It is time for the fourth RMN Flaming Idiot Award. This is an award given to individuals who have distinguished themselves with behavior that demonstrates an IQ with a decimal point in the front. The type of individual who might have a family tree that doesn’t fork and only possess one set of DNA. As we all know these people are everywhere and especially in positions of power.
The fourth RMN Flaming Idiot Award goes to the supervisor of Thad “Stu” Crisco who is a Police Officer with the St. Petersburg, Florida police department. Officer Crisco is a police officer with a clean record. He is also a police officer in a city that has the worst crime statistics in the entire state of Florida. Officer Crisco warned a robbery victim about a dangerous part of town. His comment was then relayed to his supervisor. Did the marvels of police ineptitude commend their officer for being honest? Did they respect his decision to warn crime victims on how to avoid areas of the city where there is real bad crime? No, these dull bulbs of the law enforcement community began an investigation on Officer Crisco for “disparaging comments against the city.” Huh? If you ever wonder why St. Petersburg has the highest crime in Florida just think about the handling of this situation and wonder no more.
“We have the worst crime statistics in Florida.”
“No we don’t. I’m a supervisor I should know.”
“According to FBI statistics our crime rate is higher than that of Miami.”
“No it’s not. If you say that again I’ll investigate you for disparaging comments against the city.”
“But I’m a janitor. I didn’t publish the statistics the FBI did.”
“I don’t care. I’m not going to let a little thing like FBI statistics make people think our city is unsafe.”
I wonder if the police brass in this town closes their eyes, puts their fingers in their ears and shout “No, no, no, no.” every time the crime statistics come out for St. Petersburg.
Now the mayor of this place seems to be a real piece-of-work politician. He can answer a question with absolute nonsense like his electorate is nothing more than a bunch of bobble head dolls. Mayor Bill Foster acknowledged the incident and said he holds the city’s police department to the highest standard? Huh? What is he talking about? If this guy held this police department to such high standards Officer Crisco wouldn’t be investigated for what amounts to telling the truth. Maybe he should actually adopt a standard for dealing with reality for his police department and himself. I’m sure it couldn’t hurt.
The mayor made the statement that he always wants to know his officers are representing this city in a very positive light. This makes me wonder why police don’t investigate him for delusional behavior. I would like to tell this mayor I hope there comes a time when he leaves his alter universe and pays a visit to the world where the rest of us live. We, in this world, appreciate when a police officer tells us what parts of a city to avoid, especially after being the victims of a crime. We also believe that a police officer wanting to provide good advice actually is representing your city in a positive light. Would this mayor and the police supervisor be happier if the officer lied and acted as if there was no danger in a very dangerous part of town?
“Should we avoid that part of town?”
“Hey, so there are a few more rapes, robberies and murders there than any place else in the state but it’s not a bad neighborhood.”
“Would you take your family there?”
“Maybe, with a tank, air support and armed with squad assault weapon, but I would go.”
Now is only gets better. It seems that Thad “Stu” Crisco’s longtime partner had been killed. His partner had been the third cop killed on duty in just one month. He was recognized for honoring David Crawford his fallen partner.
Officer Crisco got into trouble when he warned the father of a 16-year-old girl not to hang around the Northshore Pool at night. The girl had been one of five teens robbed there at 10:30 p.m. on a weeknight by a group of armed men. I think after being robbed at gunpoint you might want to avoid the area where it happened. I bet Officer Crisco probably just confirmed what they were already thinking. I suppose the robbery victim and her father should be thankful they’re not under investigation for having disparaging thoughts about the city.
The mayor also stated that he doesn’t tout statistics when he’s in public because they have too many victims. I believe he probably doesn’t tout statistics because they’re too embarrassing. I’ve never worked in law enforcement but I bet ignoring criminal behavior doesn’t help solve it. I guess in St. Petersburg it’s easier for the Mayor and police brass to go after a cop with a clean record then to look at how their decisions have impacted crime in the city.
No comments:
Post a Comment