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Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
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1.**Civilian Volunteers:
***A. Review of reports:
******i. Review Home Invasion or break ins.
******ii. Check items stolen against pawn ship reports.
******iii. Look for patterns.
*********a. Type of items stolen
*********b. Times of break ins
*********q. Address/ map the area
***B. Reports to Police Chief:
******i. Follow-ups
******ii. Officer action
******iii. Reports progress
***C. Liaison to community:
******i. Can under direction of Officer Keep victim informed of progress.
******ii. Report to Council or a board
******iii. Make suggestions
***D. Liaison to Ombudsman
2. Community group with experts from major cities that have lowered their own crime rates.
***A. If it worked for New York. It can work here.
3. Petition Federal and State agencies for Funding for Police officers and jails.
4. COMPSTAT: Updated computer management program for better tracking:
***A. “..police action can effect crime and public safety.”
5. Pawnshops
***A. The pawning of stolen property is a significant issue.
******i. Pawn brokers are omnipresent offering thieves an easy way to dispose of stolen goods, especially goods with no markings.
******ii. Many people who pawn have significant arrest records.
******iii. There are many criminals that rely on pawn shops as outlet for stolen goods.
******iv. If a small percentage of the goods pawned were stolen this number would be a huge percentage of stolen property reported.
***B. It is difficult to intentionally disrupt the market for stolen goods.
******i. Enforcement of pawn shop regulations is too perfunctory to interfere with receipts and disposal of stolen goods.
******ii. W here the enforcement is effective it displaces the thieves to a different stolen commodity. [i.e] Precious metals, antiques, [ aluminum siding], flea markets
******iii. Most stolen goods are not identifiable as such. Most households do mot mark goods or record serial numbers.
******iv. The cost of recording each stolen item is too great for local government.
******v. We must lower the cost of marking, recording serial numbers and
******vi. We cannot know what is stolen and what is not without greater police resources.
[cost of police tracking stolen item lists against pawn shop records.]
***A. The most effective thing we can do is monitor pawn shop records.
******i. Monitor suspicious pawners and goods
******ii. strengthen our pawn details
******iii. speedier transfer of pawn shop records to police computers.
******iv. Most police units that monitor pawn shops are under funded and under staffed.
******v. Decision makers do not recognize the value of monitoring pawn shops and the pawn shops do not cooperate.
******vi. Police units are usually behind on data collection.
******vii. We will have immediate benefits if monitoring activities were increased.
******viii. The pawn brokers actively obstruct police monitoring.
4. A departmental officer exchange program. Say sending a few officers from Flint to Amherst NY and have a few of their officers come work here? Not just Amherst, but other departments with much lower crime rates to see how they do it.
5. Flint citizens would be more than happy to help set up remote video of locations that experience regular graffiti. How about the city coughing up a few thousand dollars on some surveillance equipment, that watches these areas. Then once we've got them on tape. Prosecute them. This would possibly work with aluminum siding thieves also. It takes only a few weeks to strip a house. So once it starts. The equipment could be set up and then just wait until you see it has lost more siding.
6. Cameras in Police Vehicles.
7. First response Officer be able to investigate smaller crimes if detectives are over worked.
*** be able to take finger prints.
*** be able to talk to neighbors and do interviews.
*** Be able to follow up on leads when detectives too busy.
*** Be able to present evidence for search and arrest warrants
ACTION
Question the staffing and policy of the department that monitors pawnshops. Question the budget priorities arguing for greater funding of these police units. Advocate policy that would allow Flint Citizen volunteers to assist the police in date collection. Advocate for public reporting and police accountability.
Attempt to solve all crimes, not just the ones the Flint Police feel are worth solving. Murder vs Car theft, Drugs vs Home break-ins. Treat them all as priority. If we need more detectives HIRE THEM!!
There is already a great pawnshop reporting system in use in both Lansing & Mount Pleasant. Numerous communities across Michigan are rewriting their local ordinances to compel pawnshops to report their transactions electronically. www.bwiusa.com
Note. For general use in developing a data base for others to advocate public policies this outline format is a start. We should cite the primary source, I suggest we work off of internet documents when possible. We should explain how we found the source, ie google search words.
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Ref: Where have all the hot goods gone .The role of pawn shops.
The markets for stolen goods pawn shop act as incentive the burglary.
