Martial law imposed by MAYOR in Arkansas?

[BAT1]

This sounds like a terrible failure of the LEO's to get a grip on crime. As for the drugs, You must remember old Slick Willie ruled there once. Just take the usual l swat teams and go bust the gangers, disarm them and do the N.O. thing with them. Gang bangers should rank up there with terrorists.

 

[bernie]

Guys,

You really have to know about the whole situation in Helena-West Helena to appreciate it. I live about an hour from there and know the area well. This place is practically the third world. Mr. Thundermaker is right about the mayor turning all of the dogs in the pound loose into a national forest because they could not "afford" to keep it up. The city attorney is the mayor's twin brother, no kidding.

A friend of mine worked for a company that provided door to door garbage pick up. At one point, the mayor decided they were going to cancel the contract and start doing the work themselves. There were no grounds for cancellation. The garbage company got a decent settlement!

There have been police investigations by various police agencies into various public officials within the city from past administrations for corruption. If I remember correctly, the city council gave themselves a pay advance a few years ago for approximately a years worth of pay, and many of these councilmembers were not reelected. Getting an advance for a job you will not have when the advance pay should have been drawn is a neat trick.

 

[Reddog1]

it seems that the people of this country are being tested
in different situations by different means. remember N.O.
gun grab? may not be so, just seems that way to me.

 

[Drgong]

now I remember this guy (the dog thing)

the mayor is a loon...

 

[ColinthePilot]

This sounded fishy to me from the get-go. I immediately had visions of jack-booted thugs strolling the streets in riot gear, harassing every person they see with or without probable cause, and saluting the fuhrer....oops. did I say fuhrer? I meant mayor.
Lets hope his highness, Mayor Dailey, doesn't get any inspiration from this town.

 

[caseypj]

Thank LBJ for areas like this, he's made it possible for entire communities to live off handouts and crime. What can you expect local LEO to do? There must be some rule of law.

 

[macadore]

Thank LBJ for areas like this, he's made it possible for entire communities to live off handouts and crime. What can you expect local LEO to do? There must be some rule of law.

IMO, “The Great Society” was a bribe to get people to stop rioting in the sixties. The problem with bribing people is that they always want more. Nixon signed more legislation in this direction than Johnson did.

 

[SageMonkey]

What can you expect local LEO to do? There must be some rule of law.

I would expect them to preserve and defend the Consitution, and I presume that they have taken an Oath which in part promises that they shall.

Yes, there must be rule of law- and that starts with our governments' most basic source of authority, the Constitution, and in particular in this case the Bill of Rights. Without that, as far as I am concerned, the yahoos with m16s and badges might be no better than the ones dealing dope.

 

[FourTeeFive]

More info on the Mayor:

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/5/097/084

http://www.jfvalley.com/

http://petloverstips.com/ForTheLoveoftheDog/news-updates/arrest-warrant-issued-for-helena-west-helenas-mayor-james-valley

http://www.fox16.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=27fe6fd4-3431-4a57-8f8c-d17a4a6db34c&rss=315

 

[george29]

So you'd willingly trade liberty for a little temporary security?

Sadly, far too many that would.

 

[siglite]

Which is worse, living under a manditory curfew for a week by the law or live under the fear of rape, robbery, murder, beatings, robberies 24/7?

Hmm.... those who say the latter... brings a quote to mind.

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

 

[SFvet]

Why not just allow more CCW holders? I mean more good guys with firearms would deter those small numberd thugs from doing wrong.

 

[pistolero6869]

Book em Dano!

 

[zxcvbob]

What can you expect local LEO to do? There must be some rule of law.

I would expect them to arrest the mayor on his outstanding animal cruelty warrant. (yeah, like that's ever gonna happen) IMHO, the lockdown is probably just a smokescreen to draw attention away from the dog incident.

 

[CRITGIT]

It is a prime example of the failure of the Great Society.

And every Administration since!
The more discrimination ruled the worse those places are today!
Inclusion is a whole lot smarter and cost effective than exclusion and ignoring the elephant in the room!
It's America's dirty little "not so secret"....secret!!

