Tuesday, April 9

OUR POLICE FORCE; AND I EMPHASIZE THE WORD FORCE


          I’m usually a pretty humorous guy but what I heard last night at the selectman’s meeting gave me pause. Officer Pilone wanted the BoS to consider getting each of our officers a military assault rifle. And if that’s not enough he wanted to requisition a HUMMER. What’s next, an Egremont SWAT team? What on earth are we preparing for? We have gone from mace to tasers; now these guys want full scale assault equipment. Officer Pilone, I know you want to bring us into the 21st. century; but we more closely resemble Mayberry than Miami Dade, perhaps you should consider moving on to a big city. I was concerned when they asked for the tasers; now I’m downright afraid. I’m sorry, but we really have to ask ourselves if we are going too far. Maybe we should get each of the officers a set of ghillies as well. I don’t mind when individuals gear up for the end of world scenario; but do we as a town have to become survivalists? What on earth is happening to Egremont?

          Another thing that concerned me is that Officer Carlson had an incident where he had to use mace to subdue a man Right out in front of Mom’s. He said it took him 11 minutes to wrestle the man into submission. He used the situation as a shameless plug for tasers. I’m sure he felt the use of force was necessary and I would never question his judgment; but now I have to wonder if this will turn into another lawsuit against the town. When was the last time you remember any of our officers using mace? Say what you will about Chief Bucknell but she knew how to use her head to subdue criminals. I felt safe when Reena was in the Chief’s seat; I don’t feel safe now. I don’t know about you, but have I no confidence in our present police force. Reena had her finger on the pulse of the townspeople; sometimes literally. The new force has their finger on the trigger.

Speaking of the Chief, after spending $10,000.00 on the investigation stemming from officer Pilone’s litany of accusations against the Chief; we now have to cough up God knows how much more to actually investigate the allegations. Two weeks ago at the BoS meeting I asked what was going on with the investigation of the allegations against the Chief. Chairman Turner told me that there was no investigation and there were no allegations. I’m sorry; I was there. I also listened to the recording of that meeting. Officer Pilone rattled off over a dozen allegations and most of them were based on his feelings and perceptions. Charlie Flynn said he takes these charges seriously and that they warrant investigation. I’ve listened to Officer Pilone’s side of the story, but we haven’t been allowed to hear Chief Bucknell’s side. I guess we'll have to wait until the BoS releases the report to the public. Meanwhile the Chief is sequestered until her trial.

          The Chief told me that she would return to duty in a heartbeat if she were asked. She said it would be back to business as usual and she would put aside any hard feelings she may have against her accusers. I know it wouldn’t be easy but I believe she has the character to do it. She has always been the consummate professional. Right now she is afraid to step foot into town. The way she was treated last time she was here she is afraid she’ll be arrested. How can a couple of Johnny com lately big city police officers come in and run our Chief out of town while they’re still on probation. What is happening in this town? Everything is being turned upside down and we need to get it right. Hopefully we’ll start at the next town meeting.
KevinZurrin

21 comments:

  1. We may well need to beef up our police force. As our society crumbles, who knows how many New Yorkers may try to escape to The Berkshires...we have to be able to stop them at the border!

    Seriously, however, it is a real concern that we are in the dark about why the police chief has been removed...talk-about a possible law suit, this should be a real concern to the BoS and to the residents of Egremont

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  2. Richard Allen, www.egremont.blogspot.comTuesday, April 9, 2013 at 9:05:00 AM EDT

    I was at last night's meeting, and can confirm Kevin's report on it. It was scary, especially Charlie Flynn's repeated statements to our new officers that "you guys are doing a great job."

    Just as scary was the discussion among "our" selectmen about the police budget. Mary said she'd done some number crunching and concluded that our new police structure (Reena is already toast as far as the selectmen are concerned) meant we'd have to pay a lot more for police. How brilliant! Any 8th grader could have seen all this coming the night the selectboard rashly and foolishly seized the opportunity to oust Reena and install the mutineers. The selectmen caused this mess. We should tell them to pay for it themselves, not charge the taxpayers.

