Their Freedom's in Jeopardy

Law-and-order meets bread-and-circus:

Picayune police nabbed their first suspect Tuesday using the department's newly created "Wheel of Justice," which puts the names of those wanted for drug offenses on a wheel for police officers to spin to determine who to arrest next.

At the Picayune Kiwanis Club meeting Tuesday, officers spun the wheel and it landed on 24-year-old Dewayne Allen Bester Jr. He was wanted for sale of crack cocaine within 1,500 feet of a church or school and failure to appear. He was also out on bond for a murder charge in Hattiesburg…

Officers plan to spin the wheel once per week at different locations in the city. Next week, they may do it at a local radio station, Ervin said. Narcotics officers will determine which drug suspects to put in the running and they likely won't feature the same eight offenders from week to week. Ervin said Picayune police's drug arrests aren't limited to those Tuesdays when they spin the wheel…

The hope is that the "Wheel of Justice" causes citizens to take note of drug activity so they will call in tips to officers…

The wheel was made by a local person using a design officers came up with. They paid the builder with forfeited drug funds, but Ervin didn't know the cost late Tuesday afternoon and wasn't able to locate it by press time.

Meanwhile, be sure to set your Tivo to record Police Women of Broward County.

Comments

[Professor Coldheart]

Picayune police ...

I'll say they were!

... oh. Picayune, Mississippi. Got it.

[MCab]

"It's time to start rrrrunning!!!"

[SugarFree]

I always liked "The Breakup Song" better anyway.

[Solanum]

Pat: Sorry officer, but you landed on "Fourth Amendment". You lose a turn.

Cop: See this gun?

Pat: Spin again!

[John-David]

Solanum wins.

[Tomcat1066]

Oh come on. Everyone knows that Pat would have been guilty of Disorderly Conduct and would have gone to jail instead of having to be threatened.

Duh. 😉

[Episiarch]

"I lost on Jeopardy, baby...oooh, ooh oooh ooh"

[Fluffy]

Strictly speaking, anyone with an open warrant is subject to arrest, and I guess the police have to determine who to go after first somehow.

That being said, I guess this is part of the "New Professionalism" that Scalia wrote about.

This is one of those times where I don't see anything illegal, or even unethical, about this, but it's really beneath the dignity of our police forces.

If there was another country somewhere, maybe a country where the people had dark skin, and their police officers employed the "chicken bones of arrest", where one officer threw chicken bones and then a shaman read the bones and said, "They say to arrest Dewayne Bester first," we would all shake our heads and talk about what "savages" they were, and pat ourselves on the back and talk about our "civilization" and "professionalism". But this is no different.

[SugarFree]

If Bester eludes capture for three days he will receive a lifetime supply of Turtle Wax.

[kilroy]

Isn't Bester a PsiCop? I thought they were above the law.

[Mike Laursen]

I don't get it. They just spin the wheel? No first act with teaser right before the first commercial break? No phone poll? What about letting the arrestee go back on the wheel the next week if they rat out friends or family?

[parse]

If there was another country somewhere, maybe a country where the people had dark skin, and their police officers employed the "chicken bones of arrest", where one officer threw chicken bones and then a shaman read the bones and said, "They say to arrest Dewayne Bester first," we would all shake our heads and talk about what "savages" they were, and pat ourselves on the back and talk about our "civilization" and "professionalism". But this is no different.

It strikes me as quite a bit different.

[Solanum]

I always liked "The Breakup Song" better anyway.

Yeah, but the video wasn't as cool.

[Warty]

It strikes me as quite a bit different.

Do you happen to be a moron?

[Elemenope]

It strikes me as quite a bit different.

Certainly. The wheel is more colorful than divining bones.

[Nick]

It strikes me as quite a bit different.

Why?

[Johnny Longtorso]

I'd prefer that they bring back The Wheel of Cheese instead....

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094413/usercomments

[Ska]

I just hope he doesn't trade that Turtle Wax for curtain number one's ass-fucking on a goat farm.

