Hopefully none of you live in Northwest Davenport, because some dimwits were out breaking car windows again. Last I heard, the cops had found the suspect vehicle, but it was unoccupied. Hopefully they catch the suspects and get them (or their parents) to pay for the damage they caused.
The Guardian Angels ran into some trouble last night. I'm sure Cruiser will probably fill in the details, but it was pretty interesting to hear the stuff coming over the scanner. Keep in mind that my account is simply from police radio traffic, and that I wasn't there. I wish I had had a way to record it so I could have a proper transcript.I heard some mentions of cops going to the 500 block of 3rd street, and the intersection of 3rd and Western. At one point I heard an officer ask for fire and medic because "another Guardian Angel is down here." And by down, he meant down on the ground. I don't know if there was another incident earlier in the night or what he meant by "another." A few minutes later another officer requested fire and medic for a person who had been assaulted (cop's words, not mine) by the other Guardian Angels. At one point a firefighter said on the radio that they were told the 2nd victim (not the GA) was ok. He didn't say who told him that, but a cop got on the radio immediately and said that was not true, and that the guy was "bleeding all over the sidewalk." That cop sounded... well, pissed.
Now, one of the things I hadn't really argued with Cruiser over was his assertion that most cops favor the GAs. There are a couple reasons I found that very believable:
1. Despite their insistence on also being fists, they are "another pair of eyes and ears" out on the streets. They can alert officers to problems, shots fired, suspicious behavior, etc, much like a neighborhood watch.
2. The cops are (mostly) not fans of Bladel, and the GAs are making him look bad. This may be cynical, but I'd suspect that its at least part of the reason.
However, whichever cop got on the radio to insist on getting the 2nd Paramedic did not sound at all pleased with the Guardian Angels, and I can only hope it wasn't any GA that told the firefighters that the guy was unhurt. Based solely on what I heard on the radio, last night's incident reinforces my belief that the GAs could be a great thing for our community, if only they didn't insist on physical intervention. I'm sure Cruiser will have an entirely different version of what happened last night, so maybe it wasn't as bad as I think.
Update: Cruiser actually beat me to it, and here's the link.
13 comments:
Well reading cruiser's link, it is not at all like you have portrayed it QCO. The Guardian Angels are certainly angels, and have done yet another good thing.
I believe it is time for Bladel to just resign. His officers have no faith in him, and he is standing in the way of progress.
Let's see what's the score? Angels - 1
DPD - 30 or so in one night. Appreciate the Angels "assistance" , but really...
As I said about 4 times in the post, I was only basing it off what I heard on the scanner.
It sounds like the first officers on the scene might have been a little confused over who were GAs. However, they did have to call an ambulance for the guy the GAs caught and "took to the ground" which Cruiser neglected to mention.
First off, there was no assault by a Guardian Angel. One of the Angels who did the takedown is a blackbelt who teaches self-defense. To get to that level of acceptance you can't go around beating innocent people up. Did you ever stop to think the jerk who threw the brick was screaming about how innocent he was. Also at no point was a Guardian Angel 'down'. The assailant was treated for a small cut on his ear.
And lastly, yes the police got a whole lot more than the Angels. But you seem to forget they use cars, we don't. If the police were all on foot patrol it would have been alot closer.
If Bladel were good at PR (which he isn't), he would really push the VIPs this summer as an alternative to the GAs. However, first he'd have to show people that its not only for the 65 and older set.
So QCI, if you were doing security and found me in an alley being beaten would you intervene or hide and call the cops? Would you handle it differently if you were just walking home and saw the same situation?
In either of those cases I would intervene. That's the example that always gets used, because everyone should try to stop something like that.
However, I might or might not chase down a person who had run away.
What I almost certainly wouldn't do is intervene between 2 guys fighting outside a bar. That just makes for a bigger fight.
I don't see the difference in me as a victim or an older drunken black man. Both of us deserve to be protected. And I could probably protect myself better.
QCI, I'll give you the benefit of doubt due to your age. If I read your comment right, you wouldn't help someone drunk. If you wouldn't do that, would you help a smoker? If there's no gun involved myself or my son wouldn't think twice about breaking something up, regardless of who the victim is.
Following what you guys say, if I had been standing around and watched this guy come running around the corner, and then watched some guys run up and "take him to the ground" I would pretty much need to intervene and fight the GAs to defend this guy? Not everyone reads the paper or watches the news to know who these red beret guys are. All someone who didn't know who they were would see is a guy getting attacked by a group of other guys.
Many time you can't see the whole story, which is why its nearly always a bad idea to physically get involved. While not applicable in this case (they don't hit people with bricks), an undercover police officer could even get caught up in something. There's a reason that nearly every police agency advises people not to take direct action. It usually just makes for more victims and more confusion.
QCI, Remind me to never walk downtown with you at night, when I may need someone to watch my back. Sure glad you never joined the military! What a whimp.
QCI, I was passing by and saw that you were getting pummeled by the "Don't tread on me" crowd. Well, I can't just hide and call the cops. Actually I can. GA's win the first round - more to come.
QCI - if I had seen the scene, with people running up and yelling they were placing him under arrest I would have assumed they were arresting him. If a group had claimed they were placing him under arrest and were beating him I'd have grabbed my camera to assist the guy in his lawsuit. But from the descriptions I've seen the GA's weren't fighting, they were detaining and I think most people could tell the difference.
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