01/04/19

John Gaccione

Good news! The folks at headquarters have returned from the winter solstice retreat and bring news of many new and exciting developments for the future. 

For those faithful who were unable to attend, the Executive Steering Committee has provided a brief description of the important issues discussed. Let these issues serve as a road map for the way forward in the New Year.

It has been more than a year since we have lost our majority control of the KPPCSD Board. The Board continues to ignore our expertise and suggestions. Instead they persist in pursuing contracting with outside agencies for our police services. The Board needs to be in “lockstep” with the faithful about the worth of keeping our police department independent. 

The faithful must also confront the General Manager. Besides attempting to displace Lynn, the only person who knows how the district runs, the GM continues to support the Matrix Group’s findings. It should be made clear our independent police department is sacrosanct. It’s right up there with the second coming.

The faithful are more than willing to accept the lack of a professional police department and the resulting behavioral problems and financial chaos in order to keep the department independent.

Last year, the faithful crafted a powerful new tool. It was used very effectively in the run up to the Matrix meeting and the KPPCSD Board election. Headquarters branded it “The Kensington Independent”. It takes the form of an anonymous newsletter delivered to every home in Kensington. The format can be focused on selected target issues and uses a loose mix of innuendo, half-truths and falsehoods to make our case. 

At the moment the long held dream of consolidation of the KPPCSD and the KFD needs to be put on the back burner. No need to alarm anyone, since the faithful have succeeded in winning two seats on the Fire District Board. More pressing fire safety issues face the new Fire Board, although the dream of “partnering” may yet still live. 

Recently the federal civil lawsuit filed by Mr. & Mrs. S against the KPPCSD and our independent KPD was settled. The court granted a petition for factual innocence. That indicates Mr. S was falsely accused, falsely charged and falsely arrested by our independent police department. Records of the incident will be destroyed and Mr. S will receive an estimated $90,000 settlement.

Unfortunately several senior members of our independent KPD were intimately involved in making false charges and the false arrest. One is our interim COP, along with Officers Barrow and Ramos. No doubt they were just putting their “pro active time” to some good use. You betcha!

One of our vanguard legal eagles has continually questioned the Board’s decision to have Sergeant Hull fill the iCOP position. With the result of the court’s ruling on this case you can be certain we will be hearing more from the Board’s critics. 

Perhaps our legal eagles know something we don’t, like who cooked the marijuana brownie and served it to Mr. S. Can I get a witness?

“The future ain’t what it used to be.” (Yogi Berra)

Putting Police Independence First over all else since way before 2008.