The Misc. Police Racism and Brutality Megathread

[Sector 7]

FULL DISCLOSURE: I am a combat veteran who was hired as a police officer upon returning to civilian life. I speak from experience. I left the force after seeing racism and favoritism rampant in Southern police forces.

I would be surprised if you were the only one who has quit the force out of disgust of the racism/favoritism that seems to be running rampant.
A pity, since I'm sure these folks are always hoping for an officer who is impartial, and will come to listen to their side of the story.

I would hope that maybe then, racists who antagonizes occasions like this might find themselves in handcuffs, rather than laughing from the sidelines.

Or maybe I'm just naive, since I don't know how the dynamics work between different police officers who have different points of view.

Citizens, of every race, need an impartial officer to protect and to serve their needs. However________

The dynamic is that any officer who violates the "blue wall" or "blue code" by pointing out the bad behavior of another officer is shunned, berated, locked out of promotional consideration, etc. Often, those of us who have faced this leave the force. That or they become quiet and, therefore complicit in the bad behavior. The citizenry is then left at the mercy of the bullies in charge.

That is why, as much as I loved police work, I left to become a bodyguard. I was paid 4 times as much, traveled the world for free and enjoyed a much easier life.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Then later on when he draws his gun, the other two guys actually seem to run towards him like "what the fuck are doing?" The other cops seemed to be confused the whole time and seemed to be wondering what exactly the endgame was going to be. Unfortunately, the psycho seemed to be the ranking guy on the scene from what I've been told. I think he was just angry because he got embarrassed when he tripped and did that ridiculous commando roll.

Even Geordi LaForge thought that commando roll looked ridiculous.

 

[DimesDan]

This from the Guardian appeared a little while ago:

By the numbers: US police kill more in days than other countries do in years

They've compiled a database of fatal Police shootings and come to some pretty horrific numbers and it is some sober reading concerning the fatal Police shootings in the United States compared to other developed nations.

For example, here in England and Wales, there have been 55 between 1990 and 2014, where as in the first 24 days of this year, there were 59 in the United States.

 

[Use of Time]

Then later on when he draws his gun, the other two guys actually seem to run towards him like "what the fuck are doing?" The other cops seemed to be confused the whole time and seemed to be wondering what exactly the endgame was going to be. Unfortunately, the psycho seemed to be the ranking guy on the scene from what I've been told. I think he was just angry because he got embarrassed when he tripped and did that ridiculous commando roll.

Even Geordi LaForge thought that commando roll looked ridiculous.

You are doing the Lord's work LoB. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

That is one scary policeman, i can't imagine what it must be like to have people around you with guns on them never mind having one pulled on you, i have saw one real gun in my entire life, at the airport with the police who were walking about with them in their hands, and i can tell you just seeing that gun gave me a automatic revulsion towards them, scary things.

 

[MacLeod]

This from the Guardian appeared a little while ago:

By the numbers: US police kill more in days than other countries do in years

They've compiled a database of fatal Police shootings and come to some pretty horrific numbers and it is some sober reading concerning the fatal Police shootings in the United States compared to other developed nations.

For example, here in England and Wales, there have been 55 between 1990 and 2014, where as in the first 24 days of this year, there were 59 in the United States.

Surely part of the reason for the disparity could in part be that the UK Police service is laregely unarmed and that following the Dunblane massacre handguns where all but banned in the UK as the then Conservative Government passed legislation to ban them, and the following Labour Government banned some which were exlcuded from the 1997 act

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearms_(Amendment)_Act_1997

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearms_(Amendment)_(No._2)_Act_1997

I believe Australia enacted similar legislation following a shooting incident.

Now of course banning guns will never prevent shooting incidents from occuring all it can do is reduce the risk. Of course places like the UK and Australia didn't really share the gun culture that appears to preveliant in the US. But that is an issue for the US to resolve on it's own.

But Police brutality, racisim etc.. is not confined to the US, it occurs throught the world.

 

[DimesDan]

This from the Guardian appeared a little while ago:

By the numbers: US police kill more in days than other countries do in years

They've compiled a database of fatal Police shootings and come to some pretty horrific numbers and it is some sober reading concerning the fatal Police shootings in the United States compared to other developed nations.

For example, here in England and Wales, there have been 55 between 1990 and 2014, where as in the first 24 days of this year, there were 59 in the United States.

