Humpday Happenings...

They're BRILLIANT in the FOG.

And, it is indeed, a very foggy morning that greets us on this Wednesday...can barely see the houses of the "neighbors", and that's fine by me.
The LESS I see of them, the BETTER.

Looks like the paper carrier

Our Hoosierland weather will produce some sunny skies after this stuff burns off later in the morning (should make the morning commute and school bus routes "fun", especially with kids walking all over the middle of the damn streets, too.
Schools are delayed for 2 hours so we can SEE the fog when it gets light outside...LOL.
Highs today will reach into the lower FIFTIES, so you know the "locals" will be spreading their particular brand of "joy" throughout the area. Some have already started and we'll be talking about that and other stuff in a minute.
So get your morning drink at hand and together we'll see what's been going on...
*** First out of the crime scene is our WHO SAID THAT? quote of the week:
"Punishment is not for revenge, but to lessen crime and reform the criminal."
Seems we've overly-redefined what is meant as "punishment" these days, but still, the quote DOES have merit and is quite true.
So, who said that anyway? The answer at the top of tomorrow's post.
Meanwhile, back at Newgate Prison...
*** It's also time for our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
March 11 - 
---Today is NATIONAL JOHNNY APPLESEED DAY...

That's weird, I thought it was 26 September of LAST year?
It's also listed for the 26th of September for THIS year...guess Johnny gets TWO days then...
---And it's WORSHIP OF TOOLS DAY...

Got Tools?

You can't pass this one up, guys...
*** Next up, it looks like HOMICIDE NUMBER THREE for the year in Fort Wayne...

I'm calling this before the coroner.

(update your dead pools, folks - it only gets better from here on out)
Here's the story link (photos from Michael MacLeod studios):
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/Gunshots--body-stun--quiet--area-5480991

"Who's got the donut run today, Sarge?"

Before we go any further, let me state that this did NOT take place on the (...all together, gang...) SOUTHEAST SIDE, where they USUALLY occur.
This happened on the slightly SOUTHWEST SIDE (across Calhoun St.).
This all took place around 1545 hrs yesterday afternoon (not long after school buses rolled through) when police responded to people hearing "shots fired" in their neighborhood.

A neighborhood just like ours...now.

When police arrived at the intersection of Webster and Hawthorne Sts, they found a black male lying near a gray Impala. The male was pronounced dead on scene. Two people were seen (by witnesses) fleeing the area on foot - one N/B and the other S/B.
Police K-9 units were unable to get a track from the immediate area.
Naturally, details are few and slow in coming...typical of late.
((***Update from WPTA - The victim was Marcus Quinn Bibbs, 21 of Fort Wayne.  Bibbs had previously been left critically injured in two separate shooting incidents. 
One shooting occurred at Eden Green Apartments in July 2012 when Bibbs was 18, 
and the other occurred in April of 2013 on S. Hanna St. when Bibbs was 19.))

Now, this neighborhood is described as being "quiet"...well, like any area down here, it all depends on YOUR definition of the word QUIET.
Let's say it's like OUR neighborhood USED to be...about TEN years ago, before WE started having all the mooks, moolies, and indigent nomadic trash move into our area. And, like I have said for a while, the crime WE have on the SE is on the move...WEST and NORTH.
One person interviewed by a reporter was named Trivodka Lundy (read the article...I kid you not!)
With a name like THAT,  I'd bet good money she's gotta be black.

You tell me...

The people in that neighborhood are getting a "taste" of what they can expect, and had better start making some decisions on whether they will allow it, move away or stand and fight against it. And that means holding the FWPD chief accountable for protection, but if our neighborhood is a barometer for such things, they shouldn't expect all that much.
Call it another "broken window" in a growing building.

You can hear the glass shattering.

Over the last two years, I've seen FEWER patrols...not more. Everyone in "the bag" is tasked more with chasing the radio than being proactive, and since the FWPD brass decided to "blind" us by encrypting the police radio bands, that screws the law-abiding public over to no small degree.
But, I'll just sit back, and watch another part of Fort Wayne start it's inexorable journey down the crapper.
Talk about deja-vu...all over again.
Moving on...
*** Speaking of DEJA-VU, the last "major drug bust" in Fort Wayne took place late last yea, if you recall.

