A Few Lessons from the Free Pass Clan System of Justice

All systems should have a level of integrity and when they do not there should be mechanisms to fixing those issues least they morph out of control. In the American system, we have a somewhat clunky mechanism for navigating through different layers of governance. On a local level, we have few to no checks and balances unless supported in word and deed. If the situation gets bad enough, a state or federal system might step in. In order for it to work well, local police must be honest and forthcoming to work with outside stakeholders in a way that resolves issues.

Yet, it doesn't seem like a very healthy system if certain behaviors are allowed to continue on for long periods of time before being addressed. I can think of the actual and potential victims of such carefree attitude when it comes to certain acceptable norms that would likely be illegal if scrutinized. The culture appears to be off and supportive of the wrong type of values and the people who promote those misaligned values. That discussion will likely lead us to create some avenues of improvement.

Lack of correction becomes increasingly dangerous when we are dealing with a social network, of which includes some are law enforcement members, who also appear to hold racial and religious bigotries. In some cases it also appears they are willing to spread hate speech as well as encourage people to act on those biases to intimidate (in the right circumstances harm) people outside those networks (i.e. minorities and others). (There could also be some indication of psychopathology within that social network. I doubt they would understand how some group behaviors are extensions of key personalities. In other words, some of the people who act on these behaviors are willing adherents and others useful and discardable tools. They each leave a mark as to group goal direction and the strategy as a tool. Psychopaths only see power over and do not leave room for doubt.) Their goal appears to be not only cleansing of the community but also to commit as much harm as possible.

(These people were intentionally cruel and I think they wanted the community to know that they are in charge. Its a very power over way of dealing with issues. They are known to be an aggressive and loud group. Yet not on this level but mental health can change the direction of their leadership. They are social influencers, coordinated in their rudeness and willing to lie and spread rumors. You begin to realize that deep down these officers might be afraid to enforce the law in a small town against their social networks. It is also an indication of a lack of objectivity as well as courage. This is why that group was not only good at targeting but also knew they were immune from local prosecution before starting their campaign.)

I think as a people we sometimes don't address these issues before they become bigger issues. They call this reactive management. During George Floyd everyone got really upset and people started to change and then everything settled down. There will be other incidents and everyone will get angry again and then things will go back to normal. So on and so forth. None of it really solved the problem though. A few places changed but most didn't. Its lingering under the surface ready to come out if we have economic or social issues that highlight those divisions.

 (Also why I encourage our politicians to think ahead of the curve and what will truly be needed to compete as a large nation in a dynamic and changing digital world. We can't function well off 40% of society being allowed to engage fully while the rest are governed under different application rules. I have even heard a few politicians say that only certain religions should be allowed to engage in governance and civic life. Some of these members of this group I believe subscribe to those extreme ideologies and attempted to enforce those values on Good Friday as an indication of misuse of official power for nefarious purposes.)

I often wonder when we there be meaningful and significant change? To be honest. It hasn't come and I don't think it will come until the competitive economic and social pressures are enough to get people to think about our best path forward in dealing with these challenges. I'm not a pessimist. I just think there are lots of legal and political loop holes that end up dehumanizing some of our fellow Americans. I think the law should be wiser and more proactive to looming societal issues that are requested by millions of Americans. We should strive for universal justice and the fair application of our laws in the best interest of everyone. 

I'm compiling different ways to sort of look at public information to better outline the types of behaviors this group is engaged in and how they could be coordinated across multiple departments in what appears to be cleansing oriented activities. Things like complaints, arrests, court outcomes, lawsuits, etc. all help outline the problem and I believe there is a way to outline actual clan membership. 

Because these departments are either unaware, or worse know but fail to act, it falls on the shoulders of the public. So I'm starting on that path to see if the world of big data can highlight a clan network of what appears to be intimidation/violence oriented coordinated behaviors of an extremist leaning group (We should not be shocked. This has happened in many other places in our country and people talk about these aggressive tactics all the time and lack of protections they receive. I want to change that in honor of two victims who did not get the protections they should have. The longer these groups go unchallenged, the more victims they create.).

Lesson: Officers who are aware of illegal activities within their departments should be required to report those to the appropriate authorities. 

 

Lesson: Coordinated clans share social networks and certain characteristics that help define them as different to the rest of the population. 

Lesson: There will be certain markers of the behavior hidden within other data. Putting all of that data together and cross analyzing will likely lead to further highlighting of that network and understanding the nature of the problem. Checking with the local Native American population and other minorities can help greater awareness of this embedded discrimination. 

Lesson: There needs to be a mechanism of separating the very good officers from the corrupted officers they work with. Because of the Blue Code and other internal pressures they may not feel empowered to act on the behalf of society and report these behaviors without fear of retaliation (If they know these officers are engaged in intimidation and violence what do you think will happen to these officers if they report the behaviors? Case studies have show Whistle Blowers are often buried in defamation and legal obstructionism to "protect their own". That in and of itself means it has an alternative objective to the power entrusted in them from our official legislative process. That is what they hope to hide, and the change that comes from that.) 

 

Lesson: Internal controls must be strengthened within these departments with an outside contacts for more dicey issues. They need this outside mechanism so that when a problem arises and it is known outside the area the officers do not feel comfortable retaliating without risking consequences.

Lesson: Because some of these behaviors appear to have mocked and circumvented central Constitutional rights it opens up a few other concerns. If we agree that we swear loyalty in our oaths to the Constitution which includes as central values 1. Freedom of Speech and 2. Freedom of Religion then we must wonder as to their commitment to that Constitution if behaviors are designed the circumvent these rights. Would this group/clan then be consider un/anti American in orientation if the Constitution is fundamental to our shared American understandings? (I'm thinking this is also why certain domestic extremist have an anti government flavor. There are differences between rightful criticism and anti Constitution anti government sentiments. I'm not sure if anti or un American is the right term to describe some members of the clan.)

Lesson: The use of publicly reported complaints of public mistreatment (i.e. redacting specifics for internal-external investigations and officer privacy/protection) may be able to help officers remove clan associates that are violating laws and engaged in "magical badge" aggressive tactics. Sometimes they may need help and this will give external pressure to act in the best interest of society. When they don't act to correct it could be an entire department problem.

Lesson: Look at local hate crime reporting to see if they are under the average based on similar demographics. I suspect they don't report many hate crimes and there appears to be an attempt to silence through harassment and intimidation those who rightfully criticize poor behaviors. 

Leading explanation:

I can change this depending on what we are finding so that will take time. It appears to be a homogeneous clan, as defined through social networks, that have been misusing the local legal structure for self gain of themselves and their members. In one department it appears that the senior leadership is well aware and possibly encouraging illegal behaviors. Some of these behaviors appear extremist oriented, use para-coordinated aggressive tactics, and have a support among this clan affiliated network. Some community members appear afraid of this network and/or disagreeing with this network for fear of social and employment related retaliation (It appears that way and I will discuss that later. One can consider the local college rejecting candidates based on the smear campaign of the clan based network.). Other departments may be aware of the generalities but not the specifics but likely should have known based on the widespread and open way in which these clan members act. The close association of these officers and departments reduces overall objectivity while bias increases risks to victims. Creating the right perspective may prompt these departments to start solving their own problems so others don't have to solve them from the outside. This is called "getting ahead of the story" so they can fix an issue to fully bring themselves into compliance with national laws and norms.