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Low Profile Leader Over two decades, Pete Kennedy earns respect for level approach
Published 12:00 am Monday, February 4, 2013
Editor's note: This is the first in a series of profiles for Black History Month. The Post is focusing on people in our community who are making history now.
By Mark Wineka
SALISBURY — Pete Kennedy was fed up. Out the front window of his realty office on East Fisher Street, he could watch the comings and goings of a crack house.
The police chief told him — maybe jokingly, maybe not — it might be wiser to move his office somewhere else than try to get rid of the drug activity.
Boiling inside, Kennedy decided he needed to do something himself — perhaps in the political arena. Twenty years and 10 elections later, Kennedy is close to becoming the longest serving member ever of Salisbury City Council.
For almost all of that time, Kennedy has been the only African-American on the five-member body.
Back in 1993, Kennedy sought the counsel of A.R. Kelsey and Charles Holloway, prominent members of the black community who had run for local offices before, although unsuccessfully.
He also went to the library and checked out books on how to campaign. State Alexander, an executive with Livingstone College, gave him ideas to try, and Kennedy waged a modest, first-time effort, spending the couple thousand of dollars he had raised.
But on Election Night, rather than waiting in town for returns, Kennedy decided to use his season tickets to attend a Charlotte Hornets basketball game.
The next morning he picked up a Charlotte Observer, which showed in the early edition reaching Salisbury that he was trailing. Kennedy put the newspaper down, assumed he had lost and went about his morning's business away from telephones.
It wasn't until he read the Salisbury Post's afternoon edition that Kennedy learned he had secured a position on the council by coming in fifth. When the Observer had gone to press, the largely African-American West Ward III precinct's votes had yet to be counted.
After Kennedy's election, the police chief became more proactive in getting rid of the crack house across the street. When photographs ran in the newspaper with drug suspects handcuffed and lying on the ground after a police raid on the house, some members of the black community complained about police brutality.
But Kennedy defended Police Chief Jeff Jacobs, "because he had done what we asked to clean it up."
The irony: Jacobs would leave his position later under pressure from the same West End community which helped to elect Kennedy.
Before the chief's resignation, however, Kennedy came to appreciate Jacobs' efforts to transform the Police Department into a community/district policing setup, based on strong neighborhood concepts.
Somehow over 20 years, William R. "Pete" Kennedy has kept a low profile, and the people who have been in public service with him say it's just the nature of the man.
"I think he's only on City Council to serve," recently retired City Manager David Treme says. "He doesn't seek the limelight. He was never one to seek headlines.
"… He thought all areas of the town and individuals should be treated the same, no matter where they lived."
Bill Burgin, who served 12 years on the council with Kennedy, says his colleague was always level-headed, informed and wary of taking a position that was either hard right or hard left.
"I think that's been his reason for success, quite frankly," Burgin says. "Answers aren't on the edges. They are somewhere in the middle."
As a councilman, Kennedy has played key roles in neighborhood revitalization efforts, community policing, creation of a city-owned cable utility, redevelopment of the former Towne Mall and the naming of a Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.
Targeting four individual neighborhoods for attention was especially important to Kennedy.
"To me," he says, "the city's only as strong as its weakest community, and the council bought into that."
In the city-government arena, Kennedy has seldom presented himself as spokesman for the black community. "As long as it happens, I don't care who gets the credit for it," he says.
But his subtle efforts for minorities have dramatically improved government diversity.
Kennedy immediately recognized how much of the city's work was done by boards and commissions reporting to City Council, and he worked behind the scenes in nominating minority members to those bodies at every turn.
Meanwhile, his leadership roles outside the council chamber have focused on human relations — through interracial luncheons, fraternities, community centers, minority business groups, minority credit unions, churches, the NAACP, Livingstone College, Rufty-Holmes Senior Center and the Salisbury-Rowan Community Action Agency.
Most people who follow the non-partisan City Council don't realize Kennedy, 72, was for many years a registered Republican.
He remembers changing his party affiliation back in early 1970s when he was teaching.
For several years Democratic governors had not delivered on teacher raises. When Republican Gov. Jim Holshouser took office, teachers finally received a salary increase.
Kennedy also identified with the conservative fiscal policy of the GOP.
Friends, family and colleagues know how conservative and business-minded Kennedy is.
"We sort of bonded with that," says Mayor Paul Woodson, a business owner and Republican himself. "We believe in people working, job growth and helping people in need. We were raised by the same kind of parents who told us to work hard and raise your family."
Treme laughs recalling the start of city budget sessions every year. Kennedy usually kicked things off by stating succinctly how he would not support any tax increase or hikes in fees.
"I have never wanted to raise taxes on anybody," says Kennedy, who owns several rental properties in Salisbury and East Spencer.
When he has voted for tax increases, he says, it has been when citizens wanted more police officers, or when an increase was necessary to keep the city fiscally strong.
