Stamper- Seattle WTO police chief

"I think these are really interesting, and there are some interesting quotes here. Norm Stamper came out with a particularly progressive book about policework, where he advocates legalizing all drugs, and advocates community policing, but throughout the book and this interview, he is doing things like discussing the propensity for police to commit domestic violence or become violent people by using himself as an example, and mentions shooting an unarmed person, choking someone etc. Without having read his book, he is making a lot of sense, but he makes some statements regarding WTO=Seattle that don't match what those of us who were there saw - I would say having been there the first day but having returned to work on Wednesday, such as protesters carrying in their own gas weapons rather than just throwing back cannisters. The mayor did make him become the scapegoat for what should have been obvious to anyone in the city the preceding week." http://www.alternet.org/story/22196/ + Seattle Weekly


Next in thread: I was visiting my dad a few years before the WTO-Seattle. While dad and Iwere having a hearttoheart, my ex went downtown to do some site-seeing.When she came back I was informed that I *had* to see this "thing" that washappening in one of the parks. When we showed up the next day, there was afree meal in progress and uniformed Seattle PD were doing the feeding.I like to compare that to the more confrontational hostile attitude taken by otherPDs around around the country, including Santa Cruz, and have always thoughtthat the Seattle Police would get a very different reaction from the poor & homelesswhen there was a problem on the "street".It was a shame about the WTO action making a bit of a mess around Seattle,but as I believe Hillel(?) would have said... Why Seattle? because it is there.What Tac squads and all that do when there are major demonstrations, andthe normal interactions with the community... no matter how weird the locals, can be two very different things.
Leigh http://www.leighm.net/