If You Want To Believe This Country Is Falling Apart, Just Ask Those Who Are Supposed To Be Keeping It Together

from the lies,-damn-lies,-and-statistical-fuckery dept

If you really want to believe the nation is unsafe and under threat from foreigners of all kinds, the government entities in charge of ensuring your safety are more than happy to oblige your dark fantasies.

No one should be surprised that the [Texas] Department of Public Safety overstated the number of "high risk" arrests they made as part of the border surge, as AP's Paul Weber ably reported last week. "Among the 'high-threat' incidents was a trailer that unlatched from an RV and rolled into oncoming traffic, killing another driver in a town more than 150 miles from the border. Other crimes lumped in with suspected killers and human traffickers were speeding teenagers and hit-and-runs that caused no serious injuries."

Nothing sells like fear. And the Department of Public Safety is in need of some sales. There's $800 million in border security dollars at stake. At least. The DPS would like $300 million more this year because it's just damn unsafe to share a border with a foreign country.

If securing that money requires portraying any influx of Mexican citizens as an apocalyptic crimewave, the DPS can certainly do that. There are no limits to its statistical manipulations. Grits for Breakfast points to the Corpus-Christi Caller's derisive editorial detailing the DPS's bullshittery.

The DPS classified 1,800 arrests as high-threat. And apparently many of them actually were. But, according to an Associated Press analysis, many of these arrests turned out to be for drunken driving, failure to pay child support and minor drug possession. The DPS didn't bother to differentiate user amounts from smuggler amounts in its statistics. It also considered 60 counties to be border-region, which undoubtedly would tax the imaginations of even our best and brightest middle school geography teachers.

It's not just a border thing. The same number are used to nail down Drug War dollars. The DPS says "high threat" traffickers, conveniently obscuring the fact that nearly 30% of the busts it references were for less than a gram of cocaine or marijuana.

The DPS responded to the AP investigation with the rather astounding claim that the numbers it was inflating to obtain more border security dollars weren't being misrepresented to obtain more funding.

In response to the AP's findings, the Department of Public Safety said it will recommend removing child support evaders from the list and signaled a willingness to stop classifying other arrests as "high threat." However, it defended the data overall, saying it isn't intended to measure border security, even though the figures are included in briefings to lawmakers.

Whatever. Lawmakers certainly believed the DPS was making border security "measurements" with its twisted facts. That's all that matters. While there are some disbelievers, like Rep. Terry Canales ("It's deceptive to say the least..."), there were certainly far more who bought into the "fear for your safety" narrative.

And why wouldn't they? Using illegal immigrants to gather tax dollars is a longstanding Texas tradition. If the DPS feels comfortable calling deadbeat dads "high threats," it's only because its role models -- a long string of indistinguishable governors (Rick Perry, Greg Abbott) and alleged serial killer Sen. Ted Cruz -- have built sustainable political careers by capitalizing on a fearful narrative not actually backed up by numbers. And if it's not Mexican immigrants, it's ISIS setting up franchises right over the fence.

So, yeah... this:

It's not just a Texas thing. The federal government does the same thing and has for years. The Drug War hasn't resulted in any less funding over the past forty years despite steep drops in crime rates and legalization efforts in multiple states. The existential threat of terrorism makes sure everyone from the DHS to local PDs have plenty of grant money to buy surveillance tech to hunt down amateur photographers and fast food thieves.

Donald Trump's speeches have portrayed America as a war zone populated by criminals, sounding for all the world like he still believes it's the mid-80s and everyone's just now hearing about crack. Clinton is little better, willing to sacrifice encryption in the name of national security and put boots on the ground in response to state-sponsored hacking efforts.

The truth is America has never been safer. Crime rates have generally remained at historic lows for much of this decade. For all the talk about a "war on cops," officers are safer than they've been in fifty years. Law enforcement wants us to belive sex trafficking is an epidemic, but long, well-funded investigations routinely fail to turn up any evidence of this. Any number of law enforcement and parenting groups portray every passing vehicle and pseudonymous social media account as potential child molesters, but the pedo playground they believe the internet is simply doesn't exist.