"Sometimes, I just suck up and do it," Kennedy says, with a hint of protest.
Kennedy has lived two professional careers, besides his public service one.
For 28 years, he served as a school teacher, coach and guidance counselor — much of that time at East Rowan High School.
Toward the end of his school career, he also started dabbling in real estate, working first for Robeson Realty, then founding William R. Kennedy Realty Inc. in 1985.
As a property manager, landlord and Realtor, Kennedy has assisted what he believes are hundreds of people in becoming homeowners, many for the first time.
He has allowed tenants to use their rental payments toward buying a property, and he has helped some homeless residents at the Salisbury shelter find affordable rental units.
But there also have been many times, Kennedy acknowledges, when he has had to evict tenants for non-payment. It's something he never gets used to, he says.
Jean Kennedy, a member of the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education, says her brother-in-law Pete is more like a brother.
She only decided to seek a seat on the school board because of Pete Kennedy's encouragement.
"He lives a life of service to other people," Jean Kennedy adds. "When he makes a commitment, he's going to follow through. You can sense his sincerity. He really wants to help people."
Pete Kennedy's father worked at the Southern Railroad transfer shed in Spencer, and his mother was a homemaker.
The couple had three sons and a daughter, and "Pete" was the third child in line.
The nickname "Pete" stuck with him from the time he was a boy. The family already had so many Bills, Willies and Williams that a cousin announced Kennedy should go by "Pete" — and it stuck.
He grew up in East Spencer, attending segregated Dunbar School for grades 1 through 12. He lived close enough to go home for lunch.
Overall, Kennedy says, he stayed out of trouble.
"I wanted to be good because I was afraid of the consequences," he says.
His entrepreneurial spirit surfaced early. He ordered flower and garden seeds wholesale and sold them door-to-door in East Spencer. He also delivered "The Afro" newspaper, published in Baltimore, and learned right away the difficulties of collecting his subscription money.
It was a balancing act of diplomacy — something serving him well later as a property manager in negotiations between landlords and tenants.
Kennedy met his wife, the former Hazel Stout, at the Dunbar School. The couple attended Livingstone College together, graduating in 1962.
They married in 1964 and raised three children: Jacqueline, employed by US Bank in New York and a partner in Break-A-Leg Talent Production; William Ray Jr., a senior associate at Gensler Architecture in Chicago; and Walillian, manager of the Salisbury branch of First Legacy Community Credit Union.
They also have three grandchildren.
Pete Kennedy majored in business education at Livingstone and later earned his master's degree at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
His first job out of school was with N.C. Mutual Insurance, but his life's direction changed when he accompanied Hazel on her interview in Chesterfield, S.C., for an elementary school teaching post.
Schools were still segregated. A high school principal who happened to be at the superintendent's office asked Kennedy whether he might be interested in teaching business.
For the next five years, he taught at Gary High School and coached the basketball team, though at first they had to practice on clay courts outside because they had no available gymnasium.
In that part of the South, students went to school in July and August before taking a break for the cotton harvest. They didn't return to school again until late October, Kennedy recalls.
Pete and Hazel married during their years in South Carolina and started a family.
They returned to Rowan County when Pete was hired as a teacher at Dunbar High. After two years, integration came in 1969, and most of Kennedy's black colleagues were assigned teaching positions at the more racially diverse North Rowan High School.
But he was sent to East Rowan High, where the black student population was about 10 percent. He would stay at East Rowan until 1990 and serve as guidance counselor for more than 20 years.
He likes to think he had a career influence on thousands of students, especially those who went on to occupations such as doctors, nurses, attorneys and teachers.
"I fell in love with counseling," he says.
His master's degree was in counseling. He also earned a principal's certificate, interviewed for one principal's job but was not chosen.
Kennedy could never shed the urge to go into business.
He took a real estate course at Davidson Community College toward earning a license. He also would attend the Graduate Realtors Institute.
When he began working for Robeson Realty as a property manager and started bringing home extra money, both he and Hazel realized he might have a future in real estate.
He opened Kennedy Realty in 1985 and moved in 1989 to his present location, a renovated two-story house on East Fisher Street.
In his election bids every two years for council, Kennedy has employed a winning formula that basically says, spend as much as you raise.
But at times, it has been close. Out of 10 elections, he has come in fifth five times. But he also has been second, third and fourth.
Kennedy survived one election by 5 votes; another by 15 to 20 votes, he says.
Treme, the former city manager, says he found it best to visit Kennedy's office and talk city business with him from across his desk.
Treme says Kennedy always seemed to have good insights into what citizens were thinking and anticipated correctly how they would react to various council initiatives.
"Other council members sought him out for his perspective," Woodson agrees. "I benefited from his wisdom."
Kennedy recalls his first term as a councilman and going into a particular public hearing with his mind already made up.
It was a mistake, he says, and he learned to put off any decisions until he heard people out.
Kennedy says it's how he has avoided controversy and headlines. He simply went with what the majority of people have wanted.
