder helped Chiquita negotiate a plea agreement with the Justice Department for the years of payoffs that the company made to paramilitary groups in a part of Colombia where the right-wing militias massacred hundreds, perhaps thousands, of civilians.

More about Holder and Chiquita is here.

There's More:

Confidential internal memos from Chiquita Brands International reveal that the banana giant benefited from its payments to Colombian paramilitary and guerrilla groups, contradicting the company's 2007 plea agreement with U.S. prosecutors, which claimed that the company had never received "any actual security services or actual security equipment in exchange for the payments." Chiquita had characterized the payments as "extortion."

March 2000 notes of Chiquita Senior Counsel Robert Thomas indicate awareness that payments were for security services.

"These documents are among thousands that Chiquita turned over to the U.S. Justice Department as part of a sentencing deal in which the company admitted to years of illegal payments to the paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC)--a State Department-designated foreign terrorist organization--and agreed to pay a $25 million fine."

More about Chiquita's para miliatary operations can be found here.

More about Chiguita move from the Cleveland,com here.

It's all a little too much to take in, but the bottom line is simple. Is Chiquita Brands the type of corporate citizen Charlotte wants? I think the answer should be no.

Hartigan's Murder Questions Remain

2011-12-12T02:12:00.002-05:00

The post game bar may have opened to large crowds on Sunday and CMPD clearly has the killer "dead to rights" enough questions remain that CMPD is still looking to interview witnesses.

According to FOX Charlotte:

A CMPD spokesperson tells FOX Charlotte there are no updates on the Baker investigation. They are asking for more witnesses to come forward. If you were at Hartigan's last weekend, please call the police.

Katie Robinson who is charged with the death of Antoinette Baker remains in custody of the Mecklenburg County Jail.

Another Sunday Murder In Charlotte

2011-12-11T19:31:00.006-05:00

CMPD is reporting the murder of an unnamed young black male. Officers in the department's North Division responded to a 911 call around 2:30. Officers located the victim apparently shot on Commercial Avenue. CMPD reports that the victim and the suspect are known to each other. The name of the victim will be released as soon as CMPD completes the family notification process.

From the Charlotte Observer:

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say a man was fatally shot today as he was attending a motorcycle club meeting near Eastway Drive and The Plaza.

Police have not yet released the name of the victim pending notification of his family. But police say they believe the victim and suspect knew each other.

The shooting occurred in the 1100 block of Commercial Avenue before 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Police said they found a man suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to a news release, the victim was in a motorcycle club meeting when the suspect entered the building firing his weapon at the victim, striking the man.

Coco and St. Nick

2011-12-10T05:50:00.003-05:00

This story first ran in the Post and Courier's online blog edition. But I like it and this is my show so I'm posting it again!

Things have turned quiet at the Charleston City Marina. Gone are the mega yachts, those gleaming white ships made of spotless fiberglass, bright shinny chrome and their perfectly tanned crew members. The cruising crowd has gone south as well. Those retired couples, enjoying their life aboard fuel efficient trawlers that have become the floating equivalent of motor homes.

On the vast and now mostly empty mega dock a straggler of the snow bird procession arrives in a sailboat with a faded yellow hull, that chalks away in a yellow and white cloud of dust. The boat is a 1977 Erwin sloop 28 feet long named Elizabeth. A boat that has been floating since what appears to be time began.

Two weeks before Christmas and I'd swear that his name might as well be St. Nicolas or even Santa Claus. Nick or at least his near likeness is really named George, complete with a pipe whose smoke encircles his head like a wreath, a full neatly trimmed gray beard and a head full of thick silver hair tucked up under a red wool cap.

The rest of the story is here.

Where's RoMo?

2011-12-09T23:00:00.003-05:00

CMPD's MIA Chief Turns Up Standing side by side With Attorney General Eric Holder in Washington.

Much to the surprise of many, Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Chief Rodney Monroe appeared on behalf of embattled Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday on Capital Hill.

Mr. Holder was summoned to answer questions about the failed "Fast and Furious" gun sting, and apparently felt he needed some back up.

You can see Chief Monroe repeatedly peering over the Attorney General's left shoulder in the video below.

While Chief Monroe did not address Congress his appearance in Washington is a clear sign that the Chief has political aspirations far beyond Charlotte.

