Why blog in Riverside?

I've gotten some emails and calls about the goings on at Craigslist involving the latest round of harassment online against me for blogging in general, but especially for postings done in the past several weeks. Some of them expressed their concern about what was going on and their continued support of my blogging in general and during Election 2009 in particular. Some people have asked why those who are harassing me are blaming me for their own behavior and the only response that can be given is that these are common personality traits found in many online cyber harassers and stalkers, according to behavioral experts who have studied the phenomenon.

I'm not the only person to be treated like that. Others included on some "filthy five" list which consists mainly of women who speak out at city council meetings on various issues, have been harassed online as well including Mary Humboldt. At least, we're all in good company. And unlike the harassers, none of us hide underneath rocks. But then there's no reason for any of us on this "list" to do that and every reason for those who write comments like that to do so. Unfortunately when you put yourself out there, that puts you at higher risk in this city (and no doubt others) of being harassed. And people blame you for that as well, including those who harass.

Their latest tactic is trying to taunt me by saying that if what they're doing is cyber harassing and stalking, then why isn't the police department and FBI involved in investigating it? Clearly, they are under the assumption that because they haven't heard anything that this hasn't been the case. Actually my visit to the FBI office will be facilitated somewhat by the fact that an investigation into similar conduct online on my site was the subject of an investigation by both the police department and then the FBI several years ago, according to the department. These investigations were initiated after a particular vicious round of cyber stalking that started as the police department's internal affairs division completed its investigation into some comments that were posted on my blog in late 2005 that were suspected of being done by police officers in the city's department.

Others emails have provided tips about the identities of some of the individuals who might be responsible. It's reassuring that there are quite a few people who do see this behavior for what it is, harassment and retaliation by one corner of the larger story of Election 2009.

It's been a rough experience blogging about the latest city elections and all you have to do is read the postings on Inland Empire Craigslist, a site that was intended to provide information about issues and meetings in this city but has been used by anonymous individuals to harass, intimidate and retaliate against people who are deemed too critical of the city government in general and one councilman in particular. It's clear that the message I'm supposed to get through them if you can find it amidst the hatred and sickness expressed in some of these postings is that I'm to stop blogging about the election or I'm only allowed to blog about certain candidates or else. As you can see if you've been following the trail of garbage on that site, the behavior has escalated since a controversial vote was taken on the future of the investigative protocol involving the CPRC about a week ago. A small pack of anonymous rock dwellers apparently have their knickers in a knot and it's hard to figure out why. They can't understand that not everyone believes, thinks or wants the same things they do and their failure to cope with that probably goes a long way towards fueling their hostility clearly seen in their comments.

What's interesting too is that in the midst of some of these harassing posts, you see the terms, "we" and "us" and it's probably the truth that there's no such thing as either and it's simply an effort to prevent the person harassed or anyone reading these comments from seeing that it's really about "I" and "me". Because it's hard to believe that these individuals would attract allies and even as they bond online over their activities, it's highly unlikely they know or even associate with each other offline.


The harassment began not long after I began posting on the Ward Four city council election in Riverside. It was a creepy posting not about politics, not about any city issues but about of all things, my breasts. Because often that's how cyber harassers target females who are online. It's kind of like when women walk down city streets and passerby yell gender slurs at them from the anonymity of passing cars. Unless someone knows some reason why bras and breasts should be associated with Election 2009 in Riverside.

So this was the first comment of the election season.


(excerpt, Craigslist)



Whats the matter. Mary can dish it out but she cant take an itty bitty (oh there i go again) criticism? Lets see how strong she really is and lets see howlong this one stays up. Really liked the suggestion that cup sizes be added to the save riverside poll.

When it comes to one of our favorite shriekers, FBM, we already know that she doesn't waste the time or effort trying to restrain those little lumps. Yup, they're out there for anyone to see if they have keen eyesight cuz their so small. But theyve been more noticeable on recent cold days. Just a bit too nippie, huh, Mary? Yuck i think Ive made myself want to barf.




You can read about the harassment of police reform bloggers here where it was posted in the Web site of the Chicago Sun-Times, including a link to the posting that I wrote regarding this particular posting.


This site is where the postings have been made, all anonymous. While there's a lot of useful information and even political discussions including of local issues on this site, this is also where one of the uglier forms of political campaigning is being launched during Election 2009. When confronted on their behavior, these anonymous commenters rant and whine about not giving Davis supporters equal time with the criticism which would make sense except for one thing. They attack you and then they expect you to take their side. They make up crazy allegations about other political candidates and then expect you to provide their own allegations for them. They claim to be doing it in support of the current incumbents up for election, most particularly one because it's their way of expressing support and telling them what a great that they're doing.

For most of us, a simple call or email of thanks is enough to tell elected officials they are doing well. For these folks, cyberharassment has become their expression of apparently thanking their elected officials. But it makes you think that if these people were really all that happy and if the city were really in such great shape as they claim, then why do they engage in such hateful behavior and then spin it as if they're fighting hate? One commenter who's written some pretty disgusting stuff is currently declaring the Craigslist site as his own personal pissing ground, much as he tried to turn my blog into a litter box (and that's a good analogy for him as it turned out) several years ago. So it's not just about supporting political officials or even police officers, it's about control and power, most likely being exerted by people who feel little of both in their own lives.


There are no wave of comments on the site that are castigating Schiavone or his supporters while stumping Davis. There's a shameful comment made about an individual who calls himself the Riverside Press Club which slandered him by linking him to a Wikipedia page. Actually it was providing him with resources to address the situation in a post at Craigslist which appears to have catalyzed some of the more prolific and virulent anonymous commenters on April 19.

There are no comments written by Davis supporters coming up with "filthy five" lists of women they hate or Davis supporters posting the neighborhoods where they think the people they hate live. There doesn't appear to be any Davis supporters who are trying to taunt the person who they are harassing into contacting the federal and local authorities on them like this guy who harassed both CPRC commissioner Chani Beeman and me. Even lamenting in a post at one point that he was unable to find the name of Beeman's son who was a Riverside Police Department officer. Did this individual intend to harass this gentleman given that he was harassing Beeman online? This person who claims that I attack police officers?


