I am now 78 and seeking to have some time to do some creative writing and photography without the responsibility of fact checking and providing a forum for readers of all philosophies.

If you, a group, or even journalism students want to have a shot at public news gathering, send me a note expressing your interest.

Warm regards,
DAVE FRAZIER

I am compelled to offer a public statement regarding the recent “investigation” of the Boise Police Department. To think that 500k dollars at a rate of $800 per hour plus expenses was going to go very far was simply foolish. Money that could’ve gone much further if it had been employed locally for a much better value. I think everyone realizes this window dressing was simply a ploy to distract from the real issues, poor leadership at city hall.

I had the chance to speak with Mr. Bromwich, and we both agreed on one thing. The Mayor had deceived us both. Steptoe and associates were hired for a wide ranging investigation on multiple issues. Boise police officers were advised this was a singular issue, retired Captain Bryngelson and his views. An instant level of distrust was created in those first interviews due to the lack of transparency thanks to City Hall. Yet the end result was as expected, this subculture did not exist. An extra $150k got you a Zoom presentation. Money well spent?

There is no question the Mayor saw an opportunity to distract from all of the city hall issues concerning her poor management of public safety in the city, the Office of Public Accountability and the police chief fiasco. Not one to let anything go to waste, she turned and ambushed the entire police department and our relationships with the community for political survival. Politics at their worst.

As far as the Steptoe report, I can’t honestly say that project was money well spent. The union has always supported higher standards, including the use of the polygraph to vet out inadequate candidates. We truly only want the best for our community.

The promotional process is not as limited as Chief Winegar would allow you to believe. It is an arduous process that produces a list of qualified candidates. The Chief has wide latitude to remove candidates based on just cause, thereby eliminating the possibility of subjective bias of office politics. His “hands are tied” mantra, is yet another way of saying he doesn’t want to make tough decisions. Council member Bageant misinterpreted this process based on what the Chief led him to believe.

Hiring a captain from outside in charge of training who rapidly became an absentee landlord, more interested in his personal business ventures rather than his primary job, was another failed experiment.

I watched Chief Winegar’s assessment of leadership issues and his focus was off. I believe Mr. Bromwich was suggesting top level leadership was problematic, an ongoing issue with our command structure, not at the ground level. Leaders should rise to the top by virtue of their character, not by groups of friends or cliques as Bromwich suggested. A retired captain comes immediately to mind.

Performance evaluations have always been supported by the union, and failed only because over the years, command at the police department failed to hold people accountable for completing them. This deficiency had nothing to do with the union or the contract, as Chief Winegar suggested.

I never thought for a moment that I would ever have to defend our failure rate of the academy, but we have a success rate of about 75% in the field training portion of the process, about par for the course in law enforcement. We only want the best for BPD and the training is rigorous. Chief Lee was not responsible for this, he actually wanted to lower standards and remove the polygraph.

Bromwich did get a few things right, for that I will give him credit. However, at the price of $700k, I think there was a far more efficient way to spend taxpayer dollars with the same or better result. If the Mayor had been more clear and less reactive, and actually pursued this matter for a less politically motivated goal, maybe we could’ve done better.

At the end of the day, Mayor Mclean has only succeeded in making recruitment and retention more difficult and tainted the reputation of what is one of the finest police departments in the northwest.

A flag faux pas at the White House over the weekend prompted the conservative radio talk folks to flood the air waves with criticism.

Seems the “rainbow” flag of the so-called LGBT-Q community was flown from the White House balcony flanked by the Stars and Stripes. Accepted flag etiquette calls for the USA flag to be center stage, highest, and not smaller if flown with other flags within the USA–especially at government buildings.

A year ago the GUARDIAN took the city of Boise to task when the rainbow flags adorned the public right-of-way on Harrison Blvd. on FLAG DAY. We don’t object to folks flying the rainbow flag, but when it is flown at places like the White House and Boise City Hall, it compromises any arguments against using city facilities to fly the Confederate stars and bars, the Nazi Swastika, the Christian Flag, Trump MAGA, or any other special interest banner.

Not only has Boise City allowed this special interest group flags to fly on city property, they have placed the Boise City logo on some of the rainbow flags adorning City Hall.

Last year city officials claimed the Harrison median flag flying on the public property were a decision of the North End Neighborhood Association. We stand by our position that only flags of the city, state and USA are appropriate on public facilities. One exception came in 2019 when the National POW/MIA Flag Act was signed into law, requiring the POW/MIA flag to be flown on certain federal properties, including the U.S. Capitol Building, on all days the U.S. flag is flown.

Today a Boise Police Officer (a pretty young gal with a ponytail, but that’s irrelevant) pulled up next door at the “Headstart” school, in her marked SUV cop car. Left the motor running. (A sign in the next parking spot over – NO-IDLE ZONE – SHUT OFF YOUR MOTOR.) Walked inside – she was in there for a good hour. (I was just outside, doing final prep for 2023 flood irrigation, so I observed the whole time.) She and a Headstart lady walked out, and conversed for another 5-8 minutes outside. Next to her motor-running SUV. So it was sitting running, with nobody inside, for over an hour.

I went in to get my camera – was gonna snap a photo of the car, the conversants, and the sign. Alas, by the time I got back out, the cop SUV was gone.

There may be a good reason why they keep the motor running. Hopefully a better reason then, “Cops don’t like hot cars in the summer, and cold cars in the winter.” Because that could probably be said for all of us… but just the same we shut off our motors. Some folks may do it to save the planet – I do it to save $. Maybe the City of Boise likes to save money and Mother Earth, but not enough to make Boise’s Finest suffer in a warm car.

