Monday, September 14, 2009
News Pennington apologizes for Eagle raid — but leaves more questions
Posted by Patrick Saunders on Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 11:21 PM
There were four notable things to take from Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington's press conference today about the Sept. 10 raid at Atlanta Eagle:
Which begs the following questions:
Am I missing anything else?
Comments (12)
Showing 1-12 of 12
Personally, I want to know why the Atlanta PD can't just treat the LGBT community with common decency and respect. They shouldn't need a special liason to make sure that their officers act lawfully and respectfully in a gay club!
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I agree with you Kristen. Patrick Saunders's questions are what I am interested in too - I want to know what the APD's policy and procedures are for this type of thing. I suspect that they either don't have a documented procedure or they violated procedure or else the procedures are very flawed. I really don't think an apology is going to cut it.
Pennington's too-long run at the APD has been a train wreck. Another of Shirley's bad hires. We need change we can believe in. Throughout the entire city government.
I want to know the origin of the complaint to APD. What about the report that it came from Peggy Denby's group in Midtown? Why and how did this raid--which consumed a huge amount of APD resources--get on the police priority list?
@Thomas Jonathan - you will find the answer to your question here: http://www.sundaypaper.com/Blogs/TheRamageReport/tabid/235/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/4501/Default.aspx
Based on what I read on the Sunday Paper's website, the raid looks justified. The real question is really whether is was conducted correctly.
I see that APD is all over presumed sex-acts in gay bars, but can't be bothered with the 24/7 open-air prostitution and drug market that takes place along Boulevard and Ponce just a few blocks up the road. I wonder if its because the cops are not afraid of getting shot in the Eagle. Also, kudos to Pennington for his lucid answers during the press conference, um...uh, you know? What a fucking disaster he is.
Where's Peggy? Why doesn't she speak for herself, Steve? She's mixed up with Turpeau of the infamous race memo; she's running around with the Republican Campaign for Atlanta crowd; and now this gay raid occurs on her beat at the height of the town's political season. Is she working for Mary or is she still on Shirley's payroll, which would mean she's working against Mary? Smells like an agent provocateur, n'est-ce pas?
The raid was such a ridiculous waste of resources. One would think that by now Pennington could figure out that using 21 police officers to hassle gay people in their own club just angers those of us who live intown who have experienced an increase in property crime -- due, in large part, to the diminished presence of police on our streets.
RE: Mr. Gower's comments regarding Denby denial of involvement in Eagle raid. Mr. Gower, No, your response in Ms. Ramage's column does not fully answer the question regarding Ms. Denby that was asked below. Let me repeat the response to your posting in the Sunday Paper: "Many in the community have mixed feelings about Ms. Denby, her involvement in neighborhood groups, her reputation as perhaps an overly agressive "activist", and some of her statements/actions in the past, which could potentially indicate prejudicial views towards both the GLBT and African Amercan communities. Having worked with her twice on specific issues, on one occasion I found her to be very effective, helpful and a pleasure to work with. On another issue, I found her unwilling to correct a serious mistake on the part of the MPSA and totally inflexible, to the point that a lawsuit would have been filed against MPSA had not the issue been resolved through alternative channels. That said, that type of inflexibility and personal history of "activism" has no doubt caused many to question if she is in any way, remotely or otherwise, involved in the actions which led APD to raid the Eagle. If she has absolutely no involvement whatsoever, then I find it peculiar that she, as President of the MPSA, has not issued her own clear personal statement denying any role in the Eagle incident. While Mr. Gower's apologia on behalf of Ms Denby and the MPSA is impressive and articulate, many in the community would like to see Ms. Denby speak for herself on the Eagle raid issue rather that through a third party." Nuff said.
Peggy Denby's too busy with Liz Coyle meet and greets, BOR. Could be good strategy to remind D6 straights about the nasty things gays get up to in scuzzy spots like this Eagle place? That knocks Brodie and Wan out of the contest. Then Liz gets to reclaim D6 for straight land flippers.
to "Borders on the ridiculous": Your question about Denby involvement is viable, however there is no indication she is involved in the Norwood campaign. However, Denby is allegedly an active supporter and very heavily involved in the campaign of District 6 City Council candidate Liz Coyle.
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