(excerpt)





Yeah FBM, why are you not honestly responding to the previous post about the FBI, the law and cyber-harassing ?
To be someone who claims to know so much about cyber-harassing, why hasn't the FBI investigated your accusations about being cyber-harassed and cyber-stalked online and off ? Perhaps the FBI told you to go fly a kite. Perhaps the FBI told you that to do so they must also investigate your cyber-harassing and cyber-stalking local politicians, police, and private-citizens that you disagree with and that disagree with you ?
May I suggest that before you falsly accuse someone of cyber-harassing and cyber-stalking, that you investigate the true definitions.
Gosh, and I thought that you were informed about that of which you speak of.
I guess you are human afterall.


This individual was the one who posted what neighborhood he thought I lived in on Craigslist. Was that posting meant to be informative about the election in this city or foster discussion about issues and politics in Riverside? Was it meant to scare me from blogging? Was it meant to try to incite even more hateful individuals to track me down and harass or try to harm me offline? This person tried to justify these actions by claiming that it was I who did the harassing and stalking because I have a blog about this city. He used the rationale when harassing me on my blog several years ago.


In contrast before I was the focus of the harassment by these unnamed individuals, Davis experienced similar treatment very likely from the same individuals. These individuals also originally posted rather detailed and explicit information about such things as the RPOA's political endorsement process for the Ward Four candidates (although not all of it turned out to be accurate) and other aspects of the Schiavone campaign. They could spend their time and energy writing positive reasons to support their candidate based on accomplishments and goals but instead focus primarily on writing nasty material against those they deem too critical of him. Why don't they flatter their candidate by filling Craigslist with something besides bitterness, fear and hate? They choose not to to do so. They make their choices to harass and intimidate people instead. And they do a good job at that. There are people who read Craigslist who are afraid to speak out at city council meeting because they're concerned they'll wind up as fodder for a "filthy five" list or worse. The climate of fear and intimidation which these nameless harassers wish to spread for those who don't support their view of the city has exacted its toll.

You don't see people engaging in this harassment and stumping for Andrew Melendrez, Nancy Hart, Bill Scherer, Anne Alfaro, Ruben Rasso, Paul Davis or Ahmad Smith. Maybe the supporters of these candidates are too busy campaigning in more productive ways and frankly, less creepy ways.

Hart and Melendrez are mentioned but never independent of Schiavone's name.

What's interesting is that these postings at Craigslist appear to be some form of litmus test in terms of how Schiavone supporters are feeling about his reelection prospects. On the night, Schiavone successfully led the charge to push the Hudson protocol involving the CPRC's investigative protocol, there was very little activity, but soon after when the fallout started, the comments returned in terms of quantity and virulent content.

It's difficult to understand why these self-proclaimed Schiavone supporters don't realize that this election is his to lose. Incumbents carry a tremendous advantage into any election process and the rules that govern the current election structure were drafted by the governmental body in which he's a member. But the message that these writings on Craigslist are sending are those filled with doubt and fear, and it's not entirely clear what either is based on.

And this behavior casts the candidates it's intended to cheerlead before by the whole "birds of a feather" argument. And it's likely that none of the elected officials know this is going on, let alone in their names.



This post was written on Craiglist at about 1:07 a.m. on April 20 and occurred in the midst of a typically long circle jerk by various anonymous individuals who are unhappy with this blog. This post appeared with several posts essentially daring me to report them to "the authorities" and saying that state and federal laws protected their right to harass. The particular commenter that this commenter is exchanging dialogue with was involved in prior harassing posts involving my blog in 2006. Both individuals and possibly several others have made it clear that they are writing their comments in response to posts on this site they view as being critical of Schiavone and his political campaign.


(excerpt, InlandEmpire Craigslist)

You're welcome. I might agree with you.

But you know you are going to get a smart ass comment to your comments. It usually will reiterate the victimization of saps who chose to not wear undergarments and orgasms and don't shower and such. She likes those analogies and defends those people (since she is one of them) to no end.

I don't know where you get the weak father figure and not popular with boys in school - but it's good foddar!

As to where she's from - my best guess is Colorado, St. Scholastica Academy in Canon City, CO to be exact. (Reunion.com or was it classmates.com says our journalist for Black Voice is from there - and that's our Mary).

As far as how she makes a living. . . . who knows. I'm guessing it's selling her crap to newspapers, particularly the Black Voice.

Why did she leave? Only Mary knows.

Her obsessions with cops and everyone else - use your imagination!

This post was interesting in itself for different reasons because of an incident that might be related which took place on April 9 on one of the sites that is mentioned in this posting.






A San Jacinto councilman was under investigation.




A lawyer is suing some Georgia state troopers for excessive force.



(excerpt, Law.com)



According to witnesses who spoke to the Daily Report at the time, Spruell was among several attorneys waiting outside the administrative courtroom in the Peachtree Street building housing OSAH on Feb. 13, 2007, when State Patrol Cpl. George R. Harper approached and told them to either put away their phones or leave the court offices.

Attorney David M. Zagoria said Spruell continued to talk on his phone, but walked out past a security checkpoint to "a little alcove where the stairs are."

Harper again told Spruell to leave the suite or hang up and, according to a State Patrol spokesman at the time, Spruell "became uncooperative" and cursed the officer. Harper, who was working off-duty at the court, attempted to arrest him. Trooper Stacey A. Forrest, who was attending court to testify in an unrelated case, pitched in to subdue Spruell, wrestling the then-68-year-old lawyer to the ground.

In the process, said Zagoria, Spruell was pushed into a wall, "and his head just made this sickening crunch."

The troopers, said attorney Gregory A. Willis, who was also on hand, "slammed Billy's head into the wall, into this black metal frame. I saw hair and blood there afterward."



Four Memphis Police Department officers were indicted after being caught in a prostitution sting.


(excerpt, Commercial Appeal)

The indictments stemmed from an OCU investigation of prostitution and drug sales. Some of the information that led to the indictments came from the prostitute/victims, according to grand jury indictments.

Police Director Larry Godwin in announcing the indictments said that corrupt officers “are no different from any other thugs,” and vowed to continue to root out crooked cops.

“We will rid our department of thugs who want to wear the blue,” he said.

Godwin said three of the four officers were hired during the mid- and late 1990s, when the department was granting waivers to some recruits with arrest records in an attempt to increase the complement of police by several hundred.

Godwin said he has discontinued the practice of granting waivers, with rare exceptions.

“I am cautious about who I give waivers to,” he said.

Godwin said the investigation continues, and that he may refer the case to the U.S. Attorney’s office for possible federal prosecution.