All these histrionics have almost nothing to do with safety or any government agency's concern about the wellbeing of those putting money in their pockets. It's about the money. It always has been. The primary goal of any government agency is to secure the same amount of funding as last year, if not a little more. Whatever it takes to achieve that goal is deemed acceptable, even if it means using stats to lie to those controlling the purse strings.

Filed Under: department of public safety, hyperbole, law enforcement, national security, overhype, safety, security, texas

Texas Attorney General Sues Self To Stop Self From Releasing Documents He Says Can't Be Released

from the ourobouros dept

Don't mess with Texas. It's already a mess.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been in the news quite a bit lately. He tried to block the state from recognizing a common-law marriage between two women (who had been together for eight years), but had his efforts undone by a Travis County court.

Around this same time, a second convening of a grand jury managed to do what the first one couldn't: bring an indictment against Paxton for alleged financial fraud. Paxton apparently wasn't very forthcoming about what he stood to gain from the sale of $200,000 in Servergy stock to a couple of investors. The apparent sketchiness of Paxton's actions was compounded by an ongoing investigation of the company by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Now, he's in the middle of another conflict. Texas legislators aren't too happy that the state's Department of Public Safety keeps asking for money, but failing to provide many details on how it's being spent.

When the DPS in March this year asked for another $123 million to help "secure the border," state Rep. Cesar Blanco blasted the DPS for taking credit for work done by the federal government, and failing to back up its claims with data.

"The state has nothing to show for its money," Blanco, D-El Paso, told El Paso Times on March 30.

According to the DPS, it was partnering with Customs and Border Patrol on a "surge" effort to stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking. The CBP, on the other hand, portrayed the so-called "partnership" as the DPS's attempt to do a little coattail-riding on an ongoing effort by the DHS agency. It claimed it had not participated in a joint effort with the state entity.

Two local newspapers started digging into the dubious claims the DPS was making to justify the need for more handouts. What they uncovered was some very dubious math.

"DPS merged Border Patrol's massive drug seizure statistics with its own to tout the operation's effectiveness," the American-Statesman reported in June, and when state lawmakers asked for "DPS-specific statistics," the DPS refused.

The newspaper continued digging for information, seeking receipts and other documents related to expenses racked up by scattered DPS agents sent ostensibly to "aid" the CBP in its border-securing efforts. The DPS apparently has no intention of handing over these records and has sued to keep them secret.

That's where things get really twisted. AG Ken Paxton has the final say on the release of public records by the DPS. To obtain an injunction, the DPS has to sue Paxton to prevent the release of documents. It has done so, claiming the usual stuff about "safety" and "terrorism."

Public records law requires the DPS to sue the attorney general if it wants to keep secret information the attorney general wants to release. It did sue him, on Tuesday, claiming the information could endanger state troopers' "physical safety" or create a "substantial threat of physical harm."

It also claims that the information is confidential because it involves "preventing, detecting, responding to, or investigating an act of terrorism or related criminal activity."

The DPS asked a Travis County judge to exempt it from disclosure under the "common-law physical safety exception" and the Homeland Security Act.

And the twist? Another conflict of interest.

The DPS is represented, oddly, by Attorney General Paxton.

So, Paxton is suing Paxton to prevent Paxton from releasing documents Paxton claims (by proxy) can't be released for safety/terrorism reasons. However, Paxton must obtain a favorable ruling from a judge to force himself not to release documents he possibly feels shouldn't be released in the first place. It all comes down to Paxton, who can press either side of the argument, depending on his personal feelings.

This won't be the first time Paxton has basically sued himself. Courthouse News Service covered a similarly incongruous legal filing back in February.

The Texas Department of Public Safety sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, claiming DPS information about anti-terrorism operations in its school marshal program is exempt from disclosure, in Travis County Court.

And, as if everything couldn't get any more conflicting/interesting, the Texas House voted in April to move the authority for prosecuting corruption allegations against state officials from the county's Public Integrity Unit to the Department of Public Safety -- which is represented by an attorney general currently facing securities fraud charges.

