Atlanta Police Officer Indicted For Shooting Man In Face

Off Duty Atlanta Police Officer Reginald Fisher has been indicted for shooting Tramaine Davis in May of 2008 outside an Atlanta Development Authority Apartment Complex. See http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-man-shot-in-175565.html

 In my opinion a Police Officer who maintains secondary employment as an armed security guard is foolish. It is only a matter of time for something to go wrong.  And so it did for Atlanta Police Officer Reginald Fisher who has now been indicted by a grand jury shooting Tramaine Davis in the face.( photo above)

It’s impossible to act in a civilian capacity after being trained to react as a Police Officer.  More importantly you don’t have the tools to act in a professional capacity ( i.e. radio, communication support, back up, non lethal weapons, a partner and a full depth of the person, place of situation you are dealing with).

40 Second Gap In Video Tape Furnished By Victim to Press

Fox News http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/iteam/I_Team_Video_Sheds_Light_on_Shooting_051509 has presented a video that shows the Mr. Tramaine Miller entering a residential complex. His family has stated he was there to visit a relative who is a quadriplegic. He was in the complex at night and stayed for less than five minutes.

According to a video of an unidentified Police Officer at the scene that night who shockingly speaks to the press states that the Officer saw the man make a furtive movement in or about a car he was entering parked outside the apartment building called “City Views at Rosa Burney Park Apartments which is owned by the Atlanta  Development Authority. ( see http://www.atlantada.com/)

The press states that Officer Fisher has only one year with the Department. ( See http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-man-shot-in-175565.html)  Further it appears that the Officer was out on bond due to a domestic incident in Clayton County where charges are pending.

Accorrding to the local paper  http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2009/06/12/man_shot_in_face.html there may be an open “gun useage” charge pending against the officer.

Mr. Davis is recovering but he is unable to work as the injuries have been slow to heal and disabled him He has a 12 year old child and his wife is struggling with the mortgage.

This is an interesting case due to the gap in the video. I will be adding information as I can get a hold of it.

Needless to say a bad situation for the young Officer. Atlanta Police starting salary is about $40,000.00 See http://www.atlantapd.org/index.asp?nav=Career capping out at $57,0000.00   Assuming he was working this unauthorized secondary employment to make ends meet. It appears the temporary cash infusion may have permanently ended his police career.

Crime and The Public Comfortably Numb

It’s a fact of life the journalistic community reports about daily crime but whether we here it on the radio, surf it on the web or tune in on the television to many the facts of the incidents are treated like the national weather report. A NIMBY attitude regarding crime surrounds Americans thinking but what is really scary is that Americans are comfortably numb about crime.

This week a 92-year-old senior was killed by a bullet as she sat in the sanctuary of her home. The accused killer is only 15. eehttp://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2009/10/teen_suspect_ar.php and http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/10/22/2009-10-22_cops_closing_in_on_arrest_in_.html Attending what is suppose to be a cherished memory of High School a 15-year-old girl is gang raped for over two hours and no one calls 911. See  http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/27/california.gang.rape.investigation/index.html A priest is working in his church and is stabbed over thirty times by and employee of his parish. See http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/custodian_stabbed_priest_times_cops_nBNLIykQI1m3Zp9fAV2kyI

The  aforementioned crimes  and the facts surrounding the incidents are a precursor to the future and an  indicator of the type of  society  we have become . The late Senator Hubert H. Humphrey stated”  the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped. “

The questions begets itself  What has America Become? The answer is a sizable portion of Americans have no boundaries they are engaged in their own personal jihad devout of personal responsibility, and void of any care and emotion to those they have harmed. And if  caught the jail time  is short a temporary stop on their road to ruining more persons as nearly 70% of all violent felons return to prey again.  ( Recidivism rates See:  http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/crimoff.htm#recidivism

President Obama and his Attorney General recently commented about juvenile crime after a Chicago teen was killed by alledged gang members. For the video see http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/video_derrion_albert The President and Attorney General Holden responded to this killing by giving Chicago a $500,000.00 grant aid. See http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/October/09-ag-1084.html and http://www.ed.gov/programs/dvppserv/index.html

But money is not enough to solve the problem.  One problem causing juvenile crime to rise is the prevalence of one family head of household families.  A study by the Cato Institute  ( see http://www.cato.org/testimony/ct-wc67.html ) stated that a full 70 % of incarcerated juveniles come from single family homes.  According to educational studies a full 50% of marriages wind up in divorce ( See http://www.cardinalpointsonline.com/opinions/marriage-should-still-have-value-in-society-1.1946012 ) therefore  and immediately the children from divorced parents become ” at risk” juveniles.