“These are very serious, violent charges against individuals sworn to protect the public and uphold the law. It is both disappointing and disturbing when any police officer abuses his power in this manner,” said Dist. Atty. Gen. Bill Gibbons in a statement.

San Bernardino Police Department picks its new police chief. He replaces outgoing Michael Billdt who left after several "no confidence" votes from the police association.


Former Bellflower Police Chief Keith Kilmer is a leader who will work well with other players in the city. So says Mayor Pat Morris.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

Mayor Pat Morris praised Chief Keith Kilmer as a collaborative leader well suited to San Bernardino's Operation Phoenix, which seeks to reduce crime by teaming community-based policing with social services.

"Integrity and accountability are his bywords," Morris said.

Kilmer, Bellflower's police chief since June 2006, spent the bulk of his career in the Long Beach Police Department. According to a city news release announcing Kilmer's selection, 48 people initially applied for the job. A selection committee winnowed that list down to two finalists, mayoral Chief of Staff Jim Morris said.

Kilmer said San Bernardino reminds him of Long Beach in its demographic diversity. The city's aging downtown also reminded him of the Long Beach he knew early in his career, Kilmer said.

"I saw that city turn around," he said. "Here, too, I'm looking forward to actually being part of that process."

But San Bernardino isn't reconsidering its cuts involving the fire department.



Orange County's paying out $4 million to settle lawsuits alleging beatings of inmates inside its jails.









Thirteen isn't the lucky number for the Chicago Police Department. That's how many of its officers were arrested on drunk driving charges last year.


(excerpt, Chicago Tribune)



Police Supt. Jody Weis, who took office last year after officers had been arrested in two high-profile bar beatings, created a new bureau to evaluate officer conduct and training, pushed for more department-wide messages warning of excessive drinking and approved advanced training for department peer counselors to deal with alcohol abuse issues.

After Friday's crash involving detective Joseph Frugoli, Weis changed departmental policy to require that any officer who suspects another officer of being intoxicated to notify the on-duty watch commander, who must then go to the scene. Internal affairs will also be immediately notified.


"It is our hope that tragic incidents such as the one that occurred on April 10 will be eliminated through continued training, education, treatment, accountability and discipline for those members who violate the well-established rule against becoming intoxicated and getting behind the wheel," Weis said in an e-mail in response to questions.

Frugoli had been involved in two previous crashes in the last four years, but he was never administered a sobriety test after officers on the scene determined he did not appear to be intoxicated.





A job opening in Fresno, not surprising as this city adopted a new form of civilian oversight and review.

The following was posted on lawjobs.com

INDEPENDENT REVIEWER

Employer: City of Fresno
Location: Fresno, California 93721 United States
Last Updated: 04/17/2009
Job Type: Employee
Job Status: Full Time

Please see Job Details for Apply instructions.

Job Description

The Independent Reviewer must be a highly skilled individual who has the ability to maintain constructive working relationships with other City departments and divisions, citizens, and governmental officials at all levels. The incumbent conducts audits of use of force investigations, including officer-involved shootings, investigations of in-custody deaths, and complaints involving racial, ethnic, or religious bias. Serves as a liaison and works in partnership with the community, meeting with community leaders, public officials, and professional organizations gathering input, feedback, and responding to sensitive and complex community and organizational inquiries and complaints.

Requirements:

Any combination of related experience and education as approved by the City Manager may be considered qualifying. Must be experienced in and knowledgeable of police procedures, legal research, and analyzing criminal, constitutional, labor, and civil rights law. A law degree from an accredited college or university is desirable.

In addition to these essential requirements, the City has identified the following required knowledge, skills and abilities:

Knowledge of theory, principle and practice of auditing law enforcement organizations, including the methods and procedures used to examine, verify and analyze operation records, statements, and reports.

Knowledge Police Department operations, practices and procedures, personnel issues, penal codes, relevant case law and court decisions, and the procedural
protections provided to officers pursuant to the Peace Officer’s Bill of Rights.

Exercise sound independent judgment and initiative in the development of new methods, procedures, and in the solution of difficult departmental problems; demonstrate impartiality in the analysis of audits and the development of conclusions and adhere to a code of ethics, such as that prescribed by the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement.

Filing Deadline- May 29th 5:00pm

Submit resume, cover letter, and current salary to:

Fresno Personnel Services Department
2600 Fresno Street, First Floor
Fresno, CA 93721-3614
Fax: (559) 498-4775
www.fresno.gov/ jobs
Megan.dowdy@ fresno.gov

Contact Information

Contact: Megan Dowdy
Phone: 559/621-6990
Fax: 559/498-4775
Address: 2600 Fresno St. #1030 Fresno, California 93721
United States

Another blogger harassed

Threatening emails have been sent to a woman who blogs on law enforcement-related domestic violence. She's one of the top if not the top blogger in the country who tackles this issue and unfortunately, like some people who write on law enforcement issues, she probably hears from people who are unhappy with her activism. Now she's been getting emailed threats.

This is what one of the emails stated:



(excerpt, Behind the Blue Wall)



"When I find you and I will, your going to understand what it's like to be a fish out of water. God help you and your family. I tracked your IP address and I'm coming for you ...... you don't know when to stop and when you do it will be too late for you to start ever again."



Sounds like a threat, a threat of bodily harm or worse to her and her family. The emails have apparently been traced to a Palm Beach Sheriff's Department deputy who's been employed by at least three other law enforcement agencies during his career and has been in different kinds of trouble during his tenures. This blogger had been writing posts about this individual, Deputy Ira Peskowitz who has apparently made a career out of compiling a troubling laundry list of just about every type of police misconduct that's out there including domestic violence. Yet despite that or maybe because of it, he still remains employed by the profession which is supposed to be the antithesis of everything he represents. It might sound shocking to some people but it's not really all that surprising. At least one law enforcement agency boasted about hiring other agencies' rejects but found itself under investigation by outside agencies way after the fact.

More emails received from an AOL email address linked to this deputy were also received by this blogger, who not surprisingly is left fearful for her own safety and that of her family and who has received little in the way of any meaningful response from either the Palm Beach Sheriff's Department or the law enforcement agency in her own city which really isn't all that surprising. But if that's the case, then the chances that the responsible individual will be held accountable are pretty much next to zero. This is a profession that does very well at looking out for and after its own, most particular its bad apples even apparently those who might work for other agencies. One reason why civilian review boards and police commissions are popping up across the country just in case there are still people out there scratching their heads at where and why they are coming from. It's the almost instinctual way that officers almost always back up misconduct by other officers when it happens. Behind every "bad apple" there's at least one officer and probably more who kept their mouths shut to protect him or her. If they don't, then who will protect them when they need it?