Ba-ba, buh-ba-ba-ba-ba

[Vehical Driver]

It is good to see the police getting their law enforcement tactics from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

[The Angry Optimist]

well, it's different for one because I do not think anybody thinks that there are magic powers behind the wheel. Not so with the chicken bones. And yeah, not believing in animistic and shamanistic magic is a good first step towards civilization.

[Johnny Longtorso]

I guess the police have to determine who to go after first somehow.

How about thinking it through and going after the one most likely to commit an act of violence against another citizen, and being accountable if the cops choose incorrectly?

[Christopher Monnier]

Where are the overzealous IP lawyers when you need them!?! Wheel of Fortune should sue the police department for copyright infringement and defamation of character.

[Fluffy]

well, it's different for one because I do not think anybody thinks that there are magic powers behind the wheel. Not so with the chicken bones. And yeah, not believing in animistic and shamanistic magic is a good first step towards civilization.

Not to go all politics and prog on you or anything, but the reason the Wheel is "fun" is because it introduces the element of chance and "fate" into who gets arrested. That impulse really isn't all that different from divination. The principle - abandon judgment before "fate" - is ultimately the same.

And anyway, let's say the chicken bone guys don't really believe in divination. Say they just did it for publicity [like these guys] or to throw a scare into criminals [who they say can be a superstitious lot]. We would still sniff at the "savages". Just like we sniffed at Saddam Hussein's executioners - and rightly so. We're pretty well tuned in to the failures of dark-skinned people. We just failed to recognize those failures in ourselves sometimes. [Using "ourselves" very broadly, since we aren't really collectively responsible for these huckleberries.]

[Abdul]

chicken bones of justice = savage

Plinko of justice = funny

[R C Dean]

And yeah, not believing in animistic and shamanistic magic is a good first step towards civilization.

Tell it to the people who ascribe magickal powers to government and various inanimate objects, like guns.

[Chicken Bones of Justice]

Savage? I'll tear your heart out and eat it raw before your very eyes you bastard!

[Fluffy]

And yeah, not believing in animistic and shamanistic magic is a good first step towards civilization.

While we're on the subject, I have to point out something:

Shamanism is actually primitive and incorrect science. Its practitioners perceive that there are natural laws at work in the world, and look around trying to find ways to either predict the future or exert control over nature using those laws. They're just really confused about the actual mechanisms at work, so they look in the wrong places. But on a certain level, looking at the stars to try to find patterns that will reveal the truth to you, or looking at pigeon guts to try to know if conditions are good for your next undertaking, is still "experiment" or therefore seems less irrational to me than thinking that Jesus will help you win your college football game if you ask him nicely.

[hmm]

The really bad part is they haul this to where they have a warrant to enter a home and get these guys and then spin the wheel to determine the address to raid. The warrant offers extra powers like beating, tazzing, and dog killing if you get the red address.

[Ellie]

Yeah, Jesus only takes time out for the NFL.

[J sub D]

Allegedly we have mature adults running our criminal justice system.

Apparently we don't.

[Arkansas (State motto - We\'re]

Thanks again, Mississippi.

[Arkansas (State motto - We\'re]

well, it's different for one because I do not think anybody thinks that there are magic powers behind the wheel. Not so with the chicken bones. And yeah, not believing in animistic and shamanistic magic is a good first step towards civilization.

Ever been in a casino? Look around next time while considering that comment.

[J sub D]

Oops. Arkansas was me.

Sorry. I'm a bit under the commerce today.

[troy]

Oh, I get it... justice is completely random and arbitrary and a game.

[P Brooks]

"You may already have won! Come to the address below, and claim your prize!"

[Mad Max]

'officers spun the wheel and it landed on 24-year-old Dewayne Allen Bester Jr. He was wanted for sale of crack cocaine within 1,500 feet of a church or school and failure to appear. He was also out on bond for a murder charge in Hattiesburg...'

I wonder how the victim's family feels about this.

COPS: 'You remember the guy who is accused of killing your loved one? Well, good news - we just made his arrest a top priority!'

VICTIM'S RELATIVES: 'That's great! We always knew the police were all about vindicating crime victims.'

COPS: 'Yeah, we spun the wheel and it landed on the guy's name, so now we're going all out to apprehend him.'

