Proclaiming his little suburban village's commitment to "transparency" one Tom Weitzel, the police Chief of Riverside, Illinois said last week that he would begin Twittering out the names and addresses of citizens nabbed by his constabulary for suspected DUI.
 |
| Riverside's Top Cop "Transparency Tom" Weitzel |
But wonder of wonders, it seems that unlike Chicago, Evanston, Skokie and other genuinely transparent municipalities, Riverside won't tell its taxpayers what it is paying its cops -- or any of its other village jobholders, for that matter.
And it seems that the transparently nontransparent little Riverside is now backing down from its threatened on-line bullying scheme.
It seems that outraged citizens deluged the Riverside city fathers with emails and calls -- most of which called Weitzel's scheme a crock of elib. Some likened it to East German Communist police tactics, circa 1952.
Weitzel said today on WBBM radio that he was going to seek an opinion by IL Attorney General, Lisa Madigan, before deciding whether to go forward with his peculiar scheme.
We think that's called "covering your ass."
The cops in Riverside have every right to disclose public info about arrests. But an arrest is only an allegation.
Anyone remember Chicago police Officer Richard Fiorito, who was once honored by Mothers Against Drunk Driving for his aggressive DUI arrests? That crooked cop was pulled off street duty three years ago amid allegations that he had falsified dozens of the charges.
In fact the city of Chicago had to shell out big bucks to compensate citizens who were falsely accused of DUI by that crooked cop.
 |
| Crooked Chicago Cop Fiorito Filed Fake DUI charges |
And all of Weitzel's gibberish about "Riverside's commitment to transparency" turns out to be a crock of bull.
When we asked Riverside for a list of the salaries that taxpayers shell out to its government operatives - including their cops - their spokesperson, one Cathy Haley, quite arrogantly blurted, "The village is not required to list the names of employees and has chosen not to do so."
But just last week, until outraged citizens told them to P-off, they seemed more than happy to list the names of merely accused citizens.
What was that about Riverside's transparency, Chief Weitzel?
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments invited, however anonymous commentors had better deal directly with the issues raised and avoid ad hominem drivel. As for Teachers' Union seminar writers -- forget about it.