Woodson, the mayor, calls him "Steady-Eddie Pete."
"He doesn't have big swings one way or the other," Woodson says.
Burgin says Kennedy always takes in all the facts before jumping to a conclusion.
"And he would piece together a pretty good answer to what we had in front of us," Burgin adds.
With each election cycle over the past 20 years, there always has been something the council is working on that Kennedy wants to see through.
He has been, for example, a strong supporter of the city's fiber-to-the-home utility. He saw it as a job creator and economic development tool and was on the technology committee that brought the proposal to the full council.
"Now we have the fastest internet in the state," Kennedy says.
Pete and Hazel Kennedy built their Sedgefield Acres home in 1969 and have lived there since.
Pete attends the Sunday School class Hazel teaches at Southern City AME Zion Church, where he is chairman of the board of trustees.
The couple travel extensively, including Pete's trips as a delegate to the National League of Cities, the Small Congress of Cities and the N.C. League of Municipalities.
In 2002, the Kennedys also accompanied a city contingent to Salisbury, England.
His service on the National League's Information and Technology Committee gave him important background information on cities with similar broadband utilities.
Kennedy credits Hazel for being supportive in everything he takes on, but he adds, "I'm very easy to get along with."
Jean Kennedy, his sister-in-law, agrees.
"Pete is calm," she says. "I have seen him angry only a few times in the more than 50 years I have known him."
Jean Kennedy paraphrases Proverbs 31 when she tries to describe her brother-in-law.
"Strength and honor are his clothing; and he shall rejoice in times to come. He openeth his mouth with wisdom, and in his tongue is the law of kindness.
"He looketh well to the ways of his household, and eateth not the bread of idleness."
Pete Kennedy says it his own way:
"I'm a servant to other people."
Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Exactly one week before the world gets a new look at comet Hartley 2 via NASA's EPOXI mission, observations of the comet by the Arecibo Planetary Radar in Puerto Rico have offered scientists a tantalizing preview.
"It kind of looks like a cross between a bowling pin and a pickle," said EPOXI project manager Tim Larson of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Only it's about 14-thousand-times larger and hurtling through space at 23 miles per second." A new image is online at http://www.naic.edu/~pradar/103P.
Scientists using Arecibo's massive radar dish began observations of Hartley 2 on Oct. 24, just four days after the comet made its closest approach to Earth since its discovery in 1986. (On Oct. 20, the comet came within 17.7 million kilometers, or 11 million miles, of Earth). The observations are scheduled to continue through Friday, Oct. 29.
During the Nov. 4 flyby, the cameras aboard the EPOXI mission spacecraft will get within 700 kilometers (about 435 miles) of the comet.
"Observing comet Hartley 2 from the Earth with radar was like imaging a 6-inch spinning cucumber from 836 miles away," said Jon Giorgini, a scientist at JPL and a member of the Arecibo team that imaged the comet. "Even without all the data in, we can still make some basic assertions about Hartley 2. Its nucleus is highly elongated and about 2.2 kilometers [1.4 mile] long, and it rotates around itself about once every 18 hours. In addition we now know the size, speed and direction of particles being blown off the comet, and we immediately forwarded all this information to the EPOXI team."
Just what a celestial pickle means for the EPOXI mission remains to be seen. Mission engineers and scientists are discussing the new findings and what -- if anything -- they signify for the upcoming comet encounter.
Along with Giorgini, observations of comet Hartley 2 were led by Arecibo Obervatory's John Harmon, with contributions by Mike Nolan and E. S. Howell.
The name EPOXI itself is a combination of the names for the two extended mission components: the extrasolar planet observations, called Extrasolar Planet Observations and Characterization (EPOCh), and the flyby of comet Hartley 2, called the Deep Impact Extended Investigation (DIXI). The spacecraft will continue to be referred to as "Deep Impact."
JPL manages the EPOXI mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The University of Maryland, College Park, is home to the mission's principal investigator, Michael A'Hearn. Drake Deming of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., is the science lead for the mission's extrasolar planet observations. The spacecraft was built for NASA by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo.
For more information about EPOXI visit http://www.nasa.gov/epoxi and http://epoxi.umd.edu/.