    Of course Charlie can tell his new buddies to come arrest me and throw me in the dungeon, like he tried to do at his kangaroo court ousting of Kevin from the finance committee. And soon he'll be able to tell them to use their new rifles, tasers and Humvees to make sure the job is done right.

    www.egremont.blogspot.com

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  3. Richard
    When you see the hummers rolling up your driveway you'll know why.

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  4. Thanks for these updates. Thought it strange from day one when only the officers on duty should have been in uniform at the initial protest. And that the Selectmen didn't take it under advisement and consult with a human resources professional if needed. Or if there was such a "problem" have dealt with it earlier.
    But tasers! They are dangerous. This is Egremont. No humvees or more artillery either.

    We have the new police station...watch the expenses on that....and right beside it a well built structure that could have been the station.

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  5. I hope that the people of Egremont will not vote to fund these military type excesses. Egremont does not need eight officers, tasers or assault rifles! We have bat crap crazies running our town. Get invoved in your government or lose it!

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  6. I remember Charlie Seger and Mike Kerchner handing out lolly pops and ice cream coupons and telling families they were there for us. Then we got a city boy chief who learned what community was about just before bringing embarrassment to the town with his extra curriculars. Reena came. She didn't put up with a lot of good old guy stuff but supported families. Now it seems we've got a couple of gung ho power Enforcers who are all enforce and know idea of protect. What the hell are our select people thinking. Or are they. This is nuts. These guys need to be in west LA. If it comes to assault rifles, I sure don't want them held by a couple of probees

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    1. This is a small town that need officers that understand the workings of a small community. We do not need military enforcement or expenditures. This is so outrageous , it's almost like a distraction from real issues.

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    2. It is extremely annoying when people make comments and are not willing to stand for what they are saying by remaining anonymous. You should share your thoughts but put your name behind it.
      Tom Sierau

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  7. Well Tom
    Anonymity is even more crucial now that they’re gearing up with sniper rifles and assault vehicles. ;-? When they can hit you from a half mile I can see why someone would not want to be known. Thank God we can still vote anonymously.

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  8. I gladly welcome anyone to come in to the office to discuss any of these statements. That includes you Mr. Zurin and Mr. Allen. We employ an open door policy and I want to make sure that any public perceptions (good, bad, or indifferent) are discussed to disseminate the "real" truths. I plan on seeing you soon.

    Jeremy Pilone

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  9. Jeremy
    I'm glad to see you take the direct approach. I respect someone who confronts an issue head on. I look forward to having a discussion on these issues. I’m happy to meet you at your office, but I would also like you to voice your opinion here as well. Then the people who read this blog can get a balanced viewpoint on the issues. Transparency is what we need in this town. Like me or hate me you’ll always know where I stand.

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  10. Well I took Officer Pilone up on his offer; I went in to have a chat with him. I’m always open to hear all sides of a story. To my surprise he was actually human, not a Robocop. I had to look closely into his eyes to make sure, but yup a real person. Jeremy posted because he wanted to set the record straight. It is not his goal to militarize our little town. He assured me that they wouldn’t be rolling down the streets of Egremont in a 50 cal. Equipped Hum V. He also wanted to point out that even though Egremont is a quiet little town there are risks. If Newtown has taught us anything it’s that you can never be too safe. I’ll give him that.
    In regard to the assault rifles and grenade launcher he felt that since they’re available at no cost to the town it’s better to have them and not need them than need them and not have them. He told me that these weapons can use non-lethal ammo as well as lethal. He referred to the hummer as an emergency multi terrain vehicle and said it would not be used for patrols. Since it would also be free I guess we would only have to decide what color we want, OD green or Camouflage. I invited him to post as often as he wanted but he said he was a little reluctant to go on blog sites after seeing what happened to an unnamed finance committee member.

