And several dump on the media for not branding Adelman an extortionist, resurrecting 2-year-old charges that Adelman demanded Service Bar owner Louis Beheler pay him $6,500 to run the bar's Web site, or else he'd target Service Bar by complaining to the city's code enforcement folks. Adelman even wound up before a grand jury facing felony theft charges, but in May 2004 the grand jury declined to indict. Adelman, then the president of the Belmont Neighborhood Association, wasn't even arrested. But four months later, The Dallas Morning News reported that "the Extended Neighborhood Patrol, which was designed to keep a lid on crimes committed by and against restaurant and bar revelers, lost steam in April after some business owners accused neighborhood activist Avi Adelman of trying to strong-arm donations." Police officers have notoriously long memories, as these posts show:
"Its funny how none of the press will talk about Adelman extorting the clubs and bars, compaining on them unless they hire him as a 'consultant' and how he is the first to cry about the crowds and groups of people. The guy is a jerk. Its going to be very bad for the Department if they fire Sgt. Gonzales, officers have been caught (not come forward and tried to be a man about it) for much worse and are still on the street."
And...
"Heard something about Adelman going around with a noise meter and calling 911 whenever a club goes a decibel over the limit. Funny how the story of Adelman extorting money from the other club owners has been quashed."Adelman says he's a little worried by the postings: "They're uninformed, and they're scary," he tells Unfair Park. "And they think these guys will get their jobs back. They will go through the appeals process and get their jobs back...so what's the point? Why did I go through this? Why did I go through this abuse? These guys think they're better than us, and the sad thing is they get away with it. And I can't afford a lawsuit against anybody, so what's the point?"
Incidentally, the police department does not have a policy forbidding officers from posting to UndergroundCops.com; a DPD spokesperson says it's long been considered "a sounding board for police officers and people in the field." Sounds like Gonzalez could have saved him a buncha trouble by posting his missive there, rather than sending it to Adelman on a city computer. Hey, ya live, ya learn. --Robert Wilonsky
