Tag: police officer

Public Employee Hero (Number 7) Hero Social Worker Could Lose His Job (via The Huffington Post)

On By southwerkIn ethics

From the Huffington Post –

In March, Chicago Public Schools social worker Dan Coyne gave one of his kidneys to a beloved grocery store cashier who was incredibly ill. The amazing act of generosity garnered national attention, and Coyne is slated to be honored as a humanitarian at a luncheon for Chicago Public Schools social workers on Thursday–but after that, he might be fired.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Coyne, who has been praised as a hero and a generally fantastic employee, received a letter last week from the Chicago Board of Education saying he had violated the district’s controversial residency requirement.

The violation? He lives in Evanston.

(Below is identical from the first in the series of “Public Employee Hero” posts.)

One of the things that makes this nation function are those whose goal in life is not just about the money. They are school teachers, policemen, firemen, social workers, forest rangers, prison guards, etc. Their willingness to work in jobs that many would find less than economically rewarding (school teaching) or often depressing (social workers and policemen) or  dangerous (firemen and policemen), make this society function. There appears to be considerable sentiment running around the Internet and around the various state capitals that these people aren’t worth a damn.

For instance –

From the Rush Limbaugh Show –

TEACHER:  I think we’ve lost the sense of democracy.  I feel like what people in Egypt are fighting for right now, that’s exactly what I feel like I’m fighting for right now.

RUSH:  What an absolute idiot.  It’s a crying shame that this glittering jewel of colossal ignorance is teaching students. Comparing this to Egypt?  “I feel like that’s exactly what I’m fighting right now.”  What was Egypt even about?  Do you even know, ma’am?  Bottom line, it’s not about what they want.  We all “want” things.  Very few of us run around demanding that somebody give us everything we want! Most of us have more class, most of us have more understanding, most of us are more mature than to run around whining (sobbing), “This is what we want! (sobbing) I want my dignity! I want my respect, and I want my benefits (sniffle), I want my health care!” Well, go earn it! It’s not about what you want.  In your case, it’s about what can be afforded.  They’re trying to make themselves out to be oppressed. You’re not in Egypt. You’re a bunch of people who feel entitled to be freeloaders.

I have had the pleasure of dealing with policemen, firemen, teachers, probation officers and quite a few other public employees. I like them. I feel they do essential work.

I also am an attorney. I believe that when you sign up for a difficult job and one of your reasons is that there will be a good pension or good medical benefits, that’s your decision. It was also a decision by the State or local government that attracting people to do these difficult jobs was hard and required incentives. It’s a contract.

We are supposed to believe those.

When these people doing difficult work for many years are demonized as freeloaders – How about another comment from Rush Limbaugh about teachers –

RUSH:  Let’s put one thing to rest right now, and that is: The last people they care about are the children.  The last people they care about are the kids.  The last thing they teach about is education.  This is not about students.  This is not about education.  This is not about teaching.  This is not about learning.  This is about themselves.

CALLER:  It’s narcissistic.

RUSH:  It is narcissistic.  It’s also hypocritical.  These people have been getting by for years on the notion that they are devoted, that they are sacrificing, that they are subordinating themselves to the lofty ideals of the children and their education and so forth — and it isn’t about that at all.  It is about them.  The children are just pawns. They’re just pawns, as so many of the so-called “little guys” the Democrats are trying to help, they’re just pawns in the game of how these people take care of themselves.

… it makes me unhappy.

One of my teachers was Mr. Thompson. He taught me American Government and Social Studies. He went to college on the G.I. Bill. He was a quartermaster in an artillery unit, 155mm howitzers. He landed in Sicily and served through the Italian Campaign. He saw Mussolini’s body. He admitted it was quick, he was a passenger in a jeep down the street, but he did see him.

He only talked about combat once. His unit was attacked by Italian infantry. Thompson’s artillery unit lowered the muzzles of their field pieces and fired point blank into the attackers. He paused, “Those Italians, …” Then he just shook his head and changed the subject.