Eric Holder:

Today, it's a privilege to be joined by several of our key public safety partners. These five police executives - Chief [Fred] Bealefeld of Baltimore, Commissioner [Ed] Davis of Boston, Chief [Rodney] Monroe of Charlotte, Chief [Ralph] Godbee of Detroit, and Commissioner [Charles] Ramsey of Philadelphia - have been leaders in developing and implementing innovative and effective crime prevention strategies. They have also worked closely with the Department in advancing critical efforts to reverse the alarming rise in law enforcement fatalities in recent years. The work we do along the Southwest border is influenced by the efforts they have undertaken in their own cities.

In the cities they serve - and in communities across the country - this work is a priority. And, in our ongoing efforts to protect the American people and our brave law enforcement personnel, a critical area of focus will continue to be our battle against gun violence on the Southwest Border.

.....This will require us to apply the lessons we've learned from law enforcement officers, like the ones who sit behind me today, who protect public safety and our national security every day.

A complete copy of Mr. Holder's openning remarks can be found at the Justice Department's web site which is here.

CMPD Officer Gina Cook Officially Terminated

2011-12-09T21:11:00.003-05:00

Charlotte's Civil Service board voted Gina Cook off the island and Chief Monroe made it official this afternoon. The emailed announcement is below.

December 9, 2011

To: All CMPD Employees

From: Katrina Graue Deputy Chief

Subject: Personnel Actions By direction of the Chief of Police, the following personnel actions have been approved:

Terminations/Resignations: Police Officer Gina Cook, Code # 0887, assigned to Canine Unit effective 12/09/2011.

Cedar's Take: Since the Charlotte Civil Sevice Board met yesterday we are assuming this is a termination.

Yet Another CMPD Officer Arrested

2011-12-09T16:57:00.006-05:00

I'm not sure if CP is going to cover this story. The mainstream media is all over it. I don't know David Jones but from the emerging facts, it sounds like a drunk crashed into a family member's car and got up in Jones' face.

Seems like a logical outcome to me. On the other hand he should have walked away and asked the Matthews boyz to take good care of the perp.

Just saying.

Let me know if you think I should dig into this incident further.

Peace Out!

Update December 9 8:34 PM

Well ugh this is not good. Seems Jones has at least 3 prior suspensions, including one last year for 240 hours active.

Officer Jones

Jones claims that the guy who ran into his mother's car was drunk and fell hitting his head.

However the mug shot of McVicker the DWI suspect shows he fell, alot. Maybe five or six times.

McVicker

The Charlotte Observer worked up the details below:

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer was arrested Friday and charged with assaulting the man accused of hitting his mother's vehicle during a wreck this week in Matthews.

Officer David Estele Jones III, 37, turned himself in to authorities Friday afternoon, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.

Jones is accused of assaulting Richard Samuel McVicker, 38, who was charged with driving while impaired in connection with the wreck and remained in Mecklenburg jail Friday.

The crash happened around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday on Sardis Road near N.C. 51.

Jones' 63-year-old mother had stopped at a red light when a vehicle driven by McVicker collided with her, according to a Matthews police report. Police described the wreck as a low-speed rear-end collision with no injuries.

At some point, the woman called her son, police said, and when Jones arrived, he got into an altercation with McVicker. McVicker suffered facial injuries in the dispute.

Jones' attorney, George Laughrun, said the officer was rushing to aid his mother, who had called him for help.

Laughrun said Jones' mother somehow got McVicker's keys to keep him from leaving the scene. Then, McVicker began beating on her car window, trying to get the keys back, Laughrun said, and the woman called her son, who lives nearby.

When he arrived, Jones pushed McVicker away from his mother's vehicle and McVicker fell and hit his head, according to Laughrun.

McVicker was treated at an area hospital. Police said they took breath samples from him and had blood drawn to determine his blood alcohol content. The results of those tests weren't immediately available Friday.

Police took McVicker to Mecklenburg jail Thursday after he was discharged from the hospital.

A mug shot of McVicker shows him with an apparent cut on his nose, two black eyes, including one that appears swollen shut, and wearing a bandage around his head.

Records show McVicker, of Charlotte, was charged last year with assault with a deadly weapon, but the charges were later dismissed.

Jones, who police said was off duty and not in uniform during the incident, faces a charge of assault inflicting serious injury - a misdemeanor. Laughrun said his client plans to plead not guilty to the charge.

Jones has worked with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department since September 2000 and is assigned to the department's South Division. He is currently on paid administrative leave pending investigations, police said.

Matthews police are conducting the criminal investigation while CMPD's Internal Affairs Division performs an internal investigation.