Surely part of the reason for the disparity could in part be that the UK Police service is laregely unarmed and that following the Dunblane massacre handguns where all but banned in the UK as the then Conservative Government passed legislation to ban them, and the following Labour Government banned some which were exlcuded from the 1997 act

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearms_%28Amendment%29_Act_1997

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearms_(Amendment)_(No._2)_Act_1997

Most probably, plus a few socioeconomic factors concerning our history and gun ownership.

I believe Australia enacted similar legislation following a shooting incident.

Now of course banning guns will never prevent shooting incidents from occuring all it can do is reduce the risk. Of course places like the UK and Australia didn't really share the gun culture that appears to preveliant in the US. But that is an issue for the US to resolve on it's own.

Indeed. It would it seem America would need a massive paradigm shift in the way some view guns and the rights and privileges that come up when many discuss this issue.

But Police brutality, racisim etc.. is not confined to the US, it occurs throught the world.

Exactly, Police Officers in this country have been known to be come under that umbrella. The Metropolitan Police being one such example of trying to change it's reputation from being institutionally racist and not it seems succeeding.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

This from the Guardian appeared a little while ago:

By the numbers: US police kill more in days than other countries do in years

They've compiled a database of fatal Police shootings and come to some pretty horrific numbers and it is some sober reading concerning the fatal Police shootings in the United States compared to other developed nations.

For example, here in England and Wales, there have been 55 between 1990 and 2014, where as in the first 24 days of this year, there were 59 in the United States.

Surely part of the reason for the disparity could in part be that the UK Police service is laregely unarmed and that following the Dunblane massacre handguns where all but banned in the UK as the then Conservative Government passed legislation to ban them, and the following Labour Government banned some which were exlcuded from the 1997 act.

I'm not sure why you state that as if to say the Guardian hadn't considered those facts when compiling the statistics. The point is to say that all of those countries have found a better way of dealing with crime and policing than the US has, and the statistics rather succinctly bear that out. They're using those countries as positive counter-examples. It didn't slip their minds that they were comparing a country (in the case of the UK vs the US) where the police aren't typically armed and where handgun ownership is minimal to one where the opposite is true; it's advocacy for the former policies over the latter.

 

[Trekker4747]

Then later on when he draws his gun, the other two guys actually seem to run towards him like "what the fuck are doing?" The other cops seemed to be confused the whole time and seemed to be wondering what exactly the endgame was going to be. Unfortunately, the psycho seemed to be the ranking guy on the scene from what I've been told. I think he was just angry because he got embarrassed when he tripped and did that ridiculous commando roll.

Even Geordi LaForge thought that commando roll looked ridiculous.

I can't make it out in that clip, is he carrying his taser, pistol or something else? If it's his gun, then I find it very, very, mystifying how so many are trying to defend his actions/what happened at that neighborhood.

I've seen mixed "reports" on what happened to cause the police to arrive in the first place, everything from a group of rowdy teenagers arriving at the community's pool making noise, playing loud music, etc. and generally making a ruckus -many of whom didn't live there. Something I read said it was a local DJ or some-other basically throwing an unauthorized flash-mob like party there. Other reports seem to suggest that people who lived there using the pool invited too many outside guests and were generally making a lot of noise, prompting the police to get called.

Reports of unauthorized persons climbing the fence to the pool, etc. So whatever happened seems unclear but let's be fair and say that something there was happening that warranted the police to be called to settle things down and to remove people who did not belong there.

Let's accept that the group was large enough to call for multiple units to be dispatched in order to better manage the crowd.

Because things I've seen have suggested that things were just out of control before the viral video starts.

Accepting all of that, I don't know how that justifies this cop's actions. Because when this video starts things seem to be more-or-less at "a" calm. There's no crowds, mobs, or people acting unruly (civic personnel excluded) a great many of the teenagers seem to be more-or-less hanging around or sitting when the cop goes on his little stunt to get everyone to sit -including people already sitting. The cop's actions at the time seem way out of proportion for what is happening at the time of the video and what the teenagers are doing certainly didn't call for him to draw his side-arm and aim it at unarmed teenagers and then to go running around the community with his gun drawn.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I can't make it out in that clip, is he carrying his taser, pistol or something else?

It's a MagLite, but considering it's the middle of the day, you can guess what he probably had it out for, and it's not for providing light.

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R46-XTqXkzE[/yt]

I love that this asshole drops something during his Captain Kirk roll (another, smaller flashlight), the kids very nicely bring it over to the other officer to return it, despite the cop acting like crazy person, and he returns and screams at them to get on the ground.

 

[DimesDan]

I can't make it out in that clip, is he carrying his taser, pistol or something else?

