Operation Phoenix European vacation
I spotted an interesting article today about the Italian version of an "Operation Phoenix" saga.
This is just a light post in no way meant to cast additional aspersions on the already embattled program.
What is a curious twist is that the Italian Phoenix, a rescue operation for a moribund airline, has caused a backlash for costing taxpayers billions because Silvio Berlusconi's government overreached in trying to curb the decline of a national airline.
On another note, Operation Phoenix shares its name with another unfortunate piece of history, the Phoenix Program during Vietnam.
This brutal campaign of special ops and rural terror in the late 1960s and early 1970s is described in Wikepedia thusly:
The chief aspect of the program was the collection of intelligence information. VCI members would then be neutralized (captured, converted, or killed). Emphasis for the enforcement of the operation was placed on local government militia and police forces, rather than the military, as the main operational arm of the program.[1]
Neutralization was not arbitrary but took place under special laws that allowed the arrest and prosecution of suspected communists, but only within the legal system. Moreover, to avoid abuses such as phony accusations for personal reasons, or to rein in overzealous officials who might not be diligent enough in pursuing evidence before making arrests, the laws required three separate sources of evidence to convict any individual targeted for neutralization. If a suspected VCI was found guilty, he or she could be held in prison for two years, with renewable two-year sentences totaling up to six years.[1]
According to MACV Directive 381-41, the intent of Phoenix was to attack the VCI with a "rifle shot rather than a shotgun approach to target key political leaders, command/control elements and activists in the VCI."
Heavy-handed operations--such as random cordons and searches, large-scale and lengthy detentions of innocent civilians, and excessive use of firepower--had a negative effect on the civilian population. It was also acknowledged that capturing VCI was more important than killing them.[2]
Given that history, one wonders whether the city officials who coined the slogan "changing hearts and minds" were aware of the unfortunate parallel.
Did you comment before reading?
Roger,
Now come on...the comment that you wonder if City officials were aware of the unfortunate parallel are riduclous. What is unfortunate is that you have the time to make these kinds of leaps. Did you know that overexposure to the "sun" can cause all kinds of cancer? Gee I wonder if the Sun knew that before they chose their unforntunate name...
Roger, you can do better...stick to reporting. Now you are just making inflammatory statements to grab more attention.
Mr. Lambert, what say you about this?
Dear Anonymous,
I'm sorry you were offended by this post. I'm not leaping to any conclusions here, just noting an interesting historical factoid.
Again, not implying anything here, just making a lite observation.
Have a good day,
Robert
I see what your saying Robert only the program sounds more in line with the "counter Force Initiative" penned by former Chief Dean which served as the platform city attorney Penman organized his anti-crime campaign on. Operation Phoenix is obviously a more holistic approach to crime fighting whereas the "counter force" strategy was built upon the traditional "no-nonesense, zero-tolerance," method of community policing.
It is apparent the police union favors and has been pushing for a return to this type of policing as opposed to a modified version of the militaristic Parker brand of suppression patrolling. The problem with the confrontational methods employed in suppressing crime without regard to the factors which create the conditions of anti-social behavior is that it does nothing to stop nor curb violent criminal behavior. Suppression tactics without regard to economic, social, educational and familial concerns simply creates bitterness and animosity which further drives a wedge between the patrolled communities and the officers who work within.
They know this but these people have demonstrated they are not interested in improving community relations nor are they truly concerned about the safety and welfare of their officers. They are all about power and control. If this were not true we wouldn't have been subjected to this palace coup which is nothing more than a glorified effort to move away from Operation Phoenix and its community based programs to a suppression heavy form of policing such as the "counter force initiative."
And what good has Operation Phoenix done so far? The crime stats that Billdt has released are cooked...look at the base numbers.....violent crime is not down - the formula has been changed to make it look down. Base numbers are the only thing that does not change.
Operation Phoenix is a waste of time and money.
An answer to Ty dy Jim,
It wasn't the police officers that set up a program to lure kids to certain locations where they were molested
by the Mayor's #2 Operation Phoenix leader. Not a palace coup.
It wasn't are police officers that were shooting bb guns at each other in front of the children they were "mentoring" and calling that activity "drivebys" also in front of the children. Not a palace coup.