See:
http://jrc.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/41/2/156.pdf
[ Found by a google scholar search key words: policed pawn shops]
Summary: Terry Bankert 12/28/05
Summary: Ted Jankowski 01/17/06
Summary: Adam 03/10/06
Note: When I went to that link before I was able to read it. I didn’t save it and wanted to copy some of the data. How do I get back into it. I tried the link and it didn’t let me view the whole thing this time. I don’t have 500.00 plus to join. LOL
Please add some more |
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Fri Mar 10, 2006 8:31 am |
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Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
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| How about a few more ideas, THen I want to put it all in a letter and send it to our elected officials. |
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Sat Mar 11, 2006 12:08 pm |
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Adam
Guest
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| We do already track pawn shops Ted. Every item that comes in is reported to the city and volunteers at the police department put them in the system. |
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Sat Mar 11, 2006 1:14 pm |
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Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
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It appears that Flint did at some time have volunteers that looked over the items turned in at pawn shops and made lists and reviewed the items.
If they do now. It's not apparent.
After talking to the former chief he knew and many officers know which pawn shops are willing to openly receive stolen property. Flint does a pretty piss poor job of monitoring pawn shops. The former chief said he had even wanted pawn shops to take video of the items, to be sent into the police. But, the pawn shop owners complained.
I still believe we can have better oversight with minimal cost, and less paperwork. Including pictures of items pawned. let me give the argument.
Most pawnshops already have internet.
The City already has a website.
The police already have their own pages.
The city has IT people, computer programmers, etc.
Pawn shops already have digital cameras available.
Pawn shops already collect drivers license information and finger prints.
These are all things that we already have in place. My proposal wouldn't take more than a week to implement. (SDLC)
1. System/Information Engineering and Modeling
a. web based
b. database controlled
aa. simple visual basic program
bb. flat file unloadable
cc. images unloadable
2. Software Requirements Analysis
a. Any windows based computer 95 or newer.
3. Systems Analysis and Design
a. simple input of the information already recorded by the pawnshops
b. viewable by the public
c. usable by query by police computer system
4. Code Generation
Visual basic
HTML
ODBC
5. Testing
a. within a week with using only one computer programmer with minimal knowledge of programming.
6. Maintenance
a. updated daily.
aa. uploaded after or during hours.
bb confirmation online.
This isn’t rocket science.
This site could even be used by the public to look for and purchase items from the pawn shops when they become available. Free advertising for the pawnshop for people to shop at home. Gives the ability for victims of burglary the ability to find their stolen items. Gives police up to date images and information about who pawned the items, to better analyze and regulate pawnshops. If a community group or person walks into a pawn shop and items are on the floor for sale and not on the website. The pawn shop gets cited and if they receive too many citations. They get closed. I’ll bet that’d cut burglary in half within six months. Well, only if police began arresting and prosecuting the criminals pawning the stolen items.
The flip side. The Police dept could be posting on a continual basis. A list of items that have been stolen. Here’s how this works.
The guy hanging on the corner that always seems to have something to sell ya. TV, VCR, Digital camera, etc. Tries to sell ya something. It seems like too good of a deal. So you go home. Hop on the city’s website and see that item listed as recently stolen. You can then call police and they can go check it out. Here again, we would be relying on police to take action. Go and check it out. If we can finally get some real change in Flint. This is a possibility. But, it requires that when citizens call in or make a report. Police must follow up. When we start getting these people off the street. Crime will go down. I believe it was Terry who posted that information about the pawn shops. Since it has already been made public that most of the people that pawn items are felons. It seems reasonable to have better oversight in Flint of Pawnshops.
Police could even have volunteers help. Give them lists of items that are normal pawn items, that didn’t make the lists and see how many shops have these items that aren’t on the lists. Hey, we the people would love to help. |
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Sat May 06, 2006 11:40 pm |
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Adam
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Most pawn shops already sell online from what I've heard.
Did you read the uncommon sense article about how we have 12 officers patrolling Flint on the weekends? To do the math calculations that's about 1 officer per 10,000 people during the times when most people call.
With the police contract police get 4 day weekends every 3rd week and they can call in a lot of the other weekends which helps ring us down to a handful of officers when we need them the most. |
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Mon May 08, 2006 10:55 am |
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Ted J
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This is what is frustrating.
I figure then 12 per shift 36
2 rotations overlapping. 72
What are the remaining 182 officers doing?
seems to me that with the amount of officers Flint has we should be able to have well over 20 officers per shift patrolling. But that's just doing the math convseratively. |
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Mon May 08, 2006 3:19 pm |
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rapunzel
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| Why do the 40 community police officers keep getting pulled away from community policing? This is what we voted for them to do. This was a strong issue prior to renewing the millage and is now so again. |
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Mon May 08, 2006 9:53 pm |
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Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
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I agree.
With the number of officers Flint has. We should be turning the corner in any part of town and seeing one.
Even if 1/5th was management/supervision/detectives (50). That would still leave 200 officers to cover the streets.
