From CIA to cop

[peterb]

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/05/07/the-spy-who-came-home

Interesting piece on an experienced CIA operative now working a beat in Savannah.

[jnc36rcpd]

I'd be intrigued to know what Skinner's beat partners and the case officers with whom he worked think about his abilities and performance. For that matter, I wonder what his fellow Coast Guard members, Capitol Police, and FAM's thought of him/

[TGS]

I'd be intrigued to know what Skinner's beat partners and the case officers with whom he worked think about his abilities and performance. For that matter, I wonder what his fellow Coast Guard members, Capitol Police, and FAM's thought of him/

Judging from the article, there's definitely a lot of bullshit being stepped in.

[Sigfan26]

I'd be intrigued to know what Skinner's beat partners and the case officers with whom he worked think about his abilities and performance. For that matter, I wonder what his fellow Coast Guard members, Capitol Police, and FAM's thought of him/


Judging from the article, there's definitely a lot of bullshit being stepped in.

I was unaware that Savanna Georgia was “bitterly cold” any month. To be honest, the whole article was less believable than anything Clancy, Flynn, or Thor ever wrote. I could be completely off base.


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[KPD]

I fell asleep twice reading it.......
I to am curious about what his previous co-workers think of him.
I worked with a guy almost exactly like him. He went on to become chief of a small police department. Everyone hated working for him and he was removed within two years.

[Sigfan26]

I fell asleep twice reading it.....
I worked with a guy almost exactly like him. He went on to become chief of a small police department. Everyone hated working for him and he was removed within two years.

In the CIA, or just ultra liberal?


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[Dr. No]

Gypsy cops always have a reason they move around a lot ...

[ranger]

I was unaware that Savanna Georgia was “bitterly cold” any month. To be honest, the whole article was less believable than anything Clancy, Flynn, or Thor ever wrote. I could be completely off base.


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I am a Savannah native. "Bitterly Cold" to us may be different than your definition. 19 degrees, high humidity, and wind coming off the Savannah River was plenty cold for me. We probably define "hot" in the summer differently than other areas too.

[Joe Mac]

Enlighten me, oh smartest guy in the room...how, exactly, has American law enforcement been treating people like we're in Fallujah?

What a fucking bullshit artist; he's been a cop for 45 minutes and he's got it all figured out... He won't last.

[txdpd]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQCU36pkH7c

[willie]

Skinner's pronouncements sound like what are probably cliches from criminal justice 101. He's egotistical and full of shit too. He became a beat cop because he needed a job.

[Drang]

Because The New Yorker is where I look for insightful reportage on Law Enforcement. Or Intelligence Collection and Analysis. Or anything.

"A cooter colored truck"? Surprised they didn't include a map to remind The New Yorker's readers of where Georgia is...

[Kyle Reese]

Enlighten me, oh smartest guy in the room...how, exactly, has American law enforcement been treating people like we're in Fallujah?

What a fucking bullshit artist; he's been a cop for 45 minutes and he's got it all figured out... He won't last.He'll bounce from department to department to department.

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[Hambo]

It is true that there are still a lot of Crown Vics on the road.

[lwt16]

It is true that there are still a lot of Crown Vics on the road.

We have a fleet full of them.....over 400 sworn here at my agency.

They are all junk and unworthy of being part of a cab fleet....yet we expect younger, rookie officers to save the day with those heaps. Several with 1/4 million miles on the odo.

As far as the CIA guy, I will admit that I didn't make it through the article and have my doubts as well. My first thought was "What's the guy doing working some PD for chump change with that sort of resume?"

And yes, winter time in the deep south can get cold but I will admit that I roll year long in short sleeves and rarely don a jacket while on duty. It's cold....but I wouldn't call it bitter. Now the heat? We can bring the heat down here.

Regards.

[BehindBlueI's]

It is true that there are still a lot of Crown Vics on the road.

We've got quite a few of them. Interceptors are replacing them, but we run cars until they die so they are done via attrition rather than en masse.

[BehindBlueI's]

I've never been a senior anything,” Skinner said. “Always a rookie.”

Then listening to you is akin to letting high school kids set national policy on gun rights.

I quit reading after that and the litany of working here and there for a few years at a time. Shut up and work your beat, Rook.