It wasn't are police officers that exchanged emails about Phoenix #2 Mike Miller being sexually involved with a 16 year old Operation Phoenix employee but failing to report it to the proper authorities. Not a palace coup.
It wasn't are police officers that photographed women in the buff at the Hernandez center, it was Phoenix #2 Mike Miller. Not a palace coup.
It WAS the Mayor, not are police officers that defended Phoenix #1 Glenn Baude for awhile and then pulled him as Operation Phoenix Director when Baude acted out in public the way he's acted out before the kids and city staff since the mayor tapped him to lead Operation Phoenix. Not a palace coup.
It wasn't are police officers that ordered city staff to babysit Phoenix #1 Baude's girlfriend's children at public expense at the Phoenix centers. Not a palace coup.
It wasn't the mayor that put a stop to that crime, and it was a crime, that means it broke the law, for Baude to use public funds to babysit his girl's kids. It was the Parks and Recreation Director, not papa pat who stopped this crime as soon as he found out, right after Morris removed Phoenix #1 Baude as Phoenix Director. Not a palace coup.
With Phoenix #1 director Baude removed, the Parks and Recreation staff refused to be private babysitters anymore and because they were free at last from Boss Baude's control, reported what was going on with the free child care. Read last Friday's Sun, it's all in there, even if it is hidden on the contiued page. Not a palace coup.
It isn't are police officers that are refusing to investigate Phoenix #1 for misuse of puclic funds in what is going to become babysittergate. Not a palace coup.
It wasn't are police officers that suspended Phoenix #1 Baude when his statements in the paper embarrassed the mayor by showing the conceted morris attitude that "it's never my fault, I'm not responsible, I was only in charge of Operation Phoenix, I wasn't supervising anyone working there. It was Parks and Recreation who was responsible (still, not are police offiers.) Not a palace coup.
It wasn't are police officers that caused Kevin Hawkins the got it together Parks and Recreation Director to start looking for another job so he could get away from a mayor that hijacked his authority, gave it to Phoenix #1 Baude, then tried to put the blame, Baude's Blame, back on Hawkins while defending Baude when PPP fell apart. Not a palace coup.
It wasn't are police officers that tried to have a secret meeting with Baude to get him to keep his mouth shut as payoff for a buy out of Baude's contract.
Not a palace coup.
It wasn't are police officers that caused the city manager to bail and run to the beach. Not a palace coup.
It WAS are police officers that voted no confidence in a police chief who caved in to the mayor's demand for secrecy, a cover-up of the photographs that exposed what was really going on behind closed doors at the Phoenix center, and used the department to shield the mayor and his Phony Phoenix Program, the now infamous PPP. But the cops only voted no confidence after detectives were directed to stop investigation leads that came right back to Morris back door - these are detectives who were threatened with discipline if they followed those leads that led to PPP - the final straw for the cops was when they learned their police chief had a phony college education that he was so ashamed of he wouldn't release his bio to the public until the news leaked out anyway. Definetly not a palace coup.
Nope, this isn't a palace coup as you are trying to spin it, Mr.Ty, aka jimmy morris and company. This is democracy in action, this is fed up and won't take anymore crap, this is the good old American tradition of the cops standing up for what is right, putting their careers on the line and exposing what is wrong and saying out loud mayor, you're whole administration is rotten, its corrupt, your PPP was a publisity stunt that hurt many children, especially those who were molested, those we know about and those are good cops will eventually find out about when a new chief takes the gloves off are dick bureau and lets them do there job.
You're dad is done Jimmy boy. Politically speaking, he's a dead man walking, and rightly so. This drama, thanks to papa pat, will continue right on to next years mayor's race and this time your scapegoating of Penman isn't being bought by the public. Too bad, too sad.
City Manager, gone. Operation Phoenix #1 suspended and under investigation, soon to be a criminal investigation. Operation Phoenix #2, in jail on 20 counts of molesting Phoenix children. Director of Parks and Recreation, looking for a job in a morris-free city under an honest boss. Police Chief, no confidence by 76% of his officers. Citizens giving up in droves on Berdoo and putting their homes up for sale, but can't sell them.
