Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Feedback, Feedback, Feedback...Boy, do I get Feedback


With all the videos and articles that I self-produce, as well as local and national TV news interviews I do, and put up on the Internet, you can imagine all of the emails, comments, and messages I get.

While a lot of the feedback I get is the usual "nazi," "facist," "pig," etc. name calling by those that do not want to hear a reasoned and balanced voice on the complicated world of policing in a democratic society, there is quite a bit that is more positive in nature.

With the former, as I've told my wife and others, you just have to have a thick skin and not let their ramblings bother you. As for the latter group, it is nice to have these folks, law enforcement and non-law enforcement, recognize that my aim is to help educate the public as to what the police do and why we do it. It is at that juncture that an educated and informed opinion can be made.

As observed by a few of the police academy students that I was instructing today on traffic stops, it's not as simple as it appears from the outside. After being educated and trying it themselves in a training scenario environment, these aspiring law enforcers realized the myriad of different things they have to be aware of. They saw first-hand how hard it is to see, detect and react appropriately to a red training firearm placed in a subject vehicle. It's not like TV.

Education on law enforcement matters is the key for people to understand what there police do and why they do it. That is why I am driven to spend the time and effort on these endeavors. Here is some of the feedback I've gotten:


On policeone.com website BLUtube.com, remang, a representative of the law enforcement community, wrote the following comment after watching my MSNBC interview on the new Taser study.

The national news interview aired on October 8, 2007 and had me appear with a representative of Amnesty International:

Never seen anyone work so hard to get themselves on TV and the internet as Mr. Weinblatt. That said, he's reasonably articulate and I do appreciate his visibility on behalf of Peace Officers everywhere in America. Thanks.


Facebook.com has been a source of many comments from the non-law enforcement members of our society. Not all of them have been well-reasoned and positive. Here are some of the ones I enjoyed...

Regarding my self-produced video on the University of Florida Andrew Meyer Taser incident:

The thing is I trust him more, since he is certified in alot of uses of force, it listed them. He has a greater span of knowledge on use of force than many general officers. Also he is right the Secret Serveice would have had his ass the first time he stepped out of line. The officers showed alot of restraint.


Richard...A job well done...I find it hard to believe the officer infringed on the college student's rights...It was clearly a cut and dry case...The issue isn't freedom of speech...It's simply the use of force and I find it hard to believe the Taser is HIGH on the use of force continuum, especially above an expandable baton...Once more Kudos Richard.


Definitely. Many kudos to Mr. Weinblatt and the officers involved. The officers did, as Mr. Weinblatt said, show great restraint during the entirety of the situation. It is never clear if someone does, or does NOT have a weapon or bomb on their person. Just as Mr. Weinblatt said, if it was teh Secret Service involved, the moment Mr. Meyer stepped out of line, he would have been tackled and forcefully removed from the building.

From what I have read, Mr. Meyer was placed under arrest before even asking his questions. I cannot officially confirm this. It was Senator Kerry that asked the officers to let him ask his questions. Then, when refusing to conclude his questions, as asked by the forum administrators (or whomever was controlling the questions being asked), they turned off the microphone. This is when Mr. Meyer became unruly.The officers attempted to restrain him, he fought back, was warned multiple times to stop or he would be tased, and eventually was tased.


Everything is, as Kevin said, very "cut and dry." The officers did a great job, and should be commended for their restraint. It is not easy being a police officer, especially in a situation where you are LARGELY out-numbered as they were at this forum.

Thank you for your words of insight, Mr. Weinblatt! Always nice to hear from a truly informed person, as well as one with personal experience in similar, if not identical situations.


Hey Richard,
Sorry I called you a jerk off. I was frustrated with some of the conversation I've been seeing. I wanted to let you that I have respect for police who put their life on the line to help others. I think part of being a cop is to put your own safety at risk to an extent in defense of others. I think some officers get angry or are so overzealous about their own safety that they end up using excessive or even lethal force on innocents, or non-violent perp's. Cops start to see everyone as a threat or a criminal. I think there needs to be more checks and balances on the carte blache checks that we give out to people in power (and that means teachers, cops, the military, and especially politicians). I appreciate your feedback and your service. I've thought about becoming a cop after I graduate-- but what makes me hesitate is the bad image created by so- called bad cops. Dept.'s make it even worse when they consistently side with officers so as to not get sued.


My youtube.com posting of my same University of Florida Taser incident response video garnered around 100 comments. Again, many were just throughtless tirades with blanket condemnations of policing, with no regard for an examination of each individual instance on its own merits. Here are some of the ones that I enjoyed:

Far left kool aid drinkers are the only ones that disagree with what happened here. This man spoke frankly and honestly about how tasers are used and when. As far as freedom of speech is concerned, that goes right out the window when you start to cause a disturbance.


You say that because Mr. Meyer didn't end up having a weapon. The ONE time some jack-ass gets through a crowd WITH a weapon, you and I both know that EVERYONE starts whining "What were the POLICE/SECURITY FORCE doing? Why weren't they doing their JOB?!"

