UPD, Zone 57, Sunday OD article

[concerned]

In the Sunday OD was the story: Police , residents seek healing. I was shocked at some of the attitudes of people who were interviewed and live in Zone 57:

" Make, no mistake, it was wrong for Lindsey to be killed the way he was, a 49 yr old Sheila Berry said from her St. Vincent St home in the eastern part of zone 57. But she said, " I can see sometimes why people pull the trigger. They throw their authority around and some people don't go for that", Berry said of police officers. " The rookies today, they'd better shape up or ship out. or they're going to bury more of them."

20 yr old Eva Chambers..." Other people feel that some police officers take advantage of their roles, said Chambers, So (some) of us don't really care if one lives or dies, because some of them do take advantage of their roles.

With attitudes like this we have big problems facing us in that zone of the city.

www.uticaod.com/news/utica/x743794573

[denise]

I don't know how or when it happened, but it appears that the current trend is one of an insane sense of entitlement and zero respect for one's elders or authority. It is truly sad.

[Swimmy]

It happened while I was in elementary school. Instead of teaching their children that they have to earn what they want, most parents just bought their kiddies what they want. And rather than the kiddies growing up, they've relied on daddy and mommy to get them what they want. If something doesn't go the kiddies's way, mommy and daddy spend the money or pull their political clout to make sure it goes the kiddies's way.

There is no reason why a 27 year old should have to rely on daddy to get an interview, if she has the requisite qualifications. She shouldn't have to tell her daddy to go have lunch with the ceo of an organization to get an interview. I never relied much on my parents past high school. They offer their support, but I can proudly say that I earned everything I have. Too bad the rest of my generation can't...

As far as the comments in the article... I have experienced first hand where police officers stretch their authority. But that certainly does not justify those comments. In this country, it's your right to disagree with someone else. And while the first secures your right to express that disagreement, it does not protect your choice of expression by becoming a cop killer. If you ever feel that you're being trampled on, do the right thing and file a complaint. If nothing happens of it, complain further up the chain of command. If still nothing, then you always have litigation. There is a right way to handle things, and a wrong way. I just wish everyone had to go to law school. If everyone learned to think like a lawyer before they acted, there would be no need for lawyers and no need for law enforcement. Think of all the money we could save in such a utopian society.

It's too bad the quoted commenters couldn't be prosecuted for conspiracy to kill cops. Those comments sounded like admissions of guilt. Of course, then you would have to arrest just about everyone who shares that opinion.... Well, it'd just be one huge mess.

[thelma]

Swimmy - you are forgetting that our morals and manners come from the teachings of our parents when we first learn how to talk. As we grow, we also learn by the example our parents and siblings set in place for us to follow.

This is why Cornhill is what it is today. Parents are no longer teaching their children these basic rules of respect and a value system most of take for granted. Their early teachings are of hate for authority and as they continue to grow, this hate just gets stronger and stronger until it results in the killing of someone that has authority over them.

There is no amount of "understand" that any UPD Officer can give to these types of hoodlums to change anything. My heart goes out to our UPD as I don't think for one minute I could do the job they are doing to keep the majority of us safe and secure in our own homes.

I agree that this reporter only flamed the issue by writing what he did. But, I've never cared for the type of "reporting" he does anyway!

[Clipper]

When a 49 year old woman has that attitude toward law enforcement, I have a better understanding of how punks like the one's that beat up the cop on James St. developed their attitudes! I hope that police officers remember the name, and address, when she needs a cop to defend HER.

With adults such as that, it is no wonder that the younger generation is so damned prejudiced and ill prepared to lead a legal and productive life.

I guess given the choice of "shaping up or shipping out" from this lady's neighborhood, the safest thing for the police to do would be to "ship out", but the good citizens of the area need the protection more than ever, from ignorant, militant, radical, low life, irresponisble, assholes like this Berry character.

I have been an advocate for the people of corn hill for a long time. I love the city of Utica and all it's diverse population, BUT when you have idiots like this woman, "understanding" why someone would pull the trigger and kill a policeman, it is time to prepare our policemen for just plain old "urban combat" and give them all the defensive tools they need to protect themselves, and the offensive tools to put down assholes like this woman.

I guess it is getting where our city is like Basrah Iraq. Our police need to be armed and authorized to "take back our streets".
Tolerance, manners, and courtesy are not appreciated, or effective against an element with the attitude shown by this woman and others. Drug dealers and punks have taken control of the area and are spreading like a case of syphilis.

What the hell happened to the serene neighborhood we used to walk the streets of in the Corn hill area? What happened to the days when we had families raising gardens in the back yards ,and picket fences in the front yards in those parts of the city? What happened to the areas where kids of cornhill, black AND white, played little league baseball, and could play on a field that was a playground where kids could go UNSUPERVISED, and not be given drugs, or kidnapped and molested?

It is becoming more and more evident, that the police are under siege from the miscreants of society. It is more and more evident that more needs to be done to protect the homeowners like our Ralph, that live in their family homesteads and are being surrounded by urban blight and lawlessness.

I guess one will eventually have to be responsible for their OWN safety. If it comes to it, when the punks have pea shooters, you need a Glock. When the punks have a Glock, you need an Ouzi. When the punks manage to get an Ouzi, you get a grenade launcher.

