I’m no fan of the police. I tell my family and friends never to talk to police, because anything you say, no matter how innocent, WILL be used against you in a court of law. However, I will look forward to attending this event, so I can personally thank the men and women of the SLTPD for their outstanding service. That’s because I just happen to believe we have the best police force in the country, right here in the City of South Lake Tahoe.

After the passage of Prop. 215, police and prosecutors targeted those of us they considered to be the leaders. Their theory was that medical marijuana was clearly too popular for them to attack, so they decided to come after the leaders and attach felony convictions to each of us. That way, the cops could tell the public that medical marijuana was bad, because of all the felons who were behind it.

My friends and I were subjected to every dirty trick and physical abuse imaginable. Twenty one heavily armed police invaded my home and pointed laser guided assault rifles at me and my family. Police lied to the media and in court, just to get a felony conviction against me and my wife. Fortunately, I have since been exonerated and my record is now squeaky clean.

We are incredibly fortunate in this city to have police who focus on real crime with real victims. Here in South Lake, I have personally witnessed cold murder cases being solved, theft and burglary being aggressively investigated and solved, as well as neighborhoods that are now so safe that most folks I know don’t bother to lock their front door.

Like I said, I’m not a fan of police in general, but when I see such courteous and professional officers and a police chief who sincerely wants to reach out to us, I am impressed.

You should put down the pipe for a while before you blog. You might make better sense.

Maybe I was confused about the invasion of 21 cops to his house, then he flips sides and applauds their activity.

Awesome! I love it when the cons go after each other. It’s like watching ‘Ridiculousness’ when the old drunk guys are fighting each other…The ‘stache just b-slapped Kits while he was doin’ a Fred Sanford boxing move(one fist pumping up in the air sieg heil style while jabbing with the other) and he fell right over into the garbage cans, where he belongs.

The raid against me and my family occurred in Placer County in December of 1999. Although Sheriff Bonner later apologized to me for that raid, I moved to South Lake Tahoe where I feel much safer. Since moving here, I have had nothing but positive experiences and observations of our SLTPD officers. I hope that clears up any confusion regarding my earlier post.

I think Mr. Kubby early-on does overstate a bit – we “were subjected to every dirty trick & physical abuse imaginable” – tell that to another race that was shot in the back while avoiding them due to a ‘broken taillight’. . . but his commendation is also necessary & appropriate, as they are now hopefully trying to share their fundamental function:

to make a community feel secure. . .

They still overwhelm us “with [varieties] of police equipment and vehicles on-hand”, as this country’s emphasis is on security, which is not the same thing as “making people feel secure”, & therein lies the P.R. problem, so the now-supplied need for ‘coffee with a cop’ is important, as most are decent folks who are also caught up in a cultural need to show how strong they can be . . . when sometimes most of us already know that. . .

My work with the creation of a police department from scratch for 105,000 people [had never happened before or since] forty+ years ago now, revealed the community benefits of making constituents allies, instead of potential problems that they needed to be vigilant about at all times, was way less stressful, & much more effective. . .

So Mr.Kubby’s clarification is also valid, while ‘Nature Bats Last’s comment needs to be fine-tuned, as “putting their lives on the line for us (same as our military brothers and sisters)” also overstates a bit, & contributes to a ‘militarized’ frame-of-mind that needs tempering, if all are to understand the true function of “public safety”, VS law ‘enforcement’. . .

In this over weaponised, gun loving culture the local police are quite possibly just as vulnerable here in america as the military People are when they are patrolling foreign cities. The only difference is the local police dont know who the threat or enemy is because most every adult can get a gun. Most people look like they are just everyday people and it isnt assumed that lurking under their every day look is a violent person who is gonna kill you. And yet it does happen to police officers who are here to “ensure our public safety”. I dont look at police officers and think they are military in any way, no more than I think a wildland fire crew is military. Im not that paranoid…