VICTIMS' RELATIVES: 'Uh, you're joking, right?'

COPS: 'You sassing us?'

VICTIMS' RELATIVES: 'Uh, no, not at all, we're really grateful, really we are.'

[Tbone]

Police Chief Luke: "Mr. Mayor, honorable councilpersons: I come before you on a matter of the gravest concern - Picayune is awash in illegal drug use. We are so severely understaffed that a game of chance has been proposed to prioritize arrest of drug suspect with outstanding warrents. The citizens of Picayune deserve better and I know you want to ensure they receive it. I am requesting authorization to hire 10 additional officers with the necessary equipment and training to interdict these criminals where they live and breath including additional capacity to deploy Special Weapons and Tactical Teams . . . ."

[Mad Max]

From the linked article:

'According to the Picayune Item, Bester was charged along with two other suspects for their roles in the death of Larry Blakely, 22, of Hattiesburg, in June 2008.

'Bester was arrested at a home on Shirley Drive in Picayune on Tuesday afternoon. The wheel had landed on him less than an hour before his capture.'

So before the wheel landed on his name, this murder suspect was apparently not among the most high-priority arrest targets. One may ask, who *were* the highest-priority targets before the Chicken Bones of Justice pointed this guy out?

And they seem to have selected this guy for arrest in his capacity as a drug offender, not in his capacity as a wanted killer.

What if he'd been accused *only* of murder, but not accused of any drug crimes? Would he still be low-priority?
And there's this:

'The wheel was made by a local person using a design officers came up with. They paid the builder with forfeited drug funds, but Ervin didn't know the cost late Tuesday afternoon and wasn't able to locate it by press time.

Quelle surprise, non?

[JB]

Wow, that Broward blond on the right can cuff me anytime.

[dontwannasay]

I am so very very embarassed, thats my home town....

[Tulpa]

Really reaching with the post title. As far as the heavens are above the earth, so far is Jeopardy above Wheel of Fortune.

[Spartacus]

Next up: choosing names out of the phone book to place on the wheel. And a second wheel to decide what to charge them with.

[Nick]

If this guy was so easy to apprehend, why are they only spinning this thing once a week? If it took them less than an hour to nab him, does that mean they get the rest of the week off from police work? If I ever decide to commit a crime, I'm doing it in this shitty place and taking my chances. Seems like good odds for getting away with stuff.

[hmm]

This is how I decide what to do at work. I have a wheel that determines what jobs to do. Because arbitrary decision making processes are the most effective.

[Dogzilla]

Too bad the FBI's wheel came up "Tommy Chong" and not Osama bin Laden.

[Lauren]

I grew up in Picayune (clearly I no longer live there). The police there have gotten increasingly ridiculous. Not only do they spin their almighty wheel of justice, they also drew a blue line around the entire city and ran ads and commercials declaring "no drugs inside the blue line". These guys have no idea how to fight crime or combat a citywide drug problem. Such a joke.

[Big Greem Monkey]

Drugs should not be illegal. I really can't muster any more than that after reading this nonsense.

[brotherben]

Does the wheel mean to suggest that all the criminals in Picayune are colored?

[violent_k]

they also drew a blue line around the entire city and ran ads and commercials declaring "no drugs inside the blue line".

No way.
Yer kidding, right?

[coyote1284]

"Tell it to the people who ascribe magickal powers to government and various inanimate objects, like guns."

Don't you know that "they" can tell what you are doing in the "privacy" of your own home by detecting the disturbance your body causes on the electromagnetic fields in your home? And guns? Hoo-boy, those things can control a person's (or pet's) mind, making them kill their loved ones. (/sarcasm)

"Does the wheel mean to suggest that all the criminals in Picayune are colored?"

Sure, but not a single one of them are black, brown, or white!

[dg]

First I thought, "this is one of the more ridiculous things I've heard of", then, I see it's in Mississippi. Now I get it. It's still incredibly ridiculous but I understand how it's happening now.

By the way, who do they contract with to make the expensive, one-off props?

I would like to bid on the project for making those fancy wheels for every municipality in Mississippi. It's tax funded I presume.