Wynn DID NOT stop the NET team???

[Conveyor Belt]

I'm confused...

in this article (http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061022/NEWS01/610220309/1002):

"The NET Team got good information about criminal activity and gang members," he said. "We were never soft on gangs."

Charlie Sims, who followed Landers as chief, said he kept the system that Landers started in place.

"We kept up with the gangs, checking on them, identifying them and appearing in court," he said.

If an offender was identified in court as a gang member, Sims said, "they got a tougher sentence. They knew that they weren't free to operate. So I think the constant monitoring kept them in check."

Wynn said his department has not stopped monitoring gangs.

"We have always been keeping up with the gangs, but we were unable to put them in jail if they committed a crime," he said.

"We had to charge them and let them go on their own recognizance. Now we have a place (the Forrest County Work Center) to put them. If they commit a misdemeanor, we can arrest them and take them off the street."

Wynn said the mission of the NET Team has not changed for the past four years.

Now, I know several of you who claim to be current or former hpd under wynn have alluded to, if not said that Wynn dismantled the NET team, which to me, means that he stopped the program, and only recently fired it back up under a barrage of critisism and outrage from the community. Which is it? Is Wynn lying, or were facts misrepresented? I'm confused...

now, the most telling quote from the article, isn't really a quote, but here it is:

Wynn issued a statement through police spokeswoman LaShana Sorrell that the department's manpower situation was not a reason for the recent increase gang activity.

ba-huh? what? how much sand does it take to bury wynn's head?

[maxim]

ba-huh? what? how much sand does it take to bury wynn's head?

Ohh, I calculate a cubic yard oughta be plenty. No sense wasting sand.

[gilgamesh]

Well, I can answer that...and there will be no surprise that he is lying. Right after I went to work for the City, the head of the Hattiesburg Housing Authority asked me to come by for coffee. One of the things he asked of me was to put in a good word for reinstating the NET team activity. He said that under former administrations, the NET team had been highly visible in the public housing properties and it had a significant deterrent effect on their problems. But, he said that since the NET team had been taken apart, their crime, domestic violence etc. had greatly increased. Of course, this fell on deaf ears when I relayed it to the Mayor.

[Maggie-Doodle]

gilgamesh, I agree with you...although the N.E.T. team wasn't officially "disbanned" it just as well have been. All proactive patrols were discontinued and the "reigns" were tightened so tight the officers could not do their job effectively. For all practical purposes they had been disbanned. I think there is alot that both the mayor and the chief turns around to fit their circumstances...maybe not out right lying but stretching the truth like a rubber band...well, the rubber band has now popped.

I, for one can remember when the N.E.T. teams second home was the housing projects...they dealt with the crime and it had at one time almost become nonexistent. I can also remember when the managers of the housing project would evict those who had fights and other disturbances in their apartments. Also gang-members were not allowed on the premises. I don't know if that has changed or not.

I find the mayors and chiefs statements about not having anywhere to put the gangs members very interesting... I understand that since Katrina they did not have "room at the inn" for the thugs but what about BEFORE Katrina hit? What is there excuse there? Like IGID said in another post, had the thugs been arrested on felonies, the "Billy Bobs Bed and Breakfast" aka the "Forrest County Hilton" would have taken them in regardless. Seems to me the admin just trys to cover their asses and think the citizens of the Burg are stupid enuf to fall for whatever they tell us!

[noway]

**Cough** (http://www.myhattiesburg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6308) May 30th 2005

[wilebill]

Thanks, noway, I thought this had been discussed. Thanks for looking it up and pointing it out.

The great big PD chief emperor has no clothes.

[Conveyor Belt]

wow, noway/zorro! thanks for that one!!!

There's some good stuff in that linked thread posted by bartspoon that contridicts what Wynn's saying now.

and, also, I've never seen aaron post so much...

[wilebill]

and, also, I've never seen aaron post so much...

That's back when there weren't many people here and aaron was posting just to keep things going. Now he only posts to put a halt to things. :)

[Conveyor Belt]

he should join in somemore, if nothing else, just to show a presence. It works in police work, no reason it wouldn't work on a bulliten board.

