This story might or might not be funny to you. I think it is funny.
It seems some prison inmates in Vermont make decals for state police cars. The prisoners made up a batch in 2008. The insignia includes a spotted cow. The only problem with the 2008 batch was that the cow had a discreet pig placed on its shoulder. Pig is, of course, a derogatory term for police.
TheRutland Herald, a newspaper that I actually bought at a small store in Rutland when I visited there in 1995, reported that the state ordered 60 decals last year and it was only recently discovered that the little pig was on the cow. It reportedly will cost $780 for replacement of the decals, according to the Rutland newspaper.
Of course, the state police and corrections department all are reacting as if they had let a serial rapist drive one of the patrol cars out of the prison yard. One comment to the Herald suggested that the state police take a Sharpie marker and, with a few strokes, can easily alter the alleged “pig” shape.
There are other actions that the police can take, at least in my estimation. One is to get a simpler logo. Just a long banner with “VERMONT POLICE” on it. Another is to not take themselves so damned serious. And, just a thought, but maybe the person who caught the prank should have just kept his mouth shut.
Is there some coincidence that the goofy cops portrayed in the extremely satiric and very ribald 2001 movie “Super Troopers” were Vermont State Police?
First of all, I have to say that I hate to see any neighborhood business get robbed. There have been a few neighborhood robberies in the past couple of years including banks. When the bank that gets held up is where you do business, even if most of the transactions are online, it kind of touches you in a special way. I guess that is what I get from growing up in a small town.
Sure enough the Bank of America, 2625 Calder Ave., Beaumont, Texas, was robbed about 11 a.m. today. Beaumont police say the suspect came into the bank and stood at the service island as if he was pretending to look for a deposit slip. A bank worker came up to the man and asked if he needed help — something this bank does routinely — and he said, no, and handed her a note saying he was just here to rob the bank. That sounds flippant, I know, but the police are not releasing the exact wording of the note. That is approximately what police said happen except it was more matter-of-fact, Joe Friday, manner. Jess! The facts ma’am!
Wanted for allegedly robbing the Bank of America in Beaumont, Texas--Photo Beaumont Police Department
A Beaumont police news release said the suspect is a white man, 30-40 years old, about 6-feet, 190 pounds, light skin, short dark hair, with acne scars on his cheeks. And damn if I haven’t seen this guy somewhere before, seriously, he looks familiar but I can’t remember where I have seen him. If you notice the photo, he was wearing his sunglasses on his head and had on a blue pullover shirt with the number “54” on it. Something is written below the number on the front, but the police are not mentioning it. I wonder why? The jersey also has some kind of logo transposed on the number.
So what is the significance of the jersey first of all? Is it a football jersey? Pro or college? It’s probably pro. Now think about pro football stars — present and past — who wore a blue #54 jersey? Tedy Bruschi, retired New England Patriots linebacker and now ESPN analyst? Chuck Howley, Dallas Cowboys linebacker, Super Bowl V MVP and part of the SB VI championship team? Brian Urlacher, Chicago Bears linebacker, 8-time Pro Bowl? Just to mention a few.
Doing a little critical thinking here, if this guy is between 30 and 40 years old then Howley might have been retired when this man was born. Urlacher is still playing. Bruschi, probably more popular. But a northern team? Sure, why not? He might have been transplanted with his company to Houston and was/is a Pats fan. And what if he was laid off like so many others thanks to the Bush administration?
He doesn’t disguise himself. What does that mean? Does he want to get caught? The news release doesn’t say if he had a gun. Did he have one? KFDM says he didn’t and that he left heading for 10th Street, that is the cross-street for the bank. What are these guys thinking, bank robbers? And he looks familiar. That’s not good. If you see him call the police or FBI. Tell ’em eightfeetdeep told you about it and they’ll likely lock you up as well.
It is kind of interesting contemplating a bank-robber’s life. Most of us will never know who this guy is and his story. In some cases, it’s just as well.
A man was shot and killed by police here in Beaumont (Texas) this morning after what appears to be some form of “suicide by cop.” Lee Adam Dixon, 37, of Beaumont, was shot multiple times by police after he began firing at officers following a standoff, according to a Beaumont Police Department press release.
Officers responded to a call of a “suspicious person” shortly before 8 a.m. in the 1500 block of Elgie Street in the South Park section of Beaumont. Dixon was sitting, dressed in all black, at the end of a cul-de-sac with his hands in the pocket of a heavy jacket. The temperature this morning was in the 50s. It certainly wasn’t cold enough for a heavy jacket.
Beaumont police shot and killed Lee Adam Dixon, 37, after a stand-off in which he said "I'm going to die today!"
“He was asked to remove his hands from his pocket but he refused to comply, said the release, posted by Beaumont PD Sgt. Rob Flores. “Because of the subject’s failure to comply with the officer’s instructions, they feared that he was armed. They continued to tell him to remove his hands from his pocket but he refused. The man then stood up and began to walk away.
“As Officers followed, the man pulled a revolver from his pocket. Officers attempted to contain the subject who continued to walk away as he was heard saying, “I’m going to die today!” Officers followed the subject who continued to walk away with the gun now back in his pocket. The man walked two blocks west and north of his original location and ended up in front of a residence located in the 1700 block of Harriot Street. Officers were able to contain the man at that location and Crisis Negotiators were on scene to attempt to persuade him to surrender peacefully.”
Unfortunately, that peaceful ending didn’t happen. Negotiators talked to Dixon over a patrol car loudspeaker, but the man only mumbled unintelligibly, said police. At one point Dixon got down on his hands and knees and began walking back and forth on them in the yard, his hands remaining in his pockets. Dixon then pulled the gun from his pocket and began shooting multiple rounds at the officer. That is when police officers fatally shot Dixon.
