I am Stuff/ We Are Stuff: Decrapifying I am an ecologically groovy kind of 67-year-old white middle-class male. By politics, I am a socialist. I believe in free universal health care: housing for all: strict licensing and gun control: free college, a vocational school for all: all corporations pay all of their taxes without deductions: Ending the welfare state for the military-industrial mafia, and that is only start of my platform as the next Presidential candidate for the Socialist Party. As a socialist, I should be a paragon of modesty, though that is not true. Stuff! For these past fifty years, I have, through intention and accident, accumulated a lot of stuff. It is like a purse or a tool bag. The bigger your bag –, the more stuff you have. We have a roomy, comfortable home in Vermont; I have a workshop for home repairs, a large art studio, and a 1,000 s f living space. I also have hundreds of books of all kinds and sizes, medical books from my medical practice, poetry and literature books galore, and even books in Persian, which I don’t read. I like my books. They are my friends, neatly tucked into my bookshelves. But it is all, stuff! Too much wonderful stuff. My closet is filled with shirts and clothes that I have no idea how most of those clothes showed up there – gifts from my wife, friends, and others. I rarely buy new clothes, yet the clothes have just shown up. In my upsizing to the next phase of my life, I need a major de-crapification. My tool and workshop with all my house repair stuff. Drills, saws, hammers, and enough stuff to build a house. There are cans of paints, solvents, cleaners, brushes, and enough stuff for a hardware store. I got an email that there is a gizmo that will scan books and images into a jpeg file. I was about to buy it when I thought – damn! My camera can do the same thing! Why am I so addicted to this stuff binge? I’ve been emptying a huge crate of old letters, cards, and notes from the past fifty years for the past few days. One set of letters is from a girl I was in a philosophy class with. She was the smartest person in the class, but she was quiet and only spoke when she had something important to say. I have our notes and letters from nearly fifty years ago. In the way that people fall in love in their twenties, we were in love and filled with much ardor. I had some of her first philosophy papers. On a whim, I searched the internet and found out that she had become a philosophy professor in Mexico. I was so proud of her for continuing her studies and ordered one of her books. Most of the letters were routine hello and updates, but some were so important at various points in my life. When I was in the Navy and struggling with alcohol and emotional issues, I became friendly with family in Florida, a Navy career man, and his incredibly loving and supportive family. I helped his family while recovering from a heart attack, and they helped support me. I felt the love and care of all the cards and letters, trivial and otherwise. In the years to come, I will open this box of love if I should feel down and blue. Yes, there will be some perfumed letters (yes, they really did exist). The fragrance of the perfume remains. But more significantly, all the love, concern, guidance, support, and insights will lift my spirits. In opening that box of letters in the years to come, I believe it will be like the flood of memories when you smell Bazooka Bubble gum, bringing back all those memories. Or for me, when I was a kid in Seville, every corner pastry shop made its unique pastry. When I was last in Seville, I went to my old neighborhood and bought a tiny powdery anise pastry, and as soon as I tasted it, it brought me back to my childhood. Today, I stacked and arranged the letters and cards and taped the box. It will stay in storage, but those memories are so vibrant. Skipping stones – I spent a half-hour by Blue Heron Pond with two little boys and their dad. We were skipping stones. Is that one of the oldest games? I hadn’t done that in ages. I was playing with these 7 and 8-year-old boys and skipping stones. The beauty of Blue Heron Pond fills my soul with wonder and joy. Blue Heron Pond- it is my soul. Not in hyperbole, but in reality. This magnificent sanctuary in Southern Vermont has fueled my creative work over the past twenty-five years. Sadly, our home has become too big to keep up, and the taxes in Brattleboro keep escalating. Our town has an appetite for an electric Rolls Royce but only a budget for a used Kia. As much as I love this beautiful treasure, we know it is time for the next step and the next third of our lives. At sixty-eight, we could hang on to our home in Vermont, but it is time, and we want to travel more. I need less responsibility, fewer things to own, and more time for my creative work. When I left the Navy fifty years ago, I had a duffle bag of clothes, and that was my worldly possessions. I sometimes hunger for that level of simplicity. When traveling with a suitcase and guitar, I realize that is all I need. The rest of this beautiful stuff and clutter is merely beautiful stuff and clutter. I will probably never have the Thoreau simple life of a cabin on Walden Pond, but I can radically slenderize my life. Serendipitously now, I am losing weight, and in my creative work, I am taking a
Palestine Witness to Genocide
Is there room in Palestine for Palestinians?