That's what gave birth to civilian oversight and review.


I know and fully understand the feeling of being harassed by someone who left a trail back to a municipality which circled its wagons in response to a request for an explanation as to why a harassing email to me had the city's fingerprints on it. In 2007, I received the following email from a Yahoo account started under my name and with an address very similar to one that I used.

Mary, Mary with shorter (yet still greasy) hair -e.

Why do you hate people so?

Do you truly despise others?

Or, perhaps just your mother?

Or, maybe...just yourself.

The full header provided by Yahoo revealed the following:



eturn-Path:
Authentication-Results: mta209.mail.re2.yahoo.com from=yahoo.com; domainkeys=pass (ok)
Received: from 68.142.236.44 (HELO n6a.bullet.mail.re3.yahoo.com) (68.142.236.44) by mta209.mail.re2.yahoo.com with SMTP; Tue, 17 Jul 2007 18:17:57 -0700
Received: from [68.142.230.28] by n6.bullet.re3.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 18 Jul 2007 01:16:16 -0000
Received: from [66.196.101.132] by t1.bullet.re2.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 18 Jul 2007 01:16:16 -0000
Received: from [127.0.0.1] by rrr3.mail.re1.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 18 Jul 2007 01:16:16 -0000
Received: (qmail 28370 invoked by uid 60001); 18 Jul 2007 01:16:15 -0000
DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws; s=s1024; d=yahoo.com; h=X-YMail-OSG:Received:Date:From:Subject:To:MIME-Version:Content-Type:Content-Transfer-Encoding:Message-ID; b=xDvCgPvGCzQPgI0QueBRrONM45GLbto29mHtinQtQprwZ9fytKJavlUl
FG20rnc8l3V/bsgNObLV83LOuSpEpiRlH3jfnYeGtfjIsq1wmc1VizaxpBIu7JSxX9/fr7wuUapX+Mfkcm1W24k9g9pHREbWZ0IL+RkKdFMUwNUVLNc=;
Received: from [192.248.248.66] by web45316.mail.sp1.yahoo.com via HTTP; Tue, 17 Jul 2007 18:16:15 PDT
Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2007 18:16:15 -0700 (PDT)
From: This sender is DomainKeys verified
Mary Shelton



According to IP-Adress locator, the IP address, 192.248.248.66 contained the following information.




IP address [?]: 192.248.248.66 Copy [Whois]
IP address country: ip address flag United States
IP address state: California
IP address city: Riverside
IP address latitude: 33.940399
IP address longitude: -117.395897
ISP of this IP [?]: CITY OF RIVERSIDE
Organization: CITY OF RIVERSIDE
Local Time of this IP country: 2008-12-22 22:31



I contacted the city for an explanation as to why a harassing email written in an account impersonating me was sent out through their computer network. I was essentially told by Information Technology head, Steve Reneker to contact Yahoo about the "alleged impersonations" because the city couldn't or wouldn't even provide an explanation as to how why its IP address appeared on a header with the harassment email. The city apparently believed that the appropriate response to this situation was to have Yahoo answer to a behavior that was done on a city-owned network that it had nothing to do with. That's called passing the buck in most worlds.

So can people write harassing emails on city owned equipment or using city-administrated networks do so with impunity. Unfortunately, the answer is yes. This is a much less serious example of how that is so than that involving the above blogger but the mentality is pretty much the same. It comes from pretty much the same place. And it's not a very good place at that.

Just as it was yes, when I was harassed for two years by still-unidentified (at least to me) individuals although I bumped into one of them on another site about a month ago. The writing style, syntax, punctuation and overall flair if you can call it that, were the same that I was subjected to for month after month filled with hateful posts where he harassed me and thumbed his noses at those allegedly investigating his antics.

It was like getting hit in the face by a blast of cold air. Being among his own kind considering how he identified himself and not the "whore" or the "bitch" or maybe even the "cunt", his manners were somewhat better than how he had behaved on my site with his friends. I had pretty much put the episode of cyber stalking behind me but when I read the familiar style of writing, it all came back in a rush. Just like it did when in the autumn of 2006, I watched the only cyber harasser who had ever been identified to me by a representative of the police department, receive a civic award from the city council. Only in Riverside can an officer get slapped on the wrist for conduct unbecoming of an officer and get a civic award in the same year. But then that might not be the case at all. Maybe that happens everywhere. Maybe it's when it doesn't, that is when an exception prevails over the rule.

So I know better than most what lies ahead for this woman if she insists that she live in a world where she can blog about the issues that matter to her and keep herself and her family safe from individuals like those who threatened her via email, who may or may not be the same people who are sworn to protect and serve people. But when someone states in writing that they're coming after you, it's going to make you fearful, it's going to make you always look over your shoulder and that's part of the thrill and the power these cowards exert over others. Just like when someone "prays" that serious harm comes to you or your family, or says they are coming looking for you with their friends in blue. But what's the incentive to not engage in this behavior if you're awarded after the fact? The decision to do just that sent a pretty loud message about some of the disturbing remainders of a police culture which was supposed to be stamped out by former State Attorney General Bill Lockyer's consent decree. In some elementary ways, this agency has a long way to go even as it's been successful in other areas of reform.

It's going to make you wonder if this person, that person or that person in that squad car over there is the one who wrote somewhere that they saw you that day. That they saw you the day before and the week before that and then paint that image they took from those sightings in disgusting and intimate detail. After all, they can afford to do so in Florida and they can afford to do it here, because their privacy under state law is more important than your safety. It's their playing field after all.

So having learned the reality of how the system of self-investigation works and just how well law enforcement handles its own problems in its midst, I can only hope that this blogger receives some form of justice and feeling of safety for having the life of her and her family threatened by some coward hiding behind anonymity but unfortunately, I'll be surprised if that actually happens because in law enforcement's current state, it can't as long as it thinks the "good" that its "bad apples" do when they're not engaging in bad behavior outweighs that bad behavior that they do and anyone harmed by said bad behavior, is just acceptable collateral damage. That's a pretty good explanation, as good as any as to why a department and a city would award an officer who had committed what it called misconduct.