Winter in the Carolinas

2011-12-09T08:02:00.002-05:00

Living in the Carolinas means, most winter days you need only a jacket.

Jackets different from coats in that they aren't lined and they don't cover you from the waist down. Up north they even sell lined jackets. If you have one and you are living here you should sell it on eBay.

Gloves are nice on the chilliest of days, but they are more burden than help most of the time because they make your fingers useless, they should be removed to shake hands with a stranger and as a pair they are great but like your brother in law and your sister they are destined to one day go their separate ways.

I saw a pair of mittens the other day, I was in Maine. If you own a pair of mittens and live in the Carolina's you need to sell them on eBay.

I laugh at late comers to the south who bundle up in ear muffs and ski masks when the first cold spell hits. The other day I saw my neighbor who moved to Charlotte from Ohio, she was wearing ear muffs and it was 54 degrees. I'm sure her ears were burning.

Men who wear those spandex leggins with their running shorts over the spandex look pretty dumb when the morning temps are barely below 50. Honestly they should sell those things on eBay but I doubt they would sell unless you threw in a pair of earmuffs.

Southerner's look at winter as a brief inconvenience not a season. We play golf and work in the yard on all but the coldest of days. The rare once a year snowfall is a fluke of Mother Nature and a good excuse to sit around and do nothing. Shoveling your driveway in the South is just plain dumb.

My neighbor is a Yankee and he has a snow blower. As soon as the snow began to fall last January he powered up his fancy red electric start self propelled Honda snow blower. He was out there for two hours making the most ungodly racket. I suspect one of the blades is bent.

Then there was a 3 hour break where there was nothing but the sound of softly falling snow on a wonderfully cold winter night. At 10PM he cranked it up again and it was nearly Midnight before the silence returned.

At 6 in the morning he fired that bad boy up one last time.

At 7AM I opened my garage door backed out my snow covered driveway and turned up my white frosted street. The only the tracks before me where those of the girl delivering the paper.

My neighbor and his perfectly cleared sidewalk and driveway contrasted starkly with my snow covered expanse of concrete.

In the four years he has lived next door he has never once offered to clear my driveway. I am forced to rely on God and Mother Nature. Most snow storms my driveway clears the same day. A few others it lasts a day longer.

This year as winter comes to the Carolina's I've taken matters into my own hands. I've promised his wife the proceeds of the red electric start self propelled Honda Snow blower I've listed on eBay. I've even included free shipping to any address "Up North".

Holiday Marketing

2011-12-09T01:13:00.004-05:00

Even the panhandlers have become politically correct!

His sign reads "Homeless, Hungry, Please Help, Happy Holidays"

Hartigan's Stabbing Victim Was Helped Briefly By CMPD

2011-12-08T13:26:00.004-05:00

From the Charlotte Observer

Susan Bennett, a regular who said she supports Hartigan's, told the Observer it was police - not the pub's staff - that prevented anyone at the pub from assisting Baker.

Bennett said she and some friends were at the pub near Bank of America Stadium early Sunday when they heard a ruckus and went outside to discover that Baker had been stabbed.
Bennett said that when police arrived, she pleaded with officers to help Baker or allow her to help the woman. Bennett claims an officer told her he could see Baker breathing, and that police were waiting for paramedics. At one point, an officer briefly applied pressure to Baker's wound, she said.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Capt. Jeff Estes, who heads the police division that covers the uptown area, has said his officers acted appropriately.

He said officers encountered a "belligerent" crowd when they arrived and that officers have to consider whether they should allow someone claiming to be a first responder to help, particularly when there is a chance he or she could be intoxicated. Estes said an officer applied pressure to Baker's wound with a towel.

CMPD Officer Charged With DWI

2011-12-08T01:13:00.001-05:00

Follow up to the tweets from Monday regarding the arrest of a CMPD Officer for DWI:

The CMPD Officer arrested for DWI in Cabarrus County last Saturday morning turns out to be none other than University Division traffic ticket writing machine Beatrice Andres.

She was stopped along Highway 49 near Blackwelder Road around 4AM and blew a .09.

According to WCNC News she has been placed on administrative leave pending a departmental investigation. Andres has been with the department since September of 2007 and is a member of the 153rd Recruit Class graduating in May 2008.

Cedar's Take: If you drink even the first beer and drive you are an idiot and should be fired. Period.

