It is terrorizing to come into the knowledge of just how deeply ingrained corruption has become in our community so as now to be perceived as justifiable and socially acceptable. But it is profoundly more terrorizing to think about what it must be like to feel so 'under the thumb' of these rogue bastards as to allow the dictatorial rule of barbaric ego-aggrandizement to continue unchallenged. Once a law enforcement official has ‘stated their case’ it seems to become like holy scripture. Yet daily facts prove this paradigm wrong.

First and foremost, thanks to those of you who attended last Saturday’s meeting and also to those of you who responded to the ‘please help’ email shared with you on behalf of Tiffney Forrester and her brother, Tracy Ingle.

I must say that both the immediacy and quality of these responses was deeply encouraging. Thanks for ‘thinking’… <smile> and for caring. To update you, from what I have learned since then, this matter certainly deserves unbiased investigation. For example, consider that reportedly:

<> The warrant which resulted in the SWAT team raid was NOT to search for drugs but a ‘no name’ (fishing expedition) warrant seeking a bee-bee gun, a paint gun, a handgun and 3 notebooks.

<> When the SWAT team burst in through the windows and doors of Mr. Ingle’s abode, he believed the intruders to be robbers and reached for a gun in self defense --- exactly as did the Atlanta grandmother who wound up dead as a result of this same kind of investigative malfeasance and terroristic action on the part of local law enforcement.

<> Tracy Ingle has NO record of a violent past. Though he is (according to his sister) ‘no angel’ there was no legitimate reason for law enforcement officials to consider him a danger or a threat had they simply knocked on his door.

<> Tracy Ingle was shot 5 times at close range, first with a high-powered rifle as he was getting out of bed, resultant of which he collapsed. Then immediately 4 more times as he lay bleeding on his bedroom floor.

<> Tracy Ingle has NOT been charged with or arrested for the commission of any crime…!!! (read that again and let it really sink in….)

<> The same people (the North Little Rock Detective Division) who initiated the ‘high-risk warrant’ which resulted in an INNOCENT man being shot 5 times are now ‘investigating themselves’ to determine if they did anything wrong --- say what…???

The Committee will continue to look into this matter and do what we are able to assist Mr. Ingle and others (we are currently following eight different VBC cases) who allege brutality, indifference, partiality, abuse, corruption, ineptitude, incompetence and theft on the part of law enforcement officials, all of which was liberally discussed at our Town Hall Citizen Congress held last Saturday in Clinton, Arkansas.

For the record, eleven adults and three teens attended Saturday’s meeting. In addition, four Friends phoned with regrets due to ill health and one pastor phoned during the meeting with an invitation for The Committee to hold a general information assembly about our work at his church. As Mike Kelley summarized the meeting, "It was not the 'vast' numbers that showed up but the quality of the effort. The input made me see the next direction we must take with the Committee's demand for accountability. We shall brainstorm a resolution that we will present to the VBC Quorum Court, addressing one particular issue that we agree will be of benefit to everyone."

One of our number did ask, "Ten people is a great start, but I wonder what it would take to have 50 or 75?" to which I can only reply that as of this moment there are actually 131 citizens on our Friends list, 89 of which we keep informed by email and another 42 we connect with by phone. Of these, 90% reside in Arkansas (with the majority of them residing in VBC) and the other 10% are scattered around the globe. NONE of these folks have (so far) voiced any objection or taken exception to what The Committee is doing and all those who have expressed an opinion (roughly 50 people over the last 6 months) are supportive and encouraging of our work.

At the same time, many of our Friends have reservations… not about what we are doing or about the need for it to be done, but about their own personal well being and job security IF they were to become more publicly outspoken or overtly involved. As one of our number recently wrote "[I] am bound by some sort of fear of retribution that I can't quite put my finger on. Isn't that ridiculous? Government, at any level, should be afraid of its people, not vice-versa..."

The sad fact is that SOME cops ARE getting away with doing whatever they damn well please because NOBODY 'dares' to question them. More and more we are (sadly) seeing (some) cops running amok with ‘covert operations’ and ‘paramilitary attitudes’ such as the circumstances involving Mr. Ingle and including several of the cases on The Committee’s docket here in VBC.

