A Letter To Police

A Letter To Police

occupydallas.org

This letter is addressed to you, but it will be shared with others. Honestly, I’m writing it directly to you because you took the time to come down to our camp this morning and it mostly includes information regarding our relationship with the police department. I had to write this introduction after the letter itself because I digressed far away from the issues that would concern just you and your office. I apologize for that, but not for what I have to say.

Mr. Lee,

We have met before. I believe at the JFK Memorial on the first day of our march we discussed the possibility of arrang

(visit the link for the full news article)

this is a pretty interesting read. it further goes on to explain how the Occupy Dallas movement has had certain people being told to enter their camps by the police.
there was a recently released felon, 3 homeless people, and a number of other incidents.

the story goes on to say that some of the police they have talked to agreed alot with the movement but where scared to voice their opinions fearing they would be ostracized.

and further more goes on to say that it wishes the Dallas movement would have been different and that the cops should have stood by the side of the movement instead of following the status quo.

not sure if this is the right forum for this, but i thought this was pretty awesome and i wanted to share it.

occupydallas.org
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by stuncrazy


To play devils advocate might it be possible that non police personell are behind this in an effort to cast doubt on any actions taken by the Dallas Police Department?

I can see the plausability of BOTH sides being played by a third party, in an effort to foster distrust and discontent.

Not saying that is the case, but offering up other possibilities.

As a side note, pepper spray / tear gas is used ti disperse large crowds without the use of physical force and large scale arrests. Again, not defending any particular action, but offering up clarification to those who might not be familiar with those items and its use.

reply to post by Xcathdra


Everything is a possibility, but from my personal viewpoint and all the talk i've heard coming from this movement, their stance is a stance of cooperation with the PD. they like to talk and try to "recruit officers to the cause"

unless you are trying to say that people higher than the police force are the ones sending these "vagrants" into the camp, in which case i could completely agree with that too. Divide and conquer is the motto after all, and they definitely do not want the police to join the cause.

I'd just throw something out here.... I took it as a given that at least one Undercover Police Officer was in the camp I was at. I still believe there is one, and perhaps 2 in there as residents. It makes sense and it's just good Police Work. If nothing else, having some kid from Kansas beaten to death by a homeless person because the protester didn't even comprehend that there WERE rules to the street, let alone which one he/she broke, would be P.R. an entire city could have to live with, so it makes perfect sense.

Point here being..I love the idea that they sent this letter, but the attempt to sow dissension in the ranks of the P.D. by all but outright saying that this Intelligence Unit officer is surrounded by OWS sympathizers is just transparent and foolish. If I'm misreading the intent..so be it..but the wording almost drips of that interpretation to how I read it.

Occupy camps might want to consider that for the above safety reason, if nothing else at all, they are under 24/7 surveillance from at least one police observation post and nothing they say or do in open air is without recording by at LEAST the police...but likely media doing the same sneaky thing to get their story too.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


You raise some excellent points, and i never thought about things such as needing an undercover to police the camp itself, nor did i ever think of media intervention.

i think in a way he is trying to kinda rub the officer's nose in it, and as far as i can tell their earlier interaction didn't necessarily go well. i don't know if he is trying to create dissension in the force itself per se, but rather show him that the force itself is part of the 99% and should join the cause himself.

Originally posted by stuncrazy
reply to post by Xcathdra

 

Everything is a possibility, but from my personal viewpoint and all the talk i've heard coming from this movement, their stance is a stance of cooperation with the PD. they like to talk and try to "recruit officers to the cause"

unless you are trying to say that people higher than the police force are the ones sending these "vagrants" into the camp, in which case i could completely agree with that too. Divide and conquer is the motto after all, and they definitely do not want the police to join the cause.

Anything is possible... Its not in the intrest of the police to appear agressive and its not in the interest of the protest to appear aggressive.. If you are a bank, and you want to confuse the issue, drive a wedge between the people they label as unstable protestors with no focus on the issue and lack of knowledge on it against the police, where all they need to do is just appear aggressive towards the protestors and you just chnaged / diverted attention from the origional story to something else entirely.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


They acomplished part of that by mentioning officers who are sympathetic to their cause. That in and of itself is not a problem. The problem that creates is if something goes down hill and an officer is injured / attacked, will the officers present have his back?

It can be reversed as well to apply to the protestors and their safety if an altercation starts an an officer present doesnt respond because they agree with protestors etc.

To many possibilities with the way that part was worded in my opinion, which I know means little on these forums. Just giveing my 2 cents.

Keep in mind that I have been a supporter of this movement from day one.

Being from Dallas I can honestly say that today I am disappointed in my cities Occupiers. 24 of them were arrested yesterday and it was there own damn fault.

They decided it would be fun to stand in front of a chase bank and lock arms, blocking anyone from entering... Who are they to infringe upon the rights of others? They have no right to decide who citizens can and cannot do their banking with.

What did they think would happen? They know how the media is and they know that the media will focus in on the negative stuff like that rather than the peaceful protesting.

I wrote a letter of my own to Occupy Dallas and I wish to share it with you.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------
First, let me start off by saying I have been an avid supporter of OWS since day one. But lately, it seems that the people involved are loosing sight of the roots of this movement. The reasons we are all protesting and even the rules set in place by the original OWS movement, to ensure that the protestors remain non violent.

For example, the Occupiers in Ohio, stormed a chase bank and vandalized it. Yes, vandalized. You can see the video online. At least one table is over turned and paper is thrown all over the place. This goes so far against what OWS is all about. A true OWSer would go in there and clean up the mess made by the vandals, who were posing as true OWSers.

I don't know what happened to them but I honestly hope they got arrested.