[Hambo]

Remember the 1980s Chevys? We ran some of our so long that you couldn't attempt a stop for speed unless you had a rolling start.

As far as the CIA part, it sounds like BS except that the government hired a lot of unqualified people to work with the provisional government in Iraq.

[lwt16]

And if memory serves, he said we need more training in "de-escalation".

I'm bout sick of that. I've got 23 years experience in "de-escalation"............I'd say I'm a daggum professional expert at it after dealing with thousands and thousands of idiots and drama queens in 23 years of police street level calls.

Gimme a break. That's about the last training I need.

Give me some active shooter training with live rounds and range time (which, apparently, is asking for the moon these days) and keep your de-escalation.........I could write a textbook on that.

[PearTree]

I laughed pretty hard at the article. My favorite part where it said he and 4 other cops were clearing a building and he was the only one to keep his weapon holstered because they will shoot each other with guns out. Wonder if the CIA taught him that nugget of wisdom.

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[lwt16]

I laughed pretty hard at the article. My favorite part where it said he and 4 other cops were clearing a building and he was the only one to keep his weapon holstered because they will shoot each other with guns out. Wonder if the CIA taught him that nugget of wisdom.

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Yeah, I caught that too. I immediately thought "Put ol Jason Borne there in a Simunition shoot house with that tactic and Imma light him up playing the bad guy. Be like a swarm of bees on him I'll get so many hits before he clears Kydex."

[Guerrero]

Wasn't there another article about about a CIA-turned-cop a few months ago? New York City maybe?

Or was it the other way around, a cop who joined the CIA, because doing counter-terrorism stuff was similar to gang-busting?

[Totem Polar]

Or was it the other way around, a cop who joined the CIA, because doing counter-terrorism stuff was similar to gang-busting?

If you count contracting, that’s common enough that I know more than one person who’s done it. And I’m an arts/music guy, not LE...

[PNWTO]

As far as the CIA part, it sounds like BS except that the government hired a lot of unqualified people to work with the provisional government in Iraq.

That was kind of my thought, I have heard a lot of people claim to be "OGA" when in reality they were a DoS/DoD/ABC contractor who did help desk support for 6 months.

[KPD]

In the CIA, or just ultra liberal?


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Sorry, just ultra liberal police officer.
I did apply to the CIA almost thirty years ago though! I got the coolest rejection letter on CIA letterhead!

[CWM11B]

The guy is a total bullshit artist and attention whore. I liked the part where " pollice kill nearly a thousand citizens a year". Well if a number less than halfway to a thousand counts, then yeah...
Dude will get outed as a poser and fraud. I'll bet money on it.

[psalms144.1]

I try not to make judgements about people's backgrounds or stories, I've had plenty of experience meeting folks who really were who they said they were in a former "life."

However, no matter what background this guy has, he's a tool bag, and he should STFU about stuff he clearly doesn't understand...

[TGS]

Wonder if the CIA taught him that nugget of wisdom.

Something to remember is the vast majority of case officers are not ground branch/SAD/paramilitary officers. The latter are extremely well trained in weapons, tactics, and force application.....and the reason they exist is because case officers are not extremely well trained in weapons, tactics, and force application....

My guess is 99% that this guy had more in common with a congressional staffer than Jason Bourne.

I really rolled my eyes when he insinuated that CIA case officers are better trained to conduct police work than actual police officers. Give me a fucking break......

[txdpd]

The guy is a total bullshit artist and attention whore. I liked the part where " pollice kill nearly a thousand citizens a year". Well if a number less than halfway to a thousand counts, then yeah...
Dude will get outed as a poser and fraud. I'll bet money on it.

After telling his fellow officers that they're not smart enough to search a building without shooting each other, no wait he didn't have the courtesy to even do that, after using a national publication to call his coworkers a bunch of idiots that aren't smart enough to search a building without shooting each other, I don't see him lasting long there. He better get used to being on everyone's radar.

