Basic HTML Version
A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
6
February 13, 2014
Whether you realize it or not, you
are now reading the work of a gen-
uine celebrity. I am pleased to
announce that I have been named
Journalist of the Year by the presti-
gious National News Writers
Association. Yep, you are reading
the work of a real superstar now.
Are you impressed?
I have been named the best of
the best and nobody even came
close to beating me out for the
honor. That may be because I was
the only one in the competition, but
hey, you take your glory where you
can get it, right?
Now, some people, those in my
league of cynicism, may be asking,
what is the National News Writers
Association? Mighty fine question,
that, particularly since I made up
the name and am the only member
of this imaginary group.
Nowonder Iwon, right?
I decided to take this step after
reading about several honors
bestowed by some less-than-well-
known groups on a couple of our
local communities and on some
local services. I thought to myself,
hey, if some internet app that has
never set foot in the community they
are honoring can choose the best
community in the state, why can't I
form a group and honor my own
self, too. I mean, let's face it, nobody
else is going to do it. Seriously.
I suspect that's also the reason
some of these "honors" have been so
overplayed locally. The crackerjack
officials in these municipalities fig-
ure if some unknown internet apart-
ment locator application in Toronto
is going to honor them, they might
as well take advantage of it and
make as big a deal as possible. Like
me, they know legitimate trade
organizations and groups might
have standards just a bit higher
than these less-than-credentialed
entities. They figure nobody is going
to look these groups up on the inter-
net and discover exactly what quali-
fications members and officers may
have for choosing the honorees.
And, since bad publicity and "unfor-
tunate incidents" are as prevalent in
their communities as bovine
residue on a dairy farm, they opted
to make the most of any good words
that came theirway.
Hey, me too, onboth counts.
But, unfortunately, in an effort to
publicize these same municipal
honors and ratings, I did look the
group and organization up and
almost lost control of my bodily
functions laughing when I saw the
results.
One of my favorites is a particu-
lar group of "former public safety
officials" who rated the public serv-
ice performance of a local commu-
nity. These guys said the community
is doing just fine and is performing
within the "new model." Of course,
these are the same guys who
dreamed up the "new model" and
sold the adoption of it to the city.
One of them was employed by a
company that is making a bundle
fromtheuse of this plan.
I suspect nobody has asked peo-
ple who have been subjected to
some of the services using the "new
model" to rate them, either. I can
sorta guess what they think about
the tiered response times while
they wait for emergency medical
services and a copwith a first aid kit
and a portable defibrillator in the
patrol car trunk shows up rather
than an ambulance. But, hey, I've
been wrong before, although I'd
appreciate it if that weren't men-
tioned at my upcoming award pres-
entation.
I also discovered that the group
who chose a local township as one
of the best places to live in the state
was nothing more than an internet
computer application, and my disil-
lusionment was complete. These
people never set foot in the commu-
nity they honored with the title but
based their opinion on demograph-
ics, unverified statistics, random
comments and the census. Nobody
has ever seen them and no former
honorees know how to find them,
other than at the handy computer
site.
But, hey enough about them, let's
get back to
s o m e t h i n g
important, my
newly-acquired
honor.
See, now I have to decide exactly
what kind of plaque to get engraved
for myself to hang on my office wall,
y'know, now that I am such a big
damn deal. Then I need a nice
venue for the presentation ceremo-
ny where I talk about all my accom-
plishments before I handmyself the
award.
Geez, now I gotta work on an
acceptance speech.
Recent personnel events challenging management skills in
Plymouth Township are amore common occurrence inmunici-
palities thanmost of the public knows.
The reason is simple. Police chiefs, fire chiefs, township
supervisors and mayors aren't real eager to air their dirty linen
in public, nomatter how serious. If they have personnel matters
that need handling, they would prefer to do it within the con-
fines of their own municipal building. We understand that, and
really, with the current laws in place, it is often necessary for
department managers to be very cautious about the privacy
rights of employees. Often, they walk a fine line, knowing that
an individual may not be exactly suited for the rigors of public
safety work. Finding a means to redirect them, protect the
integrity of services to taxpayers and not be responsible for the
individual taking up the same profession in a different commu-
nity isn't a task for amateurs.