It's a MagLite, but considering it's the middle of the day, you can guess what he probably had it out for, and it's not for providing light.

I own a three-cell, it can come in handy for not just providing light, I once used mine to use as a mallet when pitching a tent as I had lent mine to some one. Of course I don't think he was needing to do that then.

I've always felt it is how a lightsaber would feel when holding it, weight and chunkiness wise.

 

[Trekker4747]

It's terrible of me but I can't help but laugh whenever I see his little roll there. I mean, I think it was an attempt to recover from a trip without losing his forward progress or to end up prone but it's just so ridiculous looking it makes me laugh even thinking about it.

Watching the unedited video really does just make the jaw drop on his behavior and how much the other officers seems to be going along with it. I know it's not likely the case but when he pulls out his gun it even looks like he racks the slide to chamber a round, though as I understand it police often keep their weapons fully loaded (a round chambered, loaded magazine) and ready to fire when needed. Just looks like there's some movement there when he pulls the gun that looks like he's racking the slide.

I've not yet watched the raw, unedited, footage. Everything I've seen so far have been snippets in news presentations/articles. It's really fascinating and jaw-dropping to watch. I also love his dumpy-looking "roadie" in the denim shorts. I suspect he's the pool "guard" who called the police.

But most amazing of all -though not surprising- is that the person filming the footage was white and he's pretty much ignored by the police. As he's running and rolling around like a lunatic yelling at people to get to the ground he walks right by this guy, says nothing, and continues yelling at the minorities around. Even while holding the girl to the ground looks over his shoulder to the camera several times without any reaction.

Kudos to the video-taker for not filming in portrait and using landscape like a decent person should!

Also love when the little roll happens in the raw video we hear someone -the camera operator?- say, "What the hell?"

God, this whole thing is fucked-up on so many levels.

 

[MANT!]

Myths about US Police..

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...b1af44-7bcd-11e4-9a27-6fdbc612bff8_story.html

 

[sidious618]

I found this line from that article to be very revealing: "The problem isn’t cops breaking the rules — the rules themselves are the problem."

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Lots of interesting stuff in there, including: "Tasers were initially touted as a substitute for lethal force, a way for cops to subdue violent suspects without killing them. Over time, however, they have become a compliance tool — used to quell dissent, move nonviolent protesters and punish people for talking back. A 2011 National Institute of Justice study found that cops use their Tasers too often and in inappropriate circumstances."

 

[publiusr]

I think he was just angry because he got embarrassed when he tripped and did that ridiculous commando roll.

Even Geordi LaForge thought that commando roll looked ridiculous.

I love that this asshole drops something during his Captain Kirk roll (another, smaller flashlight), the kids very nicely bring it over to the other officer to return it, despite the cop acting like crazy person, and he returns and screams at them to get on the ground.

"Does it help to roll?"

--Galaxy Quest

On "Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces"

He's a conservative writer whose POV surrounds maximizing civil liberties. Good in theory, but it has some limitations....

This was written pre-Ferguson. You have to be careful with the "see kids--this if gov't" types. They hate the Ferguson protestors, but hate cops too due to their pro-Cliven Bundy stance--so they're not your friends. Shields for cops stopped a lot of bricks.

There has been a rise of the sovereign citizens out there--and with everyone armed, lots of cops are jumpy. This wasn't as cold blooded as Slager shooting the poor dude in the back.

Cops are going to have to learn to be more laid back on these kinds of things.

This is why I wish stun only phasers and body covering force fields were real.
http://www.policeone.com/police-pro...ion-Less-Than-Lethal-Directed-Energy-Weapons/

Still it boils down to the need for screening

We must always remember that the police are recruited from the criminal classes.

• As quoted by Dick Cavett, in "The Swimmers", The New York Times (3 June 2007)

Gore Vidal

 

[fonzob1]

Funny. The other thread was completely deleted, not just closed. Misuse of authority is absolutely a valid topic.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Funny. The other thread was completely deleted, not just closed. Misuse of authority is absolutely a valid topic.

No, it wasn't, Just moved down by busy chatters. http://www.trekbbs.com/showpost.php?p=11028625&postcount=1

New to the search function?

 

[fonzob1]

New to the search function?

Completely

 

[sidious618]

Funny. The other thread was completely deleted, not just closed. Misuse of authority is absolutely a valid topic.

Let's see, overreacting, assuming the worst, not getting the details of the situation before jumping in, and believing that they are being unfairly treated without any substance behind it.

Are you a police officer?