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[Corrik]

This is why cops whenever they have a reasonable justification to shoot do and should take the shot if they feel it is the right course of action.

A cop shouldn't have to die or an innocent bystander before a suspect is considered a threat to life. This office by not shooting at the sign of threat is now dead. There will not be protests in his name. He will not be remembered. He will not be anything but an empty space in that family that will forever scar that family. And for what? For trying to do his job to the best of his ability and for erring on the side of the suspect.

An officer should never have to choose between his own life and that of a suspect that is justifiably and reasonably possible to be armed and/or dangerous.

That doesn't even account for the innocent bystander who died. A woman at her own house who did nothing.

This is why I said I felt the Antwon Rose shooting would result in an innocent verdict for the cop. The cop with all information provided had every reason to suspect that the suspect there was possibly armed and possibly dangerous due to the likelihood he was in a drive-by shooting previous to that and guns were openly present on the ground.

If that cop hadn't shot and Rose had been armed, it could have resulted in innocent lives lost. Thus, I understand the cop's decision there.



What are your thoughts?

 

[Harksteed]

My thoughts:
American cops face more danger than your average cop from most other western cultures due to the abundance of fire arms among citizens and the relatively poor state of certain areas in the country.
That being said; you can definitely make a case that a not-insignificant amount of cops are prone to escalating situations too much too often. This could point to a structural problem with either training or hiring.

 

[Typhares]

Just a sad story all around. RIP to the victims.
And yes I have no doubt that had he shot that guy some people would have said the usual 'but he wasn't armed', 'just a rock!', 'Why not aim for the legs?', 'Should have been tased'.
I'm not saying that there are no use of excessive force done by some police officers but I don't like the mindset that it's mostly bad and corrupt: the enemy.
Then again I'm not American but even from the outside with media coverage being mostly negative I can see that a few focus stories don't paint the whole picture.

 

[Corrik]

Let me be clear, there are cases where there is absolutely wrong behavior by cops and they should be prosecuted fully to the power of the law.

However, it is very, very rare where the suspect did not do something to cause a reasonable or justifiable reaction from the cop in shootings/force.

I can think of some where that absolutely was the case though that the cop was just wrong, imo.

 

[Spheyr]

I care more about the officers making it home at night than criminals.

 

[Harksteed]

I care more about the officers making it home at night than criminals.

If only if were this simple.

 

[SatansReverence]

If only if were this simple.

The overwhelmingly vast majority of the time, it really is that simple.

 

[Forthefuture]

We are justifying police murders now? What heppened to due process you loved so much?

 

[JordanN]

We are justifying police murders now? What heppened to due process you loved so much?

If someone is resisting arrest and is clearly brandishing a weapon, then it's within self defense for an officer to protect not just himself but all other surrounding bystanders.

It's egregious to believe police should just throw their lives away and let criminals run amok (where they can go on and do more damage to society).

If a suspect is unarmed and clearly compliant, than obviously any attempted kill shots should go punished.

 

[Dunki]

My thoughts:
American cops face more danger than your average cop from most other western cultures due to the abundance of fire arms among citizens and the relatively poor state of certain areas in the country.
That being said; you can definitely make a case that a not-insignificant amount of cops are prone to escalating situations too much too often. This could point to a structural problem with either training or hiring.

I think we can all agree that they need better training but then you also have the huge pressure that now lifts on every cop because the whole as been stigmatized and villainized to a high degree.
In my country it is the opposite. Cops here are being attacked on a daily basis and also have to suffer from serve injuries by doing their normal job.

 

[Mochilador]

It's a honorable profession, they risk their lives everyday.
Here in Brazil a policewoman had to shoot a guy who was threating people at a nearby school.
It was Mother's day, there were a lot of mothers and children near the school.
He came out of nowhere pointing a gun to the crowd.
Fortunately, one of the mothers over there was a policewoman and she shot him.
Some deep shit could have happened if she didn't intervene.

 

[KevinKeene]

Can't we have an all-encompassing 'OT: Rightwing-politics and violence-positivity' topic?