[aaron]

That's back when there weren't many people here and aaron was posting just to keep things going. Now he only posts to put a halt to things. :)

http://freeweb.supereva.com/esorciccio2002/smilies/adminpower.gif

[cowgirl]

the headline is NOT the truth. the mayor campaigned on quietening the N.E.T. that was what his supporters requested. there was a public meeting when a gang member praised the mayor and chief for letting them operate. the gang member stood and praised them at a local church, saying "this is a good chief - he met with us and said just keep IT out of the street". i have no doubt with total belief that this happened. this activity went unattended and has gotten totally out of hand. the mayor knows that he pulled the N.E.T. off these young guys - trying to show that he felt their pain. now, the city is in a mess.

[58ford]

I have always been opposed to vigilantism (sp?), but then again, I was opposed to surgery prior to my appendicitis.

[Janedoe]

I'm confused...

in this article (http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061022/NEWS01/610220309/1002):


Now, I know several of you who claim to be current or former hpd under wynn have alluded to, if not said that Wynn dismantled the NET team, which to me, means that he stopped the program, and only recently fired it back up under a barrage of critisism and outrage from the community. Which is it? Is Wynn lying, or were facts misrepresented? I'm confused...

now, the most telling quote from the article, isn't really a quote, but here it is:



ba-huh? what? how much sand does it take to bury wynn's head?


I think his enormouse double chin is cutting off his circulation to his head. Everytime I see him I think about the episode of Good Times where James Evans found out he had high blood pressure. When literally looks as if he might burst. I dunno. oil slick. Sorry. Not very P.C. but my gosh!

[OLDLADY]

If we get to quote people....I'd like to quote Red from That 70's Show....."Wynn, You're a Dumbass".........well said and thank you Red.

[maxim]

Seems to me we are allowing ourselves here to be distracted by smoke and mirrors. The real question now is not whether JD, DW et al. did wrong in the past - demonstrably, they displayed piss-poor performance and no amount of whitewashing and spin is gonna cover that up. They are like the famed cat on a linoleum floor. Scratch all ya want, it will still be there.

The real question should be - what is NET and HPD and the other players doing now? Not the tactics... who cares? But, rather, the strategy. An area, it must be said, where the current crop of players (or is that playahs?) seem to be rather dim-bulbed.

Violence and crime. We have a lot of it and we don't want so much of it. What is the concept for reducing it? And, please, no more platitudes about how "the best of the best" are going after "the worst of the worst." Gag.

Here's one example. There are others, use your imagination. Who knows? Maybe someone in power will steal these ideas and actually GET SOMETHING DONE.

Where are the cases against fences? Example - Jimmy the Junkie breaks into your house and steals your TV. Can the TV be traded for drugs? Maybe. If not, it must be sold for cash to buy drugs. If it can be traded for drugs, can the drug dealer give the TV up the line to his supplier to pay for his weight? Probably not, so the TV has to be sold for cash to pay the supplier. And so on up the line.

The Columbian Cartel doesn't take merchandise in trade. Somebody, somewhere is gonna insist on cash so the TV needs to be sold. Places that buy property are (mostly, generalizing, not all...) buying stolen stuff. If you see a place that says "We Buy..." or "We Take Trade-ins" it is taking in stolen property.

Why not a city ordinance requiring every place that takes used merchandise for cash or credit maintain a ledger with a photocopy of a positive, photographic identification before taking in merchandise? Books to be open to any police officer during business hours. Heck, digital cameras are cheap enough these days. Require a picture of the seller holding the merchandise. Business owners don't like it? Tough. They are contributing to crime. Suck it up.

Guess what? Kids stealing video games and trading them for ones they don't have cause more burglaries than you might think. Shut down that black market.

Guess what again? Fences have an address, file taxes, live respectable lives. They just get some portion of their money buying YOUR stolen stuff. This makes them a lot more susceptible to police pressure than Jimmy the Junkie is ever going to be.

