Police Brutality in Memphis.

It truly becomes stressful to witness more and more cases of police brutality each and every day.

Link to WMC-TV's story and video clip

We usually consider such acts as being hate crimes, if this were to occur among civilians. However, as documented in the linked report above, Officer Swain and Officer McRae were not charged with any crime. We must take such matters personally, because America is not a police state and Americans do not have to fear the police as long as police officers continue to be paid with tax dollars.

Allegan County Traffic Tickets Plummet, Pinch Court Revenues.

'Do Take It Personal' is here to educate and inform fellow taxpayers and fellow voters about the ridiculous conduct going on in our most trusted public agencies. We are referring to local police departments, county sheriff departments, and even the heralded halls of justice - our district court systems.

This time, we examine the hard times being experienced by those serving the Allegan County District Court. Apparently, these self-centered, selfish, self-serving court employees feel disappointed that they can't prey on more victims, due to the high price of gas. If you are in any way associated with Allegan County or even just passing through, you should take this piece of information to heart and share the information with others. The more the people of Michigan understand the truth, the harder it is for those in power to take advantage of us and to fleece everything that we have worked so hard to earn for ourselves.

Link to Kalamazoo Gazette's article in PDF format.

Are You Ready for the Fading of the Mirage Economy?

Our mantra is to take it personal - and that includes matters involving economic significance. The fact is that too many American households are living way beyond their means. The primary reason for this behavior is the availability of easy credit. Folks are buying more house than they need, because of easy credit. People are buying more cars than they need, because of easy credit. Many are buying more TVs, power tools, apparels, and etc. than needed, because of easy credit.

Link to Steven Pearlstein's article in Washington Post

All these excessive credit can't sustain forever. The typical American households are going to have to scale back immediately. They will need to downsize to smaller houses, so that it costs less to heat, to cool and to maintain overall. They will need to downsize to smaller cars and fewer cars, so that it costs less to fill-up. Regardless of whether you wish to be in denial or not, higher oil prices are here to stay.

Be prepared to pay more for practically everything across the board - airfares, shipping/transporting packages, groceries, electricity, taxes, insurance, and so on. Businesses are passing on the increasing operating costs to the consumers. Government agencies are passing on the increasing operating costs to the public. As the consumer, you need to have the ability to afford all these additional expenses. You need to take it personal, and to be ready in advance. Do not wait - Do not delay - The time was yesterday to be prepared for the fading of the mirage economy.

Southfield Police on a Traffic Ticket Spree.

'Do Take It Personal' has been very active in monitoring bad police activities in the Metro Detroit region, because we believe that this region has suffered enough. We mean it when we say 'Enough Is Enough'! We trust that you mean it too, when you wrote in to tell us that your family and you are very upset, because you've had enough - 'Enough Is Enough'!

Apparently, those who govern us did not hear our collective voices, because the unfair traffic violation tickets are still being issued across Southeast Michigan like clockwork.

Yesterday, Sunday, sometime between 11am-1pm, as we drove down Southfield Road, we saw at least 6-8 patrol cars pulling over motorists along the east-side of the road between 10 Mile Road and the Lodge Freeway split. Imagine how short of a stretch this is, especially is you are familiar with this area. Bear in mind that it is a Sunday, and it is close to noon hour, hence the majority of the drivers and motorist being folks who were attending church and so on. Southfield police was obviously seizing the opportunity to start the month of June with a big revenue day on June 1, 2008. This is downright ridiculous in the minds of Metro Detroiters struggling each day to fend-off the multitude of obstacles trying to raise a decent family here in this battered region.

We share your pain and your frustration, because we know it is already very, very difficult, even without the additional pressure from bad police conducts. Let's not try to fool anybody, it is clearly about the money - cities and municipals are broke, counties are broke, the state of Michigan is broke. Southfield residents will remember this, and Southfield residents will know what to do the next time the police department submit any issues up for vote. The people are not stupid, the people are not going to take it standing still, the people do take it personal.

Another cop with bad judgment - Jody Horne

Clawson, Michigan, is a small and close-knitted community. It is also a city with budget problems similar to other Metro Detroit suburbs. In fact, a few years ago, the Clawson Police Department was almost disbanded. Fortunately, the community came together to oppose the proposal. They endured higher property taxes in order to keep the PD intact. Naturally, you would think that the Clawson police officers would remember who is paying their salaries. Not the case in Clawson.

Jody Horne, a relatively new hire, has been writing traffic tickets that are sometimes questionable. We have seen enough of such schemes by now here on 'Do Take It Personal', but apparently greed and bad judgment knows no end. We therefore add Clawson's Jody Horne to the growing list of bad cops in Metro Detroit, which already include Warren's David Kanapsky and Roseville's Stephen Starr.


Click on the image above and take a look at the hi-resolution photo evidence where Jody Horne wrote a ticket for 'No-Left Turn' onto the side street in front of the black building with the green National City bank sign along the top. The ticket was challenged in court, but as we have all known by now, the Oakland County Municipal Court in Troy is where money comes before justice, despite tangible evidence.