On April 27, 2007, Bossert had created a thread named “Update – Stevenson Ranch Bank Robbery”. On that thread, Dave Bossert had given updates as to the description of the suspects, as well as where they were arrested. I was the third poster on the thread, following “Jack” and “ChrisA”. Their posts had a similar theme; Mr. Bossert’s reporting of crime, specifically how he reported on crime trends and the interaction between agencies on the day of the bank robbery in Stevenson Ranch. As I read, I found that Dave Bossert had made several errors in his understanding regarding law enforcement agency interaction.
Bossert’s posts and mine, back and forth (there were two at this point), mostly focused on that fact that I, as a fifteen year veteran of the LAPD, had far more knowledge on law enforcement policies and procedures than he did. His response was that he had checked his facts with a friend of his who is a LASD lieutenant. While I didn’t deny this, I wrote that he did not have a fundamental knowledge of the agencies that he wrote would respond in a time of crisis. Bossert wrote many times that the Parks Police would respond if needed. To prove my point that he didn’t have a grasp of the local agencies, I pointed out that the Parks Police have not existed since 1998. They, as well as the Los Angeles County Safety Police, were combined in 1998 to form the Los Angeles County Office of Public Safety. Those officers are generally referred to as Los Angeles County Police Officers.
Attempting to simplify my thoughts regarding his knowledge of law enforcement, as my final thought to Mr. Bossert, I wrote this:
Simply saying that the sky is blue does not explain why it is blue.
In very short order, Bossert posted a reply to my earlier post. He also posted a rather long explanation on why the sky was blue.
If you would like to read it, it can be found at the following website here.
Just so we are clear, the above article was copyrighted in 1997 by Science made Simple, all rights reserved. Bossert, for whatever reason, copied and pasted the article to show why the sky was blue. It took me all of five minutes to find the source of Bossert’s post and I called him on it.
I also used my third and final post to exemplify and prove my belief about Bossert’s law enforcement knowledge:
In response to your statement that you, and I’m paraphrasing here, take the
time to check your facts and talk to various officials is something that I can
neither prove nor disprove. I would submit however that your sources of
information, whoever they might be, are flawed. In reading several of your past articles, including the “Cornucopia of Crime”, you present yourself
(not as a direct statement but in the tone of your articles) as an expert,
or at least, a semi-expert on several law enforcement issues.
When that is called into question, you say that you are simply taking the
information from other sources to complete your post.
The article regarding the sky being blue is a perfect example of this. You cut
and pasted an article that anyone with an internet connection and
a search engine could have found. In fact, I found it in less than five minutes.
Do you have a true understanding of the materials, or question being posted,
to offer a comprehensive answer? I haven’t seen much proof of that regarding
the articles on crime.
After my post, I waited to see what Bossert’s response would be. It turned out I was waiting in vain. A short time later, I checked the West Ranch Beacon to see if there was a reply posted. Not only was there no reply, there were no posts at all! Bossert deleted the entire thread!
Before the thread was deleted, both Jack and ChrisA had, in my opinion, Bossert on the ropes. He tried to dance around their questions without giving any answers other than a rehash of what he had already posted. Did the thread disappear because of their posts alone, my posts, a combination of the three, or possibly another individual who posted to the thread before I realized the entire thread was gone? I can’t tell you – only Bossert knows for sure, and I don’t think he is willing to tell. My belief is that Bossert was unable to answer questions about law enforcement that Jack, ChrisA and I put forth. In addition, Bossert was caught plagiarizing a portion of an article, and that’s why the thread disappeared into cyberspace. Is plagiarism a crime that I have ever made an arrest for? No. Is plagiarism a crime that writers abhor more than any other? Yes.
Truth be told, I was going to let the whole thing slide. Had Mr. Bossert admitted that he cut and pasted the article, I would have let the matter rest. Unfortunately, Bossert reacted, much like a petulant child, and destroyed the evidence.
Now, some of you reading this might say that Dave Bossert might not know that much about plagiarism and copyright laws. But…if you look on the home page of the West Ranch Beacon, there on the top banner, two left of the word “HOME”, you find the words “Copyright Notice”. Mr. Bossert went to great lengths to make certain that the posts and threads of the West Ranch Beacon are protected under current copyright laws. So, one can assume that he is somewhat versed in intellectual rights of writers.
By the way, I realize that Mr. Bossert has taken offense to jabs at his spelling ability in the past. In reading the copyright notice section, in the first paragraph, fourth line, first word, it is written ‘dirative’. The proper spelling is ‘derivative’.
Yes, I was going to let the whole matter slide until I read another post on the West Ranch Beacon by Dave Bossert. This one dealt with the apology by Tim Myers of the Signal regarding an article written about Bossert some weeks ago. The apology was edited by Len Worden, which made Bossert blow a gasket. It seems that editing in West Ranch is acceptable, but if someone else does it, it’s a crime.
Apparently, Mr. Bossert feels that he is free to censor his own material (and those of others) to serve his own purpose. He is certainly not the first individual to do such a thing. My problem with this lies in the fact that he feels he is the only one that can do this. From Bossert’s own writings, one can see that if an editor from the Signal does it, it is an unconscionable act.
" Dave Bossert – Plagiarist?
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