I also hope that she never gives up her blogging though that can be difficult in the face of threats especially if you have children. But in the end as abhorrent as this behavior can be, it's a litmus test on whether or not your blogging is having an impact though that's not much consolation when it happens to you.

Eventually, you learn to live with it. You learn to take precautions. You learn to be careful about who you trust including police officers. It's not really fair because the vast majority of them are good people who work hard to keep people safe but unfortunately, there are members in their rank who hide behind them as justification to harass. Why not? They have all the protection in the world. After all, who's going to investigate them anyway? Their former supervisor who got transferred to Internal Affairs after working in the same unit? Their drinking buddy? Their best friend? The officer whose life they saved a month before by backing them up in a dangerous situation? One or more of the above?

But it's hard reading about it when it happens to someone else. Because an attack against one blogger is really an attack against all of us who address these issues.


In this particular case involving the city-sent email, about a week later, after I blogged about the email, I received the following one from a Charter Communications ISP in Riverside. That's the first and only apology I ever received from a cyber harasser to date.

I am writing to apologize for my previous letter. I'm most sorry that you were concerned that it was some sort of threat or harassment. It was not intended that way at all.

By choosing an address like yours and writing that note, I was simply trying to suggest that you look within yourself to learn why you might be so negative about so many things. I meant you no harm, and my letter was not well written therefore the intended message was not perceived.

No further messages will be sent from this address, as I will close it and will not re-open.

Again, I am very sorry. I wish you happyness and peace.

I got tips about the source of both emails but I'm not sure whether or not they truly indicated the person responsible or just who the most unpopular people on the city's payroll are.

But the harassment of this blogger is yet another sad example of what happens when you write on police accountability issues. Hopefully, she will be safe and able to keep blogging, shining a bright light on the issues that her harassers don't want to ever see the light of day.





Press Enterprise Columnist Dan Bernstein wrote about the lack of heat at Banning's jail facility.



(excerpt)

When I asked Chief Deputy Thetford, the man in charge of Sheriff Department "building facilities," why he didn't bring in portable heating units, his answer was chilling.

"Excellent question. I wasn't aware of this before this morning."

He'd heard about it shortly before he called me. He was getting ready to head out to Banning to see this mess first-hand.

"I'm not too happy," he said. (Which brings the number of unhappy people to 97.) "I just got off the phone with the facilities commander."

Glad someone reached Capt. Walt Meyer. When I tried, they almost patched me through to the jail's watch commander. But when I told the woman who answered the phone what I wanted to talk about, she put me on hold, then said I'd have to call the sheriff's PR man. When I asked for the number, she said I should already have it since I work for the paper. That must be how they do business out there: blankets for inmates, cold shoulder for everyone else.

In the most refined bureaucratic lingo, Thetford called the blankets and clothes "minimal mitigation." He said inmates "were being exposed to the weather" and called it "an emergency situation."

"One way or another," he said before heading to Banning for a warm little chat with Capt. Meyer, "it will be resolved today -- either by actual repair or some form of portable units being brought in."

A Los Angeles Police Department officer is under investigation by both federal agencies and his department for allegedly smuggling firearms to his security company in another country.



(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)




Officer Johnny Baltazar is accused of purchasing eight .40-caliber Glocks from the LAPD Academy store and secretly shipping them, along with two other guns and 1,530 rounds of ammunition, to Belize where he runs a company called Elite Security, according to documents obtained by The Times.

Baltazar, 49, who was assigned to the West Los Angeles Division, has been accused administratively by the LAPD with exporting firearms without a license, failing to declare firearms he exported and failing to notify his LAPD superiors that he was under federal investigation, documents show. He has been suspended with pay pending a disciplinary hearing that could result in his firing.

Such hearings, which were open to the public for decades, have been conducted in secret since a 2006 state Supreme Court ruling that limited access to police personnel information.

TGIF and guess who's back

Ah, yet another anti-fan letter has arrived, this time through one of my email accounts.

This email account was the same account that received a harassing email sent by the unidentified sociopath traced back to the city's very own ISP last summer. This latest person (if it's indeed a different person) however considering themselves much smarter utilized a different means of communication which still involved them knowing my email address. This person did so to harass me because they can no longer do that through the comments function which have been turned off for nearly a year now because of harassing comments. As far as mechanisms of harassment go, is it original? Perhaps. Was it smart?

Actually, no it wasn't.

It didn't take long to pick out an ISP that today made its first appearance in quite a while, the same day that I happen to receive a harassing email. The last comment likely posted from this particular ISP in 2007 was one in which I was called a "whore" apparently from a different individual based on the use of different spellings of one particular word present both in this email and that earlier comment. This ISP which is consistently Verizon posted quite a few comments in late 2006 and early 2007 that used servers located around the cities of Pomona and Upland. It's curious to see its return then followed by harassing activity. The city that its server is based in did provide some clues.

It was joined by another PacNet account which showed up several hours earlier that used a server based near Los Angeles and Whittier that was used by the individual who authored the last approved comment in May 2007 bashing Mexicans or more accurately, justifying the bashing of Mexicans at McArthur Park by Los Angeles Police Department officers on May Day. This PacNet account still shows up once or twice daily, most days and tried to leave a comment several weeks ago. As long as this ISP along with three other flagged ones appear, comments will remain closed. And as always, hard copies will be kept of any harassing email or posting.


It's interesting that this individual who possibly has harassed me quite extensively on the internet including here in the past has now chosen to do so by email. After all, comments have been closed since May 2007.

Of course, maybe it's the person who had harassed me through email last summer (through a city-based ISP account). That unidentified individual later inadvertently appeared on my site through the ISP they used in sending me an "apology" email (through a Riverside-based Charter account) while doing a search on a well-known blog search engine for one of the city's departments. One of the city departments that I blogged about yesterday as a matter of fact. One that's now the center of controversy because of disagreement about plans to renovate it from different factions of City Hall. It's interesting to receive a harassing email within 24 hours of blogging on that issue and think, is it from the individual who was so interested in finding out what any blogger might be writing about that city department? What was just as interesting was the city's nonresponse to my inquiries about why an email traced back to it was sent as harassment, several days before I received that "apology" email.

If it's not this individual (and most of the tips I received on last summer's email pointed to one individual in that case), then when did this latest harasser by email obtain my email address and how? Was it recently and that's why it took that long? Most likely, it was an individual who didn't want the email traced back to the ISP they were sending it from. Oh well.


