Will the real Councilor Blanchard please stand up?

Posted here are three emails. The first was one from me to the city council members with photos showing improper police procedure by leaving a police cruiser open leaving police equipment and possibly firearms available to anyone who wanted to take them. Then the Mayor shows up at my store and we discuss the Bearcat fiasco. I informed the Mayor that Councilor Blanchard seemed to be meeting with the police chief in private discussing a tabled issue not voted upon yet. Then I questioned who was lobbying the school administrators for letters of support for the Bearcat as I considered it inappropriate and apparently he shared that with Councilor Blanchard who wrote me the second email, and then, my return email to her. I am amazed she thinks the Police's Chief's behavior, the Mayor's, and her behavior and delivery is appropriate for them and a city councilor.

Email 1 to the city councilors in general:

From: BrianBlackden

Sent: Friday, August 16, 2013 9:16 AM

To: jpbouley@comcast.net; markcoen@tds.net; steveshurtleff@aol.com; dansthilaire@comcast.net; dickdebpatten@comcast.net; Fred Keach; cwbouchard@aol.com; amandakgrady@gmail.com; lizblanchard@myfairpoint.net ; jennyk721@gmail.com; janward3@comcast.net; magrrw@myfairpoint.net; jallenbennett@comcast.net; ke9@comcast.net

Cc: Tony Schinella ; Nancy West

Subject: And people wonder why we don't trust the police with equipment

During the Sam's robbery last night, it would appear two firearm cases, maybe they held firearms, maybe not, but either way those and other equipment were left unsecure and appearing unlocked with no police officer around them so anyone could have attempted a theft of them if they had nefarious motives, considering it was an active crime scene and many people were milling about. Granted, I was there taking pictures and would have thwarted any such attempt, although it is not my responsibility by position but would have done so as a responsible citizen. If we see and question the smaller incidents, we have the right to be concerned about projected larger incidents.

1. “It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.”

Benjamin Franklin

Brian Blackden


Email 2 from Councilor Blanchard:

From: Liz Blanchard [mailto:lizblanchard@myfairpoint.net]
Sent: Friday, August 23, 2013 2:09 PM
To: BrianBlackden; jpbouley@comcast.net;markcoen@tds.net; steveshurtleff@aol.com; dansthilaire@comcast.net; dickdebpatten@comcast.net; Fred Keach; cwbouchard@aol.com; amandakgrady@gmail.com; jennyk721@gmail.com; janward3@comcast.net; magrrw@myfairpoint.net; jallenbennett@comcast.net; ke9@comcast.net
Cc: Tony Schinella; Nancy West; John Duval
Subject: Re: And people wonder why we don't trust the police with equipment

Mr. Blackden,

I understand you followed Police Chief John Duval to the Newell Post Restaurant on the morning of Tuesday August 21, 2013 and observed him having coffee with me, Councilor Blanchard.

I want you to understand that NOBODY “STRONG ARMS” ME INTO MAKING A DECISION AS AN ELECTED OFFICIAL!!! In fact, I invited Chief Duval to have coffee ( he paid for his and I paid for mine!) to discuss the whole issue of the “Bearcat”. I wanted to make sure I have all my facts straight before I vote. We also discussed an issue one of my constituents has with traffic on River Road, which he agreed to address right away. All perfectly legitimate and above board!

I am sorry you have nothing better to do, Mr. Blackden, than to follow the Police Chief and other officers around the city because you don’t trust them to do their job! That also tells me you don’t trust the 15 members of City Council, including the Mayor to do our job, because ultimately we are responsible for the City Employees. I am offended, because we take great pride in the fact that we hire quality people to run the City of Concord, hence, we don’t need you to micro-manage the Police Department! However, since you seem to have the time we would be more than happy to have you volunteer in some capacity, like helping the man who voluntarily picks up trash around the city. Also, the Police Chief would be more than happy to have a rational conversation with you and educate you with regard to the Bearcat so you can get your facts straight! We are still a free country and you have every right to disagree publicly with anything your government is doing, but you have a responsibility to not remain ignorant!

Sincerely,

Councilor Elizabeth Blanchard

Email 3 to Councilor Blanchard:

Sent: Fri 2013-08-23 8:56 PM

To: 'Liz Blanchard'

CC: 'jpbouley@comcast.net'; 'markcoen@tds.net'; 'steveshurtleff@aol.com'; 'dansthilaire@comcast.net'; 'dickdebpatten@comcast.net'; 'fkeach@dmflowers.com'; 'cwbouchard@aol.com'; 'amandakgrady@gmail.com'; 'jennyk721@gmail.com'; 'janward3@comcast.net'; 'magrrw@myfairpoint.net'; 'jallenbennett@comcast.net'; 'ke9@comcast.net'; 'Tony Schinella'; 'Nancy West'; 'jduval@concordpolice.com'; 'lmccrystal@cmonitor.com'; 'atimmins@cmonitor.com'; 'Coveno, Amy J'

RE: And people wonder why we don't trust the police with equipment

Councilor Blanchard:

Thank you for taking the time to respond to me, albeit condescending.