Beyond that, we need a zero tolerance law. Call it the "If you put the bottle to your lips you can't drive" law. It will eliminate the excuse of "I didn't think I was drunk". Asking someone who is drunk to know if they are just buzzed or beyond the legal limit is crazy.

Look at the number of DWI arrests every weekend and calculate the expense of rounding these people up. Then calculate the number of lives lost every year in North and South Carolina. It is insane that we continue to fight this battle.

Finally WCNC should re-think the way they present news. Saying on air "She was stopped .....and blew a .09, which is just over the .08 legal limit." In an attempt to minimize the crime is just all kinds of wrong.

CMPD Promotes Several Officers to the Rank of Lieutenant

2011-12-07T20:08:00.002-05:00

From: Graue, Katrina

Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2011 5:02 PM

To: CMPD everyone

Subject: Promotion to Lieutenant

Please join me in congratulating the following sergeants who were approved for promotion to the rank of lieutenant by the Civil Service Board. Details on assignments and a promotional ceremony will follow.

Sgt. Tonya Arrington
Sgt. Rich Austin Jr.
Sgt. Todd Blum
Sgt. Eric Brady
Sgt. Jackie Bryley
Sgt. Ryan Butler
Sgt. Joe Carey IV
Sgt. Lisa Carriker
Sgt. Casey Carver
Sgt. Travis Childs
Sgt. Spencer Cochran
Sgt. David Cristy
Sgt. Shawn Crooks
Sgt. Bill Cunningham Jr.
Sgt. Robert Dance
Sgt. Roseann DeTommaso
Sgt. Rod Farley
Sgt. Brian Foley
Sgt. Norman Garnes Jr.
Sgt. Todd Garrett
Sgt. Jeff Harless
Sgt. Andrew Harris
Sgt. Blake Hollar
Sgt. Steve Huber
Sgt. Jackie Hulsey
Sgt. Jim Hummel
Sgt. Dave Johnson
Sgt. Nathan King
Sgt. Pamela Lisenby
Sgt. Todd Lontz
Sgt. David Moorefield Jr.
Sgt. James Morrison
Sgt. Fred Newell
Sgt. Travis Pardue
Sgt. Mark Santaniello
Sgt. Kenneth Schul
Sgt. Jonathan Thomas
Sgt. John Thornton
Sgt. James Wright

Katrina

Deputy Chief Katrina Graue
Administrative Services Group

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
601 E. Trade Street
Charlotte, NC 28202
704.432.0429
kgraue@cmpd.org

Hartigan's Irish Pub Issues Statement on Sunday's Homicide

2011-12-07T01:43:00.000-05:00

“The owners and staff of Hartigan’s Irish Pub are still in shock after the tragic and senseless event that took place Sunday. They send their condolences to the friends and family of Ms. Baker and join in their grief. Please know that the owners, staff, and private security guard did everything they could to assist Ms. Baker and to assist the police officers in their investigation.

One of the staff had summoned the police prior to the stabbing, so officers were on the scene almost immediately. While officers were taking control of the situation, one of the owners was assisting the police officers and another was on the phone with the medics getting instructions.

In response to the statement made anonymously by a person claiming to be a first responder that a Hartigan’s owner kept her from rendering assistance, it simply is not true. Her assertions only serve to inflame what is already a tragic and painful event. We understand the investigation is continuing and we are cooperating in any way that we can. If anyone has additional information that will assist the investigation please contact the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department.

“Hartigan’s goal has always been to provide a fun, safe, and welcoming environment for all of our patrons with a zero tolerance policy for any type of violence or fighting. To everyone who was injured, involved, or present, our thoughts and prayers go out to you. To the many, many of our friends and patrons who have reached out to us, we can’t express enough how much we appreciate the love and support you have given us.”

A Christmas Letter From The Obamas

2011-12-07T01:29:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends and Family,

As I sit down to write this I am amazed that so much time has flown by already! Where does it all go? Of course you may be wondering the same thing and asking yourselves why are we getting a Christmas letter a whole month before the Iowa caucuses? Well you know how the stores are moving the holidays up earlier and earlier? This year we decided to do the same thing and get a “jump” on the competition, haha!!

Anyhow, I thought I would take this opportunity to keep you all “up to speed” on what is happening in the Obama family.