The link that was emailed back to me was for the posting which discussed among other things, the City Hall evacuation and the sale of a liquor store in the Eastside. It's posted below.


There was obviously something in this article he or she didn't like and indeed taking a second look at it, there most definitely is something in there that could have upset some folks. Something several sentences long that was referenced once before, something very few individuals know about but something that still unleashed four angry and disgusting comments in the autumn of 2006 by someone or some people using a Road Runner ISP based around Highland and Fontana including two that were so vile they didn't pass the moderation test including three under a particular moniker.



Just another city hall evacuation day



Of course it could have been the article below that pissed him or her off as mentioned previously.


City Hall: Lead, follow or get out of the way.


It's hard to say with these cowardly sociopathic misogynists, what rock they crawled out from under and why. The interesting thing is that they think using my full name gives them power, because they've kept their own hidden. But if by harassing from beneath a rock perhaps because others can't stand them either, that gives them power, then that's pretty damn pathetic indeed.


At any rate, this latest sociopathic loser calls himself or herself "Old Friend" and drops off the following endearment. As far as monikers go, it's not very original and probably not that accurate. We're most definitely not friends. If we've even been introduced or interacted in real life, only the coward knows this and he's too busy poking out from beneath his rock to tell anyone who he or she is and probably lacks the gonads to do so. Perhaps because I might know who this person or people are and why they insist on ejaculating on my blog or through email.


This is what he or she did blurt out:


Mary Shelton: You're still the same bitter cunt that I knew back when. Some things never change...



Okay, I'm thinking if it's true that I'm the same "bitter cunt" that he or she knew back when, how could we possibly be friends? I mean, doesn't that say a lot about unidentified sociopath's taste in friends? It certainly wouldn't say much about mine but I don't customarily befriend cowardly misogynists like this person.


Anyway, what can I say? Unfortunately, this blog does attract cowardly misogynist losers and blogging about Riverside is going to attract them because there are people who out there who would much rather someone didn't blog about this city. Still, blogging produces greater rewards. And this guy or gal or plural has been possibly harassing for what, possibly up to 2 to 2 1/2 years now? The longer this person harasses, the shorter the list grows of people who it could possibly be. Maybe that's what they mean by "old". They certainly have a high level of endurance for harassment which in itself is telling. That's probably all they have.

Some people say it's best to ignore people like this and not "encourage" it. But to that, all I can say is that with one particular individual, I did that for several years and he escalated his behavior to the point where I had to take action. No, consider this a written record of the harassment that I'm keeping in case any of these people move their sick behavior up a notch including potentially harming me or my family in any way. If I were being harmed on the street, would I be silent? No, I would draw attention to the person trying to harm me. Consider this a similar situation because silence doesn't protect anybody only the sociopaths who engage in sick behavior. For all I know, perhaps it's a form of silence which has allowed them to continue engaging in this behavior this long.




This site supports:









Is it worth over $500,000 to save Grant Elementary School? That question is being asked and answered. So if you have something to say about it, check it out.


With only three months to go until the filing deadline, the election involving the Western Municipal Water Board is already heating up. The more the merrier, so if you're thinking about running to do some good or use it as a springboard to move up in politics, go ahead and think about throwing your hat in the ring.



Speaking of election years, ad hoc committees and task forces are really the rage during election season. It's a bit early, but there's already one set up by Mayor Ron Loveridge to discuss and offer recommendations on the planned renovation of both the downtown library and museum. But since its creation, the city manager's office has apparently declared end game, picked up its latest toy and gone home so it's not clear exactly what this task force filled with quite a few of the mayor's choices will be doing. If the latest power struggle at City Hall has you confused, go check out some early childhood studies classes at the local college and it will all make sense soon enough.





One committee addressing the military tradition of Riverside was established during an election cycle four years ago and will be presenting this report of recommendations at the city council meeting on Tuesday, April 1, at 6:30 p.m. This was a joint creation of two elected officials who had reelection bids that year and have paved out different political paths for themselves for upcoming election cycles.

It's the only discussion item on the incredible shrinking city council meeting, so I guess everyone meets, greets, discusses, votes and then runs off to the eating spot and/or drinking hole of their choice. Sire's restaurant is a popular one for elected officials in the days of GASS. Art's Bar and Grill was another for the common folks, especially given that it's Taco Tuesdays which coincides real nicely with city council meetings, short or long.



In related news, although there's no civic elections until next year, there's a sure sign that governmental officials are aware that one is on the horizon because you're already seeing as mentioned a flurry of proposals to create ad hoc committees or task forces for various projects. Ideas for future ad hoc committees will be forthcoming in future postings of this blog. There will also be a Task Force Watch set up to keep an eye on all future ad hoc committees and task forces, which are sure to come.





In Riverside, the Community Police Review Commission met this week and discussed implementing changes including the dissolution of the long-standing Policy and Procedures Committee which had floundered in the past several years. Given that it hasn't met regularly since 2006, it was hard to miss it. The Outreach Committee on the other hand was expanded to include all members of the commission and will hold its meeting after the commission has concluded its business at its general meetings. The trouble with that is that the meetings tend to run long especially when the review of officer-involved deaths is included on the agenda so the Outreach Committee discussions will take place when everybody wants to go home.



It's not clear how that will work out given that the CPRC barely had a quorum by the time it had reached the point in its meeting when it was receiving a report by Outreach Committee Chair Chani Beeman.

What was most controversial was a proposal for the commission to host quarterly forums in different neighborhoods to hear comments about police-related issues. Several commissioners supported it, but several others had reservations about it.





Commissioner Jim Ward called it an "explosive issue" but that it would provide an element that he felt was missing from the commission. He said that he felt commissioners were examining complaints from the officers' perspectives. The commission wasn't established because the community was concerned about how the officer was represented, he said, but out of concern by the community in regards to how it was represented in that process.



Commissioner Sheri Corral said it was about "going back to the basics, back to the beginning" which was when there were meetings conducted at local churches years ago to provide information about community members' accounts of encounters with police officers in Riverside.





"That's what it's all about, " Corral said, during discussions which looked back at the commission's earliest days.





Newer commissioner Ken Rotker was concerned about the issue.





"Have we bitten off more than we can chew," he asked.



That's hard to question unless you like, hold one of these forums.