It appears the left hand indeed knows what the right hand is doing, at least in terms of the DPS and its various interests. This normally would be a good thing, as government entities often seem to operate as free agents, rather than as complementary parts of a cohesive whole. But in this case, the guy who has the final say on document releases has to sue himself to override his own decisions. On top of that, should Paxton decide to participate in any more (allegedly) fraudulent behavior, he'll be doing so as the legal representative of the agency charged with charging him.

Filed Under: border patrol, conflict of interest, department of public safety, dps, foia, ken paxton, lawsuits, money, texas, transparency

Police Banned From Enforcing Traffic Laws In Oklahoma Town Over Abuse Of Traffic Tickets For Money

from the Radar-Gun-once-again-selected-as-Officer-of-the-Year! dept

When police departments begin viewing themselves as revenue generating entities rather than law enforcement entities, it has a deleterious effect on the public, which is now viewed as potential income, rather than citizens. If the incentives become perverted, the department will as well. Everything from "booking fees" to forfeiture laws are prone to abuse, especially when the municipality becomes just as addicted to the cash flow.

An Oklahoma town with the population of 410 is in the news precisely because of this abuse. It seems the Oklahoma Dept. of Public Safety (DPS) isn't happy with the outsized cash haul a single police department has raked in over the past few years.

The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety announced Jan. 13 that Stringtown's police department no longer would be allowed to enforce traffic laws on state and federal highways that run through the town.

After an investigation -- which had been requested by the state attorney general's office -- it was determined that Stringtown generated too much revenue through police-related activities.

State law prohibits cities and towns from generating more than half of their revenue through the collection of traffic fine payments.

According to the most recent audit of Stringtown's finances, the town generated $483,646 in fines during fiscal year 2013. That figure represents 76 percent of all Springtown revenue.

The year before, traffic fines accounted for about the same amount of cash, or 73 percent of all revenue in fiscal year 2012.

Springtown's reputation precedes it. A town that would barely register on a map is one of Oklahoma's most notorious speed traps. And this recent smackdown by the DPS is one of several.

In the mid-2000s, Stringtown police officers were stripped of their authority to write tickets along U.S. 69, causing the department to effectively shut down. Several other towns, including Big Cabin, also had action taken against them around the same time.

It was investigated in the late 1990s, with the end result being an increase in the town's speed limit in order to better match the surrounding areas. A former Transportation Dept. spokesman also said the town's PD had been investigated in the 1980s for the same reason.

So, why can't the Springtown Stringtown PD be taught? Well, it's because the town itself has come to rely on the influx of income its police department provides. But rather than limit itself to a reasonable amount of money and living within the sort of means most towns with a population of 400 would, Springtown Stringtown began viewing law enforcement as a growth industry.

In the early 1980s, Stringtown had just three full-time city employees. After the end of the decade -- six years after Stringtown officials decided to process their own speeding tickets -- the town employed 20 full-time workers, six of them full-time police officers.

The money from speeding tickets also built a new city hall and police station, something that's definitely a luxury for a town that would otherwise be fortunate to bankroll two full-time police officers.

The citizens of Stringtown seem to have bought into the city's delusion that it "needs" 20 employees and six cops.

OHP Captain Jeff Sewell says that's a problem for small towns, like Stringtown, with a population of 410.

"They have no other means for revenue. They had a store there, the store shut down. They had an eating place, it shut down. So they really don't have a place. Nobody puts any businesses up there," Sewell said.

But there is one corner store where employees are concerned about the lack of law enforcement.

"You know, people breaking in, you know, breaking stuff, stealing stuff," store employee Cindy Smith said.

The town is mostly dead and yet, the PD's supporters somehow think a super-prolific speed trap is the proper way to revive it. Smith's worry about people "breaking in" to the one store still alive in town seems misplaced. If the PD's ticket revenue is to be believed, everyone was passing through Springtown Stringtown too quickly to be bothered to pull a smash and grab at what seems to be one of the only surviving businesses in the city limits.

Stringtown has been relying on its police force to balance the town's books for more than 30 years now, despite being forced to go "cold turkey" multiple times. The DPS may have cut off its supply again, but history has proven the town has run out of revenue generation ideas that don't involve a 6-person PD -- stationed in a town of 410 -- ticketing as many drivers as possible.

Filed Under: department of public safety, oklahoma, speed trap, stringtown, traffic