First, the girls. Sasha turned 10 and continues to love fourth grade. Malia is growing like a weed—five feet nine now, almost as tall as her dad!—and she had braces put on, which she was NOT happy about I can tell you. She is turning into quite the lady and she is doing extremely well at Sidwell Friends, just like her sister. Barack and I have told the girls that for $60,000 a year in tuition, they had better do well, or they are going to have to pay us back, haha! Being in the “1 percent” has its advantages. ;-) Both girls are enjoying sports, which of course they are very good at, and are still doing piano. You should hear them play—I really think they could be concert professionals.

Yours truly stayed busy in 2011 trying to get the American people to eat right—although I have to confess that even someone who knows as much as I do about how other people ought to live sometimes “falls off the wagon.” As I told Ladies Home Journal about our Chicago trip, “I ate everything that was available.” And now before the rumors get totally out of hand, let me just say: Despite what you might have read on Twitter, I am not pregnant. Where DO these rumors get started anyway? (Maybe it was the deep-dish Chicago pizza, haha!)

Needless to say, 2011 was a very big year for Barack, even though he did not win another Nobel Prize like he should have. The CIA forgers FINALLY put the finishing touches on his “long form” birth certificate, which was then conveniently “discovered” in the same file as Jimmy Hoffa and the Rose Law Firm billing records, LOL. (Kidding, people! KIDDING!) Then Barack announced that we finally killed Osama bin Laden, and would be withdrawing all U.S. troops from Iraq by year’s end. You’re welcome, America!

Of course it was easier to find OBL than it was to get the Republicans in Congress to agree to a tax hike on the “millionaires and billionaires” who make more than $250,000 a year, as Barack likes to say. I swear, sometimes I think the Republicans do not actually want to help a Democratic president win a second term—which is really weird, when you remember how hard Democrats worked to help re-elect Bush. Finally, a disturbed young man shot at the White House—luckily, we were out of town—and try as they might, the media could not find a way to blame it on the Tea Party. :-(

In between all the hard work we did manage to find some “fun time.” We went to Chicago in May, then Los Angeles in June. In July we went to Bar Harbor, Maine, and in August we went to Martha’s Vineyard. Malia went to summer camp for a month. Barack went to Chicago again while Sasha and I went to Spain with 40 of my closest friends. “Sassy” and I had lunch with the King—Juan Carlos, not Elvis—and Queen Sofia at their place on Mallorca. They were very nice, just like ordinary people. (The King even spilled some gazpacho on his shirt!) I tell you what: Between the Air Force Two flight and the 70 Secret Service agents and the 60 rooms at the Hotel Villa Padierna, it was a VERY expensive trip. Thank goodness I didn’t have to pay for it, haha!!

After that Barack, Sasha and I went to Florida and played putt-putt. Sasha sank a hole in one! You should have SEEN the look on Barack’s face—you know how much he loves to play golf. Remember last year, when he had to cancel a trip to Poland for the president’s funeral? What did he do instead? Yup—play golf! In fact, he plays a lot more golf than George W. Bush ever did, but luckily most of the media are on our side and never point that out, except for Faux News and some of the other right-wing propaganda machines.

Still, 2011 was not all butterflies and unicorns, especially for uncle Omar. In August he was picked up on a traffic violation and they found out he was supposed to have been deported in 1992. Oops! Guess government isn’t always perfect after all. A few days later Uncle Omar was “quietly released,” as the papers put it. Luckily, back in June Barack had told Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to stop deporting low-level offenders. I swear, he must have ESP!

Well, that is about all for now. We are looking forward to a very exciting 2012 election year and we hope you are, too! Remember that even though you are not near to us, you are still dear to us – especially if you vote!

SY,

Michelle

This letter is not real, but A. Barton Hinkle is. He's a columnist at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where this article originally appeared.

Save This for Later CMPD's DNC 2012 Security Plan

2011-12-06T10:55:00.004-05:00

According to the Charlotte Observer's Tim Funk:

Tampa police thought they needed 200 new surveillance cameras for next year's Republican National Convention.

Then the bids came in, approaching a total of $5 million.

Sticker shock!

So, as the St. Petersburg Times reported last week, Tampa's finest have trimmed their shopping list to 60 cameras. It set a top price of $2 million, and cut extras like helmet cams and unmanned drones.

So what does the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department say about its wish list? How many surveillance cameras?

Who knows?

Unlike the Tampa police, Charlotte's police won't give specifics.

Department spokesman Rob Tufano answers questions with a statement that says that the CMPD is working hard to develop a "seamless security plan," but that "the means, methods and specific resources to carry out protective responsibilities will not be discussed publicly in advance."

Cedar's Take: Yep just like the Airport Security Plan.