They can't win, because people want to criticize them for making hard decisions that the rest of us take for granted for not usually having to make.


Great video, very informative. I totally agree with your assessment. He was just playing up to the cameras, and is known for posting his "shocking" videos on My Space.


do u people who are "crying facism" see what the fuck is really going on now?? thank u so much for this video people need to stop making shit up about this Meyer thing like he didnt do anything or like he was tortured because he spoke out. i really wish people would actually listen to this, tho i doubt many will


1) once he was told to stop and the mic was cut, he could be considered to be trespassing.
2) once he shakes off the cops attemps to hold his arms they were within rights to treat him as hostile
3) when he fought there attemps to cuff him, he escalated the situation to a point where they were justifed to taze him.

Personally I don't blame him for his opinions on the election,but I think he was playing it up for the camera. he thought the cops were bluffing... and they tazed him.


The police didn't 'keep him from expressing his opinion'--his views were already crystal-clear by the time he was asked to leave.

He wasn't tased for his views; he was tased because he resisted the lawful authorities who were doing their job in asking him to leave.


NEWSFLASH: crime or not, if the organizer of an event wants you gone, it's their RIGHT to have you removed.

If I invite you to my party and you show up and irritate me, I have every right to tell you to leave and have you removed if you don't comply.

His opinions didn't get him ejected; his disruptions did. He wasn't "just asking questions". He didn't care about John Kerry's answers, or he would have LET HIM ANSWER.


Even if you search everyone, someone can still smuggle a weapon before the event and hidden somewhere.


The law is very clear on this issue. "You can not resist an arrest, even if the arrest is unlawful." To quote a friend and Use of Force expert: "In this country we fight cops in court not in the streets. We sue for bad arrests, we do not riot and set cars on fire. This is what makes us different from third world countries."


Great video. People seem to think he was under arrest because of what he was saying, he was not. He was just not going to be allowed to rant any more. When he said blowjob the moderators had enough. The forum was held on a college campus and the officers were campus police. They uphold not only state laws but also the policies, rules, regulations of the college. They had a right to remove the speaker as set forth by the policies set by the organizers of the forum. People just don't understand.


this video is really informative, thank you for taking the time to help clear up the misunderstanding of this giant mess.


Great video and explanation. Seems people still beleive he was tasered because of what he was saying. He was level 4 about 5 min before they even drew the taser.


he had himself tazered for demonstration. this man isnt promoting fascism, hes giving you insight to the officers perception on this case. what youre talking about doing with religous people is completely unlike this situation. they have the right to freedom of speech, its when they overstep their boundary and their right as andrew meyer did, than action must be taken.


This video is fantastic.

What a lot of people don't understand is that freedom of speech does not include the right to ignore the rules of a regulated public forum.

I wonder if all of these outraged people get as angry every weekend that a bouncer kicks someone out of a bar.

Actively resisting authority's attempt to lead you away is just plain stupid in a case like this.


EXCELLENT excellent response! Very well put together and explained. Great job!




My video commenting on Paris Hilton's "I take no responsibility for my opportunity to be a role model and have a legacy to be proud of" appearance on David Letterman got some interesting responses. Here is one from my video's comment area on video sharing website Break.com:

I agree with you, Richard.
She had the opportunity to step up and failed miserably. This tells me that she has no remorse. Her only regret is that she got caught.


I could go on and on, but you get the idea. As for the negative "facist" and "nazi" name-calling type postings, you'll just have to go to youtube.com and other places to read those. I won't waste my time on them. The information has been presented to them if they want to have an open enough mind to consider it.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Paris Hilton on David Letterman: A Lost Opportunity to be a Role Model


Paris Hilton was recently on The Late Show with David Letterman. At the time of this blog post, one clip of her appearance on David Letterman's show on youtube.com has garnered some three million hits. Many people are watching her show, but none are getting the benefit of her experience behind bars. As you'll recall, she was sent to be in the care and custody of Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca as a result of Paris' driver's license "indiscretion."

I have created a video response to her appearance (which you can watch here on Blogger). I have also uploaded my video to a variety of locations on the Internet including youtube.com, myspace.com, facebook.com, aolvideo.com, googlevideo.com, yahoovideo.com.



My video laments the fact that Paris Hilton throws away an opportunity to be a role model for millions of young women (and young men). Her brush with the law and stint in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Jail is a perfect springboard for her to showcase mistakes in judgment and the road to justice.

Letterman keeps bringing it back to the topic of jail and the justice system, but Paris Hilton has no part of it. He points out correctly that she could have a legacy of teaching millions from her mistake. For example, she could hammer at the point of having a designated river in a way that is lost when any but Paris would do it.



In addition to pointing all of this out and agreeing with David Letterman, I call on viewers of my video to let their voice be heard and comment on whether Paris Hilton should have taken the opportunity to be a positive force and run with it.



You can watch the video below: