Omaha Police Division's No-Gang Problem
ChfAmer
charges filed against members of the alleged South Side Bloods, there has been
absolutely no gang related crime in Omaha since the Omaha Police Division's
Metro Unit was disbanded in early 2000. None. Why is this? The official reply
from the Omaha Police Division as to why their Metro or gang Unit was disbanded
was that the men were to be redeployed to other parts of the city. That was the
Omaha Police Division's official answer. What is interesting is the fact that
the gang problem in Omaha dissolved along with the Metro Unit. Why is that?
The gang problem in Omaha disapeared when OPD's Metro Unit disbanded because
the gang problem in Omaha WAS the Metro Unit. The Omaha Police Division's Metro
Unit was considered to be an elite unit of the Omaha Police Division. At least
among the heros of the Metro Unit itself, it was regarded as elite. And they
were elite alright. The Metro Unit was comprised of men who were over zealous
in their work. And over zealous is putting it mildly. The men of the Metro Unit
kept lists of men and women in the Omaha area that they labeled as gang
members. These gang members were then denied their civil rights as provided by
the Constitution by the heros of the Metro Unit. They were illegally spied on,
abused by officers, and played as chess pieces against one another. These men
and women had no privacy in their lives once they made the OPD's gang list. Who
is on the gang list? That is the real question. Men and women who are not and
were never gang members were targeted by the Metro Unit and they were never
gang members. The easiest way for the heros of the OPD to eliminate any threat
in their personal lives was to get those people placed on the gang list. Then
the Metro Unit, made of men void of common sense, void of personal
accountability, void of moral or legal shacklings could attack them at will.
The Metro Unit bugged homes, monitored cellular and chordless telephone
conversations, and used the OPD's air unit to ILLEGALLY spy on those who were
on their list. Nothing less than organized criminals themselves, the Metro Unit
was finally quietly disbanded.
No one whose rights were violated by the heros of the Metro Unit was ever
notified. No Metro Unit officer was ever publicly reprimanded or indicted for
his crimes. The Metro Unit may have been directly responsible for a number of
killings in which they fed illegally gathered intelligence information to rival
gang members who they knew would retatliate. Effectively, the Metro Unit would
attempt to have "hits" done by alleged gang members on other alleged gang
members. People who were working men and women, who had never been in a gang or
associated with any organized gang were classified as gang members by the OPD's
Metro Unit. These men and women were sitting ducks for the heros of the Metro
Unit who pitted actual gun wielding, outlaw gang members against them in
secret. Secret to everyone but the OPD, which acts more like a secret police
force from Russia than protectors of the people. Do you think that analogy is
too harsh? Consider this. The OPD knows it is above reproach. When the actions
of the heros of the OPD are questioned, there are mechanisms in place to
prevent the truth from ever reaching the public. Records kept on citizens are
kept secret. Records have actually been destroyed when they were requested by
investigators looking into the actions of the Omaha Police Division. There is
the Internal Affairs Unit which covers up ALL illegal actions by OPD officers.
There is unofficial police policies which do the same incuding Blue Silence
where officers are ostracized from the rest of the department for telling the
misdeeds of their fellow officers. There are threats and intimidation by
officers on citizens who have no voice in society or who have no faith in the
system due to their past scrapes with the law. And most importantly, there is
the misguided faith that Omaha puts in their police force, defending any and
every action of a law enforcement officer simply because they cannot fathom how
corrupt the police have become and refuse to believe what these police officers
are the real enemy of the people.
Finally, there is the fact that the Omaha Police Division may not have
controlled the actions of the men of the Metro Unit at all. Desite policies
which are intended to prevent racial profiling of suspects, the practice
continues. Profiling of suspects was conducted not only through race, but
through other means as well. Tattoos, motorcycles, ear piercings, bandanas, and
the way you wear your hair can make you a target of the Omaha Police Division.
The heros of the Metro Unit, who actively spied on everyone in Omaha developed
enough personal data on people in the Omaha area to to target men and women for
their sex lives, financial status(or lack of), and other personal data. Most
disturbing was where this illegally gathered information was being
redistributed. The so called OPD elite figured they could break the law at
will. They did so through the illegal gathering of intelligence information on
EVERYONE via the monitoring of chordless and cellular telephone conversations.
I actually caught at least one officer in the act of doing this. Omahan Marvin
Ammons was mistakenly killed by the OPD conducting themselves in this manner.
Where did this illegally gathered intelligence information go? Let's look at
who is the most disturbed by the disbanding of the Metro Unit. South Omaha
activist Virgil Armandirez has repeatedly voiced his disdain for the disbanding
of the Metro Unit. A local businessman and hispanic activist, Armandirez has
called for the rebanding and deployment of the Metro Unit to protect the
citizens of South and North Omaha. Apparently, Armandirez has no idea of the
actions of the Metro Unit in the past. That, or it is Armandirez himself who
controlled the actions of the Metro Unit, at least out of the Southeast
Precinct. Armandirez is the only Omahan who has voiced his opposition to the
disbanding of the Metro Unit. Why? Take a wild guess. Is it because he wants
crime eliminated in South Omaha? The gang problem has disapeared there. The
reason for Armandirez' wanting the Metro Unit to be redeployed may be closer
related to the fact his nephew is serving seventeen years in prison for
narcotics trafficking. Armandirez himself may feel he needs protection for his
own entries into crime. And who better to protect him than his old buddies at
the gang unit. A unit he can control simply through the proximity to
predominantly hispanic South Omaha. After all, what's a gang leader without his
gang?