It is interesting you needed some private time to get more information from the Chief on the Bearcat as his presentation apparently wasn't long enough or clear enough, very much like his application. I would have hoped you could have examined him thoroughly in a public meeting though, so we could all have gleaned something from the tabled issue. You were, however, misinformed that I "followed" the Chief. Still, I hope you spend more than one minute of time with any Concord constituents if they contact you as we were only allowed that one minute at the public meeting, very unlike the House of Representatives who allow a topic to be heard fully and as most stay throughout lengthy testimony unlike, sometimes, the bill sponsor who delivers it and leaves (Rep. Shurtleff HB 135). How good for you the Chief agreed to address your River Road concern right away, as it seems he can't respond to my 91A regarding why one of his officers radioed in recent constitutionally protected activity like it was a criminal offense. As a matter of fact one of his Lieutenants responded that my request for an answer on the 91A was denied. That does not strike me as someone I want to trust in his capacity as an administrator.

I am perplexed that you think I have "nothing better to do" as with as many photos and knowledge I have, you too should be very concerned that some of the police department are incompetent, criminal, and unwilling to to follow basic police procedure, or ask for emergency assistance from the NH State Police during a crisis but wait 4 hours for a response from Belknap County. That is not strong public safety minded police work. If you perceive that that evolves into not trusting the city council then I would ask you to step back and do a recheck to see if you are properly representing the constituents or special interests.

As far being offended, that seems very unbecoming a councilor who should be one who is open minded and willing to address situations rather than make uninformed assumptions. As far as volunteering to the city, I feel I do quite a bit of that through my journalism as I bring attention to the public of happenings within the city and public safety fields. I do not know if you ever see my photographs in the press but I do think there is a portion of public service there. As far as inferring I am only qualified to pick up trash, as apparently the city must be failing to appropriately do so, and in reality it is an essential safety/health concern and important job, you seem to be demeaning the solid waste disposal employees you claim to represent and you are very misinformed of my full capabilities. I actually hold a bachelor degree in criminal justice and a minor in paralegal studies and have been a police officer, internal affairs detective, firefighter and EMT, counselor, probation case technician, and have also worked in the private sector on a national retail organized crime task force and while in law enforcement authored hundreds of felony pre-sentence investigations for superior court judges, just to avail you of some of my employment knowledge. I have also served on volunteer boards for Community Action and the Special Olympics, and have been a certified pepper spray instructor for both law enforcement and civilian defense, and have testified on numerous bills at the State House over the years. So I beg to differ with you if I think the police department may need some policing.

As far as offering the police chief's rational conversation schedule with me, I do appreciate that, but we have had numerous conversations, and I recall having a lengthy one prior to or during his Bearcat application fiasco with me offering a better body armor capability than a Bearcat of which he stated he was surprised I actually thought that way. I seem to also recall being one of the first citizens to publically demand that former Chief Madden outfit the Concord Police Department with Tasers. As a former Taser Instructor myself, I felt it was a tool the Concord Police needed to have in their force continuum. As far as needing the Chief to help me get my facts straight, I think mine are pretty much in order and it was his that brought his integrity and ability to lead into question with his grant wording.

I am far from ignorant, Ma'am, in fact, I am very passionate about fair government and honest law enforcement, and if my raising questions about police issues bothers you, or items such as the Chief or Mayor taking actions that I believe equate lobbying parties and school administrators instead of having an open and transparent debate, then you merely cement my beliefs that our government is failing us on many fronts. I hope to prove that to you and the remainder of the Council as I prepare to not miss a city council meeting from this point forward in order to prove just how passionate and thought out my ideas and solutions can be.

In closing, I do think that when a public official appears to be lobbying for an item he wants in private meetings with a Councilor when a pending vote is tabled, or when another public official reaches out to school administrators for assistance in seeking support for an important issue, the Bearcat in this case, especially when his wife is on the Board that would be sending such a letter of support if that were the case, it does give John Q. Citizen the perception someone is being sneaky and working behind the scenes for their favorable end result, and that is inappropriate. This reeks of attempting to stack the support for the issue at a level higher than that of constituent input. If I were to meet a City Councilor in private prior to a vote on gun store zoning, in so much as I own a gun store, that would be as inappropriate as what is going on here. The fact the Police Chief and Mayor are doing it in this instance does not lessen the appearance of impropriety.

Sincerely,

Brian Blackden