Conclusion, Pat Morris as Mayor, F-.
You don't want to accept reality but here it is jimbo, in black and white,
Believe It or Not
First believe it or not, allow me to introduce myself I am Ty, not Jim Morris. Nice to meet you neighbor.
This has nothing to do with what "ARE" or you might try our police are doing but instead what THE police union is trying to do. The union leaders claims to represent the rank and file but as I said in my initial post, they are pushing an agenda which the citizens have already voted down. As for the numbers being cooked, sorry but the numbers are always cooked. You know the problem with eating someone else's cooking is you have no control over how the meal is prepared.
We could say the numbers were cooked when Chief Dean was in office yet nobody seems concerned that despite a reported +-39% decrease in felony crime between 1995 and 2000, 8 years later crime is still one of the two major topics concerning this city. Why is that?
(Crime has been touted as decreasing under the last 3 Chiefs all the while the city continued to accept more and more parolees knowing the long term effect would be detrimental to the city.)
Shall I continue? Why is it anytime we start talking about community based programs we start hearing the hardline talk about waste and disbanding a program because of the immature actions of a select few people. If the same scrutiny were applied to the police department you would find many things which are very similar to what you are reading about in regard to Operation Phoenix. You don't believe me let me help you out.
I'll give you Miller and take former Officer Van Rossum. I'll give you Baude and take one Lemos . I'll give you whoever you want and put them up against any number of people who have worn the blue while conducting unsavory acts in San Bernardino over the years.
Lets not make this about the rank and file because they are simply doing their job, yet lets examine this situation and see who is pulling the strings and determine the reason for this harmful campaign. Is this helping the city or the morale of the department? Have they answered the questions regarding an alternative plan? You have to ask yourself why is that?
And Oscar Meyer has a way with B-O-L-O-G-N-A... Oh never mind.*_*. just kidding.
Constance who's lie is it? These are figures which were produced for public consumption long before Operation Phoenix came about. I didn't make them up I simply used them to make a point which is if cooked numbers are being used both sides are guilty because the same tactics have been used to the benefit of the complaining party. I'm simply trying to balance out the argument here because its been pretty one sided to this point. Certainly the numbers have been manipulated through the years "and very recently," allow me to give you an example.
If I present you with misleading information then I can rest assured that whatever question(s) you come back with will be benign and therefore I have little worry about in concern to my reply. So if we look at some of the information which is being presented for public consumption it is pretty obvious that things are being crafted to present a one-sided view of events. Hopefully we will soon see a detailed version of the positions and activities of those responsible for this mess in the near future.
At the meeting in which the "overwhelming," no confidence vote was taken. 76% of the 178 officers in attendance went against Bildt right? But the department consists of how many people? 325 or so give or take a few. Now those numbers don't look so "overwhelming," do they? For the statisticians among us that equates to what 54% or so. Still a majority but wait. I saw a figure which listed the number of officers who actually live within the city limits somewhere in the 10% neighborhood. If this figure is correct then we have an alien congregation casting decisive votes in a city in which they have no stake.
Um, isn't this the equivalent of allowing illegal immigrants a say in public affairs? (Actually that might be the only way for the Rebs to attract the minority vote into the party headed by the artists former known as "Dixiecrats.") Admittedly I'm not as well versed on the divisive immigration issues as some of our fellow blogsters but you get the point. Like it or not Mayor Morris received 63 percent of the vote cast by the citizens of San Bernardino to win the right to occupy the sixth floor office east. Which vote carries more weight, the one based on the democratic principals we profess to love and cherish? Or the union organized dog and pony show put on for dramatic effect?
