JPD drives past suspect leaving with stolen goods.
WLBT reported:
"Surveillance cameras captured a man falling off of a bicycle at 4:15 A.M. at the entrance to Woodland Hills at Old Canton Road and Glenway Drive. The man picked up dropped materials, put them in a bag, and started to ride away. About that time a Jackson police car came by. The man waved at the officer and went on his way. The officer did not stop....
Assistant Police Chief Lee Vance looked at the video and said he couldn't tell if the officer actually saw the man on the bicycle. Vance said Commander Kenneth Goodrum, of Precinct Four, where Woodland Hills is located, consistently has the lowest crime rate in the city. Vance says crime is down over 10% in the past year, and violent crime in that area is down over 23%, so he trusts Goodrum and his officers.
Vance told WLBT that an officer cannot just stop a black man for riding a bicycle in a white neighborhood because that is profiling." Story
This is simply ridiculous and yet another example of the incompetence at JPD. Vance as usual is covering for his officers and defending a cop's dereliction of duty. Keep in mind Vance opposed releasing police reports to the public because he said he didn't want his officers getting sued, his duty to the public be damned.
JJ has learned two houses in the area were hit that night and two things were stolen: a purse out of an unlocked car and a woman's bicycle. Hmmm.... what was the suspect in possession of when the police car drove by? A woman's bicycle and a purse.
Unfortunately for Fondren residents, Vance is more interested in protecting his officer than he is protecting the public. His excuse that JPD does not profile is just that, an excuse as JPD profiles all the time. If you are white and in a certain part of town at a certain time, you will get stopped by JPD as they assume you are in that area to buy drugs (and they are probably right). No one wants JPD to stop and question black people in white neighborhoods or vice versa. What IS expected of JPD is for police officers to stop and investigate suspicious activity, regardless of color.
If nothing else, someone weaving all over the place while riding a bike at 4:00 AM is enough to give an officer probable cause to see if he is guilty of public intoxication. Then he can question him about the items in his possession. That is not profiling, that is police work and in just about any other jurisdiction, that is exactly what would have happened. Lee Vance's defense of his police officer was pitiful and a kick in the stomach to the victims whose purse and bike were stolen by that thief. Lee Vance owes us an apology.
12 comments:
Fish, looks like WLBT ripped you off. They just posted the video. Wonder where they got it from because they didn't have it until after you posted it.
"Assistant Police Chief Lee Vance looked at the video and said he couldn't tell if the officer actually saw the man on the bicycle. "
The officer didn't see him? He almost ran over his dumbass. Didn't see him? Gimme a break.
He don't deserve to have his name spelled right after letting Vance off the hook.
Bert
IF WLBT says it ... you're going to act like God reported it. No officer is perfect but if the cop had hassled the guy beause he was a black man riding a bike, then WLBT would have done a story about racial profiling and you would talk about how great WLBT is. You've got issues.
My advice is if the police won't help you, then do it yourself. If he is caught stealing stuff, beat his ass, take him up the trace ten miles, and drop him off in the middle of nowhere and let him find his way back home.
My wife works for a police department and I serve in the Reserves with a bunch of police officers.
They profile all day everyday--not just racially but anything that seems out of the ordinary.
If you would have been riding a bike with merchandise at 4:15 a.m. in Clinton, Pearl, Ridgeland, etc. you would have been in jail this morning.
It's that simple.
Why didn't Burt Case ask Vance if a guy riding a bike in drunken fashion with a woman's purse at 4 in the morning wasn't probable cause?
man, i love this site.
When did it become hassling someone to have a police officer ask a few simple questions like? Why did you ride out into the street in front of me and almost get run over? Can I give you a ride somewhere? Can I be of service to you in some way? Oh yeah, and why are you carrying a woman's purse at 4am? Not that there is anything wrong with it, but it's a little bizarre and I want to protect you from all the haters out here in NE Jackson.
Would that be hassling him?
Be sure and take them north on the Trace so they'll have to come back through Ridgeland. I bet Ridgeland PD or Madison SO will stop and ask what they're doing.
JPD should have stopped and questioned the man - end of story.
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