Daily Wrap Up 6/25/07

I'm going to start the week off with a daily wrap up, as there have been numerous stories that are certainly worthy of consideration and I don't have the time to post exclusively on all of them.

This story's a little old, but the milk has not curdled on it yet, so I'll put it first. First, mark the calendar because I am about to - yup - praise the NYPD. In an effort to improve community relations among minority communities, the top brass at One Police Plaza decided to host an event at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem with musician Wyclef Jean as well as a number of folks who have not been supporters of police actions in the past. The event was part of a four-day effort to teach new police recruits about cultural differences among the wide array of communities in New York and how to communicate better with community members. Only time will tell how well this and other initiatives have worked, but at the very least it might wipe the smirk off of Raymond Kelly's face on his web profile for the NYPD.

Media organizations across the nation have focused in on Canton, Ohio for the past week as the drama of missing pregnant woman Jessie Davis has played out. Unfortunately, Ms. Davis was found dead this past weekend with her unborn child. Bobby Cutts, Jr. has been charged with the murder of both Davis and the unborn child that he fathered. The twist in this story is that Cutts himself is a police officer in Canton and has been in trouble numerous times before this. In 1998, before he was a cop, he pleaded no contest to charges stemming from an incident with an ex-girlfriend. In 2003 his firearm was found in possession of his drug-dealing cousin and he was fired from the force, but was allowed to return because there was "not enough evidence of wrongdoing." How was this man allowed to be a police officer? An arrest record with a hefty disciplinary charge should equal termination (he should not have been hired in the first place with an arrest record and a no contest plea). Nevertheless someone saw it necessary that he be on the force and now I can't help but think, are there any officers on the Canton Police who have arrest records or the inability to keep an eye on their service weapons? Hopefully someone in the top brass is disciplined for this ineptitude.

And finally, most likely the only post I will ever do on uber-skank Paris Hilton. She is slated to be released from the pokey tomorrow and I could not care less. However, one thing that is interesting is the complete lack of morality or journalistic integrity at both ABC and NBC. ABC initially offered $100,000 for Paris' first post-jail interview, but then NBC one-upped their rival and offered $1 million. In addition to this, People magazine offered $300,000 for pictures of Paris leaving jail. Well, after the public got wind of all of this shady dealing all three parties cancelled their "deals" and refused to work with Hilton. Shit, I'll sit in a single cell in jail for a little less than a month for $1.3 million, I'd be able to catch up on reading. My question is this: why feed her large ego by paying to have "exclusive" interviews with her? Listening to her talk is like watching paint dry, with her vapid speech and absent logic. Paris Hilton is talentless and is living off of mommy and daddy's money while sleeping with at least half of Hollywood. If ABC and NBC want to offer their viewers the most objective news possible, then stop the "infotainment" news and return to the facts with as little commentary as possible.

Photos - Top: Raymond Kelly and the smirk (nyc.gov), Bottom: Paris Hilton pre-jail (kenyonfarrow.wordpress.com)