Share It Fairly, But Don’t Take A Slice Of My Pie

In case you’ve ever wondered what the number one priority of the Texas Department of Public Safety is, the San Antonio Express-News has the answer. (H/T to Grits).

“I’m not going to look for dope. … I’m not going to look for anything else because if I do, I’m not going to get enough speeding tickets, I’m not going to get enough seat-belt tickets, and I’m not going to get DWI arrests,” said the North Texas trooper.

More complicated violations resulting in arrests means “you don’t have the magic number of speeders and you get hammered (by superiors),” the trooper said.

This is what DPS values?  Speeding, seat belts, and DWI arrests?

A professor of mine in undergrad, who was a practicing lawyer gave me a piece of practical advice which was more valuable than most stuff I learned in law school.  Always follow the money.  Not exactly earth-shattering advice there, but valuable nonetheless.

The three apparent DPS priorities are all cash grabs and all easy money, relatively speaking.  It would be naive to think that every agency and government organization isn’t doing their best to bilk the public, but it would be nice if we didn’t have to hear it.

The rest of the article is worth reading, it doesn’t paint a pretty picture of morale at DPS.  Like Grits said, the next head of DPS is going to have quite a job on their hands.

A Match Made In Heaven

Blackwater is joining the War on Drugs.  Nope, absolutely no chance anything could go wrong here.

Blackwater’s Iraq contract was extended in April, but the company is by no means betting the house on its long-term presence there. While the firm is quietly maintaining its Iraq work, it is aggressively pursuing other business opportunities.

In September it was revealed that Blackwater had been “tapped” by the Pentagon’s Counter Narcoterrorism Technology Program Office to compete for a share of a five-year, $15 billion budget “to fight terrorists with drug-trade ties.” According to the Army Times, the contract “could include antidrug technologies and equipment, special vehicles and aircraft, communications, security training, pilot training, geographic information systems and in-field support.” A spokesperson for another company bidding for the work said that “80 percent of the work will be overseas.” As Richard Douglas, a deputy assistant secretary of defense, explained, “The fact is, we use Blackwater to do a lot of our training of counternarcotics police in Afghanistan. I have to say that Blackwater has done a very good job.”

Such an arrangement could find Blackwater operating in an arena with the godfathers of the war industry, such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon. It could also see Blackwater expanding into Latin America, joining other private security companies well established in the region. The massive US security company DynCorp is already deployed in Colombia, Bolivia and other countries as part of the “war on drugs.” In Colombia alone, US military contractors are receiving nearly half the $630 million in annual US military aid for the country. Just south of the US border, the United States has launched Plan Mexico, a $1.5 billion counternarcotics program. This and similar plans could provide lucrative business opportunities for Blackwater and other companies. “Blackwater USA’s enlistment in the drug war,” observed journalist John Ross, would be “a direct challenge to its stiffest competitor, DynCorp–up until now, the Dallas-basedcorporation has locked up 94 percent of all private drug war security contracts.” The New York Times reported that the contract could be Blackwater’s “biggest job ever.”

Part of me says, hey, maybe this isn’t such a bad idea.  I’ve read that Blackwater employs former special forces soliders, SEALS, Delta, Rangers, etc.  If the Mexican Gulf Cartel has their own private army in Los Zetas, why not send Blackwater down there to operate?

The more rational part of me says what a horrible idea.  The war on drugs is a bad enough idea.  Billions and billions of dollars being spent with nothing to show for it.  Well, nothing positive.  We’ve got plenty of negatives to show for the war on drugs.  A sky-high prison population filled with non-violent offenders, providing an environment where violent drug cartels can thrive, and the eroding of the Constitution, just for a few examples

Throw into this mix private military contractors which operate with little to no oversight, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.  I’m a little young to remember, but didn’t the US already try letting quasi-military organizations go running around in Latin American back in the 1980’s?  I suppose since we did it then to fight Communism, it can be considered or rationalized as fighting the good fight.  But putting Blackwater on the US/Mexico border?  That sounds like a good way to cause more problems, not solve problems.

Crusin’ and Boozin’

I’m actually surprised this story isn’t from Texas.

A Whitehall man learned that on Memorial Day, when he was charged with driving while intoxicated after police pulled him over for swerving and driving on the sidewalk on a four-wheeled, motorized cooler known as a “Cruzin Cooler.”

Leslie J. “Bomber” Marr, 57, could face felony DWI and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle charges because of prior arrests and convictions in drinking-and-driving cases, said Whitehall Police Chief Richard LaChapelle.

The electricity-powered Cruzin Cooler that Marr was riding contained 14 beers, the chief said. LaChapelle said Whitehall Police Patrolman Andrew Mija stopped Marr at about 7:45 p.m. after the officer saw Marr swerving and preparing to cross William Street on the motorized cooler.

I have two thoughts on the subject.

First, why on earth did I not have one of these for tailgating when I was in college and law school?  My school had a pretty big campus, the Cruzin Cooler would have been perfect for going from tailgate to tailgate without having to lug all the beers needed to make me forget how bad the football was going to do.

Second, would this hold up in Texas?  Texas Penal Code 49.04 simply states that “[a] person commits and offense if the person is intoxicated and operating a motor vehicle in a public place.”  OK, so is the Cruzin Cooler a motor vehicle?  Unfortunately, yes.  Texas Transportation Code 541.201(11) states that “‘Motor Vehicle’ means a self-propelled vehicle or a vehicle that is propelled by electric power from overhead trolley wires.”

