Controversy Over Dahmer Walking Tour

[Barnaby]

To defend the officers somewhat, hindsight is 20/20. They clearly were biased due to homophobia and perhaps racism; in fact, they were making light of the situation on the police radio. But I don't believe for a second that they knew the victim was in danger of his life. And so, they were completely incompetent and deserved to be fired. Why they were allowed to keep their jobs is appalling to me. But I do not think they engaged in criminal behavior.

[ChainzCooper]

Reinstated? Are you f'in kidding me? Those guys are still police and not someone's boyfriend in the slammer-pathetic
Jordan

[mariab]

Dahmer was murdering approximately a person per week for the 2 months between the night the 2 officers dropped the ball with Sinthasomphone and the night when Edwards managed to get Dahmer arrested. In 1996 a lawyer representing the victims families and a civic group, the Milwaukee Civic Pride, raised the funds to purchase Dahmer's possessions, reportedly auctioning about half a million $ (including donations).

[Lord-z]

The strange smell, it should be noted, was a previous victim decomposing in the bedroom. For all officers Mutt and Jeff noticed, he might as well have been sitting in the sofa.

[mariab]

They were suspended for a while, but subsequently reinstated, Jordan. The elder of the two (Balcerzak) was elected president of the Milwaukee Police Association in 2005, which resulted in racial tensions inside of the Police Department. He was not re-elected in 2006.

The 2 officers didn't realize what was going on, since Dahmer claimed that 14 year old Sinthasomphone was his 19 year old BF and they were having a row. Sinthasomphone was too subdued by drugs to give a coherent statement. What the officers failed to do was run a routine background check on Dahmer, who was registered as a convicted sex offender on probation. The exact same scenario happened a year later with an older, white guy, Edwards, who beat up Dahmer, escaped, and waved a police car. Edwards was not drugged, and he insisted for a police search in Dahmer's apartment. This time the officers noticed pictures of mangled bodies on Dahmer's walls and searched the place, which ensued in finding a human head in his fridge.

This is a clear case of police neglect, with the victim being Asian and gay. There's been racial tensions in Milwaukee for years after the Dahmer case. The majority of Dahmer's Milwaukee victims were Asian and black. Not unrelated to Dahmer getting murdered by Scarver in a Wisconsin prison in 1994. Scarver was black.

[Ally]

That's not actually exactly how it went down but it was still fairly hideously incompetent. The victim had escaped, and being disoriented and unable to speak english ran into two women who called the police. Just before the police arrived, Dahmer showed up and attempted to reclaim the boy and the women saw the boy trying to fight off Dahmer. The police showed up and despite the women telling them that the boy was fighting him and appeared afraid of him he convinced the police that they were lovers, in a quarrel because the victim was drunk and he convinced the cops to let him take him "home". Which they did. They followed him home and noticed nothing out of the ordinary except for a strange smell. They were temporarily relieved of duty but were later reinstated.

[ChainzCooper]

Does anybody know what happened to the two cops who failed to arrest Dahmer when they caught him red handed in his apartment minutes before he was about to murder one of his victims? I hope they're still in prison
Jordan

[Barnaby]

Ripper tours don't only concentrate on the case, they often discuss Victorian Whitechapel in general, not just its criminal but also its social history.

This is a good point that I failed to consider. I doubt anything similar is going on with the Dahmer tour.

[mariab]

Heck, Dahmers parents may still be alive. It is too soon.

His father's still alive, he's a scientist and has written a book on the case. Very interesting, at least the pieces and parts I've read online. He also has a brother or stepbrother who's changed his name (big surprise).

I still see a commercial Dahmer tour as essentially obscene. Now if a cop or criminologist or Ripperologist wants to walk these spots in North Milwaukee to get an idea about distance and crime apprehension in real life, that should be OK.
And by the by, Ripper tours don't only concentrate on the case, they often discuss Victorian Whitechapel in general, not just its criminal but also its social history.
The British among you would imagine the reaction if a commercial Yorkshire Ripper tour were to be introduced in Leeds.

[Lord-z]

I think it was David Mitchell, in one of his Soapbox videos, who said something to the effect of History can only be funny once everyone involved and those who knew them are dead. That is why vikings raping and pillaging their way across the nothern hemisphere can be regarded with a detached sense of "Oh, well". Not to imply that there is anything funny about the Ripper murderers. I am just saying that we are long since detached from them. The grandchildren of someone involved might still be around, but they must be absolutely ancient by now.

Everyone who knew the Ripper victims, and everyone who knew those guys, are all dead. The Dahmer murders, the last was no more than little over 20 years ago. The parents of the victims are probably mostly all alive. Heck, Dahmers parents may still be alive. It is too soon.

[kensei]

Well, there's beer...and Laverne & Shirley.

Don't forget "Happy Days," which spawned Laverne & Shirley. The Fonz was an American icon.

[Barnaby]

The only argument that I can accept is a "it's too soon" one emphasizing that there are relatives of the victims still living in the area. All of the other arguments could be made about JTR tours.

The Dahmer murders are a legitimate topic of historical/psychological/sociocultural investigation. Books have been written on the subject. And it has been two decades since the murders. So, of course there is little "to see" on the walking tour. The same can be said of the JTR tour.

While the JTR case remains unsolved, I highly doubt the walking tours are going to help solve it. They are tourist attractions designed to be profitable. And I don't condemn this in any way. The Dahmer tour is the same.

I say in another 20 years, if Dahmer remains a person of cultural interest, tour away!

[mariab]

I knew someone would come out about the beer. :-)

Their Art Museum on the waterfront was pretty cool, Ken. And I loved staying on the 32d floor at the Hotel during the conf. The Hotel also had an indoors waterpark, though it was more for kids, with a shallow pool and slides and climbing rope and stuff. But I indulged.

[The Grave Maurice]

...esp. since the town hasn't been known for much else before and since.

Well, there's beer...and Laverne & Shirley.

[DVV]

It's unavoidable not to associate Milwaukee with Dahmer, esp. since the town hasn't been known for much else before and since.

Interesting. Indeed, I wouldn't like my village to become famous because of a cannibal. And Tours would just add insult to tragedy.