MFS August 2015 Update

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The independent police report involving a sheriff car/bicycle fatality in the valley was released.  Private investigators are calling b.s. and it appears taxpayers can expect to pay a large settlement.

Complete 632 Page Report

The above also calls into question the ability and intent of the local press.  Glaring inconsistencies in a basic law enforcement matter is of no consequence, but the County Sheriff standing on a symbol of American Liberty in the imagination of militant liberals is front page news?

Front line Constitutionalists are the elected representatives.  They are sworn to defend the very rights which are being mocked by purveyors of fiction.  Spokane’s major press outlets routinely malign good people and have refused to even report on Tea Party events that were some of the largest political events in Spokane history.

Mike for Spokane contracted with a firm owned and run by a couple of liberals.  They were given $300 and a few quotes from the founding fathers and asked to interview people at a Spokane Tea Party event.   They produced this video documentation of Spokane area people and their opinions about the “Threats We Face.”

Citizen Oversight

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The Spokane Police Ombudsman Committee has been revealed to be little more than a scam. There continues to be no independent citizen oversight of local law enforcement.  Mike for Spokane provides a proposal for a quick and inexpensive  solution to ongoing problems with the Ombudsman Committee.

 

Spokane Sanctuary City Status

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Spokane Sanctuary City status came before the city council on July 13.  The city council is still considering a ballot initiative challenging this status.

Sanctuary city status has become an increasingly controversial issue across the country.  There has been proposed legislation announced at the Federal level that would block all federal funding for Sanctuary cities, which Spokane is now considered based on council action last Fall.

Mike for Spokane looks at some of the serious issues relative to sanctuary cities.  If illegal aliens do not have to follow our laws then U.S.Citizens should not have to follow the laws either.  There is no reason that tax paying citizens should have less Freedom than people who come to live in Spokane illegally.

 

 

Police Oversight Irregularities

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The findings from an independent investigation conducted by the law firm Winston Cashatt was released to the public last last week.  This investigation looked into the conduct of individual members of Spokane Police Ombudsman Committee and found numerous irregularities that led to Spokane’s Mayor and City Council President to call for the resignation of three committee members.   The City Council held a special meeting on Thursday last week and voted to remove the Chairman of the ombudsman committee and accepted the resignation of another committee member.  A third committee member was out of town and council voted to give this member a week to respond to allegations of impropriety.

The findings of the Winston Cashatt investigation seem to indicate that Spokane Police Ombudsman Committee has been mostly a sham and Spokane still does not have any real citizen oversight.  The committee appeared to be more interested in a highly politicized agenda and was hostile towards local law enforcement.

The process and transparency of police oversight has been a problem in Spokane for well over a decade and the events of last week reveal that our community still has serious problems in this area.

In this Mike For Spokane update, we review elements of the investigative report, problems with accessing official records and what our elected representatives can do to resolve these problems now and to restore confidence in the highly important process of police oversight.

The findings of the Spokane Ombudsman Committee investigation can be found here:  https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/news/2015/06/17/whistleblower-report-finds-commissioner-misconduct/report-to-the-city-of-spokane-whistleblower-committee-update.pdf

 

Mike For Spokane Update for the Week of June 7th 2015

MFS update

Mike for Spokane update for the week of June 14, 2015. Police oversight & national controversy involving Chairman of the Spokane Police Ombudsman Committee, Sheriff’s pending Town Hall meeting, Sanctuary City status, Mandatory Sick Leave and Sweet Public/Private deals involving tax payer funds & assets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jO58qgtteE

Mike for Spokane update for the Week of June 7tjh 2015 – Spokane Police Department Investigation & Oversight, Letter to the State regarding new taxes, Mandatory Sick Leave, Sanctuary City, Waste to Energy Plant operational irregularities, Award of Municipal Contracting and Harassment of local Day Care Providers by State Agencies.

 

Mike for Spokane to due List for June 1sth 2015

Civil Asset Forfeiture Abuse

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Every elected representative should be taking Civil forfeiture serious, particularly in Washington State which received an F- in a recent review of abuses relating to unwarranted use of police power.

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“Ayala was never charged with a crime in relation to the cash; nonetheless, a Montana judge ruled last fall that he could not receive his money back. Ayala’s cash is just part of the $172,000 in drug forfeiture funds the Montana Highway Patrol has spent since 2013.”

“The practice of asset forfeiture is common throughout the United States. Critics call it “policing for profit.” The Washington Post reports that police have seized at least $2.5 billion since 2001 from “people who were not charged with a crime and without a warrant being issued. Police reasoned that the money was crime-related.”

 Story: http://www.westernjournalism.com/cop-took-16k-from-man-on-his-way-to-buy-tractor-parts-after-seeing-this-in-his-car/

 

How are civil forfeiture laws in your state?  Find out: http://reason.com/blog/2015/06/09/this-map-details-whether-asset-forfeitur