The commission also voted 5 to 2 to receive a return visit from consultant Joe Brann to answer questions on his report on the CPRC which he presented in February. Brann also was the monitor who worked on the stipulated judgment which State Attorney General Bill Locker imposed on the police department.







The Los Angeles Times wrote this editorial about the furor around the Rate My Cop site and urged more open dialogue about the proposed changes to the department's SWAT division.



(excerpt)



Indeed, intimidation flourishes at precisely the point where public scrutiny ceases. Here, the Protective League has taken a more constructive stand, urging that Bratton's touted transparency be applied to the department's SWAT deliberations as well. It's a reminder that not only does the public benefit when police open themselves to examination -- police often do too.



Corona's city council received some bad news about its economic picture. They actually needed to pay a hired expert to tell them that things don't look so good.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Though home sales and prices are down, many homeowners have continued to overprice their homes, and the market appears poised to continue its slide, Inland Empire economist John Husing said. Still, homes remain unaffordable for much of the region's labor force. Unemployment is up, office and industrial building vacancy rates are up, and retail sales are down, he said.

"I think '08 will be the worst year," said Husing.

The good news is that an economic recovery could come in 2010, and the drop in home prices will make the area more affordable and attractive to companies, he said. City leaders could use this downturn as an opportunity to plan for more affordable housing options and to encourage a shift in the labor force from largely blue collar toward more of a white-collar work force, Husing said.

Over the next months, Husing plans to study and report on economic factors specific to Corona. The regional picture he painted for city leaders this week was bleak.



But some experts are undecided about whether the glass is half full or half empty.



More court proceedings are being heard at local schools. No, it's not more backlogged civil trials, it's Outreach Plus.




Was Sean Bell's eyesight compromised when he was shot by New York City Police Department officers. This question was addressed during testimony by Bell's optometrist.


(excerpt, New York Times)



The optometrist, Daniel Friedman, testified that he examined Mr. Bell on May 18, 2006, six months before his death, and that Mr. Bell had less than 20/400 vision in his right eye. Someone with that vision could see less from 20 feet what a person with 20/20 vision can see from 400 feet.

Mr. Bell — who was hit by four of 50 police bullets fired that night — had 20/30 vision in his left eye, better than the 20/40 minimum in one eye required for licensed drivers, Mr. Friedman said.

But if Mr. Bell had used only his right eye, he would not have been able to read the largest letter on the standard vision test from the normal distance, Mr. Friedman said, adding, “He wouldn’t know it was an E.”





Testifying at a criminal grand jury proceeding in Will County was the pathologist who did the autopsy on Kathleen Savio.

The grand jury is looking into the 2004 drowning of Savio in her own bathtub which was initially ruled an accident but currently is considered to be a homicide after a second autopsy was done on Savio's body after it was exhumed.



(excerpt, Chicago Tribune)



Dr. Larry W. Blum is the forensic pathologist who performed the Nov. 13 autopsy. In his report, he determined that "compelling evidence exists to support the conclusions that the cause of death . . . was drowning and further, that the manner of death was homicide."







Savio was the third wife of former Bolingbrook Police Department sergeant, Drew Peterson and her questionable death received a second look after the disappearance of Peterson's current wife, Stacey, last October. Stacey's family announced recently that they will resume their search for her.










The Derby Dozen


True love didn't last. Petra has returned to the paddle boat.

Just another Monday morning

There's nothing you can do that can't be done.

Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.

Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game

It's easy.

There's nothing you can make that can't be made.

No one you can save that can't be saved.

Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be in time

It's easy.


----The Beatles, for anonymous people everywhere






Riverside's Black History parade was pretty impressive, with all the bands, drill teams and other entries. Good food and good entertainment with thousands of people in attendance at the parade and expo downtown.


The Riverside County Fair Housing Council is seeking funding to hire more counselors to address the hundreds of home owners facing foreclosure who are calling them for assistance.


The foreclosure crisis has also led to 36 Riverside County employees losing their jobs so far because not as many homeowners or developers are filing for permits and filling out other necessary papers as part of the process.







Here is one of the most eloquent criticisms of me and this blog ever written. In fact, it's so perfect that I'll post it in its entirety so that others can marvel at it. This individual's been quite prolific in his comments about my blog and me for quite a while now. His references including in this latest comment go back way before Craigslist's politics section even started.



At any rate, here's his latest comment.



Mary,

Just read your blog holy cow, what a wierd world you live in. The city is all bad things to all people. For some reason people keep coming here. they say that the tv adds 10 pounds but perhaps another definition of sabbatical is spending too much time on the couch eating pork rinds. Let's see how you look this week. And no don't start crabbing about how its a sexist world and men just want you horizontal and all that. Its got nothing to do with that because its just that we are what we eat. kinda like pork rinds or chinese food.




Given this poster's propensity for possibly posting his porn fantasies in the past, perhaps he'd be interested in knowing that there's actually a "pork rind porn" site that was blogged about here.




But if you're into them, meaning pork rinds, here's some rather attractive photographs of pork rinds including the use of them in art including one that honors the critter that essentially brought them into being.


Anyway, Anonymous #1's little buddy posted something here to help him out though I've doubt they're as close in real life. In fact, I think if Anonymous #2 had any idea what his "buddy" had written in the past, he or she'd probably wouldn't have backed him up so automatically. Anonymous #1 wasn't responding to points I made on Craigslist, he's responding to points I made while responding to misogynist comments written by anonymous parties in my blog quite a while ago.

Anonymous #2's response to an individual who had made fun of my physical appearance in the hopes of embarrassing me enough so I'd shut up was simply to predict that I'd make what he or she stated was a "smarmy" and "unctious". Unintentionally humorous I'm sure as was his getting his or herself tied in knots over my usage of one word (which was sabbatical) earlier this week.


I guess this person already knows that I'm not going to shut up and go away and is merely expressing his or her disappointment in that. Crueler and more twisted individuals than you have tried all ready to discourage me and perhaps others to not speak out, to not blog and they justify it by claiming to be doing it on behalf of the city. But if the city needs or even wants people of this ilk to defend it, then that's a pretty sad state of affairs. Fortunately, most of the people who truly care about the city and its future including in difficult economic times aren't driven to post such vitriol which is nice to know.



At any rate, blogging in Riverside and even speaking out at governmental meetings in Riverside means putting up with this kind of crap from anonymous rock dwellers like this one. It kind of serves as a reminder that things aren't quite as good as they seem or as good about it as the people are being sold. If they were, then people could criticize the city's problems without being castigated over their looks and their wardrobe by anonymous shrillers.