Illustrative of what permits this civic malignancy to exist, I must share with you the gist of my recent conversation with a good friend who is 'good buddies' with several local political insiders and reported to me that essentially, to the minds of the powers that be, all of this local corruption and cover-up is willfully ignored (and thus patently approved) by those who are in positions of power sufficient to do something about it. They (being whichever ‘clan’ happens to be in power at the moment) feel that it is their right to rule the roost however they wish so long as the (mafia) tenet of 'taking care of our own’ stands supreme.

And it is terrorizing to come into the knowledge of just how vile all this truly is and how deeply ingrained it has become in our community so as now to be perceived as justifiable and socially acceptable. But it is profoundly more terrorizing, at least to me, to think about what it must be like to feel so 'under the thumb' of these rogue bastards as to allow the dictatorial rule of barbaric ego-aggrandizement to continue unchallenged. Once a law enforcement official has ‘stated their case’ it seems to become like holy scripture. Yet daily facts prove this paradigm wrong.

Respectfully, I cannot conscience this on my watch. Right is right and wrong is wrong… Such crap must end. And the fact is that ‘we’ together can and will end it by ourselves coming together and doing things a ‘new and better’ way.

Thus I conclude this update with two announcements and, following those, the questions discussed on last Saturday’s agenda. Please ponder these things and work with us to build a community of which we are ALL proud… (((hugs))) Christine

<> The Ft. Smith "Ron Paul Rally" will be held at 12:00 noon tomorrow (Saturday, January 19) at 701 S. 21st. Street. Directions: From Rogers Ave. (AR 22), turn left on S 23rd Street, turn right on F Street South, turn left on S 21st Street. Watch for Ron Paul signs within the 700 block.

<> Martin Luther King March, Springfield, MO, Monday, January 21, 9:30am. Location: Begins at Jordan Valley Ice Park, Peace Network of the Ozarks Friends and Members congregate at the Peace Network of the Ozarks banner. The march will travel across Martin Luther King Bridge and will end at Central High School.

<> Citizen Congress, Saturday January 12, 2008, Agenda Questions:

QUESTION: Should law enforcement agencies be permitted to engage in Confidential Informant operations and other covert or paramilitary style investigation and interdiction practices in Van Buren County Arkansas?

QUESTION: Should law enforcement agencies be permitted to confiscate and withhold the private property of persons alleged to have committed criminal acts prior to said accused’s conviction in a court of law of any alleged offense?

QUESTION: Should law enforcement officers be permitted to ‘lie and coerce in the line of duty’ by way of purposefully misleading any person (including those who may have been accused of criminal conduct) or in any manner threatening any person or in any instance coercively ‘bargaining’ with an accused person to the effect of soliciting information about others in order for ‘things to go easier’ on the accused?

QUESTION: Should the investigation and interdiction of violent crimes (ie: battery, rape, murder, terrorizing, stalking, theft, etc.) receive priority for funding and allocation of human and tactical resource over the investigation and interdiction of non-violent ‘victimless’ offenses (ie: alleged cultivation of plants).

QUESTION: Should the VBC Sheriff’s Office be held accountable regarding the "Noncompliance with state law and accepted accounting practices" cited by the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee of the State of Arkansas, in budget matters pertinent to Bonds and Fines, Fees, Seizures, Commissary costs and Communications, involving dollar amounts of up to $100,000 annually dating back to 1999 and continuing every year through 2005?

QUESTION: Should the people of Van Buren County, exercising the powers of self-governance duly vested to them as articulated in the Constitution of the State of Arkansas, the Constitution of the United States of America, and the Declaration of Independence, establish among ourselves a Civic Ombudsman Council consisting of individual citizens who are unaffiliated with any government agency and are willing to investigate, research, advise on and assist with the resolution of citizen allegations of misconduct against local law enforcement officials?

NOTE: Regarding The Committee’s plan to do a presentation before the VBC Quorum Court next month, if you wish to get involved know that your opinion is welcome. We will be meeting sometime next week to discuss and develop this strategy. If there is a day or time you favor, please let me know: 501-745-4153.Thanks!!!

Related

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