The present disposable society and all the talk of “greening” are noble goals, but we have to look at how we are treating the most vulnerable in society. Recent criminal events indicate we are failing.

 

 

Banks Pimping The U.S. Taxpayers.

Pimping is vogue today and it’s  traditional definition of a person who solicits others to engage in prostitution has changed. A television show  named ” Pimp my ride” is illustrative of the modern definition. In the show they select a clunker vehicle , recondition and renovate the car with every fancy accessory in the book. The best part is the clunker owner expends no capital to for the work, nor does he physically get his hands dirty However Banker’s  are acting like the latter definition and the  “ho’s” are the U.S. Taxpayers adding another meaning to the oldest profession and vice in society.

Now some facts last week a prospective  client came to me and wanted to purchase a two family home in one of New York City’s Boroughs. The sales price was $3335,000.00. They  stated they could only afford a down payment of 3.5%.  I advised them that in the current mortgage market  this would be difficult.

He than presented me a pre-approval letter from a major bank.  He further presented a pre-approved for an additional $35,0000.00 I was shocked and alarmed could a major bank be reverting back to practices that caused our economic tsunami?

I sincerely yet erroneously assumed the banks were back to the negligent/reckless lending practices and they are but with a new twist it’s the U.S. Tax Payer playing the “HO”, the banks are just pimping Uncle Sam a/k/a the FHA Federal Housing Authority.

A recent study by Grant Thornton LLP, Banking Executives stated the current mortgage  crisis was caused by ” lax  underwriting standards, political emphasis on increasing home ownership and lack of oversight of the mortgage industry“.  See http://www.allbusiness.com/banking-finance/banking-finance-overview/11742540-1.html for the full report in pdf, See http://www.nubank.com/stories/200905_GrantThorton/GrantThorton16.pdf

Traditional professional lending standards required a would be  home buyer intending to purchase a home to ; place 20% down, have a good credit score; a satisfactory appraisal and verify employment.

A pimp is defined as a man who solicits customers for a prostitute. See http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pimp A prostitute is defined as to devote to corrupt or unworthy practices.

The FHA is encouraging bad lending practices touting ” its easier to qualify ” , specifically  borrowers to place as little as 3.0 down on the purchase of a home and they don’t even have to prove they saved the money the down payment may be gift from a friend, relative or charity.   They go further  you can have a ” less than perfect credit score”, See http://www.hud.gov/fha/choosefha.cfm

And placing a cherry on top of their theory you can have your cake and eat it to  FHA will give you another whopping $35,000.00 to “renovate” the premises under their 203K program.  Several banker’s pimping this to the max are advertising this program ” love the location hate the house  203 K is the answer.

I was wrong the banks have become mere conduits for the Federal Government’s FHA.  In the example above the borrower could place down a mere $12,500.00 and purchase a home. Additionally the FHA would give them monies above the homes appraisal value to finance so called “renovations” under their 203 K  rehabilitation loan program. See http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/203k/203kslrp.cfm

A primary reason for our current recession and anemic economic situation was the banking industries lending unprofessional lending practices. This included  breaking with the past lending practices which required a borrower to place 20% down on a home.  They took it further allowing borrowers to place little or no down payment, no verification of income, false appraisals and simultaneously issuing a 2nd mortgage frequently a home equity loan and all with adjustable loan rates.

Here a realtor/banker brags about the program http://activerain.com/blogsview/958614/fha-renovation-loan-203-k-you-love-the-location-but-hate-the-house

For a full non biases footnoted review of our current subprime mortgage causes and solutions  New York Law School did a detailed study the federal government should read it. See  http://www.nyls.edu/user_files/1/3/4/30/59/65/68/Capstone070802Complete.pdf