There's so many of these threads. I didn't celebrate auth left-gaf leaving to their new crazy forum to watch it be replaced with the rightwing pendant. :/

 

[Nobody_Important]

A cop killing an actual armed person does not excuse them murdering unarmed people based on blind assumptions. I don't care how you wanna spin it.

 

[Corrik]

Can't we have an all-encompassing 'OT: Rightwing-politics and violence-positivity' topic?

There's so many of these threads. I didn't celebrate auth left-gaf leaving to their new crazy forum to watch it be replaced with the rightwing pendant. :/

Is supporting cops an only right wing thing?

 

[KevinKeene]

Is supporting cops an only right wing thing?

Nah, but when you have threads about supporting physical violence against words, praising Trump, and mocking transgender people, it paints a certain 'full picture'. I don't like that.

Looking forward to your 'Systematic violence against black people' topic. Except that won't ever happen, am I wrong?

 

[Corrik]

Nah, but when you have threads about supporting physical violence against words, praising Trump, and mocking transgender people, it paints a certain 'full picture'. I don't like that.

Looking forward to your 'Systematic violence against black people' topic. Except that won't ever happen, am I wrong?

I am not sure what you are insinuating. You are free to make any topic you wish to make. I have made like 6 topics ever here, and I think 4 were NBA/NCAA basketball threads.

The topic about the racist being punched seems to be evenly debated on both sides.

I mean, if you are saying I am not seeing a complete agreement of my thought process so the topics must be right wing, then I think there is another site that more suits you. Because there seems to be debate on both sides. (Though some of you need to be less black and white on some issues when debating).

 

[Snoopycat]

The problem is that too often we have seen people killed by police for no justifiable reason. Are American cops so badly trained that the only place they can shoot people is in their backs?

 

[Keylime]

I think most people would agree that being a police officer in a situation where the suspect isn't following orders or is doing dodgy things with their hands puts the police officer in a really bad spot.

There are definitely situations that are absolute and total bullshit, don't get me wrong...but I can't even imagine being in a situation where I'm not sure if the suspect I'm trying to apprehend has a weapon or not and they're being non-compliant or fiddling around in a car or in their pockets.

There are cops who abuse power and create mistrust that even if you do the right thing you may end up shot or beaten to death. And the media has been playing this up so much lately (maybe it's always happened, we just didn't hear about it as much) that I'm genuinely afraid of the police. And that's coming from a 33-year old white dude who's lived in the suburbs his whole life.

I've had very polite and reasonable experiences with cops, and dealt with some very unnecessarily angry and disgruntled cops.

I think the best thing you can do is just comply to the best of your abilities with the police's orders and just pray to whomever you believe it works out alright. Deal with the injustice after. (this is much easier to say than it is to follow depending on what circumstance you're in with the police).

 

[mckmas8808]

My thoughts:
American cops face more danger than your average cop from most other western cultures due to the abundance of fire arms among citizens and the relatively poor state of certain areas in the country.
That being said; you can definitely make a case that a not-insignificant amount of cops are prone to escalating situations too much too often. This could point to a structural problem with either training or hiring.

Perfect response that I love reading on social spaces like this. Both things can be true at the same time.

I think most people would agree that being a police officer in a situation where the suspect isn't following orders or is doing dodgy things with their hands puts the police officer in a really bad spot.

There are definitely situations that are absolute and total bullshit, don't get me wrong...but I can't even imagine being in a situation where I'm not sure if the suspect I'm trying to apprehend has a weapon or not and they're being non-compliant or fiddling around in a car or in their pockets.

There are cops who abuse power and create mistrust that even if you do the right thing you may end up shot or beaten to death. And the media has been playing this up so much lately (maybe it's always happened, we just didn't hear about it as much) that I'm genuinely afraid of the police. And that's coming from a 33-year old white dude who's lived in the suburbs his whole life.

I've had very polite and reasonable experiences with cops, and dealt with some very unnecessarily angry and disgruntled cops.

I think the best thing you can do is just comply to the best of your abilities with the police's orders and just pray to whomever you believe it works out alright. Deal with the injustice after. (this is much easier to say than it is to follow depending on what circumstance you're in with the police).

I don't know why reading this from a white guy makes me so happy to read. It's like "HE GETS IT" and makes me realize that all hope isn't lost in this system of things.

