At least Jerry Oliver found a way out..................

Kym Worthy will have a news conference at 11 am and I, along with million of other citizens will be watching to see what charges will be filed against Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Christine Beatty and others in his administration.

However what has my attention right now, is how Jerry Oliver figured in this scandal and fiasco. I was always puzzled by former Detroit Police Chief Jerry Oliver getting caught with a gun in his luggage at the airport. When it originally happened, all I could think was, “What was he thinking?”

Here is a man who had a lot of experience in law enforcement, and had to have a clear comprehensive understanding of the law, but tried to board an airplane with a gun. But as the scandal grows and more information is revealed about the Detroit Police Department and the Mayor Administration's by the Detroit whistle blower trial and The Detroit Free Press, I have a theory now. After being chief for a while, Oliver must have realized that he was caught up in a dirty mess that was going to burst at the seams.

According to the below Free Press article, Jerry Oliver seemed to be surprised by the text messages between Ella Bully Cummings and Christine Beatty. However, I definitely believe that at the time, former Chief Oliver knew that he was only a figurehead. I now think it was a smart ploy getting busted at the airport. Oliver probably was frustrated by not being able to trust his boss or the folks around him, and he needed to find an exit route from that position. If Jerry Oliver had tried to quit voluntarily, there could have been a possibility of raising suspicion that he would potentially out the Mayor, his administration, and the Detroit Police department.

There also could have been a potential negative backlash from his former boss, Mayor Kilpatrick regarding Oliver's performance if he had quit because he no longer wanted the job. Or who knows, there could have been a fate worse than that. I don't believe that he was an angel, but catching a case with the Feds was a perfect foil to me. Although he has a record with the Federal government for a so called stupid mistake, his reputation is still much intact, (well, at this time) and he is still able to be employed elsewhere. At least Jerry Oliver is now working in Arizona, and is not totally caught up in the mess that is enveloping Detroit right now.

Ex-police chief surprised

by SUV text messages

BY BEN SCHMITT, JIM SCHAEFER and M.L. ELRICK •

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS • March 24, 2008

Text messages obtained by the Free Press raise new questions about an old controversy: Lincoln Navigators police officials obtained for Carlita Kilpatrick, the wife of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

The text messages show that in fall 2002, Ella Bully-Cummings, then assistant police chief, was instrumental in acquiring a new Navigator for Detroit's first lady, long before the infamous red Lincoln Navigator controversy of 2005, when reporters learned the city paid nearly $25,000 to lease a replacement Navigator for the mayor's wife.

Jerry Oliver, Detroit's police chief at the time, told the Free Press this month he was floored by the messages involving Bully-Cummings, then one of his top assistants, because he directly told the mayor it was inappropriate to obtain a Navigator for Carlita Kilpatrick out of the police budget.

"Clearly, they were intending to do it whether the chief thought it was a good idea or not," he said after viewing the messages.

Bully-Cummings, who Kilpatrick appointed chief after Oliver resigned in October 2003, said in a statement Friday that Oliver is "totally dishonest" for saying he did not approve the lease.

"I was directed by Jerry Oliver to facilitate the processing of the paperwork related to this leased vehicle," she wrote. "His failure to take responsibility for his actions after the fact is disappointing."

On Sept. 11, 2002, Bully-Cummings, one of two assistant chiefs under Oliver, wrote a text message to Christine Beatty, the mayor's chief of staff.

"When you get a free moment, can you call me regarding a vehicle for the First Lady, or direct me to the person, I need to have that discussion with," she asked. "Thanks."

Beatty replied: "I'll call you in about 20min."

Bully-Cummings followed up on Sept. 20, 2002: "Hi Christine, Any feedback on the First Lady's vehicle? Just checking so that I can get the process moving on her currently identified vehicle of choice. Thanks."

In early 2005, when Bully-Cummings admitted in a news conference that she had ordered the replacement Navigator for Kilpatrick's family, the chief also revealed the earlier 2002 lease, which she said cost the city $14,100. But it was not known at that time that Oliver claimed no knowledge of the deal.

Kilpatrick told the media during that news conference that he and his family do not special-order vehicles from the Police Department. His spokesman, James Canning, said Sunday that the mayor was unavailable for comment.

Back in 2005, Kilpatrick said: "I need to be absolutely clear. When the deputy mayor (Anthony Adams) stands up and says there was never a vehicle ordered for my wife, that is absolutely true."