Leaked Document From Mayor to Police: Your Paycheck Depends on How Many Tickets You Write
Edmundson, MO– While police and their supporters continue to insist that police are out there keeping our streets safe, an internal document sent from the Edmundson Mayor John Gwaltney implies otherwise. The letter, which was included with the paychecks of the town’s police officers, spells out in very plain terms their actual role in the community – extorting money for the state. In the document obtained by ThinkProgress, the mayor is careful to point out that the town does not have quotas. He states that he only wants “good tickets” written but adds that he is still very disappointed that the Department had been extorting fewer people. Gwaltney goes on to threaten the officers’ bank accounts, stating;“The tickets that you write do add to the revenue on which the P.D. budget is established and will directly affect pay adjustments at budget time.”He doesn’t stop with their pay, either, the mayor then goes on to imply that the officers benefits may be in danger, should they not get their ticket production up by budget time.
“It has always been the desire of myself and the Board to provide a safe and pleasant work place with good compensation and benefits for everyone. However, our ability to continue doing this is being compromised by your work slow down. I realize that your work production records are directly effected by many extenuating circumstances and those factors are always accounted for as your work records are reviewed by myself and human resources,” the mayor warns.
One fifth of Edmundson’s population is below poverty level, and the town collects 35% of its revenue from tickets and fines.
While departments will usually deny quotas exist, more and more police have been admitting to their existence, despite the careful wording to leave enough wiggle room for plausible deniability.
“This is the last day of the month. I get every stat I need just off of you guys,” says the officer as he begins his rights violating confession.
“So you guys gotta make quota, huh?” asks the detained teen.
“We don’t have a quota. We have expectations. And what that means is, you will make so many arrests a month, you should write so many tickets a month, and you should haul so many dumbasses to jail a month. If we’re gonna pay you $100,000 a year, we should expect something back from you, shouldn’t we?” says the officer.
When the man replies, ‘yes’ that he understands what the officer just said, the cop then asks, “Would you like to be part of my quota tonight?”The young man then asks the cop, “On what grounds [would you arrest me]?”
To which the cop replies, “‘On what grounds?’ Oh, I don’t know, I’ll think of something. How about aiding and abetting reckless driving?”
There is no money in solving murders and rape cases, but pursuing victimless crimes such a minor traffic violations and catching a kid with a joint provide a steady stream of revenue for the city. Protect and serve, or stalk and extort? Perhaps it is time to change that motto.
http://www.blacklistednews.com/Leaked_Document_From_Mayor_to_Police%3A_Your_Paycheck_Depends_on_How_Many_Tickets_You_Write/43441/0/38/38/Y/M.html
Blackberry
Rubus allegheniensis
Other Names Allegheny Blackberry, American Blackberry, Bly, Bramble, Bramble-Kite, Brambleberry, Brameberry, Brummel Blackberry picture by Karen Bergeron Copyright 2006. Permission required to use any herb pictures from this site.
Blackberry Edible, Herbal Use and Medicinal Properties
Blackberry is edible and medicinal. The plant was used extensively by the Native American tribes, and it it had many other surprising uses.The leaf is more commonly used as a medicinal herb, but the root also has medicinal value. Young edible shoots are harvested in the spring, peeled and used in salads.
Delicious Blackberries are edible raw or made into jelly or jam. The root-bark and the leaves are astringent, depurative, diuretic, tonic and vulnerary. They make an excellent alternative medicine for dysentery, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, and cystitis.
The most astringent part is the root. Orally, they are used to treat sore throats, mouth ulcers and gum inflammations. A decoction of the leaves is useful as a gargle in treating thrush and also makes a good general mouthwash. The presence of large amounts of tannins that give blackberry roots and leaves an astringent effect useful for treating diarrhea are also helpful for soothing sore throats. A medicinal syrup is also made from Blackberry, using the fruit and root bark in honey for a cough remedy.
Blackberry Native Habitat and Description
Blackberry is a thorny shrub or vine, perennial, native to Eastern N. America from Nova Scotia to Ontario, New York, Virginia and North Carolina south. It is found in dry thickets, clearings and woodland margins, fence rows, open meadows, roadsides in and waste places.When the Blackberry flowers bloom in the wild it is a beautiful sight; hillsides and fields are covered with white flowers. The flowers are white, with five petals, and bloom in April and May. Blackberry plants have biennial stems; they produce a number of new stems from the perennial rootstock each year, these stems fruit in their second year and then die. The vines are long and very thorny, growing in groups or thickets. Blackberry vines branch and can grow up to 15 feet or more in length, and thickets can extend to hundreds of square acres in an area. They die off after 2 to 3 years but are usually retained in the thickets making them largely impenetrable. Blackberry Leaves are light green, serrate and palmate with 3 to five leaflets or fingers, the main vein on the back of each leaflet has thorns.
How to Grow Blackberries
Blackberry is easily grown in a good well-drained loamy soil in sun or semi-shade. Click here for detailed growing info.Plants - Simmons Plant Farm - All kinds of Berries - Unsponsored Link http://www.simmonsplantfarm.com/
Blackberry History and Folklore
Blackberries were in olden days supposed to give protection against all ’evil runes,’ if gathered at the right time of the moon. Since ancient Greek physicians prescribed the herb for gout, the leaves, roots, and even berries have been employed as a medicinal herb. The most common uses were for treating diarrhea, sore throats, and wounds. Native Americans made fiber, obtained from the stem, it was used to make a strong twine. Another use was as a huge barricade around the village made of piles of the thorny canes, for protection from 4 and 2 legged predators. A purple to dull blue dye is obtained from the fruit.Blackberry Harvesting Information
Fruit is usually ripe in late June through July. Gather edible fruit when ripe, can be frozen or canned for later use. Gather leaves and roots of young (first year) cane, dry for later herbal use.Blackberry Recipe Ideas
Medicinal herb tea: To 1 ounce of the dried leaves and root bark, add 1 pint of boiling water, and steep 10 min., drink a tea cup at a time. Use to make jellies, jams, cobblers, and in any recipe where you would use raspberries.More Blackberry recipes
http://www.altnature.com/gallery/blackberry.htm
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