Another soo SOON? Fort Wayne is sure popular.

*Note - See my archive post of 23 December for all the details.
Now, it would appear we have ANOTHER MAJOR DRUG BUST in the Summit City.
And here's the lowdown on the showdown:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/courts/Feds-help-take-down-alleged-coke-kingpin-5474042
Imagine that...MORE drugs coming through our porous border from...(you guessed it)...MEXICO to wind up HERE for distribution elsewhere.
Who would have guessed, besides me...and all of you, hmm?
Thank the FEDS for this one (too).

A major drug kingpin has been busted, and FWPD chief, "smiling" Garry Hamilton gets another feather in his cap...for doing WHAT, exactly? Looking good in a damn empty suit?
Have to hand it to this U.S. Attorney, David Capp...been doing some GOOD police work with other agencies.
Sure beats what OUR local prosecutor does, and thankfully, the "blonde phantom" won't be saddled with having to try these perps...it's a FEDERAL OFFENSE, and that means they get the "Full Monty"...LOL
I know the feds (or any other agency) didn't bust anyone in OUR area, because I have not seen a single vehicle or officer, so that means nothing changes where we live (sighs)..oh, well...

Leader of the "band"

The "kingpin" mentioned is Allan L. Bates, 37, of Fort Wayne...and he's been on the radar of the judicial system for some time, but court docs have him doing a lot of low-level crap...none of this "big-ticket" sh*t. So to me, the term KINGPIN might be a tad over-reactive. He could be the one in THIS city responsible for trafficking the drugs to OTHER cities FROM here...that would make sense. I mean, someone's gotta do the dirty work, right?
This time around, the task force netted more than 100 kilograms of coke (220 lbs) and at $30K a "key", that's some serious moolah.
The feds also nabbed about $5.9 MILLION bucks in cash, over twenty firearms and numerous vehicles.
Good news is that the the majority of the "proceeds" from the raids will be donated to law-enforcement for subsequent purchase of equipment and training.
God, I love a happy ending...don't you?
Now, about the drug/party houses in MY part of town...
*** Last back to the morgue... always great to see law-enforcement being able to do something that MATTERS.

THESE words mean something...

And in this latest drug bust, it matters a LOT...and to a lot of people.
Law-enforcement has taken the sh*t end of the stick lately like in Ferguson...and,  have been exonerated, but let ANY officer have to confront ANY person of ethnicity these days, and it becomes a "game of chance"...like does the officer HESITATE because of all the fallout from media sources (THAT can be fatal), or does he/she follow procedure and training and do what is expected?
To me, it's all too clear...if you HAVE to "err", then err on the side of CAUTION.
(better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6)
That shield says you have chosen to take on a responsibility...an oath to protect those under your care...and to serve them by your dedication to justice...can't get any simpler than that.
But, like in any combat or "free-fire" zone, there comes this little burr under the saddle of law-enforcement...
It's called POLITICS.

Yep, that's politics, all right.

That can lose a war faster than turning tail and running away.
If it's you against the bad guys, then YOU play (read fight) to WIN, because that's exactly what the other guy is doing.
Yep, THEY want to win, too...funny how that works.
But you, being the good guy have to stay in the fight...tough it out, and always fight to WIN.
It seems so elementary in nature - reducing a conflict to a win-lose situation, but that's what life is often all about.
And yes, there are those that have to LOSE...

One might say that "technically", anyone who takes a life never really "wins" (there is a loss if the person has a conscience), but that's a story for morality not practicality nor seeking justice whenever someone breaks the law.
Politics has NO place in battle, whether it's in another country or on a city street.
You do what you're trained to do...uphold the law.
And as a citizen, it becomes your job to keep your nose clean and stay the hell out of trouble.
Everyone has a task to perform in this regard, and that is what makes a community.
That's just my 2 cents on this matter.

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.