 

[Ke0]

I would imagine no one will protest for police officers because their killers are brought to justice. That's a pretty important thing you omitted no?

Nah, but when you have threads about supporting physical violence against words, praising Trump, and mocking transgender people, it paints a certain 'full picture'. I don't like that.

Looking forward to your 'Systematic violence against black people' topic. Except that won't ever happen, am I wrong?

Well there was a "lol black people are shit" thread a month or two back that was eventually locked of that counts?

 

[cryptoadam]

Cops should be held to higher standards. Just the notion that a cop "feared" for their life shouldn't be enough of a get out of jail card. If as a cop you want to go around shooting people because your life is more important then those you serve and protect(yes even criminals are included) then they should be ready to face the consequences. If there are no weapons found on a person then the cop should face harsh punishment for making the WRONG decision that resulted in the end of someones life.

As a cop you know you are signing up for a dangerous job. If you aren't comfortable with putting the life of others ahead of yours then being a cop isn't the job for you. Be a garbageman or salesman instead. You don't get a gun and can't abuse your authority but you don't have to worry about putting your life on the line.

 

[Panda1]

being a cop in America is an impossible job - probably hardest in the world. Should they be held up to high standards absolutely. I think full recordings easily will help long term in increasing trust.
In terms of the argument - yes we are humans we cannot control everything in extreme circumstances and any time its a life threatening action then 100% the cop wants to go home to his family that night.

 

[Cauliflower of Love]

Cop beaten by rock: 1

People shot by cops in 2018 : 548

 

[DeepEnigma]

Cop beaten by rock: 1

People shot by cops in 2018 : 548

So is this a competition for empathy, or are we going to extend the same, "all life is sacred" to every party like the argument usually used in the 548 scenario?

 

[Cauliflower of Love]

So is this a competition for empathy, or are we going to extend the same, "all life is sacred" to every party like the argument usually used in the 548 scenario?

It's not a competition for empathy.

It's a big "fuck you" to the idea that "this is why police shoot on 'dangerous' suspects".

Countries across the globe have proven that cops don't need guns to deal with matters.

 

[1.21Gigawatts]

The issues of police brutality in the US has a lot of reasons.

And one of them is the fact that the job is more dangerous in the US and a higher threat level leads to more brutal behaviour by cops.
A major factor at play here is also the insane amount of guns in the US. While officers in most countries never expect to meet a civilian with a gun, in the US its always a relatively high chance than anyone you encounter carries a gun.
Another one is the fact that cops in the US receive relatively little training. While the average theoretical and practical training for officers in most developed nations is between 2 and 3 years, you can be out on the streets with a gun in as little as a few months in the US.
It also can't be denied that many cops have racial biases, which often leads to escalating situations were no threat was even present.
Lastly, the weak social systems and non-existent welfare state in the US leads to social issues other western nations don't have anymore, or at least not to the same extent as the US.


To fix police brutality and the rift between citizens and police all of these factors need to be addressed. But thats not happening anytime soon.

 

[highrider]

Law enforcement isn’t without inherent danger, but despite the preponderance of firearms in America, there are many significantly more dangerous jobs. Pretty much any form of industrial construction or mining for starters.
Police are well paid and generally reflect their community, good and bad.

I see the issue as lack of training, applying a military policing model to civilian law enforcement, and the big one, it attracts personalities that hunger for power and perceived power. Protect and serve has become more similar to how a military unit would operate in a zone full of insurgents. I understand to some extent, if you’re an officer in the south side of Chicago or south central it would be hard not to feel that way. We need the robots from Star Trek to do it pretty much.

 

[cryptoadam]

Just so we don't break it down to a black vs white thing (and black people obviously suffer proportionally more) I will post a video of Daniel Shaver

The issues of police brutality in the US has a lot of reasons.