After I left school and went to college, he retired. I lost touch with him after that. If he is alive today, he would be well over 110 years old. That would have been a long time collecting his retirement from the State of Oklahoma.

I don’t begrudge him it.

James Pilant

Public Employee Hero (Number 4) Wisconsin High School Hostage Principal’s 911 Call: ‘Tell Them to Hurry’ (via ABC News)

On By southwerkIn ethics

From ABC News –

Sam Hengel, 15, brandished two guns he brought from his home on Monday afternoon during the sixth period Western Civilization class at Marinette High School and took teacher Valerie Burd, a 10-year teaching veteran, along with his 24 other classmates hostage, police said.

Burd stayed on the phone with police who called the classroom while Hengel refused to talk and directed arriving students to the safety of the library.

Police responded to the call but did not confront Hengel until they heard gunshots in the classroom Monday night. When they entered, Hengel turned the gun on himself. He died Tuesday morning of a single self-inflicted gunshot. None of the other students were harmed.

After receiving praise from school officials and authorities for her control in such a situation, Burd spoke out for the first time late Tuesday to share credit with the kids.

“The kids were great,” Valerie Burd told reporters. “I’m glad they just made it out safe.”

“My goal during this incident was to keep Sam and the other students as calm as possible and get them all out safely,” Burd said in a statement. “The students responded in an exceptionally calm manner and kept him engaged in conversation throughout the entire time.”

Lambie (the principal) said Tuesday, “She saved the lives of many students by her calm demeanor.”

“I made her aware of how proud I was of her,” Lambie said. “Her leadership in that classroom was the calming attitude that the students needed to get them out of there safely.”

(Below is identical from the first in the series of “Public Employee Hero” posts.)

One of the things that makes this nation function are those whose goal in life is not just about the money. They are school teachers, policemen, firemen, social workers, forest rangers, prison guards, etc. Their willingness to work in jobs that many would find less than economically rewarding (school teaching) or often depressing (social workers and policemen) or  dangerous (firemen and policemen), make this society function. There appears to be considerable sentiment running around the Internet and around the various state capitals that these people aren’t worth a damn.

For instance –

From the Rush Limbaugh Show –

TEACHER:  I think we’ve lost the sense of democracy.  I feel like what people in Egypt are fighting for right now, that’s exactly what I feel like I’m fighting for right now.

RUSH:  What an absolute idiot.  It’s a crying shame that this glittering jewel of colossal ignorance is teaching students. Comparing this to Egypt?  “I feel like that’s exactly what I’m fighting right now.”  What was Egypt even about?  Do you even know, ma’am?  Bottom line, it’s not about what they want.  We all “want” things.  Very few of us run around demanding that somebody give us everything we want! Most of us have more class, most of us have more understanding, most of us are more mature than to run around whining (sobbing), “This is what we want! (sobbing) I want my dignity! I want my respect, and I want my benefits (sniffle), I want my health care!” Well, go earn it! It’s not about what you want.  In your case, it’s about what can be afforded.  They’re trying to make themselves out to be oppressed. You’re not in Egypt. You’re a bunch of people who feel entitled to be freeloaders.

I have had the pleasure of dealing with policemen, firemen, teachers, probation officers and quite a few other public employees. I like them. I feel they do essential work.

I also am an attorney. I believe that when you sign up for a difficult job and one of your reasons is that there will be a good pension or good medical benefits, that’s your decision. It was also a decision by the State or local government that attracting people to do these difficult jobs was hard and required incentives. It’s a contract.

We are supposed to believe those.

When these people doing difficult work for many years are demonized as freeloaders – How about another comment from Rush Limbaugh about teachers –

RUSH:  Let’s put one thing to rest right now, and that is: The last people they care about are the children.  The last people they care about are the kids.  The last thing they teach about is education.  This is not about students.  This is not about education.  This is not about teaching.  This is not about learning.  This is about themselves.