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text: Artist: Snoop Doggy Dogg f/ Tha Dogg Pound, Lil' Style, Young Swoop Album: Murder Was The Case soundtrack Song: Who Got Some Gangsta Shit? (Lil' Style) Nine in the mornin, feds at my door (my door) Lou Cortez creakin cross the hardwood floor (right) Dippin thru the alley I made my escape Didn't even get a chance to grab my Snoop Dogg tape Man with no music but happy he's free Bailin fast as I can bail down 19th Street I got my sacks in my pocket and at least a grand Gold on my knuckle, my pistol's closed in hand I'm a Dogg Pound Gangsta from the LBC Remotely controlled by the bomb-ity But just livin in big city is a serious task Didn't know what the feds wanted, didn't have time to ask (Snoop Doggy Dogg) We're comin with that G shit, that C shit that makin niggas sick How does it feel to see a G from your clique? Wake up, jumped out of bed wit my grin on (why?) Last night's dice game got my win on About a G and a half is what I come with but twenty five G's is what I left with *?Teatley?* was the word I heard I went deep in my pockets and threw my stars on the cone Gimme the dice so I can break you niggas I threw a C (C-I-X) so my point was the biggie Seven-four-four-tre back to back I sent two fools back to their lizzack (Kurupt) See now I'm off to the graveyard shift and I gots ta pay my dues to make my grip But I chill cos my ho might call Ain't no thang cos I sleeps all day and slang when night fall And I takes a quick walk up the block with my Glock cocke, ready to make a stop where I set up shop on 59th and 8th Ave where all the homies be hangin That's where a nigga'll be slangin I'm makin a cool grip of shit, this ain't me so I put my chips together and cops a quarter ki And now the shops on deck and everything that's mines I protect with a Tek, I don't half step Now I got ends and I'm rollin a Lexus, fuck a Benz, and so many new friends But I could only trust a few and unawarely I trusted you But if only G (Snoop) It's Snoop, homies from the motherfuckin get-go Devoted and quotin, back in '84 I was thirteen, G was a year older but I still wadn't afraid to throw him from his shoulders Gettin good on the hood was the anticipation and yeah, King Park was the destination Every nigga that I knew was at the Park that night even the smokers that be levellin gettin sparked tonight (Lil' Style) Back on the streets, straight blue and grey cos I represent like every day Nigga you can't tell me I don't be on the spot when I can tell you all the homies that done get shot From at least about five years ago when I was in junior high goin to Marshall The homey use to come up to the school and rock and leave and have the bitches flockin his jock Damn them was the days of the past but since the Pizzound formed we been whippin people's ass And everybody a blast and if you don't believe me nigga you can axe the homey Daz And that's your ass Fucked around and let Young Swoop take your cash (ha ha) He didn't even run, he walked away (bust) cos I let it sit that day I wished I was there I would've clowned but that's why we axed your bitch ass from the Pound Cos he wouldn't even squad back Man we can't fuck with no niggas like that He'll get us all cracked If the police was behind us, he wouldn't even jump out with the strap Now that's what I call a beeyatch! (Beeiyitch!) I second the emotion you was dropped the clique (yeah yeah) (Snoop) Some of these nigga are bitches too And some of these niggas look just like you So if you've ever been *?toetone?* go out and get your roll on you punk ass nigga, you'll get stole on (Dat Nigga Daz) It's 5:30 in the mornin, now I'm yizzawnin Now as I perceive to get G to a tee And before I bail to school you know I blaze up a sack Another day, another dollar for the gangsta mack Bitch act like you know, show me some sex and affection and let me dial slow, flossin, tossin a bitch (bitch) Yeah Dogg, one more thing I forgot to mention Shoot five niggas, shoot ten Shoot the piece, slip to your fiends Seven, goddamn it, when it deal A '64 for the honeys, straight ho for the G Young Daz, little nigga you can't fuck with me (Snoop) Now I knew that them niggas couldn't get at you So what made them niggas try to spit at you Disrespect a gang that snitch on you Y'all punk ass niggas, man y'all some bitches too (Young Swoop) Who got some gangsta gangsta shit? (ha ha) Swoop G, I heard somebody's speakin up on you Cos when I drop mines there was no more nickels and dimes just quarters, ounces, half ounces and quota PC is the season and I don't smoke blunt It sees the indo with skunk, I might as well get drunk To smoke some stress, that shit'll put a hole in your chest I only want another twenty dollar, sure got me fucked up My hood is gettin hot and niggas is tryin ta plottin Come up off a young nigga, call his shots Swoop G ain't the one, I do its to be done (aah) Al-ways have my gun and my G from 2-1 It's Cerritos but you don't hear me though cos you don't really know about the you-know, I'm Cerritos, silly ho Swoop G by the fuckin L-B's-C None of these nigga wanna fuck with these (aah) Swoop G, Swoop G, G


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The CIA agent who found bin Laden is having trouble at work
According to sources, the agent is not popular at work.
If you're not already aware of the bull-headed CIA agent whose persistent pressure to track Al Qaeda couriers helped lead the way to Osama bin Laden's compound, you're about to be. The main character of Zero Dark Thirty, the controversial soon-to-be released Oscar bait that portrays the story of the bin Laden raid "is based on a real person" whose identity remains classified as she's still working for the CIA. But things at Langley haven't been going so well for said secret, soon-to-be-an-anonymous-celebrity spy. In fact, according to a new Washington Post report, things sound like they're going pretty poorly. She's been passed over for a promotion, pissed off all her coworkers, and sounds generally unpopular.