I am sorry, but I have no qualms about shooting or killing someone that is threatening my freedoms or my safety in my own home. If you screw with this old fart, you will end up with a large hole in your chest, and I will spend what ever time is neccessary, up to and including the rest of my life, in prison, to prove that point.

I would consider it an honor to sit in jail, if it meant that one less little misguided shit ball was wandering the streets making life miserable for decent citizens.

That may be a little over the top, and unacceptable, but that is what life is coming to. I am glad to be in my 60's. I would not want to see what the city will look like in another 30 0r 40 years, if things don't turn in a different direction than they are headed now.

[bobbbiez]

Sh-t, if I shot most people because of their attitudes and how they push others around, half of Cornhill and W.Utica would be gone. ;D Problem solved!

Spend one day on the streets in Cornhill or W.Utica and tell me you wouldn't cope an attitude. Have someone stand nose to nose with you, yelling, "you're a f--kin this, a f--kin that and you can't make me do anything and what are you going to do about it," what kind of attitude would you have? Don't know about you but I'd be punching in alot of faces if someone talked to me that way.

Give me a f--kin break! This is not grade school. This is what our Police face on a daily basis because of the scum attitudes out there on the streets.
HELLO! They may be the Police but they're also f--kin human and are subjected to more then the average citizen could ever imagine and because of the way the laws are today, their hands are tied in most cases.

Hey, I live in a neighborhood with more scum then good citizens and I would rather have a Police Officer who has an attitude then none at all or one that is afraid to address the scum.

It's this simple, you don't want to have an Officer in your face or worry about his attitude then just abide by the law and don't do anything wrong. Simple, simple, simple!!!

[Clipper]

Bobbbiez, the last two lines of your post, sum up the whole remedy to the situation very well. Duh! How hard is it to realize that if you don't break the law, the cops won't be in your face. Simple premise to understand. Just that some dumbasses are too ignorant to comprehend common sense.

[bobbbiez]

Clipper, the scary reality of these "dumb asses" is they are not that ignorant. They know how to push the law to the limit and get away with it or yell "Police brutality if they don't."

[dgriffin]

denise said:

I don't know how or when it happened, but it appears that the current trend is one of an insane sense of entitlement and zero respect for one's elders or authority. It is truly sad.

You certainly summed it up for me, Denise. That is exactly what happened. Buying votes like drunken sailors, politicians of the 1960s...Democrats, mostly, but not all ..... appealed to an entire class ... yes, that's the word ... of Americans, convincing them they deserved special treatment because of past grievances. It's not a stretch to remember an article from a few years ago, where each morning a Palestinian father would take his two young sons out in front of their house and stare at a hill across the street and tell them it used to belong to their people. "The Jews now own it, but someday you will kill every Jew over there and take your land back. You will do this because Allah tells you to it. Because they don't acknowledge Mohammed." Every morning.
"Yes, it wrong, but it's OK because you have put me down ... disrespected me." "Yes, OJ did it, but we're all in this together, so we won't find him guilty." "Yes, they will all die, but they deserve it."

[Disgusted-Daily]

I was just on the Disgrace forums and I am completely appalled by the comment made by residents (also quoted in bobbbiez post) living in that area. They are now publicly trying to justify a horrible and cowardly crime.

These morons should realize that there is other means available to them to file a complaint against an Officer that does not include murder.

These Police Officers should start capping some rounds into their dumb asses. We need to reclaim our streets, just the same as dumping a garbage can and then dropping it in a huge hole in the ground and burying it.

If these animals don't and can not respect the Police and can justify killing one of them then they will never have any respect for themselves or any human life.

It is high time for the City and the Police Department to have a zero tolerance for this behavior and reclaim the streets.

[Disgusted-Daily]

Hey bobbiez,

You quoted "Sh-t, if I shot most people because of their attitudes and how they push others around, half of Cornhill and W.Utica would be gone. Problem solved!

With your previously reported shooting record, we would have more wheelchairs in the city. Hahaha giggle chuckle giggle giggle.

Other than that I agree 100% with you. I think were all on the same page.

[Clipper]

;D Simple problem to correct, sunshine, simply draw a bead on their nose, then raise the gun to sight on a spot 18 inches over their head, and let er rip!

Perfect chest shot every time, for you. In the mean time, I am wearing a vest, AND a cup. haha.

[Disgusted-Daily]

Same here clipper. I just replaced my cup this weekend with a new high impact light weight titanium.

[Ralph]

Most of you know my former involvement in the community, I loved my neighborhood and tried to make it a better place.

After I lost the election I went walking around the "hood" from time to time.
When you're pounding the campaign trail you see a lot, but it doesn't always register.

I usually come back from these walks asking myself "What the was I thinking?!?!?!"
Most of these people don't want to be helped or saved, they want anarchy to rule.

This is no longer the Cornhill I grew up in......doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to it.

As the Gunslinger in Stephen King's novels so aptly puts it: "The world has moved on" .

[dgriffin]

So, here's what to expect in the future:

Nine-year-olds plotted to tie up, hurt teacher
tinyurl.com/6ydy83
Reuters, 20008