Darn.  Still, motorized coolers, and to think in my last post I wondered whether they United States had what it takes to stay at the top of the food chain.  When you’ve got a country with the ingenuity to put a motor and wheels on a cooler, well, it’s tough to top that.

Will Snitch For Cash

As a Texan, I normally wouldn’t read the New York Times. Heck, I kind of feel like a traitor when I read the Scott’s and Gideon’s blogs. But, since I got this story from The Consumerist, I figure I won’t get kicked out and sent to Oklahoma.

According to The Old Grey Lady, thanks to our shaky economy, and the rising prices for food and fuel, people are turning to ratting out their neighbors for money.

To gas prices, foreclosure rates and the cost of rice, add this rising economic indicator: the number of tips to the police from people hoping to collect reward money

Calls to the Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers hot line in the first quarter of this year were up 30 percent over last year. San Antonio had a 44 percent increase. Cities and towns from Detroit to Omaha to Beaufort County, N.C., all report increases of 25 percent or more in the first quarter, with tipsters telling operators they need the money for rent, light bills or baby formula.

“For this year, everyone that’s called has pretty much been just looking for money,” said Sgt. Lawrence Beller, who answers Crime Stoppers calls at the Sussex County, N.J., sheriff’s office. “That’s as opposed to the last couple of years, where some people were just sick of the crime and wanting to do something about it.”

I admit, I never would have thought this would be a good way to make some money.  When I was in college, we’d do some strange things for money.  Wonder if my school would have paid me for ratting out my friends who were drinking while underage.

The article goes on to say, some people are even making this their job.

Some people have made a cottage industry of calling in tips. Although repeat callers do not give their names, operators recognize their voices.

“We have people out there that, realistically, this could be their job,” said Sgt. Zachary Self, who answers Crime Stoppers calls for the Macon Police Department.

“Two or three arrests per week, you could make $700, $750 per week,” Sergeant Self said. “You could make better than a minimum-wage job.”

At $700 a week in tips, that’s roughly the equivilent of  having a job that pays $17.00 an hour.  That’s pretty good money.  If times are tough, that’s a lot easier than getting a second job or selling plasma.

I have to admit though, it really strikes me as something out of East Germany during The Cold War.  People ready to sell out their neighbors, or family members at a moment’s notice.

In some cases, the quality of the tips is lagging as people grasp for any shred of information that might result in an arrest. A woman in Macon, for example, recently called to report that a family member — who was wanted for burglary and whose name and address were already known to the police — was at home. His home.

I bet that’s going to be an awkward Thanksgiving.

Money Well Spent

7.5 million dollars.

According to the Austin American Statesman, that’s how much money it cost the state of Texas for the first 19 days of the raid of the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado and ensuing boondoggle aftermath. I had a few other words to describe this situation, but this is a family friendly site.

And that’s just the first 19 days. It’s been roughly five weeks since the raid out in West Texas. Who knows what the costs are up to now.

To make matters worse, the local government’s are a little leery about how whether or not Austin is going to foot the bill.

State Comptroller Susan Combs told Dewhurst, Craddick and Perry in a letter that she plans to work to “utilize funding allocated in the current state budget to cover the allowable emergency costs.”

But some government officials aren’t sure what “allowable emergency costs” include, and that’s making them nervous.

Tom Green County Treasurer Dianna Spieker said: “We’re operating under faith” that the county will be reimbursed. She said last week her county had spent $70,000 on everything from overtime for law enforcement to paying the road and bridge department to set up barricades.

State Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, a member of the finance panel, said the operation is largely a state responsibility.

“We should reimburse local agencies as soon as possible for any action they have taken that is state responsibility,” she said.

Technically, many of the court costs are the responsibility of the counties, but state leaders say they plan to use state money.

“We can’t wash our hands from it — we’re the ones who did it,” said state Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, a member of the Finance Committee. “I hope it turns out it was the right thing to do.

Same with some of the many attorneys who have graciously volunteered their time to help out.

Some lawyers who volunteered to represent the children are now wondering what they’ve gotten into financially. Susan Hays of Dallas, an attorney for a young girl, said she’s spent nearly $1,000, mostly on gas to visit her client in East Texas and the client’s mother in San Antonio.

“We were all told it was a one-day hearing,” she said. “My case is now spread out all over the state. The Legislature is going to have to do something.”

Did the state of Texas have any plan as to what they were going to do with all these kids, all of which would be needing legal representation? While its great to see so many in the legal community volunteer their time, surely the State had some other plan. I would hope so, especially for a county of just over 100,000 people out in west Texas

To top it off, according to Grit’s latest post on the subject (which by the way, his coverage has been excellent), there was ample evidence that the call sparking the whole mess didn’t come from Texas and didn’t come from anyone credible, and the authorities just ignored it.

Authorities knew before the raid that Dale Barlow was in Arizona, had spoken to him, but made no effort to have him arrested or detained by his probation officer.

The caller mispronounced the name of the town (there’s a long “a” in Eldor-A-do), used terminology that did not match FLDS religious lingo, and only gave details about the group and the ranch that could be easily gleaned online.

Authorities knew the calls to the shelter didn’t come from Texas, and with minimalist investigation would have identified the caller as a routine hoaxer.

So what have the citizens of Texas gotten for our 7.5+ million dollars?  A whole lot of nothing.