tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225570644228196036.post1457656749983860179..comments2024-02-24T05:11:30.646-06:00Comments on The Director's Desk: Not entirely unusualTom Casadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188041481309059441noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225570644228196036.post-54683996912248311222013-05-15T16:51:44.511-05:002013-05-15T16:51:44.511-05:00The UGLY truth that we all ignore is that on any g...The UGLY truth that we all ignore is that on any given time of the day a huge number of the patrons of the downtown bars are not a LEGAL drinking age. Fake IDs are a booming business for many UNL students. So is illegal drug use. <br /><br />Gun NutAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225570644228196036.post-735527488091841902013-05-15T10:34:07.005-05:002013-05-15T10:34:07.005-05:00I'd like to see that 14th & O camera activ...I'd like to see that 14th & O camera activated, and furthermore, I'd like to see a streaming feed (maybe at a low frame rate to cut down on bandwidth) publicly available. I think that many taxpayers would be interested in what goes on down there post-midnight through bar break, as might out-of-state parents of UNL students.<br /><br />With the exodus of retail shopping downtown over the past couple of decades (remember back when if you had an apt downtown you could shop for almost anything you needed, including groceries. without walking far at all?), downtown Lincoln has become bars, sandwich shops, banking, bars, sandwich shops, government, bars, sandwich shops, oh and a few retailers here and there. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225570644228196036.post-57810143586298260582013-05-14T21:49:24.281-05:002013-05-14T21:49:24.281-05:00That's what court if for Steve. If an Officer ...That's what court if for Steve. If an Officer tells someone to leave and they don't, they go to jail and then have their day in court if they so choose.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225570644228196036.post-84293413655196151542013-05-14T14:37:11.310-05:002013-05-14T14:37:11.310-05:0012:20 anon:
Lighten up man! I never suggested an...12:20 anon:<br /><br /><br />Lighten up man! I never suggested anyone should defy police orders to disperse, nor that I would not want to leave the area, nor did I question the police officers' motive for issuing such an order. I simply wanted to know what authority they had for doing so, and you have, at least at the local level, supplied that. Thank you. It does, however seem a rather ambiguous ordinance. What exactly constitutes dispersion? Ten feet, 20 feet, a hundred feet, a mile? Does a person who is doing nothing but watching the commotion (or taping the event) provide the probable cause for said officer to believe they are creating a disturbance of the peace? Again, I'm not suggesting anyone defy police orders to disperse. Still, the question of what provides probable cause and how far must one go to be in compliance of an order to disperse are questions I think need to be answered.<br /><br />Say a person witnessing the event in question is told to disperse, or leave the area if you will. Say they go up the elevator to the second floor of the parking garage and start taking video of the scene below. Say the police don't care for that video to be taken, and they send someone up to arrest that person for failing to disperse. Do they have a probable cause, or has that person actually failed to disperse? Just asking, mind you.Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10369138557977907215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225570644228196036.post-54053347897788142402013-05-14T13:42:54.851-05:002013-05-14T13:42:54.851-05:00Somebody forgot to watch Chris Rock's Training...Somebody forgot to watch Chris Rock's Training Video!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225570644228196036.post-16346886432041755562013-05-14T12:20:04.124-05:002013-05-14T12:20:04.124-05:00Wow Steve...I'm surprised you would even ask t...Wow Steve...I'm surprised you would even ask that question. Sounds like something from the sixties...Defy all Authority! It also raises the question of "why wouldn't you want to leave?" You don't think there was a possibility of danger to an innocent bystander and the officers are trying to protect them too?<br /><br />Here's the ordinance that gives an officer to make someone leave the area:<br /><br />LMC<br />9.20.060 Failure to Disperse.<br />(a) Whenever a police officer has probable cause to believe that a person or persons are<br />creating a disturbance of the peace and quiet of<br />any person or neighborhood, su<br />ch police officer may<br />order said person or persons not residing on the premises to disperse for the purpose of abating the<br />said disturbance.<br />(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to refuse<br />to comply with a lawful order to disperse<br />given by a police officer in the performance of<br />the officer's duties under this section. (Ord. 15621<br />§6; July 9, 1990: P.C. §9.52.035: Ord. 13762 §4; February 13, 1984).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225570644228196036.post-52956723344466537602013-05-14T10:27:01.186-05:002013-05-14T10:27:01.186-05:00Quite a contrast between LPD's handling of a s...Quite a contrast between LPD's handling of a situation and OPD's if you asked me. I agree some of those individuals probably should have been arrested, but sorting that out, and not escalating the situation would have been a nightmare. Controlling and dispersing was probably the only practical thing that could be done. That being said, I think it is imperative that video cameras be allowed to record these kinds of things, not only to provide evidence for criminal prosecutions, but also to protect Lincoln and the officers from law suits should someone claim inappropriate actions by police.<br /><br />Perhaps, Tom, you could answer a question that has always plagued me that is related to this situation. That is, what authority do police have to tell people to "go home" or to leave the area or other such directions. I am always reminded of back when I was a kid, and someone's parent would come out to break up a gathering of kids for some reason and yell at them to "go home". My first thought was always, "You can make me leave your yard, but you can't make me go home." A recent post of yours, if I recall correctly, stated that LPD would not stop citizens from photographing or taking videos at a scene where officers were involved as long as they didn't interfere with whatever was going on. I can certainly understand why police would want people to leave an area such as the one where this event occurred, but what real authority do they have in that regard?Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10369138557977907215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225570644228196036.post-42707430654104273752013-05-14T10:20:34.103-05:002013-05-14T10:20:34.103-05:00Director,
Speaking of YouTube.......What are your ...Director,<br />Speaking of YouTube.......What are your thoughts on LPD's Harlem Shake video? I did not realize the Chief moved that well!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225570644228196036.post-73207487840580560092013-05-14T09:11:54.558-05:002013-05-14T09:11:54.558-05:00Director,
I have a suggestion that might make the ...Director,<br />I have a suggestion that might make the jobs of officers easier in situations like this. There are old school buses available at a very low price. LPD should buy one or two of these and rig them to be used as a mobile holding facility. When an unruly crowd situation develops an officer/driver/booking would be dispatched to the scene. Instead of officers having to load unruly folks into a cruiser they would take them to the bus, in restraints and chain them to special restraints built in to the structure of the bus. A regular 42 passenger school bus could probably house 20 or so unruly customers and keep them separated from others. Several officers could be cross trained and licensed to operate this bus for low cost. Think "paddy wagon" on a larger scale.<br /><br />BTW the You Tube showed LPD officers acting in a very professional way. Good job.<br />Gun Nut<br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225570644228196036.post-89050318873396465352013-05-14T07:44:56.069-05:002013-05-14T07:44:56.069-05:00Good restraint by the officers, unfortunately, wit...Good restraint by the officers, unfortunately, with the main actors not being arrested, it likely just reinforced too the group what is acceptable behavior for them to do and get away with, without going to jail. So, next time it will likely be worse. Maybe the downtown cameras will be activated? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com