The scenario sounds like a plot line from Homeland. (Actually, it sounds like the plot line fromHomeland, but that's a whole other controversy.) The anonymous agent, a woman in her mid-30s, got her start as a "targeter," someone who recruits spies or identifies targets for drone strikes. She's known for being uniquely dedicated to her work, the type that stands up for an idea before anyone else is even giving it consideration. Such was the idea to hawk Bin Laden's couriers, and one of her follow officers told The Post that she "was one of the people from very early on pushing this." If you watch the trailer for Zero Dark Thirty, you'll catch a mention of this point. A Navy SEAL asks his teammate why he believes the story behind their next mission, a mission to kill Osama bin Laden, and the teammate answers, "Her confidence," pointing to the character based on this CIA agent.


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A first-of-its-kind, case-by-case study of in-custody deaths associated with TASER use has confirmed that the popular electronic control devices are by no means the dangerous and often deadly weapons that Amnesty International, the ACLU and media reports frequently suggest.
Self-described as "kind of a nerd" who approaches tedious research as recreation, Chief Howard Williams of the San Marcos (TX) PD patiently tracked down and analyzed 213 cases in which suspects in the U.S. died after being TASERed. The search took more than a year and cost thousands from his own pocket, but in the end Williams has documented what TASER supporters have long believed:
These devices are "safe weapons. At least they are as safe as weapons can be."
During the scope of his investigation, which covered cases from 1983 through 2005, Williams concluded that a TASER can be confirmed as the direct cause of or a significant contributing factor in only 2 deaths, he told Force Science News. "That's less than 1% of the deaths that critics of TASER technology attribute to it."
Since his study formally ended, he has identified and preliminarily probed some 216 additional post- TASERing fatalities that occurred from 2006 to the present. But he has found no data that would change his initial findings or cast doubt on TASER safety.
Critics of TASER have failed to "separate evidence from conjecture or to analyze cases" one by one, Williams says. Instead, they've drawn misleading assumptions "based simply on the number of deaths, or on a misunderstanding of how the devices work, or on speculation of potential problems with the use of electromuscular disruption technology."
In contrast, he says his study objectively analyzes "the credible evidence"–including "what medical experts know about sudden death, the technical operations of conducted energy weapons, the physiological effects of TASER devices, and the facts of each case–to determine the true role" of TASERs in suspects' fatalities.
Williams' discoveries are reported in a 212-page book, TASER Electronic Control Devices and Sudden In-custody Death: Separating Evidence from Conjecture, issued recently by Charles C. Thomas Publishers [Call (800) 258-8980].
"Given all the headlines, the controversy and the lawsuits generated by TASER-related deaths, it's ironic that a lone police official steps up to conduct this kind of vital research rather than it being a priority mandate by a major governmental entity," says Dr. Bill Lewinski, executive director of the Force Science Research Center at Minnesota State University-Mankato. "Sadly, this speaks to the lack of interest at the state and federal level for funding research into practical, street-level enforcement issues.
"Chief Williams' study will not be the final scientific statement on the ramifications of TASER use. But it presents the clearest picture to date regarding a core controversy that in the past has produced far more heat than light."
Williams first got interested in exploring the "death by TASER" issue, which he considers "the most significant law enforcement controversy of the last decade," when he was struck by the contrast between what he saw of TASER use on the street and what he read in the media and from activist groups about it.
On one hand were officers' success stories–incidents that might otherwise have escalated to baton beatings or shootings being resolved earlier and less violently, fewer on-the-job injuries by officers, fewer ER trips by subdued suspects thanks to TASER deployment. On the other hand were alarming allegations by Amnesty and other groups, strongly implying if not charging outright that TASERs were responsible for scores of offender deaths and calling for moratoriums on the "dangerous" devices' use.
Williams tells his CJ students at Texas State University, where he's an adjunct faculty member, "You do not have to trust what anyone tells you. Research it yourself." So he took his own advice and started looking into TASER-related deaths, determined to see what the evidence revealed.
Searching out leads on the Internet and through media databases at Texas State, he compiled a comprehensive list of reported fatalities. Then through freedom of information requests, he pursued each case and got police reports, autopsy results and other official records wherever possible and supplemented these with whatever news coverage he could garner. He amassed stacks of information 2 to 3 feet high on his desk at home and waded through them item by item, tabulating and analyzing.
Each of the 213 cases he verified is described in narrative detail in his book and includes the name, age, race and gender of the deceased; the date of the incident and the death; the agency involved; the cause of death, plus contributing factors; and the role of the TASER device deployed. Unique to Williams' study, these accounts in themselves make fascinating reading and represent a prodigious amount of research.
But the payoff, of course, is the conclusions Williams draws from his analyses. These include the following highlights:
Early generation fatalities. The first 42 of Williams' case studies represent deaths that occurred before 2000 and followed the use of first- and second-generation TASER weapons (the TASER TF-76, the Tasertron and the Air TASER 34000, which "relied mainly on pain compliance") against aggressive or resistive subjects.