And one of them is the fact that the job is more dangerous in the US and a higher threat level leads to more brutal behaviour by cops.
A major factor at play here is also the insane amount of guns in the US. While officers in most countries never expect to meet a civilian with a gun, in the US its always a relatively high chance than anyone you encounter carries a gun.
Another one is the fact that cops in the US receive relatively little training. While the average theoretical and practical training for officers in most developed nations is between 2 and 3 years, you can be out on the streets with a gun in as little as a few months in the US.
It also can't be denied that many cops have racial biases, which often leads to escalating situations were no threat was even present.
Lastly, the weak social systems and non-existent welfare state in the US leads to social issues other western nations don't have anymore, or at least not to the same extent as the US.


To fix police brutality and the rift between citizens and police all of these factors need to be addressed. But thats not happening anytime soon.

Solve the training portion and the racial bias portion and all though not a magic want to fix everything it should help the situation with police brutality. I see no problem with requiring some sort of racisim type test before a cop can be hired. I think its at that point for American police that their institution should be vetted for racists.

Overall the problems seem to be self inflicted for the police in that they train like crap and hire like crap. Maybe American police need to raise their standards on who becomes a cop and weed out all the power hungry racists.

 

[Cybrwzrd]

Cop beaten by rock: 1

People shot by cops in 2018 : 548

44 Officers were shot and killed in 2017, and 29 so far this year. And I can't even find the number of police not fatally shot or stabbed per year.

The chance of being shot by the police is less than 0.01% per interaction. They aren't roving bands of thugs trying to murder minorities, despite what CNN and the rest of the mass media wants you to think. The vast majority of fatal police shootings are justified and conversely it is never justified to shoot a police officer.

 

[BANGS]

My thoughts:
American cops face more danger than your average cop from most other western cultures due to the abundance of fire arms among citizens and the relatively poor state of certain areas in the country.
That being said; you can definitely make a case that a not-insignificant amount of cops are prone to escalating situations too much too often. This could point to a structural problem with either training or hiring.

Perfectly said IMO...

 

[Super Mario]

The whole anti-police thing is an illegitimate problem magnified by the Liberal left. The very BEST examples we have of "police brutality" are far and few and many of which are highly debatable. There are millions of police interactions that go without a hitch. How often do we judge a profession by issues that happen in the small, small, fraction of a percent? Liberal agenda topics.

 

[BANGS]

The whole anti-police thing is an illegitimate problem magnified by the Liberal left. The very BEST examples we have of "police brutality" are far and few and many of which are highly debatable. There are millions of police interactions that go without a hitch. How often do we judge a profession by issues that happen in the small, small, fraction of a percent? Liberal agenda topics.

It's truly hypocritical when you consider people's stances on terrorism...

 

[cryptoadam]

The whole anti-police thing is an illegitimate problem magnified by the Liberal left. The very BEST examples we have of "police brutality" are far and few and many of which are highly debatable. There are millions of police interactions that go without a hitch. How often do we judge a profession by issues that happen in the small, small, fraction of a percent? Liberal agenda topics.

Well if other profession "hitches" lead to dead people or 25 years of peoples lives and freedom being stolen from them there would probably be a lot more scrutiny. I am sure if you pizza was 15 minutes late meant the delivery guy could kill you or send you to prison we would probably care a lot more that delivery people weren't late.

And Doctors have a lot of scrutiny on them if they screw up. They lose everything and can be sued into oblivion.

So there should be an enormous magnifying glass on the cops. We shouldn't sweep it under the rug when they frame people for crimes they didn't commit or kill people for no other reason than "they feared for their lives".

 

[Corrik]

I mean, I think when cops get to this point that we have gone too far in villifying the cops and are actively making things worse for them.

Cops are basically every day under the threat of prosecution and job loss. I feel like the majority of cops are trying their best and making what they feel are the best decisions.

There is obviously a ton of unjustified shit that goes on, and it should be prosecuted. I just think way too often that people jump to omg "fuck the police" instead of understanding the details.

Like this right here is an example of being unjustified. Unjustified

But, the vast majority are when surrounding context of descriptions of violent criminals matching, lack of cooperation or quick and shady movements by criminals, attacking police, reports of weapons on suspects, weapons in hands or objects, reaching toward waistbands, etc.

Then you have people rioting, destroying towns and cities, and portraying the victims as innocent sweethearts (in some cases they are) to excaberate the situations. Which CNN is only too happy to perpetualize.

