Just as Every Cop is a Criminal…

Pleased to meet you, can you guess my name?

Plenty of sympathy (and a $1 million reward) for the devil in Southern California.

Former Marine and LAPD officer Chris Dorner promised to wage “unconventional and asymmetrical warfare” against his former employer in his bizarre manifesto.  Five days into Dorner’s declaration of war against the LAPD, starting with murdering the 28 year-old daughter of a police officer and her fiancé, it appears Dorner has made good on that threat as there has been little “conventional” in the reaction to his crimes.

If Dorner believed that gunning down two innocent people, and two other police officers, would result in greater scrutiny of the LAPD, it was a bloody gamble that’s paid off.  In a matter of days, the LAPD has gone from dismissing Dorner’s account of the reasons behind his firing to re-opening the investigation.  LA Police Chief Charlie Beck denied the move was an attempt to “appease” Dorner.  It’s more likely an attempt to appease the public amid an ever-growing series of errors in the Dorner manhunt.

Who might have guessed that the LAPD would be Dorner’s biggest ally in his murderous attempt to move public opinion?  Thus far, the LAPD has managed to shoot one older woman in the back, terrify her daughter, and shoot at a thin white man in a supposed case of mistaken identity with a large black man.  Much was made in the media of Dorner’s military experience as a rationale for why authorities have been unable to find him in the resort community of Big Bear, where Dorner is said to be hiding.  But there’s little rationale for a trigger-happy police force that seems to be playing right into Dorner’s hands.

And Dorner most certainly seems to have some sense of the media impact of his actions.  Writing in his manifesto screed, Dorner claimed:

“The department has not changed since the Rampart and Rodney King days. It has gotten worse,” Dorner wrote. “I know I will be vilified by the LAPD and the media. Unfortunately, this is a necessary evil that I do not enjoy but must partake and complete for substantial change to occur within the LAPD and reclaim my name.”

Apparently part of the “necessary evil” was taunting Monica Quan’s father Randall with a phone call in which he said Quan “should have done a better job of protecting his daughter.”  Don’t worry, Dorner didn’t “enjoy” that.

What Dorner might have had a harder time anticipating was a vocal minority insistent on turning him into a folk hero:

Supporters of Christopher Dorner, the former LA policeman turned “cop killer,” have shown up online, with tweets and fan pages on Facebook. Some call Dorner a “hero” for writing a nine-page manifesto alleged on racism and corruption within the LAPD.

Numerous supporters on Twitter are calling the alleged murderer a “Dark Knight.”One Facebook page calls him “the hero LA deserves, but not the one it needs right now … He’s a silent guardian, watchful protector against corruption, he’s our Dark Knight.”

There’s even a “I support Christopher Jordan Dorner” Facebook page with over 7,000 “likes.”  The page’s creator is already promising “t-shirts, buttons, stickers + bumper stickers” because nothing says respectful, intellectual debate like mass marketing a psychopath.  Hey, it worked for Che Guevara.

If Dorner really was the “whistleblower” he wants to define himself as, there were a myriad of ways for him to get his message out other than with a gun.  But his entire narrative of the LAPD is at odds with perception of the department.  After the disgrace of the Rampart scandal in the late 90s, where 70 officers were implicated in misconduct with a gang strike force, the LAPD has seen a surge in popularity.  A 2009 poll put the LAPD at a nearly 80% approval rating.

Most of Dorner’s criticisms of the department aren’t exactly Serpico-level indictments, but rather tales of harassment and bureaucratic lethargy.  Hardly grounds for a killing spree.  Unless, of course, Dorner isn’t the “Dark Knight” wish fulfillment figure for some in Southern California but at heart just a deranged, vengeful man.

12 thoughts on “Just as Every Cop is a Criminal…

  1. Folk heroes traditionally attack a common enemy or help ordinary people in their struggle against oppression.
    Dorner’s spree is typical of a madman. It’s been years since he was fired from LAPD. He killed innocent people in revenge against a system he felt had hurt him, not others.
    He got fired for lying when he reported seeing another officer kick a bum. When he went nuts, Dorner didn’t kill the officer he says kicked a bum. Dorner killed the daughter of the hearing officer. It’s all about him.