A TASER device cannot be confirmed as a cause of death or even as a significant contributing factor in any of these "Group 1″ cases, Williams reports.
By the study's definition, TASER can be "confirmed" as a direct cause of death only in instances where the subject likely would have survived had the weapon not been used.
Later generation fatalities. The other 171 deaths, considered "Group 2″ events, followed the application of third- and fourth-generation weapons (Advanced TASER M26 and the TASER X26, which depend on "electromuscular disruption technology").
In this category, TASER can be confirmed as a cause of death in only 1 case and confirmed as a significant contributing factor in only 1 other, Williams concludes.
"The evidence makes the case that TASER devices are not instruments of death," Williams asserts. "The only conclusion the evidence supports is that they are safe weapons."
Case details. The sole case of confirmed death-by-TASER involved extreme circumstances in subduing a 29-year-old black male prisoner in South Carolina named Maurice Cunningham. After a night of hallucinating that snakes were around him, Cunningham escaped his cell in a sheriff's facility, stabbed 2 officers in the eye with a pencil and tried to gouge out the eyes of a third officer.
He was shocked 5 times with a TASER, for a cumulative total of 35 seconds, but "he ripped the probes out and continued to fight," Williams reports. After an ineffective use of chemical spray, he was zapped with a second TASER, the probes hitting in his left arm and thigh. Williams notes: "The deputy held the trigger for 2 minutes 49 seconds," before Cunningham collapsed and was soon after pronounced dead.
"[T]he coroner listed Cunningham's cause of death as cardiac arrhythmia due to TASER shocks," Williams writes. "Pathologists found that [his] heart suffered damage at a cellular level purportedly from the electrical current [and] concluded that the probes…completed a circuit in his body that disrupted the electrical system that controls the heart."
The single case in which Williams classified TASER as a significant contributing cause of death also represents an anomaly of circumstances. This offender was Jerry Pickens, a 55-year-old white male who hostilely confronted sheriff's deputies in his front yard in Louisiana when they arrived to investigate a family dispute.
Against their orders, Pickens tried to re-enter his residence. They TASERed him, and he stiffened and fell, striking his head on the driveway. He was declared brain-dead at the hospital and died 3 days later when doctors pulled the plug on life support. The coroner ruled that he died of a brain hemorrhage from the fall. "Clearly," Williams writes, "the fall…was caused by application of the TASER."
Predisposing factors. Williams reports that subjects who die in custody or during an arrest after a TASER is used against them tend to share certain characteristics that seem to "predispose" them to an increased risk of sudden death quite apart from any TASER involvement.
These include: obesity, coronary problems, illicit drug use, mental illness, too much or too little psychotropic medication, alcohol intoxication or withdrawal, diabetes and hypoglycemia, hyperthyroidism, dehydration, head injuries (current or historic) and vigorous physical activity that may trigger ventricular fibrillation.
For example, nearly 70% of Group 1 subjects and more than 72% of those in Group 2 were users of illicit drugs (most often cocaine). Nearly 40% in Group 2 showed evidence of heart disease.
In all, Williams found, a coroner or medical examiner observed at least 1 predisposing factor in nearly 88% of the cases studied. In more than 35%, at least 2 such factors were confirmed.
Williams pointed out to Force Science News that the prevalence of predisposing factors is roughly the same among subjects who die after being TASERed and those who die suddenly in custody without any TASER involvement–further indication that the use of the electronic weapon "is not creating any special risk."
On the other hand, he notes, "[T]he risk of sudden death following violent exertion, such as a struggle with police or straining against restraints, increases manifold for people with predisposing factors."
TASER failures. Interestingly, Williams documents a high rate of TASER failure associated with post- TASERing deaths; either the electronic application did not stop the individual or stopped him only temporarily and "some other form of force had to be used to get the subject under control." Among Group 1 cases, "the TASER pulse was ineffective in subduing the target" some 71% of the time. In Group 2, the ineffective rate was nearly 60%.
This may suggest the exceptionally high level of agitation and violent determination in subjects who end up dying as compared to other offenders who are TASERed, where the effectiveness level is much higher.
Moreover, the vast majority of subjects in both Groups 1 and 2 did not fatally collapse within 5 to 15 seconds after the application of a TASER device, "an indication that the current from the TASER pulses did not affect their hearts' rhythm" as critics often conjecture, Williams says.
Media/activist shortcomings. TASER critics and the media have emphasized that the number of deaths after use of electronic devices is rising, and they conclude that this increase is occurring because TASERs cause deaths. Fallacious thinking, Williams insists.
"First, there is no evidence that the total number of custody deaths is rising," he states. Deaths after TASER use are rising, but that's because the number of police agencies in the U.S. equipping officers with TASERs has increased more than 10 fold since 2001.
