Police News Roundup.
Just about everyone is complaining about the Mayor's new plan to assign responsibility to various agencies in the event of a major incident. (Read: What does NYPD get and what's left over for FDNY).

The Times reports that subpoenas have been issued in the trial of activist lawyer/terrorist co-conspirator Lynne Stewart. Apparently, Stewart made statements to several reporters regarding her case that seem to indicate her guilt. Nothing being sought from the reporters is in any way privileged communication. In the most controversial bit, Esmat Salaheddin, an Egyptian AP reporter is sought to testify that Stewart called him and read a statement from convicted terrorist Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman. This statement exhorted an Egyptian terrorist group to abandon a cease-fire it was observing. In what is clearly the lamest claim, Times reporter Patricia Hurtado believes that if she is forced to testify she might have to stop covering the trial.

An era has come to an end on Monday when Whitman Knapp, chairman of the sometimes controversial Knapp Commission in the 1970's, passed away. Some officers may bemoan the Knapp Commission's intentions, believing them more for political agrandizement than truly rooting out corruption. There may be some truth to that, but overall the Knapp Commission did succeed in eliminating systemic corruption in the NYPD. Unfortunately, it was not the first commission to end corruption in the NYPD and may not be the last.

In developments in the story of Supreme Court Justice/Jackass Laura Blackburne, the justice/jackass has been reassigned to a position in Civil Court. The Commission on Judicial Conduct will reportedly meet on Thursday to decide whether further investigation into the allegation are necessary. Meanwhile, Court Officers are touting new procedures that will empower them to detain wanted defendants and even arrest judges who try to interfere. Justice/Jackass Blackburne was also embroiled in another controversy this week when she escorted a private "security guard" through a jurist's entrance to Queens Supreme Court, bypassing metal detectors and other security protocols in a move reminiscent of the murder of James Davis inside City Hall.

Base10 finds a small aspect of the Blackburne controversy quite disturbing. In several sources, Justice Blackburne has suggested that the detective needed a warrant to make an arrest in these circumstances. Base10 may have missed a few days in law school, but that's not a trivial issue. The law of arrest is very clear and Ms. Blackburne maybe way out of her league. There is absolutely no legal requirement for an arrest warrant in these circumstances and the fact that Blackburne suggests this simply proves she has no business being on the bench. This is not a surprise. Remember, Laura Blackburne was not a practicing attorney at all. She was a political hack that went from appointment to appointment. She owes her current position to the nod of the Queens Democratic Party. It seems the judiciary in Queens is the last refuge of the incompetent. Newsday has its own take on this here.

Groups complaining about the NYPD's protest permit process are threatening to march without them. The Post reports that some groups are threatening protests without a permit on the opening day of the GOP Convention.

Puerto Rican leaders are also blasting the NYPD after what they claim was an overly brutal dispersal of after-Parade revelers in Brooklyn's 72 precinct. Base10 saw the film footage on WNBC last night and it sure looked like a drunken belligerent mob to him.

In some good news, the Department is honoring Sgt. Patrick Beneventi with the Roosevelt Award. The award is given to members of the Department overcoming a medical hardship. The sergeant survived multiple bouts with cancer. Base10 wishes him the best.

And finally, in the "Elmer J. Fudd moment" department, Ms. Alberta Jones of Indiana was trying to shoot a squirrel raiding her bird feeder and instead shot and injured herself by mistake. Apparently she has used both gun shots and firecrackers to keep the squirrels and other varmints away, all to no avail. This time she hit both her legs with shotgun pellets. Base10 suggests she forget about the squirrels and instead concentrate on that rascally rabbit...or a mansion and a yacht or something.

Happy Bloomsday, everyone! Base10 will be enjoying a Bass Ale or two in honor of the hundredth anniversary of Leo Bloom's day in Dublin.
- posted by Base10 @ 7:31 PM