  2. Dorner may or may not be all he is made out to be. What we hear from the media is, as usual, tainted by their take, whatever it may be. I heard that when the manifesto was first released, it was 22 pages, then media pulled it back and it was re-released as11 pages. Now it seems it is 9.

    I know that he is ex Navy reserve. But I don’t know what his Navy job was. The majority of Navy jobs do not prepared one for ground asymmetrical combat. Was he in one of those minority jobs?

    I don’t know if he actually has killed anyone. It is likely that he has, but just because the police and media say so does not convict him.

    It seems apparent to me that the LAPD has no interest in actually capturing him and bringing him to trial. It appears that they want to be judge and executioner. And that troubles me greatly. The evidence of that is that they have shot up two different trucks, not based on any demonstrated threat at the time, but on the fantasy that Dorner was in the truck. I strongly oppose the “wild west” justice that California law enforcement is now trying to deliver.

    Dorner is a liberal gun grabber, but he deserves his day in court.

  3. Nice lede. ;^)

    /I don’t know if he actually has killed anyone. It is likely that he has, but just because the police and media say so does not convict him./

    Gotta love the arm chair lawyers.

    It always comes down to credibility. So now he’s out murdering people, and I’m supposed to believe his sad tale of woe? I think not.

    It is interesting that this guy is staging exactly the Second Amendment uprising the protection of which the gun advocates and NRA claim it the intent of the Second Amendment. I fear that will always be the case: you can’t stage a good uprising without shooting some cops and as soon as you do they get touchy.

    I hope the “gun grabbers” will refrain from attempting to portray this incident as yet another example of a ‘law-abiding’ gun owner who turned violent.

  4. Any guess how long it will be before Jesse Jackson grabs himself a piece of this pie?

    I’d guess that one of two scenarios will end this mess. He will surrender to Jackson, or someone of color in a similar position, and enhance his developing martyr status. Or, the old shoot-out, suicide-by-cop, go out in a blaze of glory.

    Since some are trying to appease him and others starting to make him a hero, the surrender scenario might best further his “mission”. Either way, the guy doesn’t sound stupid.

    There was a time when law enforcement was more of an art, and individual officers worked with more discretion and personal style. This involved face-toface ciontacts with the public. This certainly had its share of drawbacks, but it also had its positives.

    Now, with the emergence of technology, law enforcement has become more of a science with easily generated policies and procedures, technology which can influence tyhe decision-making process and minimizes the need for an officer to have regular personal interaction with those she/he polices.

    Hence, the shooting of logical targets – unrelated pick-up trucks and the people in them, zero tolerance for behaviors deemed detrimental to the officers’ well-being, and “common sense” use of SWAT teams, technology, and maybe even drones. The end result is secondary to doing it by the book (or screen).

    It will be interesting to see how this is played out by the various interested factions (pro/anti-gunners, racial polititians, the media, etc.). Hopefully with no more bloodshed.

  5. Any guess how long it will be before Jesse Jackson grabs himself a piece of this pie?

    I’d guess that one of two scenarios will end this mess. He will surrender to Jackson, or someone of color in a similar position, and enhance his developing martyr status. Or, the old shoot-out, suicide-by-cop, go out in a blaze of glory.

    Since some are trying to appease him and others starting to make him a hero, the surrender scenario might best further his “mission”. Either way, the guy doesn’t sound stupid.

    There was a time when law enforcement was more of an art, and individual officers worked with more discretion and personal style. This involved face-toface ciontacts with the public. This certainly had its share of drawbacks, but it also had its positives.

    Now, with the emergence of technology, law enforcement has become more of a science with easily generated policies and procedures, technology which can influence tyhe decision-making process and minimizes the need for an officer to have regular personal interaction with those she/he polices.

    Hence, the shooting of logical targets – unrelated pick-up trucks and the people in them, zero tolerance for behaviors deemed detrimental to the officers’ well-being, and “common sense” use of SWAT teams, technology, and maybe even drones. The end result is secondary to doing it by the book (or screen).

    It will be interesting to see how this is played out by the various interested factions (pro/anti-gunners, racial polititians, the media, etc.). Hopefully with no more bloodshed.

  6. Credibility? And media in one breath. Within the last year we have multiple “creative” audio/video edits from the media. If they tell you the sun is shining, look out the window to confirm.

    How about innocent until proven guilty? Is that concept lost to you?

    And Emery, according to his own manifesto, he thinks only the cops should be armed. Not a 2nd amendment champion.