Now, I hear that your group. MY cities Occupy group, decided to go stand in front of a chase bank, lock arms and refuse to let people in? I can only think to ask, what were you thinking? What did you think this would accomplish?

Why on Earth would you block civilians who are not even involved in the protests, from doing their own business. They have every right to do their banking with anyone they choose and for you to try and infringe upon their rights is shameful to say the least.

Let me ask you a question. How smart do you think this was? You and I both know just how the media spins what the OWS is doing. They don't give it a positive spin at all. So, what do you think the media is going to do with this story? Do you think they are going to focus on the positive aspects of what you are doing or do you think they are going to take these instances where you break the law and use it to make OWS look like a bunch of crazy hoodlum morons?

What you did, gives OWS a bad name and you should honestly be ashamed for that. They deserved to be arrested. I hate to say that, but they broke the law and deserve to get arrested for the shere stupidity of what your group did. Here is a good rule of thumb. If you are doing something that can lead to you or anyone in your group being arrested, you should not be doing it because you would be doing something that OWS is not about and it only makes us look bad.

Honestly the impression I got of those who got arrested was that it was just a bunch of idiots who thought it would be cool to say they got arrested during a protest.... that is the impression I got and I am a supporter! What do you think the people who disagree with what you are doing are thinking of you now?

Cut it out! Get back to what OWS is supposed to be about. Remember. Peaceful protest. Non-violence and if you are doing something that can lead to you being arrested, stop! I am unsure of just what you have leader wise, but it if you do not have one, it is high time you get one. Make sure your leader will not allow this kind of thing to happen. OWS is getting organized now and incidents like this, need to not happen at this point.

sites.google.com...

If you wish to be taken seriously at all at this point, we must act like adults. It is getting to the point in which we are getting involved in government and working to get new laws passed. So, it is time that our group grow up, weed out the people who are only looking for violence, or who are doing things that get people arrested and then continue on with the protest.

Shame on you, Occupy dallas! Cut that crap out. Join with the true OWS movement.

Sincerely, (Name removed)

More on topic, Yes, I have heard about this letter to the police and they do raise valid concerns, such as cops directing homeless people and apparently in one case a minor, to the Occupy Dallas Tent city.

This is not okay.... By any means.


I get the impression that Occupy Dallas is losing control of it self... Also that the cops in the area are not helping to keep order.. at all...Aside from arresting the 24 morons who decided to block a bank entrance.

I can only hope that this does not continue to spread to other cities... If so, I fear this is what will lead to the end of OWS.

It feels like we are only a stones throw away from one of the Occupy cities getting violent... and when that happens... Watch how fast the cops put an end to it all.

On a direct polling of participants at the OWS movement one third said they would participate in violence. Another poll of supporters nationwide got almost the same results, as did the poll here.

If I were in law enforcement that would scream to me to keep my eyes open that one in three of the people protesting could erupt in violence at any time.

These protests are not well organized and I highly doubt there are any real leaders representing them all. One of the biggest mistakes of the entire phenomena.

Were this organized and were it to be meaningful in the best way, there would be thousands upon thousands in DC right now going after the real culprits. That is another issue that is not a good thing. The fact many participating are so uninformed on how the problems came about and the part Congress and the last few Presidents played in it. In fact from the same polling half support Obama and the Democrats are slowly taking it over, making it just more campaign garbage and in no way a meaningful movement.

Time for these groups to decide what they are for and organize in a meaningful way instead of being shills for politicians as they seem to be now. Sad part is many don't seem to be aware they are being used.

reply to post by gimme_some_truth


hmm.. ok i didn't get the whole story as to why they were arrested yesterday. in alot of ways i figured it was their own fault, mainly because they know they are being watched and it wasn't cops in full riot gear.

i applaud you for your letter to the Occupy Dallas movement. it is true. we are maturing as a movement and slowly becoming aware of the directions in which we would like to move forward with. here's to hoping they don't let shame the movement anymore.

reply to post by stuncrazy


Thank you, I almost did not post it here, for fear that it would be too far off topic.

But yeah, it is their own fault they got arrested. I don't know exactly what they were thinking but it was a stupid thing to do. There is no reason anyone involved in OWS should be doing anything that gets them arrested.

Not to mention, this is the kind of thing the MSM drools over and hopes to get their hands on in order to make the movement look bad.

I have not gotten a response yet, I only sent it this afternoon, but if I hear back I will be glad to post the reply.

Oh and for the record, what they did exactly was barricade the entrance to a bank. Not allowing anyone in and I suppose, not letting anyone out either.... They were asked to move, repeatedly by the cops and refused to do so. They were arrested.

They have been released after spending one night in jail, but still face charges of Criminal trespass. There are quotes from These people who got arrested, trying to glorify what they did...

They are fighting the charges based on the claim that their freedom of speech and assembly were violated. Morons! They were on private property! Their rights end at the public sidewalk.

And as I expected. Media suddenly has a lot to say about Occupy Dallas... All focusing on them being arrested and charged with criminal trespass... Nothing good...

Shame on them.... I hope they read my email soon.

Anyway, thanks for allowing me to temporarily highjack the thread. Sorry about that.

reply to post by gimme_some_truth


no problem. since i read that post i've discussed a bit with occupy dallas what you were talking about. they seem very resistant claiming and i quote "We have a media too, bring it"

i'm gonna need to go up there myself and lay some wisdom down, because i would be very ashamed if this movement in my area caused detrimental damage to the movement as a whole.

reply to post by gimme_some_truth


I disagree with OWS. That being said, I do appriciate your honesty concerning the arrest of those who were blocking access to the bank. Many people would have tried to spin that into a case of Police brutality or worse.