Fortunately, there's a lot of positives from blogging that outweight this kind of treatment. And these people and their comments serve as a useful barometer check, as unpleasant as they are to deal with. It's also the fact that there are those who support this blog that infuriates these people all the more so their urge to spew is heightened even more.








Portland's Independent Police Review system was evaluated recently by Eileen Luna-Firebaugh who released a report recently on her findings. As stated in earlier blog postings, Luna-Firebaugh's report unleashed a heated response from the city's auditor, Gary Blackmer, particularly when it came to how he felt "community" should be defined. Apparently, it was not supposed to include members of organizations including Portland CopWatch and the Northwestern Constitutional Rights Center, which sponsored a community forum attended by Luna-Firebaugh. This differs from Riverside's own form of oversight because here, community members aren't really considered stakeholders in the process by those at City Hall. With the Community Police Review Commission, it's not clear that there's even a division between "good" and "bad" community.


After all, the city manager's office with the blessing of the sitting city council has made major changes with the CPRC without even telling the community what they were doing, never mind allowing their input into the process, except for several who were selected to sit on a panel to help replace the former executive manager who "resigned" not surprisingly while the city manager's office was implementing or attempting to implement major changes. A report is about to be released on recommendations to improve the operations of the CPRC but it's hard to get community members interested let alone invested in that process because the city hasn't treated them as stake holders in the process during the last several years. Most of them weren't even aware that a report was being worked on, until people outside of City Hall told them.

Still, Portland will be receiving Luna-Firebaugh's report later this month and the response it receives will be interesting.


Her report on the IPR and also the Citizen Review Committee is fairly extensive. In one of her sections, she evaluates the Portland Police Bureau's internal affairs division, its infrastructure and how it operates. What she was examing was different criteria including whether or not the investigations were thorough meaning all parties including civilian witnesses were interviewed and whether attention was paid both to legal and procedural issues. Also, whether or not there was a bias or slant in the way the investigations were conducted of complaints.

But Luna-Firebaugh found problems in her review that were also discovered in previous audits done by the city including one conducted in 2001. These included failure to interview civilian witnesses of alleged incidents which were the focus of the complaints filed. The investigations conducted by the internal affairs division were not done in a timely fashion and officers who admitted to misconduct were not held responsible by the department for their actions nor where they held accountable for violations of policy and protocol.


It wasn't all bad news. Of 25 complaints evaluated in one sample, about 10 of them were professionally done with six more almost making the grade according to her analysis. But at least nine of them received less than satisfactory grades mostly because of a lack of interviewing all the witnesses to the alleged incident.


Another issue Luna-Firebaugh examined was how timely the investigations conducted were, especially in terms of meeting the 70 day "guideline". It turned out that many of them didn't get completed within that time period.


in 2006, at least 54% of the complaints took over 70 days to investigate. Of these, over 25% took between 150-300 days and about 16.7% took over 300 days to close out the investigations. The longest investigation clocked in at 557 days.

The numbers were better in 2007 with only 33% of all investigations taking more than 70 days and the longest investigation being completed in 213 days.


Riverside's police department has struggled with timely investigations of complaints as well. If you want to know more about how much time they took on average during the several years to complete, just check out the statistics in the CPRC's monthly reports here and its annual reports here.

The sustained rate for complaints filed to the PPB's internal affairs division was very low at least in part because the bureau ignored violations by some of its officers opting instead to exonerate them.

Reading Luna-Firebaugh's report has been fascinating and very informative. What's more important than any recommendations that she has come up with to improve the process, is the responses to them by the city's residents, the police department and City Hall. The best recommendations don't mean much if they sit on the shelf gathering dust.




The California's Newspaper Publishers Association has released its legislative agenda for the upcoming year. Here are some highlights that are coming on the horizon.



Peace Officer Accountability


Last year CNPA and the American Civil Liberties Association sponsored legislation to overturn a California Supreme Court decision that has eliminated the public’s ability to obtain information about serious police misconduct and actions taken by police agencies to address it. SB 1019 by Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) was narrowly approved by the Senate over the intense opposition of the powerful law enforcement unions, but stalled in the Assembly Public Safety Committee.


Because 2008 is the second year of the biennial legislative session, SB 1019 remains a viable vehicle on this issue and could be set for a new hearing by the committee in late Spring or early Summer. While the outlook for SB 1019 does not look positive under the current Assembly leadership and committee membership, many changes could occur this session that might loosen the secrecy lobby’s death grip on this important bill.




Protecting Brown Act agenda posting



Whenever the state budget has a shortfall, the legislature seeks to reduce its obligations to reimburse local agencies for “state-mandated local programs,” such as the Brown Act provision that requires local agencies to post descriptive agendas for regular and special meetings of local bodies. Staff will remain vigilant to identify attempts by budget writers to suspend this fundamentally important requirement to inform the public.



The former agenda item has once again attracted a lot of interested and people interested in traveling up to the Capitol to speak out when the bill comes up again in committee and provide the other side of the story.



The annual report for Washington, D.C.'s Office of Police Complaints was just released. Could it mean an end of the feud between the office and the police department, even as the conflict between the police department and the police union grows? More on this situation as it develops.





Korean-Americans in La Habra are angered by the fatal officer-involved shooting of Michael Cho last New Year's Eve, according to the Los Angeles Times.


(excerpt)


The killing of the UCLA graduate and artist has set off criticism of police not heard in Southern California's Korean American community since the 1992 Los Angeles riots, when shop owners complained that officers never showed up to stop looters, and they picked up guns to defend their stores.

This time, community leaders say La Habra police were too quick on the trigger when responding to a vandalism call.

"We haven't seen this expression of shock, disbelief and sadness in the community before," said Richard Choi Bertsch, of the Orange County Korean American Coalition. "All of the first-generation parents are saying, 'This could've been my kid.' " Charles Kim, a La Habra resident and past national president of the Korean American Coalition, said that "the community's mind is pretty much set that the police overreacted."






Former Bolingbrook Police Department sergeant, Drew Peterson has more problems. Two relatives of his late third wife, Kathleen Savio are filing for reopening her estate, according to the Chicago Tribune.


What might come next is a wrongful death law suit against Peterson.




Will it rain any more this season? That's what weather forecasters want to know.