The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas says the curfew is "blatantly unconstitutional" and has demanded that Valley lift the order immediately

Couldn't agree more!

CRITGIT

 

[GarandOwner]

If it were up to me... i would have the military go in and and take out every gun toting, drug dealing gangbanger. there is no room in the world for them.
I live 5 minutes from Philadelphia and i will not go into that city unless i have my glock 27 with me.

So you want the military to go in and take out every guntoter.....but you never go there without ur glock?

 

[KC0QGL]

riding mower

Was George Jones going to the liquor store?

 

[SaxonPig]

"DO something about the crime and the armed gangs running the neighborhoods!!!!!!"

"Wait, don't do THAT!!!!"

 

[foghornl]

Haven't been there since 1973 or so, but yeah, other than Helena-West Helena, Marvel, and a couple of other towns, Phillips County is primarily "agricultural"...farming. Not very well-off, financially speaking. Had some areas in H-WH that I wouldn't go into alone, even waaaay back then, when they were 2 seperate and distinct towns.

Calling Hizzoner The Mayor a ******-bag is well....insulting to feminine hygiene products.

 

[pbearperry]

This will be challenged in court and they will be ordered to cease and decist.

 

[SaxonPig]

The order was canceled as of 3PM last Tuesday, BTW.

The ones who seem to be complaining the least are the decent people who live in that area.

 

[ilbob]

It seems like some of you have blown this way out of proportion to what actually happened. It seems what really happened is some intense short term enforcement of existing laws.

A few months back I went to Mississippi. We had to drive though a place like this on our way to the plant every day. You cannot even begin to understand a place like this. One day when we were coming through, there was a house on fire. No one was doing anything, no fire or police presence. When we left for the day it was still smoldering. Still no evidence of police or fire presence.

There was a bar next to a bridge we had to cross. The bridge looked like it was about to collapse, had no railings to keep cars from falling off the bridge. There was a car in the creek. Looked like it might have been there a while. Maybe it drove off the bridge. Everyday we saw a group of men hanging out in front of this bar. Maybe 20 of them, just sitting outside the bar drinking. The bar had walls with holes in them where it had rotted through. You could see the floor inside the bar had holes in the floor as well.

A grocery store up the street was in just about as bad a shape. It had a tarp over the roof to keep water out. The tarp looked like it was on its last legs.

I have been to a lot of places in this country, but I have never seen anything like this before. It reminded me of pictures of refugee camps.

About the only building in the little town that did not look like it was about to fall down was a brand new post office.

Had to have been 3 or 4 people selling dope out on the main drag. They just stood there by the side of the road and sold their dope. Every one of them had a pit bull with him.

 

[TeamPrecisionIT]

And it should be the community that comes together and fixes all that crap. The people need to find self motivation to make their community right again. It can't be the government going and doing the work for the people, the people need to do the work with the government's help and/or money. If a guy like you drove by a neighborhood and noticed all those things, you're telling me none of the residents of the neighborhood notice? No, they do notice they just don't care or are too lazy to do anything about it, so they deserve to live in a ****hole and will continue to do so until they make the decision to change things around them.

Damian

 

[Kentak]

I rather live in FREEDOM. So I wouldn't mind too much about the crimes and assorted nastiness. Thats what my CCW is for. Thats why I carry a gun in the first place.

What a pant load that is. That is so easy to say if one doesn't actually live in a community where the criminal element effectively runs roughshod over everyone else, and I suspect very few of us on this forum do. And, not everyone can effectively bear arms in their defense. Many of the residents of such neighborhoods are elderly, infirm, or disabled.

The blessings of freedom can not be fully enjoyed when there is no civil order. A basic function of government is to protect citizens from the unlawful predations of criminals. To that end, laws and a criminal justice system is established.

We complain that law enforcement doesn't contain criminal behavior, and then we complain when LE attempts to get on top of the problem.

I know nothing about the history of the community in question, but it sounds like the political and law enforcement sectors have failed and allowed the situation to get out of hand. Their feet should be held to the fire to account for that. IF this curfew and increased police presence and show of force results in the apprehension of some bad guys and restoration of order for the law-abiding citizens, that would be good. But, it should be followed up with effective and constitutional policing and criminal prosecutions.

