Postcards from Seattle

Be sure to follow all the links.

-- Sheri (wncy2k@nccn.net), December 04, 1999

Answers

Do you think we will get the answers to the questions? I am so thankful I don't live in a large city. I am about 60 miles from one and that is too close for comfort.

-- Carol (glear@usa.net), December 04, 1999.

Even though its as "On topic" as Kent State, the picture gallery was pretty interesting because I live in a narrow valley, don't get any television stations and refuse to subscribe to ripoff cable or satellite tv. It kind of reminds me of Soylent Green where they scooped up people in construction equipment (when we have 12 billion people they'll be doing it that way instead {which won't be long at our current rate of reproduction})

-- Guy Daley (guydaley@bwn.net), December 04, 1999.

When I was a kid I had a dream. My brothers and I were hiding in an area off Cyrstal Springs Road in San Mateo, CA. We were being hunted by soldiers wearing WWII German Army style helmets. Could not figure it out during the dream, I thought we had gotten rid of them!

Sure was surprised when the US Military was issued a helmet with the same lines.

Those guys look a lot like Robo Cop.

Should have heard my Dad blow his top when Burlingame, Ca police formed a swat team. What the hell for? Burlingame then was a lilly white and very peaceful place. Still is peaceful.

-- Mark Hillyard (foster@inreach.com), December 04, 1999.

Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper made quite a name for himself when he worked here in San Diego. You may find the accompanying article enlightening. Suffice it to say that Stamper is not your prototypical police chief and the Seattle PD was simply not prepared to handle any problems with the WTO protests.

Critics blame Seattle police chief for WTO chaos, call for Stamper's badge

Norm Stamper was once the long-haired, bearded hippie of the San Diego Police Department who worked undercover, masquerading as a protester on college campuses in the 1960s.

For 27 years, he was the department's resident intellectual, with a doctorate, progressive ideas and a tendency to alienate fellow officers who felt his politics and personality were more aligned with demonstrators than with cops.

That is why some of Stamper's former colleagues in San Diego see irony in his current predicament: His job as Seattle police chief is in jeopardy because of his department's widely criticized handling of one of the nation's most violent political protests since the Vietnam era.

"What goes around comes around," a high-ranking San Diego police official said of Stamper and the chaos surrounding the World Trade Organization conference that drew President Clinton, delegates from 135 countries and tens of thousands of protesters.

With quick admissions that the Seattle Police Department was unprepared for what became a days-long fiasco of tear gas, concussion grenades, rubber bullets, vandalism, curfews and mass arrests, Stamper attempted early in the week to dig his way out from an avalanche of condemnation and calls for his resignation.

But he did not appear to be making progress yesterday.

As the WTO concluded its meetings, and clashes between police and protesters subsided, a chorus of critics -- from White House and city officials to residents and rank-and-file officers -- could be heard...

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.hid), December 04, 1999.