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  11. North Miami--- enough said. Oh yes, and remember being prepared does not mean having the biggest stick,.... effective law enforcement is about prevention not reaction.

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    1. Remembet nothing is free. A hummer needs gas, insurance and it also creates an attitude. We've had Egremont regular 4x4s and I do remember one incident where an officer went out for fun and wrapped it around a tree. I wouldn't want even a free assault rifle in my home and Egremont is my home. If God forbid, a time comes for this, it would be better for the trained state assault team to handle it. We need officers that are trained to be compassionate and trained to work in a small community. This is a specialty in itself.

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  12. Right on to anonymous (6:30pm)---nothing is free and all the "toys" are such a HUGE liability. Perhaps when Egremont has a population of 30,000+ people who spend their time committing major crimes (cow tipping, anyone?) there will be a necessity for tasers, assault rifles, and all-terrain vehicles,etc What's next? SWAT, a police car for each officer?motorcycles? helicopters? There are specialized teams in Berkshire County who are trained and effective for ANY critical encounter. You are correct: compassion is a speciality and skill which is hard to come by these days.

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  13. Anonymous 9:28am
    With your extensive police vocabulary. I suspect that you are in the law enforcement profession. I’m sorry you had to resort to insulting the readers of this blog. When a person resorts to these tactics it indicates that they don’t have enough confidence in their own argument. You make many relevant points but the reader may not be open to hear them if you start by calling them names. I am not going to address your comments because by this time tomorrow this comment will be removed. I would ask that you repost these comments without all the insults. I do not usually remove posts as the freedom of speech is a cornerstone of our society; however I do reserve the right to remove offensive content. I would ask you to remove this comment on your own and repost without the insults. If you do not then I will remove it myself. I thank you for your input.

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  14. There is nothing in here that is more "insulting" than any of the other posts in here. You just have no intelligent response so the only thing left to do is remove it. Have some guts and leave the post. I see why nobody in town has any respect for you sir. You are a coward. I will continue to repost it everyday if it is removed.

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  15. I agree, Kevin you are a coward if you remove those posts. There is nothing worse than someone who censors free speech. Didn't you and your attorney just argue that same point before you were removed from your position? Leave the post.

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  16. Let me explain the difference. I call people on words that they say and I post my name with every comment I make. You call me a coward yet you don't even have the guts to give your name. You hide behind anonymity and take cheap shots at the people who read this blog. I don't care what you say about me, but when you insult my readers you go too far. I'll make a deal with you, I'll leave the posts if you have the balz to post your name and contact information. Otherwise we don't need your cowardly conversation. As to what my attorney and I argued before I was removed; bear in mind I was removed, as are you.

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  17. Kevin, it might be time to change some of those absolutely absurd statements you made about Reena. Have you seen todays paper? Once agin you "blogged" and had opinions on things you know nothing about, and now you look like a fool. How can anyone take you serious in this town. You are quickly becoming an outcast and in a small town like this, word travels fast. I suggest you slow down, open your ears and close your mouth (or keyboard). If you speak with the right people, have an open mind and educate yourself, you might learn a thing or two about small town politics. Maybe go on a ride along with the Police some night and see just what they do, or better yet go through the reserve part time police academy and really enlighten yourself. Then maybe people will start to take you seriously. Otherwise I think it's time for Mr. Zurrin to shut up and go away for a little while.

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  18. I’ll answer the only question you asked me. Yes I’ve seen the Eagle article. I see you have stopped insulting the readers and turned your guns on me. Thank you for changing your target. You still don’t have the guts to give your name so I have to question your credibility. Your ramblings are so disjointed I find it hard to respond. I don’t know if you are just trying to hurl a barrage of insults or if you have a point. Perhaps you should limit your commentary to one subject at a time. I’m not going to be drawn into an argument with an anonymous critic so if you have something cogent to add I’ll entertain it. If you just want to throw out insults then your start own blog.

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