Occupy LA

Occupy LA, I was there last night as it went down.  We were protecting our territory, the nearby subway stations.  From the Civic Center station, we had a birdseye view of the happenings, probably not as good as television, but being there gives you your own personal perspective.  Driving by the area for weeks, and seeing the destruction of property and  the litter and garbage, was unbelievable.  What happened to taking a stand, tax payers payed for this park, and the rules are, you can't come in here and camp, crap and piss all over the place, and otherwise damage the property.  Wow, to avoid confrontation and bad press, come on in and destroy everything to the tune of thousands of dollars.  LAPD did a great job, blocking off a perimeter for several blocks surrounding City Hall.  Hundreds of working, tax paying people were then not able to get to their cars, to go home, so they could get to sleep, for WORK the next day.  This was caused by Occupy LA, but ofcourse the police will get the blame.  It was awesome to see 1400 LAPD officers arrive in buses and in a caravan of radio cars.  Ofcourse we had to activate hundreds of Deputies, to get Transportation Buses to and from the jail, to transport prisoners, and to protect the county buildings in downtown. Wheres the outrage from the public, after we have now spent I assume is now over a million dollars.    Isn't it great, we peacefully concluded the movement.  I thought it was sickening to see hundreds of people, taunting the police, and shoving cameras two inches from the officers faces, and yelling obscenities.  Hoodlums were riding around with gas masks and sticks with impunity.  I guess I'm from a different time, I say from the beginning, tell these people very nicely, please get off the property, and if they don't, Force, fast and hard. Let them occupy central jail, full medical coverage, three meals a day, showers, and weekly change of clothes, its a win win.  Well I can't say anymore, lawyers already google me, and look for anything they can find, to use a gainst me, I do have the right to remain silent,   So until retirement, I will keep my opinions close to the vest.  Had to vent a little on this.

Upstate New York Shows

Another great year doing our charity shows in upstate New York.  This year we added a second show on Friday night at the Diplomat Banquet Center on Lyell avenue in Rochester NY.  After seeing last years show in Caledonia NY,  Tony DeBellis and Chuck Zona from the Association of Rochester Police and Area Law Enforcement Retirees approached Mike Marino and I about doing  a show for their organization this year.  It was a sellout crowd.  This is not always easy to do on a Friday night, but they did it. Ofcourse for me  still a working cop, to be able to perform for fellow officers current or retired is a thrill anytime.  As always my routine, and Mikes fit together like a glove for our law enforcement crowd.  The next night we returned to Caledonia, my home town.  What a thrill to have my Dad open the show.  This was special, in that Dad used to be the Chief of Police in town, and the charity, "Totsie Cook, Dan Coyle Scholarship" honors two of my fallen classmates.  Cliff Sr, 79 years young, took the stage like an old pro.  Little did i know, that he had been rehearsing for months. He knocked the socks off the crowd, and then introduced me.  Mike headlined the show, and just went crazy !,  it was one of the longest standing ovations I have seen Mike get.  After the Saturday night show, we had a little after party at mom and dads house.  What a great time.  And one of the few times we were able to get the family on dads side together.  Sometimes it takes a comedy show.  It's great that people and family got together and saw a great show, and we made alot of money for the charities to do great things, in the end its's true, the pleasure is in the giving.  To set up plan, and perform in these shows, bringing family friends, loved ones together for a special night, was truly priceless.