Which leads to the "fuck the cops" mentality. Where people stop respecting cops or refusing to cooperate. Which leads to more situations of this note due to hostility toward cops. Etc.

The problem is we are in a cycle towards police that is going to lead to more and more police hostility. And, many people are only too happy to feed into that than to think about that.

 

[Zog]

I have always asked myself why I can't pull my gun* if I see that a cop has a gun. That is what cops do if they see me with a gun. Now I know that the authority figure has the 'right of way' but I still wonder that every time I hear about a cop shooting an unarmed person.

* I don't actually own a gun.

 

[Corrik]

I have always asked myself why I can't pull my gun* if I see that a cop has a gun. That is what cops do if they see me with a gun. Now I know that the authority figure has the 'right of way' but I still wonder that every time I hear about a cop shooting an unarmed person.

* I don't actually own a gun.

If you want to be shot and killed, that seems like a very good way to go about it.

I am glad you do not own a gun for your sake.

 

[Super Mario]

Well if other profession "hitches" lead to dead people or 25 years of peoples lives and freedom being stolen from them there would probably be a lot more scrutiny. I am sure if you pizza was 15 minutes late meant the delivery guy could kill you or send you to prison we would probably care a lot more that delivery people weren't late.

And Doctors have a lot of scrutiny on them if they screw up. They lose everything and can be sued into oblivion.

So there should be an enormous magnifying glass on the cops. We shouldn't sweep it under the rug when they frame people for crimes they didn't commit or kill people for no other reason than "they feared for their lives".

You can spew whatever garbage you want. The statistics, facts, everything says this is just manufactured outrage. This is a narrative for losers to follow.

Imagine if we had half as much passion in protesting crime in our communities as much as we do the cops who fight it. Our criminals becoming heroes and martyrs is absolutely disgusting

 

[Hotel Security]

No need to justify cop actions to me. They're dealing with all kinds of nutjobs, many drunk or on drugs, and many who hate cops and don't give a shit if they take one down when they get busted. If a cop thinks their life is being threatened then I have no problem with them deciding it should be the perp instead of them.

Just follow a cop for one day and you'll see the insane amount of nuts they have to deal with even in a day...the husband of a girl I know was stabbed by a syringe from some junky they were busting a month ago and had to get a full range of blood tests to make sure he didn't have HIV or something like that (luckily he was cleared). He wanted to murder the guy and his partner cooled him down in the moment. This shit happens constantly to cops and somehow folks are naive to it.

Besides, if a perp does everything the cop says and follow directions, this shit wouldn't happen. But it's always the guys who argue with cops, run from them, act erratically or physically attack them who end up dead. There's a reason why Kaepernick has a camp that teaches people how to act around cops...even he knows that it's often their own actions that endanger themselves. Only in a few instances do we see these people follow directions and still get shot and those are always open-and-shut cases where the cop is easily charged and jailed.

I have always asked myself why I can't pull my gun* if I see that a cop has a gun. That is what cops do if they see me with a gun. Now I know that the authority figure has the 'right of way' but I still wonder that every time I hear about a cop shooting an unarmed person.

Without stating the obvious, there's a LOT of things that cops are allowed to do that civilians can't. That's why they're cops. Regardless, a cop pulls his gun in self-defense...he can't be sure that you're pulling the gun for the same reason.

 

[Zog]

If you want to be shot and killed, that seems like a very good way to go about it.

I am glad you do not own a gun for your sake.

Thanks for clarifying which gang not to pull a gun on.

 

[SonicSleuth]

This is why cops whenever they have a reasonable justification to shoot do and should take the shot if they feel it is the right course of action.

A cop shouldn't have to die or an innocent bystander before a suspect is considered a threat to life. This office by not shooting at the sign of threat is now dead. There will not be protests in his name. He will not be remembered. He will not be anything but an empty space in that family that will forever scar that family. And for what? For trying to do his job to the best of his ability and for erring on the side of the suspect.

An officer should never have to choose between his own life and that of a suspect that is justifiably and reasonably possible to be armed and/or dangerous.

That doesn't even account for the innocent bystander who died. A woman at her own house who did nothing.