Late last month, two police officers in Plymouth Township
resigned after being on paid administrative leave for almost
four months. Their resignations came as a result of an illicit
sexual relationship one of themhadwith another officer who is
now suing the township for wrongful termination. When her
attorney subpoenaed township emails and other communica-
tions, the relationship, along with the dereliction of duty of
another officer, and the lack of attention paid to the situation by
the sergeant in charge, were discovered.
There has certainly been no effort by the township to make
any of this public, not the particulars of the lawsuit, the internal
investigation or the conditions of the resignations. We can
almost understand that, after all, why send the message that
these kinds of things are going on into the public forum? Isn't it
best to protect the confidence of the public in the efficiency and
ethics of the police officers enforcing the laws? We understand
that opinion, but depending on the situation, our answer is no.
One of the finest police chiefs we've ever encountered in
decades of covering municipalities used to say that it was part
of his job to keep the public informed. He told us many times
that he believed that if he provided the information about any
situation, he could get in front of it, and let the public know
what he had done to ensure that the problems had been solved
in the best way possible.
We think his philosophy would be a good one for some local
officials and chiefs to at least consider.
If this former chief had been faced with the Plymouth
Township situation, we would have gotten a call detailing what
happened, then a written statement, explaining what had been
done to correct the problems and the actions taken by the town-
ship. Hewould have caged the account in language demonstrat-
ing that the department would not tolerate any type of miscon-
duct or dereliction of duty. He would always emphasize the
integrity of the public safety profession and would promise to
continue to be diligent in providing the best service possible to
the public, even if itmeant dismissing less-than-stellar officers.
He would have stopped the gossip and innuendo, which is
always far worse andmore salacious than the facts, immediate-
ly. Hewould have faced the situation head on, taken charge and
controlled the tenor of information, despite any attempts from
politicians to control him.
He knew that if reporters had to dig for the information, had
to search for it through miles of legal filings or be informed by
sources with personal agendas, the situation could quickly get
out of his control.
As we said, he believed it was part of his job as a police chief
to keep the public informed.We think so, too.
We think his philosophy would
be a good one for some local officials
and chiefs to at least consider.
”
The public really does have a right to know
Police
study is
overdue
Inkster City Council members
have approved a $19,000 study of
themunicipal police department.
Not amoment too soon.
After months of controversy and
complaints from officers and not
one, but two, letters of no confi-
dence in Police Chief Hilton
Napoleon, the city has agreed to
investigate the claims of officers
regarding the serious, and even
life-threatening, problems they
perceive in the department.
A study of this nature was dis-
cussed months ago, before the
early retirement of seven officers
was negotiated in an attempt to
save wages in the department by
bringing on younger, less-senior
patrolmen.
That planhad to be approved by
the state as the City of Inkster
remains under a deficit reduction
agreement with the state due to the
dire financial condition that exists
in the city. The police department
study will be performed by Risk
Management Associates, a compa-
ny that claims no existing or previ-
ous ties to Inkster or Inkster offi-
cials and which maintains that the
$19,000 is about half the usual fee
for such a consultation. That cer-
tainly sounds like a gooddeal.
The financial crisis in Inkster,
exacerbated regularly by lawsuit
after lawsuit after lawsuit, needs to
be addressed at the cause, rather
than continuing to attempt to patch
the symptoms. Police officers, and
other employees, have successfully
sued the city multiple times,
receiving huge monetary awards
from the courts for the failure of
the city to adhere to both state and
federal employment laws, civil
rights guarantees and union con-
tracts.
Finding out why correct proce-
dures and policies, along with
employment laws, are not followed
in the community is long overdue.
Yep, you are reading the work of a real superstar now.
Are you impressed?
”
Congratulations to me on my new award
See
Study,
page 7