CALLER:  It’s narcissistic.

RUSH:  It is narcissistic.  It’s also hypocritical.  These people have been getting by for years on the notion that they are devoted, that they are sacrificing, that they are subordinating themselves to the lofty ideals of the children and their education and so forth — and it isn’t about that at all.  It is about them.  The children are just pawns. They’re just pawns, as so many of the so-called “little guys” the Democrats are trying to help, they’re just pawns in the game of how these people take care of themselves.

… it makes me unhappy.

One of my teachers was Mr. Thompson. He taught me American Government and Social Studies. He went to college on the G.I. Bill. He was a quartermaster in an artillery unit, 155mm howitzers. He landed in Sicily and served through the Italian Campaign. He saw Mussolini’s body. He admitted it was quick, he was a passenger in a jeep down the street, but he did see him.

He only talked about combat once. His unit was attacked by Italian infantry. Thompson’s artillery unit lowered the muzzles of their field pieces and fired point blank into the attackers. He paused, “Those Italians, …” Then he just shook his head and changed the subject.

After I left school and went to college, he retired. I lost touch with him after that. If he is alive today, he would be well over 110 years old. That would have been a long time collecting his retirement from the State of Oklahoma.

I don’t begrudge him it.

James Pilant

Public Employee Hero (Number 3) Hero teacher didn’t have time to think (via SFGate)

On By southwerkIn ethics

From San Francisco Chronicle –

In the moments after a young man detonated two pipe bombs at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, English language development teacher Kennet Santana didn’t have time to think about what he should do.

As students crouched for cover in their classrooms, Santana, 34, moved toward the explosions shortly after 8 a.m. Monday. In the hallway outside the library, he saw a boy wearing a tactical vest with what turned out to be eight other pipe bombs.

Santana thought at first the youth was a student trying to run from whatever was happening. But when he noticed a pipe bomb sticking out of one of the boy’s pockets, he realized that the youth was a threat – and that he had to stop him.

Without hesitation, Santana tackled the boy in a bear hug, pinned his arms to his sides, flipped him to the ground and stayed on top of him while yelling at other teachers to call for help.

Struggling to control his emotions at a news conference Tuesday, Santana brushed off any suggestions that he had acted valiantly in stopping the suspect, a 17-year-old former Hillsdale student who police say was also armed with a chain saw in a violin case and a sword with a 2-foot blade.

“There’s one hero in my family, and he’s in Iraq right now,” Santana said, referring to his brother, who is in the military.

(Below is identical from the first in the series of “Public Employee Hero” posts.)

One of the things that makes this nation function are those whose goal in life is not just about the money. They are school teachers, policemen, firemen, social workers, forest rangers, prison guards, etc. Their willingness to work in jobs that many would find less than economically rewarding (school teaching) or often depressing (social workers and policemen) or  dangerous (firemen and policemen), make this society function. There appears to be considerable sentiment running around the Internet and around the various state capitals that these people aren’t worth a damn.

For instance –

From the Rush Limbaugh Show –

TEACHER:  I think we’ve lost the sense of democracy.  I feel like what people in Egypt are fighting for right now, that’s exactly what I feel like I’m fighting for right now.

RUSH:  What an absolute idiot.  It’s a crying shame that this glittering jewel of colossal ignorance is teaching students. Comparing this to Egypt?  “I feel like that’s exactly what I’m fighting right now.”  What was Egypt even about?  Do you even know, ma’am?  Bottom line, it’s not about what they want.  We all “want” things.  Very few of us run around demanding that somebody give us everything we want! Most of us have more class, most of us have more understanding, most of us are more mature than to run around whining (sobbing), “This is what we want! (sobbing) I want my dignity! I want my respect, and I want my benefits (sniffle), I want my health care!” Well, go earn it! It’s not about what you want.  In your case, it’s about what can be afforded.  They’re trying to make themselves out to be oppressed. You’re not in Egypt. You’re a bunch of people who feel entitled to be freeloaders.