This is why I said I felt the Antwon Rose shooting would result in an innocent verdict for the cop. The cop with all information provided had every reason to suspect that the suspect there was possibly armed and possibly dangerous due to the likelihood he was in a drive-by shooting previous to that and guns were openly present on the ground.

If that cop hadn't shot and Rose had been armed, it could have resulted in innocent lives lost. Thus, I understand the cop's decision there.



What are your thoughts?

I think the story you're quoting has almost no relevance to the many, many stories of police brutality we've seen.

Nobody wants cops to be defenseless. We want them to be well selected and well trained. This police officer, for whatever reason, did not realize the danger and act accordingly. He was either poorly selected or poorly trained, and tragedy is the result.

But where your bias is incredibly clear is where you say this officer will not be remembered. I work in courthouses and police stations for my career, and there are memorials in every town for downed officers. You can't just make things up to prove your point.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Thanks for clarifying which gang not to pull a gun on.

I mean, if you pull a gun on anyone who has a gun themselves, you should expect your chances of getting shot and/or killed to go way the fuck up.

But you can take the Darwinism way out I suppose.

 

[Hotel Security]

Nobody wants cops to be defenseless. We want them to be well selected and well trained. This police officer, for whatever reason, did not realize the danger and act accordingly. He was either poorly selected or poorly trained, and tragedy is the result.

They ARE well-selected and well-trained and there is no evidence that they aren't. What you're ignoring is that there's bad seeds in every group. You can't weed out a guy for being aggressive if he has no past history or record of being aggressive. People fall through the cracks and flaws are sometimes not detectable. This isn't a case with the cops...it's an issue in EVERY workplace. Sometimes you simply make bad hires and you have no idea it was bad until there's a major screw-up or issue.

You're also ignoring that people change. A man is a very different person at 38 than they are at 28. Some people get more bitter and angry or have things that happen in life that change them...maybe they have a partner who is murdered. There's a millions things that can happen and absolutely no way to weed it out.

Your brilliant idea to stop cop brutality is already being done. You're just complaining that it's not perfect because it never will be simply because people are not perfect. Until all cops are replaced with robots, there is no way to ever stop this so please stop this and most precincts do whatever they can to do so.

This is why the protests on this are so frustrating. People complain and march and not one of them provides a solution...because there isn't one. Yet they complain and march as though there is.

 

[Papa]

Can't we have an all-encompassing 'OT: Rightwing-politics and violence-positivity' topic?

There's so many of these threads. I didn't celebrate auth left-gaf leaving to their new crazy forum to watch it be replaced with the rightwing pendant. :/

Mate, are you a real person or are you playing a character? 6 months ago you were posting completely the opposite.

 

[Zog]

I mean, if you pull a gun on anyone who has a gun themselves, you should expect your chances of getting shot and/or killed to go way the fuck up.

But you can take the Darwinism way out I suppose.

Which makes my point. When the police pull their guns, they should expect the same in return.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Which makes my point. When the police pull their guns, they should expect the same in return.

I'm pretty sure they DO expect it, hence why it is done. Does not excuse unlawful or unethical actions however.

 

[Corrik]

Which makes my point. When the police pull their guns, they should expect the same in return.

Terrible take. I wish people behind a keyboard wouldn't post stuff like this. No one can possibly think what you are saying right now. You are just talking out of your ass.

 

[cryptoadam]

You can spew whatever garbage you want. The statistics, facts, everything says this is just manufactured outrage. This is a narrative for losers to follow.

Imagine if we had half as much passion in protesting crime in our communities as much as we do the cops who fight it. Our criminals becoming heroes and martyrs is absolutely disgusting

I don't need facts or statistics to tell me that the video below should never happen and all the cops there should be in jail. And there should be bigger spot lights on cops. If they got nothing to hide they shouldn't care.



Is this one of those hitches?

What if you were in your home and I told the cops you had a gun and they came in blazing and blasted you because they "feared for their lives"? No spotlights? just a hitch.

I have no love for criminals but cops have become horrible at their jobs and to me one incident is too many incidents. When you are a cop there is no minor "hitches", you screw up it should be a HUGE deal. Not only can someone die, but someones life can be ruined with a criminal record, or worse their freedoms taken away and thrown in prison.