Based on the posts by Ty and Believe It Or Not:
I have come to the conclusion that this whole litany of issues during the Morris reign so far is this: IT'S ALL IN THE PICTURES. Miller took thousands of pictures and I will bet that once Miller is brought to trial, and only when Miller is brought to trial, will the whole thing blow up. Meanwhile, the public ( and some Councilmembers) is still drinking from the Morris trough and will until the true character of this administration is known by the voting public. This is a shame. The integrity, now known throughout the region, of the Morris reign has been the biggest detriment to this community. We were ALMOST better off with a high crime rate than the backlash of poor leadership in "the east wing" of city hall. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely. Too bad, too sad, is right, but it's really sad for the well-meaning families who were holding out hope for their kids via PPP and too bad, too sad for the kids that were ripped from their caregivers home by CPS who was as aggressive in proving out (inflated or anyother way) Op Phoenix's success. Proof of that is the monthly report Paxton sends to all the partners "in crime" in the Op Phoenix's working group. They make sure that stat of how many homes have been ripped apart by PPP. I am saddened but not surprised that the "east wing" doesn't see the truth, the real truth about all of this mess. It is NOT about the Morris', it's about the community that is left to survive long after their gone from this place. Good riddance. Please go spread your "love, taxpayer's money, and plan that failed" to some other community. It would be the best gift ever.
cricket
I appreciate your dedication to this subject but Constance I've seen your stats in other posts on this issue and I don't see how it applies in relation to Operation Phoenix and transparency? Let's try to stay on topic here because the many wrongs surrounding the foster care system can't be fixed at the local level especially when the state is looking to chop the system to save $80 million or so annually. We could also discuss the number of children who are forced into the foster care system when one or more parent is herded off to prison as a result of a parole or probation violation but we'd venture off into space.
Selective is the type of transparency which is being advocated here. The cry has gone out for transparency in relation to Operation Phoenix's community related programming yet the union has fought tooth and nail to preserve the secrecy surrounding investigations into the use of force by officers. Again this is an issue which has reared its head before and was used against Chief Zimmon and is once again a central issue in the complaint against Chief Bildt and subsequently Mayor Morris. If transparency is truly the issue make an offer to open all personnel files not just those of politically targeted and expendable officers and command staff.
If this weren't a political hot button issue then the statistics and information which has been so publicly called for from Mayor Morris would have been requested from the partner organizations as well. Has this been done? The goal of this very public media onslaught has been to influence the public perception of the Mayor and the entire Phoenix program as somehow being apart of the corruption which has plagued this city for decades. If we are going to start kicking over stones then lets kick them all over and see what is hidden underneath. If not then the truth about the reasoning behind the fallout needs to be explored.
It is laughable that someone who is know alternately as Serenah, Contance and Patience here on the blog would accuse me of airing my views under an alias but I'll consider the source. An idiot I may be Ser-con-tience but I believe whole-heartedly in everything I say and make no apology for the discomfort or irritation my comments may cause. I unlike you have not used this venue as a promotional vehicle for my outside interest, nor have I tried to bring attention to myself espousing view points which are in-line with the voluble minority. My words speak as much about me as your antics do about you. Yet and still I harbor no ill-feelings toward you. I do wish that you would place as much effort into airing sensible views as you do to making a general nuisance of yourself. Then again it just may be that this is your assigned role. If so you certainly play your part well.
Sincerely Ty (BELIEVE IT OR NOT). Yet another alias of yours is it not?
P.S. "Anybody have an extra dictionary and Thesaurus for the English major,"
To Close to the Source:
Maybe you should use your "special" exempt status as a "whistle blower" on something useful like Pat Morris, Mike Bildt, Glenn Baude, Kevin Hawkins, or Fred Wilson instead of trying to pin another thing on Jim Penman - no wonder all of you little Morris lovers are being accused of being Jim Morris - you all act like him, trying to get everyone to focus on the "misdeeds" of Jim Penman when everyone should be watching Pat Morris squirm as his flunkies are being raked over the coals. Maybe you should grab your painters cap and start tagging JFP over the city and blame that on Penman too.....and maybe you'll get caught just like Jim Morris did. Ha ha ha ha ha!
People,
Focus!!!There's no reason to insult one another because we may have a different opinion. Everyone has a diffent level of understanding; what's important are the issues, not how they are expressed!
The issues are:
1- Are Mayor Morris and the City Council looking out for the best interest of the children of San Bernardino? If not, what needs to change?
2- Is the Chief of Police living by the Police Officer Code of Ethics and the department's Core Values (He hasn't changed them since Chief Zimmon was forced out)? If not, what needs to change?
3- Is the City Council doing everything it can to ensure that San Bernardino is the best it can be? If not, what needs to change?
FOCUS!!!!!!