What activists and the media seize upon, he says, is a correlation between TASER use and sudden death. "[T]his is an unscientific linking of 2 events" just because one follows another, Williams writes, not a true cause-and-effect relationship. "The sun rises after the cock crows, but that doesn't mean there's a causal relationship," he offers as comparison.
Indeed, he notes, other studies have shown "a much higher correlation between sudden death and heart disease, sudden death and the use of…drugs, and sudden death and bizarre behavior than between sudden death and the use of a TASER… [T]ens of thousands of people who have been shocked with a TASER device survived without ill effects."
Williams points out that investigators "usually need several days or weeks to determine the facts, complete the investigation, and determine whether a TASER pulse, or any other factor, played a role in an unexpected death."
Typically, the media prominently play initial stories of post- TASERing deaths, but the public gets "little sense of the results of the investigations or of the coroners' findings." News reports presented one case he cites in his study "as being related to the discharge of a TASER device, but tests proved that the device was not properly charged and could not have delivered a shock."
Often results indicating that TASERing was not a death factor are buried in little-read sections of newspapers or totally ignored by TV news. Williams tells of one particularly egregious example of post-investigation reporting in which the headline read: "Cocaine Blamed for TASER Death."
"Trying to educate the media is hopeless," Williams told FSN. Like TASER's activist critics, "too many in the media have an agenda. That's obvious when you read their articles."
In the future, Williams is hopeful that a central database will be created at the federal level to collect meaningful information on in-custody deaths, similar to the reporting that exists for crime records. This would make possible a more comprehensive ongoing analysis of the role played by the TASER and other factors in suspect fatalities.
Meanwhile, he continues gathering information on his own in anticipation of eventually revising and updating his study. He'd like to hear from people who have observations or contributions regarding his work–including critics.
"I'm open to debate and discussion," he says. "If anyone can show me I'm wrong, I'd welcome it. I'm a Little League umpire, so I'm used to criticism."
To contact Williams, you can email him at: email@example.com
[Thanks to Wayne Schmidt, executive director of Americans for Effective Law Enforcement, for tipping us to Chief Williams' study.]


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(visited by Penko Roussev and Bogomil Roussev)
01-Jan-2004 -- While Bulgaria was covered with snow in early 2004, a small group of Bulgarians arrived in Dubayy to meet the New Year there. Most of the people visiting the United Arab Emirates were hastily shopping; others just managed to make it to the restaurants and museums. Only the crazy son Bogomil with his crazier father Penko rented a car to make an extremely crazy dream come true. As walking into the desert is quite risky and should be done by at least two automobiles – jeeps – we decided to use a car to fulfil our dream – reaching the intersection point of the 25th parallel with the 55th meridian at the sea.
After lurking for a day through the Free Zone sea port in Dubayy, we found out that we could only hire ships of over 100 tons there. Suddenly, we came across a US guy who used excellent Russian to explain to us that there is a hotel in the near with a sea club. As the sun sets around 17:00 at this time of the year, and the day was December 31, we left the fulfilment of our dream for the next year.
At 13:00 on the next day, we went to the pointed out location of the sea club but we had evidently taken a wrong road, as we were met by military officers that were charmed by our idea to visit the intersection point of parallels and meridians. However, they said they did not dispose of free boats at that moment.
About 10 km further west we found the sea club we were looking for. Unfortunately, the fishing boats were out at sea and were to come back by 18:00. After seeing our deeply grieved faces, the port manager promised to try and solve our problem by finding us a vessel. Half an hour later he came and offered us to hire a scooter with two outboard engines for the amount of 250 dirham – about $3.65. The scooter took us within less than 5 minutes to the area of 55N 25E. The point is close to an oil platform, which is obviously following the environmental requirements extremely accurate, as I did not notice any oil stains. Few manoeuvres later the GPS zeros showed us that we had reached the point. Probably due to the higher concentration of salt in the Persian Gulf seawater, the photograph of the point could not be done clearer. But, at least, you can see it.
Coordinator's note: After activating this confluence visit, the DCP received the following note from Alasdair MacKenzie: "The Bulgarians claim to have photographed an oil platform. It's definitely not an 'oil platform', but is probably one of the dredgers working on 'The Palm, Jabal `Aliy'. There are two of these massive developments being built, and both now clearly visible on satellite photos."


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A new emulation tool called software virtual networks (SVNs) closes a threatening force readiness gap by adding realistic communications effects to battlefield simulations
From Kriegspiel to DARWARS, the goals of military simulation have remained constant – predict battle outcomes and build warfighter skills. Today's advanced battlefield simulations deliver experiential realism in force positioning, troop movement, supply routing, enemy force detection and engagement, and damage calculation. For warfighters depending on next generation network-centric systems however, there is a new domain that these wargaming systems don't encompass.
