AACCC Community Issues

The Greatest Protector (Madison Police Graduation 29 January 2010)

2010-02-19T10:24:00.000-06:00

Love is The Greatest Protector. Love is the greatest protector. I attended a wedding on New Years Day and the officiant was describing the attributes of love and he said that love always protects. He said that love always protects…….I had to think about that and I said humph, I guess that’s true. Because when I think about one of the greatest examples of love, I think of a mothers love for her newborn child. Mothers of newborns will protect that child, sometimes violently, if necessary. She will feed her, nurture her………….. make sure that she stays warm. She will jump up to move things out of his way as he crawls to make sure that he doesn’t hurt himself. She will watch his every move like a hawk. These characteristics may sound familiar to the Madison Police Department.

You are a special group………Captain Williams took time to describe who you are, full of leaders, patient, versatile, and noble.

I know that you can relate to these characteristics and I submit to you that Love is the Greatest Protector.

This is a selfless and caring type of love. It is a leadership model for humanity. As a citizen, I want to be protected in love……Not Hate.

On a very calm night, in 1992, I went to get a number 1 from McDonalds “The BIG MAC Meal”! It was the McDonalds on Park Street. Upon exiting the Mcdonald’s, I made a left turn and began heading North (northbound, northward, is that a correct Police description), returning to campus. I was driving at the appropriate speed limit and I was approaching a green light, so I proceeded through the green light. About 10 seconds later a police car drove up close to my bumper, turned on its flashing lights and pulled me over. Without provocation, the officer ordered me out of the car and told me to pull the registration sticker off of my license plate because it appeared to be fraudulent. Has this ever happened to anybody?

Even though I knew that my sticker was not fraudulent, I obediently did everything that the officer told me to do because she had authority as an officer of the law and………she had a gun. Then she said, “Now, hurry-up and get home before somebody else pulls you over”. (She had no love, for a brother)

And I felt……..helpless, insignificant, and small. I went home and I called the most high-ranking judicial official I knew. An African-American Circuit court judge in Chicago and she said…..

____________________________

Now, I ended up finding out that the officer was not a member of the Madison Police Department, but another local Police Department. After numerous attempts to ascertain the appropriate Police Chief, I finally got to see him and he personally verified my registration and ordered a new sticker for me but I still felt humiliated by the fact that I had to go through that. Years later, I was asked to serve as a Madison Police and Fire Commissioner, if I was still bitter about that situation, I couldn’t do this job but I want you to know that a good citizen respects authority.

So on behalf of Police and Fire Commissioners, Lawton, Yapp, Kampersher, and Hamden, and the citizens of Madison, I also want you know that we trust you. When we’re in trouble, we will call you. If our cats are in the trees, we expect you to rescue them. If somebody takes something from us, we want you to find them. We know that there are a lot of minorities in prison but don’t pull us over because we’re Black, Don’t pull us over because we’re Latino. Don’t harass us because we’re female, Don’t pull us over because we appear meek. Love is the greatest protector.

Written by: Wesley Sparkman
Police and Fire Commission (2010 President)

Winslow Sargeant Nomination Update - November 2009

2009-11-19T09:05:00.000-06:00

Winslow L. Sargeant, Ph.D.
Nominee: Chief Counsel for Advocacy at the Small Business Administration

Click here to read an update on the proceedings.

"Small Business Committee Backs Inspector General and Chief Counsel for Advocacy"

2009-09-17T16:56:00.000-05:00

16 September 2009

WASHINGTON – The United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship today reported out favorably the nominations of Peggy E. Gustafson to be the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Inspector General and Winslow Lorenzo Sargeant to be the Agency’s Chief Counsel for Advocacy. Gustafson and Sargeant must now be confirmed by the full Senate.

“I am pleased that President Obama nominated such talented individuals to top positions at the SBA,” Senator Mary Landrieu, Chair of the Small Business Committee, said in a statement. “With capable leaders like Dr. Sargeant and Ms. Gustafson at the helm, we’re hopeful the agency will be more ready than ever to play an important role in assisting small businesses as they continue to lead this country to an economic recovery. We look forward to working with them and to a new era for the SBA and American small businesses.

“There is no statutory requirement that the Chief Counsel be an attorney, rather the Chief Counsel is an advocate for small businesses in the regulatory process and an important source of research on small business and that is exactly what Dr. Sargeant will be. As someone who has regulatory experience both as a small business owner and at a federal agency, he understands all the challenges small businesses face. Democrats and Republicans alike support Dr. Sargeant’s nomination, including the last two Chief Counsels for Advocacy who were nominated by President Bush, because he is uniquely qualified and an exceptional leader,” said Senator Landrieu.

Dr. Sargeant is currently the Managing Director of Venture Investors, a Midwest venture capital company with a concentration on starting up healthcare and technology companies. Previously, he co-founded Aanetcom, a technology company now owned by PMC Sierra (a publicly-owned company) and served as a program manager for the Small Business Innovation Research program in electronics at the National Science Foundation.

Peggy Gustafson currently serves as the General Counsel for Senator Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. Before working as General Counsel for Senator McCaskill here in Washington, Ms. Gustafson worked for her when the Senator was the Prosecutor for Jackson County, Missouri. She also served on the Kansas City Fraud Task Force, the Kansas City Arson Task Force and taught at the University of Missouri School of Law.

Click here to watch the Webcast.

September 2009: Policy Briefing from Center for Family Policy and Practice

2009-09-15T11:50:00.000-05:00

The September 2009 Policy Briefing from the Center for Family Policy and Practice: The Increasing Criminalization of Homelessness.

Click here to read in its entirety.

"Police Chief: 'Crime has gotten personal' in Madison"

2009-09-08T14:21:00.000-05:00

20 July 2009 - by Steven Verburg for the Wisconsin State Journal

" ... 'What has happened is that crime has gotten personal,' Wray said. 'The reason it's gotten personal is because more people are experiencing quality of life issues and seeing crime taking place where they would not have seen it before.' ... "

To read the entire story, click HERE.