I'm going to have to work this out in a spread sheet for people to see. Then figure out how to explain it. Maybe then you'll see why I'm so hard on the chief. I'm still digesting his interview in the Uncommon Sense. Reading and rereading it in light of things I've recently learned form the prior chief. I've not formed a new conclusion as of yet.
If 2005 was any indication of what 2006 would look like. Here are a few things to keep in mind.
2005 Murders. 49. How many officers do you think it takes to investigate 49 murders? If we had a team of just four or six officers just to cover the murders. 4 to 6 officers would equal approx 8000 to 9000 man hours available to investigate those 49 murders About 175 man hours per murder. That’s over a month per investigator per murder. How many investigators do we have?
49 murders While a high number. Isn't even one a week. How much time are officers actually spending doing investigation?
This is just one example. Do you see the perspective I'm looking at this from. I've worked in management. I'm just asking the questions that my boss would ask me. If I had the manpower capabilities, we have in Flint.
Does Flint really have a K-9 unit? If so? how many dogs and officers? On how many shifts? How come they haven't been used during drug busts? I remember the one just three years ago when I called the dept about the officer that was letting people go with drugs on them. Because they didn't find the drugs. Had they used a drug dog? They wouldn't have been released. Esp with the drugs on them! I would love to see the Police Contract. I keep hearing that there is so much that can or can’t be done because of the contract. Seems to me that management (The City) uses the contract as an excuse for not getting the job done. This is an excellent example of poor management.
I’ve been with GM supervisors in Plants where they sit there and complain about walking someone out and then “The Union” getting them their job back, and laughing at them. PERSPECTIVE! “The Union” doesn’t hire or fire anyone. They only ensure that management follows the contract by representing the union worker. Management, blames the Union when they (Management) has to give the employee back their job. Because Management didn’t follow the contract when they fired or disciplined the employee. Plain and simple. Poor management is a symptom of poor leadership. Poor leadership creates poor discipline, which creates poor morale. Thus the reason in the Military “Morale and Discipline” is almost always used in conjunction with each other. It took me a couple of years in the USMC to truly understand what that meant.
There are too may people in positions of supervision. That don’t have a clue about supervising. Don’t understand what leadership is. Don’t know what it takes to be a leader. They are indecisive when making or giving orders. Blame everyone else for their mistakes. And this starts from top down. Simple example. Don supported and approved the City Councils back pay. Then ran around the city screaming “they’re stealing your money” Only the simple minded in Flint believed that Don was actually against them getting the back pay they deserved, and he approved.
Flint government has a “lick your finger and see which way the wind blows” governing style. If they can get away with disregarding the will of the people because they perceive that the people don’t really care. They will. Leaving the interviews of the Ombudsman hopefuls is a perfect example. Don’s use of the media has been excellent. He is continually giving people things to think about. Something to get their attention. Keep their minds off what is really going on. Take a little truth. Blow it way out of proportion. Cover up the big lie. And they people “roll along merrily.” Just thrilled to death that he is at least fixing the roads and painting the graffiti.
Hopefully, you can see through my ramblings. That I blame the leadership. It starts from the top. The Mayor, then the Chief. Mostly the officers have the attitude that was passed down to them from the top. If the Mayor is really concerned with Crime and how the Police dept is run. It would be reflected in the attitude of the Chief. If they chief cared more or less than the Mayor. That attitude would filter down to his Captains or commanders, and so forth down the line.
Change of command happened much quicker in the USMC. But, it was never easy for any commander. But when they took command. His desires and his important issues. Followed all they way down to the lowliest private. So that everyone knew. If running in boot and utilities was his priority. It became everyone’s priority. If combat readiness was his priority, It became the privates priority. And everyone in between’s.
I’d love to see some of our officers and commanders go through USMC officers training and DI school. After that. We’d only need ¼ of the officers we have now. LOL |
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Mon May 08, 2006 10:59 pm |
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rapunzel
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Tue May 09, 2006 12:26 am |
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ellwoodflint
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| Maybe we as a citizen group can add our names and contact information to a sheet to give to our new ombudsman with the intent to show support and to ask to be a citizen forum to help the office? |
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Tue May 09, 2006 12:19 pm |
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Adam
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I'm not totally familiar with the structure of the Flint Police but I imagine they could be similar to NYC's before Giuliani took over. They're probably understaffed when crimes typically happen and fully staffed when crime is less likely to happen. In addition their are patrol officers, sargeants, police that man desks, investigators etc. In addition you have the jail releasing prisoners early which ads to a police work load and could lower morale. Going call to call also could mean lots of arrests compalints and paperwork. An arrest pulls an officer or two off the streets and means paperwork.