P.S. I don't disagree that decades of screwed-up social welfare policies and the promotion of entitlements without responsibilities are largely to blame for s***holes like this existing. And though it may be true that the residents of such places are largely dysfunctional, they do have a right to expect enforcement of laws against criminality.

K

 

[FourTeeFive]

"The citizens deserve peace, that some infringement on constitutional rights is OK and we have not violated anything as far as the Constitution."

Uh... ok, whatever you say, Mr. Mayor.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080813/ap_on_re_us/arkansas_town_curfew

Crime-ridden Arkansas town expands 24-hour curfew

By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press WriterWed Aug 13, 6:41 AM ET

Officers armed with military rifles have been stopping and questioning passers-by in a neighborhood plagued by violence that's been under a 24-hour curfew for a week.

On Tuesday, the Helena-West Helena City Council voted 9-0 to allow police to expand that program into any area of the city, despite a warning from a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas that the police stops were unconstitutional.

Police Chief Fred Fielder said the patrols have netted 32 arrests since they began last week in a 10-block neighborhood in this small town on the banks of the Mississippi River long troubled by poverty. The council said those living in the city want the random shootings and drug-fueled violence to stop, no matter what the cost.

"Now if somebody wants to sue us, they have an option to sue, but I'm fairly certain that a judge will see it the way the way the citizens see it here," Mayor James Valley said. "The citizens deserve peace, that some infringement on constitutional rights is OK and we have not violated anything as far as the Constitution."

The area under curfew, in what used to be a West Helena neighborhood, sits among abandoned homes and occupied residences in disrepair.

White signs on large blue barrels warn those passing by that the area remains under curfew by order of Mayor James Valley. The order was scheduled to end at 3 p.m. Tuesday, but Valley said the city council's vote would allow police to have the same powers across Helena-West Helena.

Among the curfew operation's arrests, 10 came from felony charges, including the arrest of two people carrying both drugs and weapons, Fielder said. The police chief said the officers in the field carry military-style M-16 or M-4 rifles, some equipped with laser sights. Other officers carry short-barrel shotguns. Many dealing crack cocaine and marijuana in the city carry pistols and AK-47 assault rifles, he said.

"We've had people call us, expressing concern for their children," Fielder said. "They had to sleep on the floor, because of stray bullets."

Fielder said officers had not arrested anyone for violating the curfew, only questioned people about why they were outside. Those without good answers or acting nervously get additional attention, Fielder said.

However, such stops likely violate residents' constitutional rights to freely assemble and protections against unreasonable police searches, said Holly Dickson, a lawyer for the ACLU of Arkansas who addressed the council at its packed Tuesday meeting. Because of that, Dickson said any convictions coming from the arrests likely would be overturned.

"The residents of these high-crime areas are already victims," she said. "They're victims of what are happening in the neighborhoods, they're victims of fear. But for them to be subject to unlawful stops and questioning ... that is not going to ultimately going to help this situation."

The council rejected Dickson's claims, at one point questioning the Little Rock-based attorney if she'd live in a neighborhood they described as under siege by wild gunfire and gangs.

"As far as I'm concerned, at 3 o'clock in the morning, nobody has any business being on the street, except the law," Councilman Eugene "Red" Johnson said. "Anyone out at 3 o'clock shouldn't be out on the street, unless you're going to the hospital."

The curfew is the second under the mayor's watch since the rival cities of Helena and West Helena merged in 2006. That year, Valley set a nightly citywide curfew after a rash of burglaries and other thefts.

Police in Hartford, Conn., began enforcing a nightly curfew for youths after recent violence, including a weekend shooting that killed a man and wounded six young people.

Helena-West Helena, with 15,000 residents at the edge of Arkansas' eastern rice fields and farmland, is in one of the nation's poorest regions, trailing even parts of Appalachia in its standard of living.

In the curfew area, those inside the homes in the watch area peered out of door cracks Tuesday as police cruisers passed. They closed the doors afterward.