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17 DEC 03: THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

I came home from work and errands Tuesday afternoon, just in time to find several police cars and white vehicles parked on First Avenue. For a second, I thought law officers finally had enough of my comments about the Kenneth Walker case....

My first sight after leaving the car was of law officers putting a man in a white outfit in handcuffs. I'm pleased to report both hands were behind the man's back - so none of the officers were aiming guns toward the man's head.

A Columbus Police Major told me the man was on an inmate "work detail" around Golden Park, and tried to make a break for it. The inmate apparently ran under the Oglethorpe Bridge at Broadway, then headed for First Avenue. When I took an afternoon jog in that direction hours later, I made sure my hands were up at all times.

The Columbus Police Major told me officers cornered the escaped inmate at MY First Avenue apartment complex. To think I could have been in the middle of all the action, taking pictures to share with you -- but NO! Shame on me for lingering at a Spectrum store, debating which brand of brownie to buy.

Police say the ten-minute chase ended on the other side of First Avenue, as the escapee was caught between two houses. These inmates simply don't think things through! A ten-minute run could bring them ten more years in the slammer.

For the record: almost all the officers at the scene of this capture were African-American. The only way racial profiling could have occurred in this case was if police decided to let the inmate run away.

This brief escape brought up old thoughts about inmate "work details" in my neighborhood. Crews come through the Historic District every few weeks throughout the year -- and sometimes they work so far from a supervisor, I wish the County Jail would buy some bungee cords for their wrists.

Yet some of the work details in the Historic District appear to border on the ridiculous. When giant riding lawn mowers are out in March before the grass is even one inch high, you can tell some branch of city government is trying to justify its budget.

(It must be nice to have a corner lot in the Historic District. Some of the work details mow so far inside the curb, the owners almost don't have to do any work on their own.)

BLOG UPDATE: Today's Ledger-Enquirer promises an article on plans to "get tough on parking violators downtown." Oh no! Is THAT what deputy sheriffs are going to do next?

TV reports late Tuesday night indicated Presidential candidate Al Sharpton will come to Columbus in the next two weeks. He'll speak about the killing of Kenneth Walker by a Deputy Sheriff on I-185. Then he'll head for The Loft, to do a comedy routine for his "Saturday Night Live" fans.

Muscogee County Sheriff Ralph Johnson announced Tuesday he's asked the F.B.I. to start a preliminary investigation of the killing of Kenneth Walker. This may not be good news for Walker's friends and supporters after all - because the F.B.I. has had trouble in recent years losing files and evidence.

Sheriff Ralph Johnson says he asked the F.B.I. to look into the case Monday - but waited until Tuesday afternoon to announce it, in respect for Kenneth Walker's funeral. Based on that logic, the sheriff's department may deliver a wreath to Walker's church sometime this weekend.

(We heard a police scanner call Tuesday morning referring to "F.B.I. background checks" - but we couldn't be sure if that referred to the Kenneth Walker case. For all we knew, Columbus Police might have found some officers who can speak Arabic.)

Sheriff Ralph Johnson finally explained Tuesday why he hasn't named the deputy who shot Kenneth Walker last Wednesday. He explained the deputy has a family, too. And come to think of it, it can take a few days to move everyone to a new unlisted address and phone number.

Sheriff Ralph Johnson told reporters naming the deputy right now would make a bad situation worse. As he put it: "You're all able to feel the tension." And here we thought that tension was left over from all the Auburn University graduates, upset with the trustees.

Sheriff Ralph Johnson added he's checking reports that a Sheriff's patrol car may have been vandalized in revenge for the killing of Kenneth Walker. The big question on our minds, of course, is whether any drugs were left in THAT vehicle....

The Muscogee County Sheriff held his news conference two hours after the funeral for Kenneth Walker. An estimated 2,000 people attended the service at St. Mary's Road United Methodist Church - compared with about 300 who rallied Monday at the Government Center. Is there a hidden message here? Would people rather cry first, and get angry later?

State Senator Ed Harbison attended the funeral for Kenneth Walker, and told WRBL he's convinced "double good" will come from what happened last Wednesday. We think that means he wants both the deputy AND the sheriff to resign....

Did you see WRBL's coverage of the Kenneth Walker funeral - with slow-motion video of people walking outside the church building, to recorded piano music? The last time we saw that station take that approach to an event, it was the final round of the Masters golf tournament.

Columbus Mayor Bob Poydasheff revealed he and his wife visited Kenneth Walker's family Monday night, to offer condolences. The Mayor was in New York when last week's shooting occurred - so perhaps he brought home some of that city's ideas for getting racist law officers off the hook in court.

Instant Message to Columbus Police Chief Willie Dozier: Is there a reason why you're not talking publicly about the Kenneth Walker case? After all, voters can't elect YOU to another term....

BLOG-BLAH-BLAH: We're still looking for suggestions to solve our moral dilemma, mentioned in the 14 Dec blog entry.
Write us, and please come to our rescue!

If you quote from this in public somewhere, please be polite enough to let me know.

© 2003 Richard Burkard, All Rights Reserved.