Robert Montgomery: Operation Cease Fire.

[Metro Jacksonville]

Robert Montgomery: Operation Cease Fire.  



In a recent press conference city officials announced a new initiative, Operation Ceasefire, to fight urban crime in the city due to a recent up-surge in acts of violent crime. Up until now Jacksonville has been a high ranking city for years - statistics are verifiable via census.gov - in violent crime, with activity occurring, predominantly, in traditionally poor areas of the city. We have had a rather large police force all of this time - more than a decade - so one has to wonder what has been happening all of these years.

Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2014-may-robert-montgomery-operation-cease-fire-

[Crystalball2787]

I would love to think that operation ceasefire is such an obvious violation of our Fourth Ammendment right that the people of Jacksonville would immediately shut it down, but I think we all know that won't happen. Why? Well for the most part, I doubt that most people in Jacksonville even know what our constitutional Fourth Amendment right is (it is protection against unlawful search & seisure).

Tragically, most citizens are not involved in local politics or keep up with the local news. They don't take the time to know who and what they are voting for. That is, if they even vote at all. Simply put, people expect somebody else to do it for them. But to blindly expect somebody else who you didn't vote for and who's agenda you didn't read about, to have your best interest in mind when passing laws and launching projects like operation ceasefire is ludacracy.

Lack of knowledge and lazy voters is not the only reason why operation ceasefire could be the new normal in Jacksonville. The sheer size of Jacksonville has allowed it to cleanly segregate the populas into the socio-economic groups which prevents the city from forming a collective identity. This is why we often hear people say 'That only happens on the Northside/Westside/Arlington' etc. they forget that it's all one Jacksonville. The problem with this thinking is that operation ceasefire and other initiatives can go "unnoticed". The city may only profile and target problem areas like mentioned above, at least at first, but they will slowly reach to every neighborhood, household, and every citizen regardless of race or wealth.

I would love to see people come together to protest! But the reality is, with the direction this country is going (illegal search and siesure, stricter gun laws, and removal of the stand your ground law) we may have a bumpy road ahead.

[theduvalprogressive]

I agree except to add that "stop and knock" doesn't go against the 4th Amendment although it dances that fine line.

[Crystalball2787]

I wonder what happens to those residents who decline.
Do they get put on a list?
Does refusing a search automatically give reasonable suspicion?

What is the point of knocking on people's doors and for the people to decline? It seems like a silly waste of tax dollars and man power. There must be some underlying motive.

[sheclown]

Yes and there are fewer bus stops when it is done

[theduvalprogressive]

Denise Lee apparently hates people. I'm sure we could all write a book on her. When I was in Occupy I have fond remembrances of Lee referring to the camp, and the people, as refuse.

[theduvalprogressive]

Skeptical Northwest Jacksonville residents wonder whether Operation Ceasefire can get long-term results
Stronger police presence planned for neighborhoods plagued by shootings

By Derek Gilliam Sun, May 25, 2014 @ 11:15 pm

Betty Broughton sees drug dealing, prostitutes or shootings every day from the steps of the West Sixth Street home where she has lived for 13 years. She lived there when Operation Safe Streets swept through in 2006, and she doubts Operation Ceasefire will be any different than previous police efforts to stop gun-crime where she lives.

"They're out here shooting like crazy. If I go that way, I may get shot," she said, gesturing to her right. "If I go the other way I could get shot."

Police said they will step up patrols, employ undercover efforts and knock on doors. The 56-year-old woman predicts criminals will lie low for a while, but then the operation will end.

Crime and shootings will flare again along her street and across the community, she said.

Some City Council members, including the president, agree Operation Ceasefire will not solve the long-term crime problem in Police Zone 5. They said other preventive measures need to follow it to have a lasting impact.

Sheriff John Rutherford, Mayor Alvin Brown and Councilwoman Denise Lee announced the police initiative Tuesday afternoon in response to a spike in gun-related crime.

Rutherford said police increased patrols and will knock on doors at about 18,000 homes — representing nearly all of the residents living in the targeted area of Police Zone 5 — to inform the community and seek tips. He said police have knocked on about 4,000 doors so far.

Lee, who represents District 9, said the Sheriff's Office will install cameras in parts of the targeted area.

Lee said this operation is different. She said agencies never involved in crime-solving are involved this go-around.

For example, Lee said she already had the Jacksonville Transportation Authority move a bus stop because it was being used for drug activity.

"The people need to know that this time it is being done in a methodical, purposeful and unified way," she said.

Rutherford said the surveillance cameras will be in plain sight, but declined to discuss specifics. Nor would he say how many officers are involved in the operation.

'SAME SONG AND DANCE'

Beverly McClain, executive director of Families of Slain Children, agreed with Broughton about crime returning after the police initiative ends. Her nonprofit organization supports homicide victims and is about one block from where city officials announced the operation — inside the targeted area.

McClain said several similar operations have been conducted in the past, and while the initial decrease in crime is good, it's only temporary.

"This is the same song and dance played over," she said.

Council President Bill Gulliford agreed with the residents and McClain.

"Those residents are absolutely right. Everybody does a big splash, and when it is over, you return to the normal," Gulliford said. "I think we are just attacking symptoms. We have serious problems with declining neighborhoods."



Operation Ceasefire is copycat legislation police departments have used in other cities - Boston, Chicago, etc - and it has worked there in any way other than to justify more money towards police departments: which, coincidentally, would explain why the JSO in their "packet" submitted only a bill for the cost of a policeman in the explanation.

In Boston, according to studies, the Operation Ceasefire program yielded only additional arrests and was largely considered a failure as it lead to vendetta murders. It is simply another strategy in the bogus War on Drugs.

http://sb721.blogspot.com/2006/12/behind-guns-failure-of-bostons.html

https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/188741.pdf

In the study of Boston's program there were initial successes but those eventually gave way to increased problems.