[jnc36rcpd]

The part about the homeless mentally ill woman really had me rolling mu eyes. He elects to gerry her about, spend six dollars to buy her breakfast, and then drop her to loiter at Waffle House. What are the odds that she'll expect the same treatment from both Skinner and every other cop the next night? What if the next officer can't afford or doesn't want to spend six dollars the next night? Is her presence in Waffle House welcomed by anyone? Is it bringing in customers to support the establishment or perhaps driving them elsewhere? Lastly, what is the end result? An officer on another shift calls for an ambulance for her. While I don't know Savannah, I'm inclined to think the other officer is doing more to connect this woman with the mental health system.

Why do I think that our ex-spook's addresses him much the way Superintendent Chambers addresses the principal of Springfield Elementary? "SKINNNER!!!!"

[SeriousStudent]

....

Why do I think that our ex-spook's addresses him much the way Superintendent Chambers addresses the principal of Springfield Elementary? "SKINNNER!!!!"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V8nl8v24cQ&list=RD3V8nl8v24cQ&start_radio=1

[Jason M]

He’s parroting a lot of the derp from the good folks at PERF...

[Chance]

I'm not really tracking the point of that article. The guy worked for the CIA and is now an irritating police officer. Big deal.


Something to remember is the vast majority of case officers are not ground branch/SAD/paramilitary officers.

That was my first thought. Case officers aren't commandos, they mostly just talk to people and cultivate relationships, which I guess is a useful skill set for a cop.


Why do I think that our ex-spook's addresses him much the way Superintendent Chambers addresses the principal of Springfield Elementary? "SKINNNER!!!!"

"Chalmers."

[Punisher1336]

Graduates the Capital Police academy and jumps into a plainclothes detail. Sounds like a scene from The Departed. Then joins the Air Marshall and the CIA comes looking for him because the CIA really needs career academy graduates with little street experience. I'm shocked he is not in the FBI.

[Hambo]

The part about the homeless mentally ill woman really had me rolling mu eyes. He elects to gerry her about, spend six dollars to buy her breakfast, and then drop her to loiter at Waffle House. What are the odds that she'll expect the same treatment from both Skinner and every other cop the next night? What if the next officer can't afford or doesn't want to spend six dollars the next night? Is her presence in Waffle House welcomed by anyone? Is it bringing in customers to support the establishment or perhaps driving them elsewhere? Lastly, what is the end result? An officer on another shift calls for an ambulance for her. While I don't know Savannah, I'm inclined to think the other officer is doing more to connect this woman with the mental health system.

The real question: is the Waffle House in question within the boundaries of another city? Or at the very least, in another patrol district?

[blues]

The real question: is the Waffle House in question within the boundaries of another city? Or at the very least, in another patrol district?

Is it any wonder that the Waffle House attracts those with diminished mental capacity?


waf·fle1
ˈwäfəl/
informal
verb
1.
NORTH AMERICAN
fail to make up one's mind.
"Joseph had been waffling over where to go"
2.
BRITISH
speak or write, especially at great length, without saying anything important or useful.
"he waffled on about everything that didn't matter"
synonyms: waver, vacillate, equivocate, sit on the fence
"faced with this commitment, she waffled"
noun
1.
US
a failure to make up one's mind.
"his waffle on abortion"
2.
BRITISH
lengthy but trivial or useless talk or writing.
synonyms: waver, vacillate, equivocate, sit on the fence
"faced with this commitment, she waffled"


/s (added for the impaired)

[SouthNarc]

The Waffle House I can throw a rock at from my front door, does my eggs perfect every time. Fucking immaculate.

[hank440]

Graduates the Capital Police academy and jumps into a plainclothes detail. Sounds like a scene from The Departed. Then joins the Air Marshall and the CIA comes looking for him because the CIA really needs career academy graduates with little street experience. I'm shocked he is not in the FBI.

it is U.S. Capitol Police

you are thinking about it wrong. the gallery assignment is a shit detail,
the only reason it is plainclothes is because the members don't want so many uniformed cops that the place looks like "a police state".
Uniforms are not allowed inside of the chambers while in session.

The management allows rookies to work it because they can't get enough "volunteers" to work there, the object is to keep the public in line and the members safe from those they screw.

I hope this helps. :o

[blues]

The Waffle House I can throw a rock at from my front door, does my eggs perfect every time. Fucking immaculate.

Ours is decent but I wouldn't go so far as immaculate. That's mighty high praise.

