Talk:Eureka, California/Archive 3

Law Enforcement

In regards to user Iambobm edits: I can't find any mention in any newspaper reports of eyewitnesses saying that Burgess threatened police. In fact, all the eyewitnesses seem to maintain that Burgess dropped the hunting knife prior to fleeing the police. The only people who have stated that Burgess used his knife in a threatening manner are the police. Saying "eyewitness" implies that people other than the police witnessed the killing, which is not the case. Further, saying things like "extremist" and "notoriously liberal" is POV, and should not be put into an encyclopedic document. As to opinions of the people of Eureka, if you have citable information that there are citizens groups who are unhappy with the filings of the various groups protesting these incidents, then provide it. Otherwise it doesn't belong here, because there is no way to confirm whether what you state is correct or not.--Metatree 04:02, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

In response to Metatree:

Iambobm is affiliated with the EPD. Iambobm is using 'weasel-words' to sway the bias on the Burgess entry. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.52.37.119 (talk • contribs)

Response:

Why are these issues being presented on Wikipedia, and not a blog somewhere? Seems like an inappropriate venue. Also, the writer is obviously biased against the Police. What with the miss-spellings, and the attempt to use Wikipedia as a pulpit... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.237.117.4 (talk • contribs)

What the Law Enforcement section should say is open to debate. The idea that any mention of controversies concerning Eureka's police department should be deleted is an act of blatant censorship and against the values of Wikipedia. I would urge concerned individuals, especially those who don't live anywhere near here, to put their personal biases on hold and focus on what facts are pertinent to this entry. You are not the only ones who have a "watch" on this page. Charles Douglas 17:13, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

What is the point of details of such scandal herein? This is not a court or a newspaper, but rather a place to highlight various details of culture and history and political aspects of a community. The history and cultural trends over the decades best serves a community profile such as this one. It seems the editor so vested in the minute detail of recent tragic law enforcement issues has an axe to grind and can do it here for free. I am a six generation native of Humboldt and maintain property there and where I currently reside nearby so my concern over this is merited as much as anyone. In any case this focus on a current scandal in this forum is absurd. But most of all, it is unnecessary.Norcalal 04:11, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Ok, let's highlight the culture and history and political aspects of this community. There's now been 3 police killings in 8 months in a town of 26,000. This last one seems more justifiable than the first 2. The FBI seems to distrust the EPD, too, since they came to oversee Jonni Honda's standoff. Humboldt County, with only 150,000 residents, has a two block long, 5 story jail & courthouse. Humboldt also is near the top of California in: drug overdoses, suicides, sex criminals, and psychiatric drug perscriptions. For brevity's sake, maybe all that shouldn't go on the "article" page, but as a former counselor at Mental Health, I've seen how far behind the rest of the world in adopting the recovery model. If anything, we've been restrained, and to reach this level of "recent scandals", there has probably been a build up that's been anything but "recent". Coexist 03:59, 16 December 2006 (UTC)coexist

Again this is an encyclopedia, not a blog or a soapbox. And this beating in a high profile international venue will not help the situation. All this section provides is a place for locals to vent. Do you feel better? I doubt it. One more thing....no one can claim that the 3rd event was handled inappropriately, if the facts are carefully examined. I do agree about the other two events, but WIKIPEDIA is NOT the place to try this. Again, in a survey of 30 other cities with scandals, not a single scandal or murder is detailed in their respective Wikipedia articles. This type of discussion is not appropriate in this forum...it just isn't. Norcalal 15:30, 25 December 2006 (UTC)