Chief Charles Moose: How He Fits Montgomery's Profiling Puzzle (07/26/00)

adversity.net ^ | 07/26/00 | Tim Fay

[skip2myloo]

You mean Dr. Moose ??

Well, Fox News did a mini-profile on him last night. NY born, he was raised in NC. Became a cop, worked hard, did well. Before coming to his present job, served as Chief in Portland, OR for 7 years. By all accounts I can find, he was well-respected for his work there - no major complaints. He has a Master's degree in Education from somewhere and a Phd from another place, in urban development, or some such discipline, whatever that is.

[PJ-Comix]

Philadelphia had a black police chief when the MOVE building burned...

I remember that. Wasn't the police chief named Goode or something like that? Anyway I remember that Goode had a very promising political future ahead of him that got ruined by his decision to drop a bomb on the MOVE building that ended up burning down the surrounding area. What is Goode (if that is his name) up to nowadays?

[FLAUSA]

My major complaint with Chief Moose is the same one I have with most of the news reports. Moose is against racial profiling, or should I say that Moose is against racial profiling if the profile produces a "black" perp. If one is against the racial profiling of only blacks then one must be for the racial profiling of non-blacks. One of the reasons the sniper was hung up on six times is that they were looking for an angry white man and since he was black they simply dismissed him. He couldn't possibly be the shooter since he was black. This type of racial blindness has affected police departments all over the country. Let's face it, there are bad guys in every segment of our society. If you eliminate one segment because it is politically incorrect to even entertain the idea that the perp may be from that segment, then you hamper any investigation effort.

[skip2myloo]

Yes, there's no denying his liberal-oriented background. I suspect he took the easiest route leading to his success. I think we all agree that it would've been harder for him to climb the same ladder in a mostly white, conservative environment. Of course, the successes of people like Booker T. Washington, Chappie James, Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice contradict my own argument.

I don't know his personal beliefs, but a refusal to concede that racial profiling can be a legitimate investigative tool would be consistent with his background. Unfortunately, that's a bias that can cut both ways if applied carelessly. Some people have been imprisoned and lynched because a KKK-like mentality profiled them wrongfully.

But, just as with affirmative action, two wrongs do not make things right.

Speaking of Colin Powell, I still have a lot of respect for him and his abilities, even though he favors affirmative action.