[Lester Polfus]

To play Devil's Advocate just an eensy bit, I was once a subject of an in-depth human interest piece that not only got factual details such as my age, military history, time of employment at my then agency completely wrong, but also painted a subjective picture of me that several friends were deeply confused about because they wondered if there was some mistake at the newspaper because the article had a picture of me, and my name, but nothing else matched.

[HCM]

The Waffle House I can throw a rock at from my front door, does my eggs perfect every time. Fucking immaculate.

I believe they do your eggs perfectly but I would be highly suspicious of a Waffle House which was immaculate.

[Hambo]

The Waffle House I can throw a rock at from my front door, does my eggs perfect every time. Fucking immaculate.

Oddly there are two in this county, located about a half mile apart on either side of an interstate exit. I guess that's so no matter which direction you choose you go by a Waffle House. The restaurants might be great, but the area is three gun territory, and I'm not talking about USPSA.

[willie]

As an old food establishment inspector, I never saw an immaculate restaurant. I had a good day when I observed no food workers digging and scratching. Scrambled eggs often languish on a hot hoid to be served later. Not so for fried eggs. My advice: order fried eggs fried hard to look like a frisby. The waffle batter must be kept refrigerated at 40 degrees or below. Good luck.

[heyscooter]

The C.I.A.’s fixation on area familiarization has shaped Skinner’s approach to policing.

I basically boiled the article down to one sentence for y'all.

[TheNewbie]

As an old food establishment inspector, I never saw an immaculate restaurant. I had a good day when I observed no food workers digging and scratching. Scrambled eggs often languish on a hot hoid to be served later. Not so for fried eggs. My advice: order fried eggs fried hard to look like a frisby. The waffle batter must be kept refrigerated at 40 degrees or below. Good luck.

Wishing I had not read this...

I sure hope you are not in North Texas. lol

[blues]

Wishing I had not read this...

I sure hope you are not in North Texas. lol

Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.








(Yeah, I didn't buy that either.)

[Joe in PNG]

Most people's home kitchens are absolutely frightening, from a commercial food safety standpoint.

[SouthNarc]

I think the Waffle House thread drift is far more interesting than the poser OGA dude.

[HCountyGuy]

I would be highly suspicious of a Waffle House which was immaculate.

If you enter a WH with a 97-100 health score, I’d leave. WH always struck me as a high 70’s through low 90’s kinda joint.

[Hambo]

Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

And how did that work out for Nietzsche? Maybe Schnitzel House wasn't any better than Waffle House.

[blues]

And how did that work out for Nietzsche? Maybe Schnitzel House wasn't any better than Waffle House.

It was that extra serving of strudel that ultimately undid him.

[Baldanders]

I hate to break this away from the Waffle House discussion, but my favorite part of the article was the superpower Mr. Supercop had to identify a pistol's chambering by its sound alone, and to know to if the shooter had good trigger control via the same method. It's hard to know how much of this is a guy feeding a reporter bs, and how much is simply bad reporting.

On Waffle House--the hash browns rock, but never, ever, order a steak there. It's a contest of who's eating who first.

[RJflyer]

I'm more of a lurker on this forum than I am a poster. But this thread got my attention, as I have a background in the IC and subsequently entered the LE community. I'll be the first to say that I have immense respect for CIA and the analysts, case officers, and others who work in that organization. But I feel as though mainstream America hears the letters "CIA" and immediately thinks Jason Bourne. I spent a solid portion of my professional life in the intel community and never encountered the type of threats/danger that your average police officer encounters on a daily basis. I don't know the man who's the subject of this article, or his background. But the comment about him being concerned about his fellow officers shooting him in the back during room clearing made me cringe...if he's truly in a position to identify a training deficiency, he should address that within his Dept...not use it as an anecdote to self-aggrandize with a New York reporter.

[Jeff22]

The author of this article might be like lots of people -- they can't tell the difference between somebody who talks good and somebody who IS good.

But, this Skinner guy has "Arctic-blue eyes, and a magnetic social energy that has the effect of putting people around him at ease" so I can see how the author might be fooled . . . I wonder what the REAL story is with that guy

[LittleLebowski]

Smelling bullshit.