EDITOR NOTE–This happened May 12. If any BPD supervisors or IA wish to inform the errant officer of her misdeeds. the GUARDIAN can offer contact info to the author.

Nearly 15 years ago the GUARDIAN revealed a series of idle incidents similar to this one which prompted the following official policy at BPD–anmd ALL city departments. We don’t know if they have abandoned the policy or if the coppers simply ignore it. It isn’t a race issue, but perhaps the Washington lawyer-investigators are needed.

IDLE POLICY
I. INTRODUCTION
Vehicle idling gets zero miles per gallon; unnecessary idling wastes fuel and pollutes. Running an engine at low speed (idling) also causes additional wear on internal parts compared to driving at regular speeds. The break-even point for shutting off and restarting gasoline engines or leaving it to idle is 30 seconds – from the point of view of both emissions and fuel consumption. This restriction does not apply to congested traffic, city driving or traffic controls.

Department Heads will be responsible to ensure this standard of conduct in the use of City vehicles and equipment. Employees have the responsibility to abide by this regulation, violation of which can subject them to progressive disciplinary action.

Claiming she still had a desire to help with City Council problems, former councilor Elaine Clegg has come up with a novel solution to help solve the problems of the “unhoused community.”

Clegg is the recently appointed director of the Valley Regional Transit bus system. She noticed upon taking the job there are a number of used buses which were retired from service, replaced with electric models.

Since the Ada Commishes balked at continued funding of 52 rooms at the Downtowner hotel for homeless folks, Clegg has come up with a plan to convert the old buses into “homeless camper vans.”

“We can hire a team of planners from out of state along with an outside legal firm to insure our unhoused community members have a place to sleep out of the weather,” said Clegg. She noted at least 15 bunks could be installed in each bus.

She suggested outfitting each coach with lavatories and parking them in City-owned areas near Harris Ranch, Ann Morrison Park, and the Foothills Learning Center.

Director Clegg said she hadn’t discussed the plan with Mayor Lauren McClean because it would probably be considered just another GUARDIAN April Fools story.

LISA SANCHEZ

Meanwhile, 19 year councilor Elaine Clegg is leaving the council to run the Valley Regional Transit (VRT) bus system for a tidy $145,000 in public money which will boost her PERSI retirement markedly. Clegg’s departure leaves a vacancy on the council which potentially could be filled by appointing Sanchez to Clegg’s seat.

Sanchez leaving HER seat could create another vacancy which the mayor would be able to fill with a second appointment.

The GUARDIAN has read all 19 affidavit pages detailing the probable cause for the arrest warrant of Bryan Kohberger, 28. With years of police-court reporting under the belt and sessions teaching coppers the ethical guidelines of crime reporting and release of information, we can offer nothing but admiration and praise for the conduct of this high profile case.

The degree of sophistication in handling the press gathered at Moscow was impressive. Not only the press conference style, but the use of a “media pool” allowing video and still images in the Latah County court room during his initial appearance averted a media frenzy. Pools are normally used in congressional and Presidential events. Typically a pool will grant access to single TV, radio, print, and wire services photographers and reporters. Media pools make all recordings and images available to all media.

While it may have seemed coy when police refused to answer reporter’s questions, we can now see they had a lot of info gathered from multiple agencies. Bottom line is there is little in our lives today that isn’t recorded or archived.

UPDATE 1/6/23–FBI had coppers stop suspect in Indiana to check for wounds on his hands, according to NY POST.
We offer a link below to the entire report which is fascinating reading. The affidavit was written by Brett Payne, a corporal with the Moscow Police Department (MPD) who has been with the department for about four years.

PROBABLE CAUSE AFFIDAVIT

The officer who was allegedly injured has filed a tort claim against the city of Boise. That civil action is yet to be resolved.

The ISP NEWS RELEASE:
The Clearwater County Prosecutor’s Office will not file criminal charges against Boise Chief Police Ryan Lee after reviewing the investigation results of a briefing incident. The investigation was conducted by the Idaho State Police and reviewed by the Clearwater County Prosecutor’s Office.

“I believe this investigation has been taken as far as possible,” says Clearwater Prosecutor Clayne Tyler. “I recommend at this point in time against filing a criminal charge.”

It is standard protocol for an outside agency to review potential criminal conduct, and Idaho State Police investigated the incident. Detectives interviewed the victim, Chief Lee, witnesses and gathered evidence. Due to the potential conflict of interest in working with the City of Boise, Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts requested Clearwater County Prosecutor’s Office review the investigation and provide a charging recommendation.

Thousands of Dems have registered with the Repubs just so they can vote in the closed primary. That same thought seems to echo McLean’s call to essentially create a cadre of moles in the Republican Party.

When the GUARDIAN brought up the idea of changing parties with Republican Gov. Brad Little, he said, “Gosh, I was thinking of doing the same thing and joining the Dems since our GOP has been co-opted by Janice McGeachin and the Orange Man.”

As soon as he heard of McLean’s plan, Republican Rep. Mike Moyle introduced a bill in the legislature prohibiting any members of the Democratic Party from joining “any political organization unless 10% of the members of that organization approve their application for membership from each legislative district in the state.”

Former soldier, lawyer, Attorney General, Supreme Court Justice, and current media columnist Jim Jones opined, “only a fool would believe this garbage.”