I have had the pleasure of dealing with policemen, firemen, teachers, probation officers and quite a few other public employees. I like them. I feel they do essential work.

I also am an attorney. I believe that when you sign up for a difficult job and one of your reasons is that there will be a good pension or good medical benefits, that’s your decision. It was also a decision by the State or local government that attracting people to do these difficult jobs was hard and required incentives. It’s a contract.

We are supposed to believe those.

When these people doing difficult work for many years are demonized as freeloaders – How about another comment from Rush Limbaugh about teachers –

RUSH:  Let’s put one thing to rest right now, and that is: The last people they care about are the children.  The last people they care about are the kids.  The last thing they teach about is education.  This is not about students.  This is not about education.  This is not about teaching.  This is not about learning.  This is about themselves.

CALLER:  It’s narcissistic.

RUSH:  It is narcissistic.  It’s also hypocritical.  These people have been getting by for years on the notion that they are devoted, that they are sacrificing, that they are subordinating themselves to the lofty ideals of the children and their education and so forth — and it isn’t about that at all.  It is about them.  The children are just pawns. They’re just pawns, as so many of the so-called “little guys” the Democrats are trying to help, they’re just pawns in the game of how these people take care of themselves.

… it makes me unhappy.

One of my teachers was Mr. Thompson. He taught me American Government and Social Studies. He went to college on the G.I. Bill. He was a quartermaster in an artillery unit, 155mm howitzers. He landed in Sicily and served through the Italian Campaign. He saw Mussolini’s body. He admitted it was quick, he was a passenger in a jeep down the street, but he did see him.

He only talked about combat once. His unit was attacked by Italian infantry. Thompson’s artillery unit lowered the muzzles of their field pieces and fired point blank into the attackers. He paused, “Those Italians, …” Then he just shook his head and changed the subject.

After I left school and went to college, he retired. I lost touch with him after that. If he is alive today, he would be well over 110 years old. That would have been a long time collecting his retirement from the State of Oklahoma.

I don’t begrudge him it.

James Pilant

Public Employee Hero (Number 2)Hero Teacher Helps Save Teens Struck by Lightning (via ABC News)

On By southwerkIn ethics

Several Utah teachers and school administrators have been heralded as heroes after they rushed to help two teenagers struck by lightning during a sudden thunderstorm Tuesday afternoon.

1 2“I thought I was looking at two dead boys,” said Ron Hansen, a social science teacher at Snow Canyon High School near St. George, Utah. “To come out and see two boys lying on their backs smoldering … there’s no way to prepare for that.”

Hansen was one of the quick-thinking first responders who jumped into action to help the two best friends. Alex Lambson and Dane Zdunich were leaving the school when they were hit by lightning.

Hansen said he heard a clap of thunder and then some screams. When he ran out of his classroom, he found the two students on the ground.

Hansen and another teacher transported the teens back to the school. Hansen said he immediately started to administer CPR until paramedics arrived.

(Below is identical from the first in the series of “Public Employee Hero” posts.)

One of the things that makes this nation function are those whose goal in life is not just about the money. They are school teachers, policemen, firemen, social workers, forest rangers, prison guards, etc. Their willingness to work in jobs that many would find less than economically rewarding (school teaching) or often depressing (social workers and policemen) or  dangerous (firemen and policemen), make this society function. There appears to be considerable sentiment running around the Internet and around the various state capitals that these people aren’t worth a damn.

For instance –

From the Rush Limbaugh Show –

TEACHER:  I think we’ve lost the sense of democracy.  I feel like what people in Egypt are fighting for right now, that’s exactly what I feel like I’m fighting for right now.

