Tuesday, February 12, 2013

A Few Words On Christopher Dorner

 

I haven't spent much time covering the story of Christopher Dorner, the rogue Los Angeles policeman and Navy Veteran who for awhile looked like our local version of 'First Blood', killing a number of police and their relatives in different areas of Southern California and eluding capture for a number of days.

The national media glommed on to this quickly, because the script seemed made for them - ex-cop, veteran, gun nut, Right-wing crazy - until it became apparent that Dorner was an Obama voter who's 'manifesto' hearted a number of Leftist figures and causes, including Hillary Clinton. The Obama Media tried to get around this by dishonestly editing Dorner's manifesto, but were quickly outed, so they essentially moved the story below the fold except in California.

At this point it appears - and I emphasize that word - that Dorner has been run to ground in a cabin up in Big Bear, a mountain resort area near Los Angeles.

Dorner's story, in a few sentences, is this. He somehow got hired and got through the police academy, in spite of poor reviews and even committing the ultimate faux paux of shooting himself in the hand. He somehow got through probation, even though his training officer was quite outspoken about his temperament and wrote that he lacked judgment and common sense in the field.

The reason he was fired (and Dorner's reason for the rampage) is this - having found out that his training officer had written him up for his poor performance, he decided to retaliate, making up a story about her kicking a suspect in the chest and reporting her. When the story was proven false, Dorner resorted to a tried and true tactic and made a huge stink about supposed racism he'd been the victim of in the LAPD and claimed he hadn't gotten a fair hearing. After a thorough review,  an expensive and time consuming process that took months, Dorner was fired in 2007 for lying in an official investigation and submitting a false report.

Dorner's vendetta is based on the fact that he felt that he was railroaded. The first people he murdered were the daughter of the police officer who defended him during the review and her fiance'.

I happened to turn on Larry Elder's KABC radio talk show for a couple of minutes, and lo and behold, he and a guest, a former policemen, voiced a question that had been running through my head - how did someone like Dorner ever become a police officer? How did he ever pass probation? The signs were all over the place that he was a loose cannon. As Larry Elder mentioned, somebody obviously  opened up a path to let him slip through, to which his guest replied "Somebody opened up a chasm the size of the San Fernando Valley."

Elder and his guest left it there, but I immediately made the connection. And LAPD chief Charlie Beck underlined it:

The hunt for a former Los Angeles police officer suspected in three killings continued in snow-covered mountains Saturday as the LAPD's chief said he would reopen the disciplinary case that led to the fugitive's firing.

Officials in particular will re-examine the allegations by Christopher Dorner, 33, that his law enforcement career was undone by racist colleagues, Police Chief Charlie Beck said. While he promised to hear out Dorner if he surrenders, Beck stressed that he was ordering a review of his 2007 case because he takes the allegation of racism in his department seriously.


Bingo.

The LAPD wanted black policemen badly enough so that they were willing to overlook Dorner's obvious unfitness for the job, way past the threshold where a white, Latino or Asian recruit would have been shown the door.

And even now, after he's murdered at least half a dozen people including police officers, Chief Beck is still willing to take the race card seriously and go along to get along.

Nor do I blame him personally for this. He has to follow orders too, and he understands the political context of his position.

This is political correctness run amuck. And these people want to disarm us? When someone like Christopher Dorner can slip through the system because political correctness is their priority rather than our safety?

This isn't just racist by definition, it's sheer insanity,

If I'm going to pay for policemen, I could care less about their sex, their color, their sexual orientation or their ethnic background. All I'm interested in their fitness to be police officers and their ability to perform what amounts to a difficult and often dangerous job.

It would be a lot more useful to the City of Los Angeles to see Chief Beck reviewing how Dorner was initially screened, hired, got through the academy and passed probation in the first place. I want to know who opened that chasm, who dropped the ball. And you know what? I want steps taken to ensure it doesn't happen again.

11 comments:

syd B. said...

I thought the best line I heard last night was from Bill O'Reilly. When he was informed by one of his producers that the cabin was set ablaze and that Dorner did not exit, he declared, "he's toast".

UCSPanther said...

Dorner's rampage reminded me of Mark Essex's killing spree in New Orleans in 1973. Essex, who was a rabid black supremicist and Black Panther affiliate, murdered nine people over the period of one week before he was cornered and literally shredded by rifle fire on the roof of a hotel.

As such, I find it amazing that people were stupid enough to lick up Dorner's sob story before the other side had their say and root for Dorner once he became a murderer.

Anonymous said...

The problems I see with this analysis...

It does not explain how he got through the Military psychological testing.

Does it actually say that the LA PD tested him and found him unfit but still
hired him..? All of this should be available from their records even if a subpoena
is required. ( if this is the case are we supposed to give the LA PD points for
hiring a dangerous person because he is Black..? ) I would say that this makes
the LA PD at least partially responsible for what happened. BUT if you look
at the history of the LA PD they are known for having violent officers.

