The Police Brutality Thread

[TexTechCoug]

Sorry, but I don't live in fear of the police. I've run the numbers and the numbers also agree with my risk assessment.

I live in a way that I mostly avoid the police, but my interactions with them have been uniformly bad. The last time I was in a car that was pulled over the female officer yelled at my wife, threatened to arrest me, threatened to detain us for over an hour when I asked for her badge number, and amazingly the in car recording "disappeared" per her supervisors when I checked back on my complaint.

Sure, you are fine, as long as you stay a mile wide of their line, but they wield incredible power, and often abuse it.

[ewth8tr]

The audio was actually from mics attached to the cops, it was synced with the video for the trial.

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[SteelBlue]

The audio was actually from mics attached to the cops, it was synced with the video for the trial.

Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2

Ah, that makes more sense.

[DU Ute]

All Trayvon Martin kidding aside, the reason why this story hasn't had more traction nationally yet is because the victim is white.

No, it's because the responsible party isn't getting off scott free.

[smokymountainrain]

No, it's because the responsible party isn't getting off scott free.

Rodney King

[DU Ute]

Rodney King

That was over 20 years ago. The King beating was a big story long before the officers were acquitted. The Martin story wasn't a story until it became apparent Zimmerman wasn't going to face any consequences.

[RobinFinderson]

That was over 20 years ago. The King beating was a big story long before the officers were acquitted. The Martin story wasn't a story until it became apparent Zimmerman wasn't going to face any consequences.

This isn't really true. In the days immediately after Trevon was killed, black students in my classes were talking about it. I recall because I didn't understand what they were talking about at the time, but one student had brought in a bag of skittles, and was eating them in class. A different black student asked if she was eating skittles because of what had happened in Florida, and she said that was indeed the reason. The weirdness of the conversation made it stick in my mind. A month or so later, it was national headlines, and we were all talking about it. At that point I made the connection between the skittles and the prior conversation. But what I am really saying is that to the black community, it had been a 'big story' from day one.

[Devildog]

Depending on which sources you look at, there are around 700,000 police officers in this country not including Federal Agents.

Do you guys really think that what occurred in this case is an example of how most of them operate?

Because that is crap. Most cops are very decent people with solid families and good character. Hell, they are probably far more honest and trustworthy as people than the average lawyer is.

Most cops know they are held to a higher standard than the general public and they live their lives accordingly.

You can't judge all police officers by the actions of a few assholes. That only works when describing attorneys.

[UtahDan]

Devildog I think you're smarter than this. No one is saying that this is typical of all police. But wielding a lot of power and knowing that a lot of the time no one is looking over your shoulder invariably leads some people to abuse that power. I have been around way too many cops to get sold on the idea that they are an exception to human nature.

[smokymountainrain]

That was over 20 years ago. The King beating was a big story long before the officers were acquitted.

That is precisely my point. It was a big story before we knew what would eventually happen to the officers. IOW, in regard to the severity of public outrage, it didn't matter whether they were getting off scott free or if they would face the worst possible consequences.

Essentially, your argument is that it was 20 years ago. We might agree to disagree, but in terms of sensitive racial issue such as this one, I don't think much has changed in the last 20 years.

[UtahDan]

That is precisely my point. It was a big story before we knew what would eventually happen to the officers. IOW, in regard to the severity of public outrage, it didn't matter whether they were getting off scott free or if they would face the worst possible consequences.

Essentially, your argument is that it was 20 years ago. We might agree to disagree, but in terms of sensitive racial issue such as this one, I don't think much has changed in the last 20 years.

That is because our country has a shameful history of black people suffering violence and death at the hands of police, vigilantes and lynch mobs that plenty of people still remember and that many people have experienced personally. This abuse does not exist in the collective memory or experience of white people as a group because it didn't happen to them. It is intuitive that this would create sensitivity among blacks who were the victims of it and whites and other races who feel a strong moral obligation not to repeat it.

I think all such cases should receive a lot of attention. But given our history as a nation I think it is difficult to argue that anyone should feel aggrieved over some sort of reverse racism, which seems to be what is being strongly hinted at.

[Devildog]

Devildog I think you're smarter than this. No one is saying that this is typical of all police. But wielding a lot of power and knowing that a lot of the time no one is looking over your shoulder invariably leads some people to abuse that power. I have been around way too many cops to get sold on the idea that they are an exception to human nature.

Have you ever asked any of those cops about IA investigations involving disgruntled citizen complaints?

Most cops realize that someone is always "looking over their shoulder"... and in many of those cases cops will be punished for a made up story conjured up by someone that didn't want enforcement action taken on them.

[smokymountainrain]

That is because our country has a shameful history of black people suffering violence and death at the hands of police, vigilantes and lynch mobs that plenty of people still remember and that many people have experienced personally. This abuse does not exist in the collective memory or experience of white people as a group because it didn't happen to them. It is intuitive that this would create sensitivity among blacks who were the victims of it and whites and other races who feel a strong moral obligation not to repeat it.

You're preaching to the choir.

I think all such cases should receive a lot of attention. But given our history as a nation I think it is difficult to argue that anyone should feel aggrieved over some sort of reverse racism, which seems to be what is being strongly hinted at.

I'm not going to make an assumption as to whether Indy was hinting at reverse racism. I was simply agreeing with Indy's point that race is indeed a major factor in the supposed lack of public outcry in this case. I don't have a problem with it for the exact reasons you explained above. For my part, it doesn't go any deeper than that, so if you're accusing me of hinting that we should be offended at the reverse racism, you couldn't be more mistaken.

[UtahDan]

You're preaching to the choir.



I'm not going to make an assumption as to whether Indy was hinting at reverse racism. I was simply agreeing with Indy's point that race is indeed a major factor in the supposed lack of public outcry in this case. I don't have a problem with it for the exact reasons you explained above. For my part, it doesn't go any deeper than that, so if you're accusing me of hinting that we should be offended at the reverse racism, you couldn't be more mistaken.

Gotcha.

[UtahDan]

Have you ever asked any of those cops about IA investigations involving disgruntled citizen complaints?

Most cops realize that someone is always "looking over their shoulder"... and in many of those cases cops will be punished for a made up story conjured up by someone that didn't want enforcement action taken on them.

In my profession there is the expression "tie goes to the officer." Whether it is in a courtroom or an IA investigation and the only evidence is an officer's word against the criminal suspect's word unless what the officer is saying makes absolutely no rational sense he will be believed every single time. Officers who step over the line don't do it with you and me, they do it with people who no one will believe. They are unaccountable in those scenarios and just like all other human beings the temptation is too much for some of them.

Most cops are good cops in a few of them are bad. Same thing is true of lawyers. People are people.