RUSH:  What an absolute idiot.  It’s a crying shame that this glittering jewel of colossal ignorance is teaching students. Comparing this to Egypt?  “I feel like that’s exactly what I’m fighting right now.”  What was Egypt even about?  Do you even know, ma’am?  Bottom line, it’s not about what they want.  We all “want” things.  Very few of us run around demanding that somebody give us everything we want! Most of us have more class, most of us have more understanding, most of us are more mature than to run around whining (sobbing), “This is what we want! (sobbing) I want my dignity! I want my respect, and I want my benefits (sniffle), I want my health care!” Well, go earn it! It’s not about what you want.  In your case, it’s about what can be afforded.  They’re trying to make themselves out to be oppressed. You’re not in Egypt. You’re a bunch of people who feel entitled to be freeloaders.

I have had the pleasure of dealing with policemen, firemen, teachers, probation officers and quite a few other public employees. I like them. I feel they do essential work.

I also am an attorney. I believe that when you sign up for a difficult job and one of your reasons is that there will be a good pension or good medical benefits, that’s your decision. It was also a decision by the State or local government that attracting people to do these difficult jobs was hard and required incentives. It’s a contract.

We are supposed to believe those.

When these people doing difficult work for many years are demonized as freeloaders – How about another comment from Rush Limbaugh about teachers –

RUSH:  Let’s put one thing to rest right now, and that is: The last people they care about are the children.  The last people they care about are the kids.  The last thing they teach about is education.  This is not about students.  This is not about education.  This is not about teaching.  This is not about learning.  This is about themselves.

CALLER:  It’s narcissistic.

RUSH:  It is narcissistic.  It’s also hypocritical.  These people have been getting by for years on the notion that they are devoted, that they are sacrificing, that they are subordinating themselves to the lofty ideals of the children and their education and so forth — and it isn’t about that at all.  It is about them.  The children are just pawns. They’re just pawns, as so many of the so-called “little guys” the Democrats are trying to help, they’re just pawns in the game of how these people take care of themselves.

… it makes me unhappy.

One of my teachers was Mr. Thompson. He taught me American Government and Social Studies. He went to college on the G.I. Bill. He was a quartermaster in an artillery unit, 155mm howitzers. He landed in Sicily and served through the Italian Campaign. He saw Mussolini’s body. He admitted it was quick, he was a passenger in a jeep down the street, but he did see him.

He only talked about combat once. His unit was attacked by Italian infantry. Thompson’s artillery unit lowered the muzzles of their field pieces and fired point blank into the attackers. He paused, “Those Italians, …” Then he just shook his head and changed the subject.

After I left school and went to college, he retired. I lost touch with him after that. If he is alive today, he would be well over 110 years old. That would have been a long time collecting his retirement from the State of Oklahoma.

I don’t begrudge him it.

James Pilant

Honest Cop Nears Retirement Sans Fair Deal During Career (via The Times of India)

On By southwerkIn business ethics8 Comments

Frank Serpico was an American (New York) police officer who refused to go along with departmental corruption. He later received the Medal of Honor, the New York Police Department’s highest award. Serpico was less than popular with his superiors and his fellow officers. There are strong suspicions that his shooting while making a drug bust was a set up by other policemen to get him out of the way.

Manoje Nath

In India there is a policeman called Manoje Nath.  He seems to upset his superiors as well.

From the article –

As Bokaro SP in 1980, he arrested the then Bokaro Steel MD in a corruption case and was handed transfer order within 24 hours __ only after four months in office. While in vigilance, he again ended up fraying his superiors’ ego as he raided three engineers in a case of corruption. For the next ten months, the cop had to make do without a vehicle and a telephone as he was made to wait for a posting. A departmental proceeding for disobedience was also initiated which the Patna high court later quashed.

This guy investigates where the career minded officer will not go.

My understanding is that he is currently teaching.

I’m deeply impressed by his career choices and wish him well.

James Pilant

(By the way, Nath has a blog called Musings. He is witty and eloquent. I recommend it.)