But who cares about Daniel and the countless others like him. Just a hitch in a cops day. They have a hard job so we can let it slide.

 

[mckmas8808]

I think most people would agree that being a police officer in a situation where the suspect isn't following orders or is doing dodgy things with their hands puts the police officer in a really bad spot.

There are definitely situations that are absolute and total bullshit, don't get me wrong...but I can't even imagine being in a situation where I'm not sure if the suspect I'm trying to apprehend has a weapon or not and they're being non-compliant or fiddling around in a car or in their pockets.

There are cops who abuse power and create mistrust that even if you do the right thing you may end up shot or beaten to death. And the media has been playing this up so much lately (maybe it's always happened, we just didn't hear about it as much) that I'm genuinely afraid of the police. And that's coming from a 33-year old white dude who's lived in the suburbs his whole life.

I've had very polite and reasonable experiences with cops, and dealt with some very unnecessarily angry and disgruntled cops.

I think the best thing you can do is just comply to the best of your abilities with the police's orders and just pray to whomever you believe it works out alright. Deal with the injustice after. (this is much easier to say than it is to follow depending on what circumstance you're in with the police).

M

They ARE well-selected and well-trained and there is no evidence that they aren't. What you're ignoring is that there's bad seeds in every group. You can't weed out a guy for being aggressive if he has no past history or record of being aggressive. People fall through the cracks and flaws are sometimes not detectable. This isn't a case with the cops...it's an issue in EVERY workplace. Sometimes you simply make bad hires and you have no idea it was bad until there's a major screw-up or issue.

You're also ignoring that people change. A man is a very different person at 38 than they are at 28. Some people get more bitter and angry or have things that happen in life that change them...maybe they have a partner who is murdered. There's a millions things that can happen and absolutely no way to weed it out.

Your brilliant idea to stop cop brutality is already being done. You're just complaining that it's not perfect because it never will be simply because people are not perfect. Until all cops are replaced with robots, there is no way to ever stop this so please stop this and most precincts do whatever they can to do so.

This is why the protests on this are so frustrating. People complain and march and not one of them provides a solution...because there isn't one. Yet they complain and march as though there is.

MANY people talk about solutions, but they are denied many times. The first thing would be to hold bad police accountable.

 

[KINGMOKU]

Perfect response that I love reading on social spaces like this. Both things can be true at the same time.



I don't know why reading this from a white guy makes me so happy to read. It's like "HE GETS IT" and makes me realize that all hope isn't lost in this system of things.

I'll add this.

Police have a tough job and the choices they make are life and death, and can have massive impacts on entire communities. Very, very few professions have this hanging on their heads day in, and day out so I understand mistakes(sometimes deadly) and the immense pressure and scrutiny they face.

With that said, problems with the police are systemic, and the overwhelming problem are the recruits themselves, and the protection they get from unions, and fellow officers.

They absolutely have to be held to a higher standard at all times as we the people, have entrusted our safety, civility, and social fabric to them under a contract of trust. To often they break that public trust and getting rid of those that do so becomes a nightmare.

Police unions need to be greatly weakened, and fireable offenses need to be expanded. Sentencing for police officers for crimes of any type need to be much harsher then those for citizens as they have that public trust. I honestly believe that if those few things happen, problems will decrease.

I would also like to look at incidents that happen between city, county, and state troopers as the education required for those jobs are different and I think it will show in the statistics. If I'm not mistaken, the more education a person has, the less prone to violence they are, and the more use of critical thinking increases.

 

[Leonard Washington]

Step 1 - "Is he black?" if no go to step three if yes go to step two.
Step 2 - "Shoot on sight because that wallet might be loaded, Johnson!"
Step 3 - Allow him to wave a loaded gun at you whilst screaming threatening obscenities about you as you repeatedly say "Calm down Sir, there is nothing we can't fix. I'm here to help you" with your gun firmly holstered and hands in the air whilst speaking in measured, calm tone.

Reference:
https://www.bet.com/news/national/2018/03/28/white-man-with-loaded-gun-peacefully-arrested.html