The year is 2013 and the LA PD is just now getting up to speed with integration.......see info here http://www.policeone.com/police-jobs-and-careers/articles/128118-The-changing-face-of-the-LAPD/

Anyone who kills someone's child to get revenge for what the person did is obviously
very unbalanced. So both the Military and the LA PD either missed this or decided
to put a gun in the hands of a disturbed person anyway because he is Black...?

Our Tax Dollars pay to support the Military and Police ...IF they can't correctly profile a
guy who is applying for a job to carry a gun what the Hell are we paying for...?

There are problems hugely larger than Dorner...it seems that we have either hired
or created an unusual number of soldier/officers who kill others in civilian life.

I have not yet seen an unbiased article about Dorner and with the polarized media
giving out all the info we probably will never once again, know the truth.

That is the most constant thing we have to live with in America today...not ever
knowing the truth.

Rob said...

Anonymous, I've had the good fortune to have been in every one of the 50 states and most of Canada during my lifetime, and to have interacted with police in a lot of different areas.

I totally disagree with your opinion that the LAPD is 'known for having violent officers'. The most violent and abusive cops I ever ran into were in NYC.

Also, I could give a rip about whether the LAPD is 'just getting up to speed with integration'.
You inadvertently make my point for me. The LAPD ws very anxious to get more black police.

I want the best police regardless of race, color, sex or ethnicity.

Because of what we know about his probation evaluation ans subsequent and prior conduct, it's obvious he should never have been hired...but on the other hand, I would again disagree with you that we've ' created an unusual number of soldier/officers who kill others in civilian life.'

The rare occurrence becomes a news story because that's how the media works.

Rob said...

Several interesting questions and assertions here.

First of all, the LAPD was under a consent decree until fairly recently, and even before the Rodney King riots they were bending over backwards to avoid even the appearance of what people might deem racism.That's one reason the initial response to the riots was so ineffectual.

Second, the LAPD's official policy as per their manual is to hire a force that 'looks like Los Angeles'. And their own personnel officers have admitted they promote based on race and presumably gender 'as much a three bands' which presumably refer to points on tests, etc.

I have no direct evidence, but I do know that the LAPD is fairly strict when it comes to screening employees. I'm reasonably certain Dorner was hired and passed on probation because of his race. Had he been white, I'm sure he would have been washed out of the academy or not passed on probation.

My opinion of the LAPD and the NYPD is anecdotal and based strictly on my personal experience.

However, I would also say that IMO 'police brutality' is an overused and loaded term beloved of lawyers and activists. Nowadays, when everyone and his sister has cell phone cameras and most police calls themselves are videotaped to avoid predatory lawsuits, it's rare.

Where that leaves us is to have a healthy skepticism of media frenzy, and an increased realization of the stresses and limitations the police operate under. And to resolve to put political pressure on politicians who would disarm us for their own notion of political correctness while they enjoy protection 24-7.

Truth? Try this site. You might find it refreshing.

Anonymous said...

This is anonymous checking in...
seems you have posted Rob's last response to my second post but you have not posted my second post...ODD...?

Anonymous

Anonymous said...

Truth? This column is a joke and you seem to lack the intellectual curiosty to understand Dorner's claims regarding the LA Police and the specific incident which caused him to crack up. You should try reading the LA Times article of 2/10/13. In this article a Judge (David P. Yaffee) stated he believed the case was not as one sided as the police judges seem to believe. The story also quotes Capt Quan (the man whose daughter he killed) who stated the case was "very, very ugly" and that Dorner was being made a "scapegoat"! You concluded the Police hired sub standard black officers under duress based on the misinformation campaign put out by the police to protect themselves and the system of brutality and racism they perpetuate.

Rob said...

That's indeed weird. I distinctly remember seeing it and posting it,which is why I answered it. Please resend if possible.

Anonymous said...

When I said that the LAPD were just getting up to speed I was being sarcastic..I included a link so you could see how long they have been working on integrating the Dept.
I believe it said they had their first female black officer in 1916.

Personally I think it is BS that they hired this guy to fill a quota.

I think he passed their test and where does that leave us?

As to the violent behavior of their officers it's likely that the biased media does harp on every incident ...but they also harp on every incident which occures in the NY City Police Dept. and even if you think the NYPD is "more violent" the real question is should any police department continuously overstep regulations prohibiting police brutality..?

You also make my point that the Media does not report the truth.

So Bob my question is ...if there is Truth where can American Citizens find it ?

Rob said...

Ah, there it is. Musta got lost in the que.

Tommy Boy said...

Hey Anon 8:26 PM.

Well look what we have here...another cop killer lover. Bet you loved that scumbag Mumia Abu-Jamal too,didn't you?

You quote the Leftist rag the L.A. Times with no link, so no one can see context or even if what you cited was actually said.And even if it's correct so what?

You totally excuse a murderer because 'you gotta understand his rage' over imaginary 'racism' the magic excuse for everything.

It's the same logic people like you use to give Islamic terrorists a pass.

You're not only an idiot, you're freaking dangerous.