Brattleboro Civilian Police Review Board April 2004
Brattleboro Civilian Police Review Board Proposal Steering Committee for the Brattleboro Civilian Police Review Board Submitted: April 2004 to the Brattleboro Selectboard TEN PRINCIPLES FOR AN EFFECTIVE CIVILIAN REVIEW BOARD Independence. The power to conduct hearings, subpoena witnesses and report findings and recommendations to the public. Investigatory Power. The authority to independently investigate incidents and issue findings on complaints. Mandatory Police Cooperation. Complete access to police witnesses and documents through legal mandate or subpoena power. Adequate Funding. Should not be a lower budget priority than police internal affairs systems. Hearings. Essential for solving credibility questions and enhancing public confidence in the process. Reflect Community Diversity. Board and staff should be broadly representative of the community it serves. Policy Recommendations. Civilian oversight can spot problem policies and provide a forum for developing reforms. Statistical Analysis. Public statistical reports can detail trends in allegations, and early warning systems can identify officers who are subjects of unusually numerous complaints. Separate Offices. Should be housed away from police headquarters to maintain independence and credibility with the public. Disciplinary Role. Board findings should be considered in determining appropriate disciplinary action PROPOSAL FOR BRATTLEBORO CIVILIAN POLICE REVIEW BOARD TABLE OF CONTENTS: I. Brattleboro’s Current System of Police ReviewII. A Better System of Police ReviewIII. The Benefits of Effective Civilian Review a. Better Governmentb. Improved Police Managementc. Better Investigationsd. Community Policing and Accountabilitye. Public Trust IV.The Boarda Compositionb. Appointmentsc. Board Responsibilitiesd. Board Powers: Subpoenae. Board Powers: Training and Policy Issuesf. Board Powers: Recommend Discipline V. Investigators VI. Filing a Complaint (Intake) VII MediationVIII Assured ResultsIX. Financial ConcernsX Appendix: Summary Supporting Documentation Introduction: In numerous community dialogues and in the recent ballot proposal that was endorsed and passed by 1,566 voters: Are you in favor of a “Brattleboro Civilian Police Board” under the guidance of the town government, with the goal to provide consistent feedback between police and community, provide an independent means to mediate disputes between community and police, and to foster community safety? During the gathering of petition signature, informal key informant interviews took place that surveyed the communities’ attitudes towards policing and its efficacy in Brattleboro. In over 600 interviews there was preponderance of concern with the level of training, safety, attentiveness, and community orientation of the Police Department as reflected in interviews with people from business owners, minorities, and people from many strata of life. What was also noteworthy, in approaching community members, we found that less than 5% of those asked were unwilling to sign a petition. What was striking was the unanimous response of African American and Hispanic voters on their concerns about policing in Brattleboro. Minority’s perception of policing was mirrored in public dialogues sponsored by the Center for Living Democracy in the late l990s. In those public meetings, African Americans and Latinos uniformly expressed concern and even fear in dealing with the Brattleboro Police Department. In December 2001 Robert Woodward was shot and killed by Brattleboro Police officers. This shooting of a highly agitated man created an atmosphere of mistrust between police and community. Despite several community meetings and repeated calls for an Independent review of the police department, its policies, and the deadly force policy this has not occurred. Currently, the internal review process by the Brattleboro Police Department consists of all complaints being personally handled by the Chief of Police. There is no independent Internal Review Board which is a hallmark of modern policing. This lack of a true complaint process is mirrored in the statements by former Chief Martin that in the preceding year there were only “Two complaints against the BPD.” However, on closer question he disclosed there were more, but as Martin reports, “I settled the problem on the spot.” There is no consistent independent documentation for handling civilian complaints against the police. Contrary to accepted policies in Police Departments around the US for a true complaint process to be processed it must be available without having to go to the Police Department and in order In addition, in the Department of Justice’s The Brattleboro Challenge: Creating Excellence in Police/Community Relations Summary of Recommendations November 21, 2002 included the consideration of a Civilian Police Review Board process. This recommendation was rejected as being inconsistent with the BPD’s philosophy. However, there is no philosophy statement that appears on record that supports this. WHAT IS CIVILIAN REVIEW? Civilian review systems create lot confusion because they vary tremendously. Some are more “civilian” than others. Some are not boards but municipal agencies headed by an executive director (who has been appointed by, and is accountable to, the mayor). The three basic types of civilian review systems are — Type I. Persons who are not sworn officers conduct the initial fact-finding. They submit an investigative report to a non-officer or board of non-officers, who then make a recommendation for action to the police chief. This process is the most independent and most “civilian.” Type II. Sworn officers conduct the initial fact-finding. They submit an investigative report to a non-officer or board of non-officers for a recommendation. Type III. Sworn officers conduct the initial fact-finding and make a recommendation to the police chief. If the aggrieved citizen is not satisfied with the Chief’s action on the complaint, he or she may appeal to a board that includes non-officers. Obviously, this process is the least independent. Although the above are the most common, other types of civilian review systems also exist. WHY IS CIVILIAN REVIEW IMPORTANT? Civilian review establishes the principle of police accountability. Strong evidence exists to show that a complaint review system encourages citizens to act on their grievances. Even a weak civilian review process is far better than none at all.A civilian review agency can be an important source of information about police misconduct. A civilian agency is more likely to compile and publish data on patterns of misconduct, especially on officers with chronic problems, than is a police
