New York State of Mind-less Stupidity

I'm sure by now you have heard of retired NYPD Sergeant Arno Herwerth's struggle with the State of New York Department of Motor Vehicles over his requested and issued "GETOSAMA" license plate. The Hauppauge, Long Island man followed DMV procedure and requested the "custom" plate from his DMV office. Within a week of his application he received his new Empire State tags with "GETOSAMA". After getting his new plates but no registration certificate to go with them Mr. Herwerth called the DMV and asked why he did not get it yet. The clerk at the DMV instead demanded their tags back claiming they were issued to him in violation of a law governing the content of personalized plates.

When interviewed by Carl MacGowan of Newsday, Ken Brown, a DMV spokesman, acknowledged the error but said Herwerth's request violated Section 16.5(e) of the motor vehicle code, which prohibits vanity plates that are "obscene, lewd, lascivious, derogatory to a particular ethnic group or patently offensive.""We believe the plate set was inappropriate," Brown said. "The plate set was sent out in error."

I'm with Mr. Herwerth who, in the same report, stated, "It's not lewd. It's not about anybody's ethnicity. It's not patently offensive to anybody." "The plate simply says, Get him. That's it."

In another report DMV spokesman Nick Cantiello was blunt and unapologetic when, in reference to Mr. Herwerth, he told Philip Messing of the New York Post, "He should have stuck to bumper stickers."

But the mind-numbing stupidity of the New York DMV gets even more stellar. Mr. Herwerth has filed a Federal law suit to seek to keep his plates by claiming the State of New York is violating his 1st Amendment (Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.)

5th Amendment (No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.)

and 14th Amendment rights (Section 1: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. ).

In a November 28th posting Philip Messing (NY Post.com) again asked the DMV to explain its position. In response the agency just parroted their earlier statement that the plate ("GETOSAMA") violates a regulation that bans any tag that is "obscene, lewd, lascivious, derogatory to a particular ethnic or other group or is patently offensive." But when pressed to explain specifically which part of the regulation the plate violated Mr. Messing was told only that, "the configuration of lettering doesn't meet regulatory standards and issuing the plate would be inappropriate."

It is my humble opinion that the New York State DMV is being run by some of the dumbest civil servants I have ever encountered. Somebody at the DMV needs to get their head out of their A** and realize the only person who might be offended by this tag is OBL himself!

I've gotta tell you, I really couldn't care less if Bin Laden is miffed, upset or otherwise put out by this very American display of personalizing a national tragedy. In his own small display of patriotic defiance Mr. Herwerth stands tall in the face of terrorists and proclaims to Al-Qaida, Osama and all like him, 'KISS MY ROSY RED AMERICAN A** YOU TERRORIST SON OF A B*#CH !!!'

Patriotism is not offensive. Patriotism is not easy. Patriotism is true, honest, and individual expression in defense of our beliefs, our history, our country, and ourselves. If someone is offended by my belief that the United States of America, even with our faults and disagreements, is the greatest demonstration of freedom in the world, well Too Bad! I am Scottish by birth, but I AM AN AMERICAN and I will defy any person, group or country that would try to destroy what our fore-fathers died to build for us. No-one, not even the New York DMV, can abridge my freedom to say so.

Law Enforcement ESP

My co-hort over at Star Spangled Haggis hit the ball out of the park on this one!

Read it for yourself @ http://starspangledhaggis.blogspot.com/ and look for the same title.


Thanks E!
You Rock!

HONK! If You Love Haggis!

I found this rare image of a wild Haggis and thought I'd share it with you! I'm still looking for a photo of one but they are very rare!

Oh, Great Chieftan o' th' Puddin race!

Hi, My Name Is.....

Making a change can be a right, "pain in the arse", as my dad would say but change is what keeps us fresh and challenges us to break out of our usual day to day selves. My move from a small district to a new, much larger district had been interesting and sometimes frustrating.

I went from a four person unit serving a five square mile area to supervising eleven deputies spread over approximately four hundred-fifty square miles! For a guy who likes to interact with his co-workers this has been a huge adjustment.

My home life has changed too. I went from a "normal" day shift (M-F 8am - 5pm) to an afternoon shift (2p - 10p w/Sun & Mon off). As a result, I still get to sleep at home with my wife (so I can't complain about that) but I only get to see her and The Princess for about two hours each morning as I get them off to work and school. They are both in bed by the time I get home, so I snuggle in and get set for my next 2 hours the following day. I get maybe an hour more on Saturday, which I use to take The Princess to ballet class. Then it's straight home, shower, change and off to work.

Your thinking that timing won't work, but here's the other part to factor in. I live approximately forty minutes from this new district and I need to be there no later than 1:30pm so I have to leave my home between 12:30 and 12:45.

Overall, my squad is a great bunch of deputies with experience levels from less than one year to over twenty-five years. They are starting to respond to "the new boss" and I think they have the potential and ability to be the best squad in our district. I am fortunate to have a full squad and I plan on making the best of that by deploying and utilizing my guys to make the best possible improvements in our areas. I have some plans and ideas and I am encouraging them to do the same and challenging them to "own their zones", know the bad guys, the good guys, and develop ways we can better serve or communities. I 'll let you know how we do.

I have new bosses too. I now "officially" report to one Lieutenant but since the district has four of them I need to interact with all of them at one time or another. That in and of itself is a challenge as each of them has their own unique management style and I need to be able to conform to each of them as needed. My new Commander has been with the agency a long time and he appears genuinely interested in his people - a trait lacking in a lot of supervisors of all types. He has challenged me to do the best I can with what I have and I aim to do just that.

One little thing I am still getting used to is being back in a marked patrol car. I can't rush anywhere and need to leave plenty of time to get where I'm going because as soon as the drivers in front of me see the patrol car suddenly EVERYONE is doing the speed limit OR LESS! AND they are almost afraid to move out of my way in case I pull them over for an improper change of lane. At least that how it feels to me - I could be wrong.