In net-centric warfare, the warfighter's lifeline is a flow of information being transmitted and received over ad-hoc mobile networks. Minute by minute, that lifeline is impacted by myriad invisible threats, including environmental, technical and cyber. Present day scenario planning and tactical training exercises don't recognize these threats; they either assume perfect communications or simulate only the physical layer of communications in a rudimentary way, like line-of-sight. Nor do they take into account predictable realities like delays. This practice is creating a threatening force readiness gap by negatively training commanders and warfighters to perform in conditions based on unrealistic premises – something warfighters would be better off not getting at all.
Simulated Battlefield, Real Communications
A compelling solution to this negative training problem is a new class of advanced emulation-based tools called software virtual networks (SVNs). SVNs take battlefield simulation to a new level of realism by adding the rigors and uncertainties of in-field communications like urban environment effects, message delays or drops, signal jamming, and sophisticated cyberattacks like denial-of-service and wormholes. SVNs can interoperate with a wide range of simulation platforms without the need for extensive re-programming or systems integration.
First introduced in 2008 by Scalable Network Technologies of Los Angeles, CA, SVNs are being utilized for advanced military programs such as the U.S. Army's Brigade Combat Team Modernization Program and the Joint Tactical Radio System. SVNs are exact digital replicas of physical networks in virtual space – indistinguishable from real networks. Unlike traditional communication simulation technologies, SVNs interoperate with existing networks and devices, software applications, network management tools, and people – at real time speed. SVNs emulate protocols at all layers of complex networks and can digitally replicate hundreds or thousands of communication points.
The communications realism of SVNs benefits simulation and training in situations that involve either large numbers of radios and computers in a single battlespace, or fighting units and support teams networked across multiple geographic areas. Today, simulations in these scenarios do not generally take into account network priorities such as voice communications interrupting and delaying the data and video streams. That's negative training, and it's not good enough to prepare warfighters who depend on all three communications streams to accomplish their missions. SVNs eliminate this negative training problem by connecting to real battlefield applications – like force tracking and battle command – and handling all of the communication traffic (sensor feeds, video, data, and voice) including their priorities, interference and delays.
With this realistic communications emulation in place, changes to conditions that affect battlefield outcomes can be automatically taken into account by the SVN as entity positions, network traffic and threats evolve. Or condition changes could be made manually by instructors to fit specific training scripts. Either way, the effects of traffic levels, environment/terrain, and cyber threats can be accurately modeled, and warfighters positively trained to meet real-life network conditions with tested responses.
Powerful Solution, Simple Implementation
Because SVNs are inherently designed to interoperate with real networks, devices, and applications, adding their powerful capabilities to existing simulation and training systems is a relatively simple task. With computer-generated forces (CGF) applications, the SVN can be integrated with simple plug and play application interfaces to serve as the "communication network effects" component of the system. Because of their ability to represent up to thousands of network nodes, adding an SVN to a CGF application enables commanders and planners to evaluate the effect of the "state of the network" on operations and battle outcomes at the platoon, company, battalion, and brigade command levels.
In the case of a large distributed simulation system, such as the U.S. Air Force's Distributed Mission Operations (DMO), adding realistic communications effects with an SVN would be a simple process that would not require modifying the existing applications. Software would be installed at each site that would intercept the packet data flowing onto the wide area network. All communications traffic would be routed through the SVN during a training exercise, and the SVN would distribute the communications across the system. Changes to variables affecting communications can be automated through the SVN or controlled by commanders and instructors running the distributed training exercise.
Network Awareness Eliminates Negative Net-Centric Training
If you're going to fight in the desert, you train in desert conditions. Network-centric warfare requires the same kind of realistic preparation. As "assets" and "targets" move rapidly to the cyber domain, warfighters need training in conditions as close to what they'll experience in the field as possible. Adding SVNs to existing simulation and training systems can eliminate the risk of negative training by equipping forces with the knowledge and confidence to use battlefield networks to their maximum advantage before they face down a real enemy.
Scalable Network Technologies will be publicly demonstrating how SVNs can be used in battlefield simulation and training applications at the 2009 I/ITSEC Conference, booth 2719, November 30 – December 3 in Orlando, FL.


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1/4" BigFoot Nickel Plug with Black Housing
Part #: BF2PBNN
- Weight: 0.059770 Pound
Supporting Documents
Nickel plug with black housing.
The original "Bigfoot" series 1/4" plugs are designed to deliver a cleaner tone in a roadworthy package that spares you the embarrassment, time, and cost of having to make repairs to your audio system at an inopportune time due to plug failure. That's lasting value.
It starts with an OFC copper core for maximum conductivity. Another advantage of the copper is that if the plug is bent the copper will stretch and not break. You can straighten it, play on and replace it later. The hot solder tab is press fit and riveted for double reliability. The ground is staked to the plug sleeve so that it can never loosen and cause crackling.
- OFC copper core for highest conductivity
- 1/2" profile for highest packing density
- Tin plated solder tabs for ease of soldering
- Solid brass housing protects the plug
- Separately crimped ground won't loosen