Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 4012 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: NOVEMBER 2016 I f you’re a police chief or sheriff, there are a couple of audiences you might not be all that thrilled to engage with in public “town hall” style meetings. One might imagine that speaking in front of liberal- minded civil rights attorneys from the ACLU would be rather high on the list of engagements to avoid. But even speaking to a conven- tion of defense lawyers is a cakewalk compared to fac- ing down a Texas Tea Party group. Members of the audience wanted to know why San Antonio is a “sanctuary city.” “It’s not,” Chief William McManus said. According to KSAT News, one member of the audience said, “It’s good to see an officer who’s not afraid of a fight, and you definitely came to one.” McManus’ put himself on the group’s enemies list when the longtime unwrit- ten policy of not asking for immigration status be- came official policy in the department’s manual. Federal authorities still have access to the Bear County jail, where they can place detainers on un- documented immigrants who’ve been arrested on other charges. Here was a typical ques- tion from the audience. “It’s OK to release somebody so that they go out and kill somebody?” “No, it’s not OK to release somebody so that they go out and kill some- body. I’m not here to argue with you. “You may not like my answers, but they’re my answers,” McManus told the guy. “No one in the im- migrant community would call the police ever again for fear of being deported. We need them to do our job.” “If we don’t have that as- sistance, we’re working with one arm behind our back.” Frustrated, McManus asked the audience how they would like it if he were to ask for their proof of citizenship if they looked Hispanic or spoke with an accent. “Nobody in here wants to be profiled,” he said. One woman responded, “I’m sorry. Profiling is a ter- rible thing, but on the other hand, it protects you.” Sometimes it just doesn’t matter what it is you actually say. It will always be the wrong answer. People have a lot to say these days. Increasingly they’re also extremely emotional. Townhall meeting gets a little feisty In the last issue of Ameri- can Police Beat there was an article explaining how much crime takes place at Walmart and how Walmart gets free security thanks to police and taxpayers. Now a Walmart in Geor- gia is apologizing for refus- ing to make a police officer’s retirement cake. An employee told the cop’s daughter that her “thin blue line” cake design might be considered racist. The cop’s daughter want- ed a cake with the design of what some call the “back the blue” flag on the top. She went to a Walmart in McDonough, Georgia to ask for a cake with the American flag design but with the stripes in black and white with a blue stripe in the middle. One of the employees allegedly told the cop’s daughter “the design could be perceived as racist and nobody feels comfortable decorating the cake.” Trying to accommodate the Walmart employee, the daughter then asked for a cake with just one blue line on a chocolate back- ground. The employee said she didn’t “feel comfortable” with that either. At the time this article was written, it wasn’t entirely clear if all of these anec- dotes had been confirmed. Taylor Wilkes, a Georgia police officer and family friend, originally posted about the cake incident on Facebook saying the giant retailer’s employee’s behav- ior was “appalling.” “There is nothing racist about the symbolism be- hind the “thin blue line,” yet people choose to make everything about race,” Wilkes wrote. “I’m so tired of it.” “Our goal is to always take care of customers. But sometimes we misstep,” Walmart wrote in a statement reported by a local ABC affiliate. “We’ve reached out to the family to make this right and offer our apologies.” It’s getting so bad that cops can’t even get a retirement party cake at Walmart APB is now online! Go to apbweb.com and check it out. You can also sign up for a free three-year subscription! • Removes weight of duty belt off hips and lower back • Enables you to perform at maximum standards • Helps keep shirt tucked in during physical activity • No need to adjust duty belt when exiting vehicle • No need to hold duty belt when engaging in foot pursuits No more back pain The Back Defender is the only concealed belt suspension system approved for police duty WWW"ACK$EFENSE3YSTEMSCOM   (or)