    Cops that fired over 90 shots at a wrong color, wrong make wrong model vehicle occupied by the wrong number of wrong sex, wrong race persons who are not claimed to have been armed are considered credible? Really?

  7. Most every PD in the country, certainly every PD in a major metro area, has plenty of borderline types employed. That doesn’t bother me as much as the fact that the Brass is aware of that and refuses to take responsible steps when they run off the rails.

    Coppers have a “laws don’t apply to me” mentality, and with good reason. Remember the “MN Strike Force Gang”? They were committing armed robberies and home invasions, but not one single indictment was ever even asked for, less handed down.

    Not too big a leap from breaking into an occupied house and leaving with all the electronic gear they could carry to dispensing hot lead payback to double crossers within their ranks.

    ps: Emery you are a credit to clueless dickheads everywhere.

  8. My gut says the matter will reach closure quickly with Dorner killed by the cops, by his own hand, or a combination of the two. It’s highly likely Jesse Jackson will insert himself in the story no matter how it ends.

  9. Loren, You’ll have to forgive Emery, he has noted previously that he is formerly of Canada. There, he was a subject of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, or at least the Canadian Monarchs viceregal representative, the governor general. As such, he assumes that like in Canada, all subjects accused by the crown are presumed guilty and must prove their innocence. Here in the United States, the people are CITIZENS, and the accused are presumed innocent and the government must prove them guilty.
    It’s easy to be fooled though, Emery, based on President Obama’s drone killings of Americans, who in all cases, haven’t even been accused of a crime much less had due process of law. It’s also difficult to determine what a particular person is accused of, given prosecutor misconduct in heaping charges on the accused to make the accused confess, regardless of guilt, to lesser charges, rather than risk a trial.
    Some of the law talking guys who comment here, such as Lynyrd Foot and Joe ‘Bag O Donuts’ Doakes may educate you (and all) on this distinction between citizen and subject with the added benefit that Lynyrd Foot may respond in the form of Haiku. Have a nice day, eh?

  10. Dorner is clearly a nutcase. He believes that he has been the victim of racial hatred his entire life. “The department has not changed since the Rampart and Rodney King days. It has gotten worse”. Really? Based on what? That LAPD fired him? Gosh, if you were a black cop with a legitimate, documented case against the LAPD based on racial discrimination lawyers would be busting down your door. LAPD paid out more than a hundred million $ in Rampart.
    In what kind of world is it considered understandable to murder, not your boss, but his daughter and her boyfriend four years after you were unjustly fired?
    There will always be violent, paranoid lunatics. What’s more disturbing are the actions of the police in trying to get Dorner. They are supposed to be the sane, reasonable people.
    It’s silly to believe that there is some kind of ‘Bourne Conspiracy’ or ‘Serpico’ thing going on with Dorner and LAPD. LAPD is too incompetent to pull off that kind of operation.

  11. From Dorner’s manifesto:

    While traveling back to the station in a 12 passenger van I heard Magana refer to another individual as a nigger. I wasn’t sure if I heard correctly as there were many conversations in the van that was compiled of at least 8 officers and he was sitting in the very rear and me in the very front. Even with the multiple conversations and ambient noise I heard Officer Magana call an indivdual a nigger again. Now that I had confirmed it, I told Magana not to use that word again. I explained that it was a well known offensive word that should not be used by anyone. He replied, “I’ll say it when I want”. Officer Burdios, a friend of his, also stated that he would say nigger when he wanted. At that point I jumped over my front passenger seat and two other officers where I placed my hands around Burdios’ neck and squeezed. I stated to Burdios, “Don’t fucking say that”. At that point there was pushing and shoving and we were separated by several other officers. What I should have done, was put a Winchester Ranger SXT 9mm 147 grain bullet in his skull and Officer Magana’s skull. The Situation would have been resolved effective, immediately.

    So by his own admission, he physically assaulted and attempted to strangle a fellow officer because he believed the officer had used the n-word to describe a person not present. He then states that he should have killed that officer and another officer who used the same word. The only time he directly quotes himself, Dorner uses a four-letter word that many people find extremely offensive.
    This is by way of justifying his homocidal rage towards his one-time co-workers.
    Even if the incident never happened, it reveals quite a bit about Dorner’s mental state, doesn’t it?

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