On the weekends with 1/3 of Flint police not working and many officers using some of their many vacation days the chief would be forced to pull officers off CATT to patrol the streets. |
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Tue May 09, 2006 12:40 pm |
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flintteach
F L I N T O I D
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Things in Flint will NOT change unless the people change it themselves ! You could have a police force of 100,000 (roughly one for every person in Flint) and the same mess would be happening daily !
The problem lies here I believe. What good is it to build a housing project to see it taken over by drug traffickers and used as a stash house? Or what good is it to invest as much as we do in education and build model schools, only to see those schools become battlegrounds for gangs?
I believe another factor involved is disintegration of the family. This family breakdown is a social and a moral catastrophe and is at the root of so many of the problems that beset out nation. In my view, the root cause of both crime and poverty is precisely this unraveling of the family. I think the evidence is clear that children from single-parent homes use drugs more heavily and commit more crimes throughout their lives than children from two-parent homes. Studies show that most gang members come from single-parent homes. Some 70 percent of juvenile delinquents in state reform institutions lived in single-parent homes or with someone other than their natural parents. One study found that 75 percent of adolescent murderers came from single-parent homes. Recent research by June O'Neill, formerly of the Urban Institute, finds that a black child in a single-parent home is more than twice as likely to engage in criminal activities as a black child from a two-parent home. Moreover, when that child is in a neighborhood where there are many other single-parent families, the child becomes three times more likely to engage in criminal activity. A 1988 study published in the Journal of Research on Crime and Delinquencies found that the rates of violent crime in a community correlated directly with the proportion of single-parent households in the community, but not the poverty or racial composition apart from family structure. In other words, they found that neither poverty nor race were significantly correlated to crime when family structure is taken into account.
Moreover, the disintegration of the family is the basic cause of long-term poverty and dependency in America today. Almost 70 percent of single-parent families with children and 80 percent of never- married mothers receive some form of government assistance. The poverty rate for female-headed households with children is at 44.5 percent, compared to 7.8 percent for married couples with children. Single-parent families account for 65 percent of poor families with children, and over half of all poor families. Studies show that it is primarily this group among the poor who remain mired in poverty and dependency over the long term. So, that is the track record of the policies that we have been pursuing for 25 years - little headway against hard-core poverty and the contribution to the breakdown of the family, which in turn, spawns crime and further poverty. The idea that if we just increase our record spending levels by a few more tens of billions of dollars we will somehow achieve a breakthrough is, in my view, incredible.
Today, the government is spending, just on means-tested anti- poverty programs, record amounts -- $280 billion a year. This is up from $9.6 billion in 1965 at the start of the Great Society. It is up from $106 billion in 1980 and it has gone up significantly in real terms during President Bush's Administration. A record 4.77 percent of GDP now goes into means-tested programs. And that comes down to $3,111 for every taxpayer -- $3,111 goes into anti-poverty spending. That doesn't take into account non-means tested root-cause programs. And what have we gotten for this investment? I think that any fair-minded observer would have to say that the overall results of this 25-year war on poverty have been disappointing. Certainly the track record of these programs in fighting poverty has been less than impressive.
Now just think what we could do with that money when it comes to crime ! |
_________________
Just a Jarhead.. OOORAH ! I dig country music.. I love this country and her flag ! But my family comes first ! |
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Tue May 09, 2006 1:20 pm |
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Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
rapunzel schreef:
Morale= communication
Morale = Discipline
Giving instructions clearly is communication. |
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Tue May 09, 2006 6:10 pm |
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Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
Things in Flint will NOT change unless the people change it themselves ! You could have a police force of 100,000 (roughly one for every person in Flint) and the same mess would be happening daily !
But Teach,?
When did it become governments responsibility to raise families? where do the rules for family come from? Government? Because government or some study says two parent families raise better children, and are a more moral or socially accepted situation. Then we should or how should government promote it?
We are talking about a government that less than 100 years ago believed blacks weren't intelligent enough to fly fighter aircraft. What makes government studies now any better as evidence for parenting or how a family should be fashioned?
Don't get me wrong. I agree with what your saying about the break down of morality and the family. But, who defines morality and who defines family? Heather has two mommies, It takes a village" etc. How does government effect change to make people responsible for their own actions? When I was young the popular thought among MD’s was that allergies where all in your head. Now there are antihistamines to keep you from sneezing during pollen season. How many times has the recommended daily allowances changed in our lifetime?
Just hoping for discussion. I don’t think we can solve all of the worlds problems here. |
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Tue May 09, 2006 6:29 pm |
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