Another example. Police don't reduce crime all by themselves anymore than they cause it by being ineffective (for whatever reason.) What reduces crime? Society demonstrating to thugs that their behavior is unacceptable. Part of that is the clergy and the schools constantly reinforcing the idea that gangs and criminals are BAD PEOPLE! Part of it is when the families of gangmembers and criminals make them FEEL ASHAMED for what they do and who they are. The press and the civic leaders (Mayor, ADP, etc.) have Teddy's Bully Pulpit to use. Sadly, the HA seems a bit, well, stooopid in this regard and the other two seem to have let the cat (see paragraph one) get their tongues.

The last part is positive reinforcement for people who act the right way. Part of that lies in good guvmint (or gummint, if you wish). Hire good people and support them in what they do. Find the slackers, the dishonest, the placetakers and timeservers, the cronies and those who do bad and oust them. Mistah Mayah, yah gots yer work cut out fer yah.

And, these aren't all the ways to get stuff done, by any means. Maybe some of this is going on now, behind the scenes. Trouble is, if this is kept quiet it is nowhere near as effective as when it is blazoned across newsprint in big type. No need to be subtle about this, we aren't making a 1950's French art film. Think Jerry Bruckheimer instead.

[Maggie-Doodle]

maxim, the pawn shops do have to keep a ledger of what they take in and are suppose to require identification from the seller...it is suppose to be submitted to the p.d. on a regular basis...a det. is suppose to go over it and match to stolen items...I would imagine that has gone by the wayside however, seeing they are so few in numbers these days with so many unsolved cases to deal with..

[maxim]

maxim, the pawn shops do have to keep a ledger of what they take in and are suppose to require identification from the seller...it is suppose to be submitted to the p.d. on a regular basis...a det. is suppose to go over it and match to stolen items...I would imagine that has gone by the wayside however, seeing they are so few in numbers these days with so many unsolved cases to deal with..

I think that is still being done. But, the number of places that buy used merchandise goes way beyond pawn shops. I am thinking in particular of music stores that take CDs for trade in, games stores that take used video game cartridges or DVD's, auto parts and repair shops that take used parts, any and every place that will buy used merchandise. Of course, antique shops and flea markets are often used. Not all of them, but there will be stolen stuff there.

Pawn shops, in general, get lots of attention from law enforcement. Usually some will slack off on getting ID until they get caught then they tighten up real quick again. they have the reputation of taking in stolen goods, fair or not, so they often are ready to cooperate.

It's the other stores that most assuredly do NOT want the reputation. Unless some pressure is put on them, they will continue to take the easy money.

Also worth noting the pawn shops in HBG are likely getting stolen stuff from Picayune, Lumberton, Meridian etc. and vice versa. Maybe a regional website to post and search stolen goods?

[Maggie-Doodle]

maxim, I understand what you are saying about the other places but I seriously doubt that there is a way to monitor all of those places...personnel wise it would be prohibitive IMO. The p.d. can't keep up with what they do now..it would certainly be a good thing IF the logistics could be worked out.

Another place alot of stolen stuff is sold is at yard sales etc. I just can't see how that could be controlled. I like the idea about about a regional website to check for stolen items...it would be great if someone could get such a site and maintain it....it would be nice if the pawn shops would start something like that.

[maxim]

maxim, I understand what you are saying about the other places but I seriously doubt that there is a way to monitor all of those places...personnel wise it would be prohibitive IMO. The p.d. can't keep up with what they do now.

Good point! However, like Brylcreem, a little dab'll do ya. Make it a priority for a while, make some cases against store owners. Yes, it would take resources.

OTOH, make the requirements so stringent (posting a large cash bond, keeping purchased items for 180 days before selling them, requiring the store purchasing used items to list them in a classified ad for a month before selling them, etc.) as to make it economically unfeasible to do so. some people would be inconvenienced by this but lots of them would be thieves. You might restrict the ordinance to only items commonly stolen.

[Maggie-Doodle]

Good points maxim, it would be great if someone could find a way to actually make something like this work..there has to be an answer to the problem somewhere...we just all have to work together on solving the problems.