“The officers, fearing for their lives as well as the lives of innocent neighbors in adjoining houses, had no alternative but to return fire,” said the statement posted by Flores.
After the scene was deemed safe, paramedics began treating Dixon at the scene although he was pronounced dead on arrival at Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital emergency room.
It is hard to know all the specifics from the press release, as well-written and informative as it was. For instance, was there any opportunity for the officers to use non-lethal force such as Tasers? It must be a very difficult call to make, however. Once someone aims and begins shooting at the police things are pretty much over. You might realize the guy has a revolver and has only so many rounds in the gun. But then does he have a speed-loader or an automatic or even a hand grenade in the other pocket?
Once again, this is the kind of incident most of us don’t think much of if it happens in the really large cities. But, thankfully, it doesn’t happen all that often in this city of about 115,000.
Right now we seem to have a couple of armed robberies — both of businesses and individuals — every day. It’s just life in the big city, right? Yeah, in the big city, not here.
Yes, I will bitch about things the police do when they are wrong. But I have to give them the benefit of the doubt here. I have covered incidents such as this as a reporter. Fortunately, each time the cops used extreme restraint just as they appeared to do here. But sometimes there is nothing someone can do when an individual wants to die.
My friend, Paul, called via Skype from Tokyo last night. I had just finished dinner and he was eating breakfast. Sometimes I think Paul keeps up more with what is happening here in the U.S. than I do. That said, he raised an interesting concept that I will try to write about, perhaps, when I am off work Friday or Saturday.
Paul said it is difficult to tell what is real and what is not in our stateside political world these days. He was mostly speaking, of course, of the race for the Republican presidential nomination. I agree and only have to point at Herman Cain’s ill-fated candidacy. Cain said his farewell address was from the “Pokeman” movie but it actually was from a song from the hot stuff disco lady Donna Summer who wrote the song for “Pokeman.” Too weird. Paul has called for some comments on his concept on his Facebook page. I will wait and see what kind of comments he gets to add these into the mix.
20 questions
A former co-worker with whom I keep up through Facebook has asked some strange “20 Questions” of her friends. Most are really interesting, thought-provoking questions such as what religion do you find interesting besides your own or if you have none and another, which tech innovation that has become mainstream do you most like. I put Catholicism for the first. I find it fascinating for many reasons. As for the latter, I wrote the PC with the cell phone camera No. 2. I added that I remember my family’s first TV.
A Who-Done-It Needs Solving
I live in a city of about 115,000 people and metro area of nearly 380,000. Although we are only 80 miles from Houston, I still live in a relatively small city. When a murder takes place in a city of Houston’s size, it being the nation’s fourth-largest city, it usually doesn’t make the front page of the Houston Chronicle unless it is a very out-of-the-ordinary type killing. It’s a little different here in Beaumont, for the most part and especially so when the case when it is something more than a domestic or a fight that got out of hand (cops sometime refer to these derogatorily as “misdemeanor murders.) I think I can also say a murder that stands out here as well is a who-done-it in which the victim is a white person, especially an elderly white woman. Is that racist? I don’t know, but such a murder generates a lot of interest if only because blacks make up a majority in this city.
One story that has received “front-page,” a.k.a. prominent media play, is the homicide of 72-year-old Robbie Rae Allen, who was found dead Dec. 16 in her West Beaumont apartment in the 6700 block of Prutzman Road. Relatives and neighbors described her as outgoing and even sort of the spunky type. She did have meals brought to her and received home health care. It has only been revealed recently that she was smothered to death.
Police have just released a video from a Fast Lane convenience store at Major Drive and Phelan Boulevard in West Beaumont — slightly more than a mile from Allen’s apartment. The video was taken about 48 hours before Allen was discovered dead and shows a woman wearing a red coat and blue jeans and a white hat who used the victim’s credit card. I initially thought this might be the victim herself but it is an unknown black woman.
All murders, for the most part, need solving but especially so this type of homicide. This type of killing is a source of dysfunction for a community. Sure, this thing happens all the time but thankfully not here. I have mentioned before that I don’t think a majority of our area’s news media is particularly adept at “investigating.” There are various reasons for this that I won’t get into. I only say that because, often, we don’t know a lot and some of what we do not know, just maybe, we should. Some police, in my experience and I do have some experience as a police reporter, sometimes feel as if information they glean is theirs and the public has no business knowing anything whatsoever. This is especially true when a murder is involved. That isn’t to say police shouldn’t keep some investigative information close to the (bulletproof) vest. I’m just saying, more details may often be told and it can even be in the interest of the cops to release it.
I do give props to Beaumont police since new Chief Jimmy Singletary has taken charge in the area of public information. They seem to be making a good effort to help both the public and their agency with respect to crime information.
Now I hope cops and citizens can do their thing to help solve this crime. It sure as hell needs solving.
A trio of Houston police officers may have finally provided an answer as to why cops like to hang out at the doughnut shop.
A 19-year-old suspect the officers arrested in May claims that the policemen ate his pot-laced brownies during a drug bust. Now a person collared for something of the sort might not be the most credible witness for such allegations. However, the officers allegedly provided their own ammunition for the young man’s claim after they went out to their patrol cars and began typing messages to each other on their mobile computers. Messages which were kept by the police department indicated one of the officers proclaimed he was “So HIGH … good munchies.”
Other messages talked about places to eat still being open once the officers’ shift was over.
Media report say the officers are still on the job but will be investigated by Internal Affairs and will be drug tested. Since this alleged event took place in May it is unlikely the pot they allegedly consumed back then would even show up as positive. Now if they’ve been burning a few lately that might be another story.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Who’s there?”
“Houston police”
“Houston police’s not here, Man. Neither is Dave.”
