The Police Brutality Thread

[CardiacCoug]

If I was a cop that just murdered a guy for no reason other than I'm an undertrained scared shitless moron I'm sure I would say something like this.

The police training videos these guys watch have an identical situation to this but the ending of the video is that the suspect shoots or runs over the cops. That’s all I’m saying.

[CardiacCoug]

I don't think you would have been shot. At point blank range. In the back. Seven times.

I think that's the point.

Uhhh I would definitely expect to be shot. Good grief the police are telling you to stop and you open the door of your car and try to get in! I would assume the police are going to shoot me.

[UVACoug]

The Police Brutality Thread

Hard to tell from the grainy videos, but one shot makes it look like he may have had a knife in his hand while walking around the car. He was clearly being aggressive with the cops and not obeying orders. It doesn’t look he was some innocent guy that was just trying to break up a fight, as the current mainstream narrative suggests.

With that said, does any of it justify him getting shot in the back at point blank range seven times? I can’t see how it does. Certainly some use of force was justified, but I find it hard to believe that there wasn’t a better option available. Why no taser? Pepper spray? There’s got to be a better way to physically disable that doesn’t require shooting the guy in the back, right?

At the same time, the fact that he survived, and is apparently in stable condition, suggests that the cop may not have been shooting to kill. How that works with shots to the back at the range is something I don’t understand, but the outcome looks a whole lot worse on video than it turned out to be. And it’s a tragedy that it’s led to actual deaths.

[Jeff Lebowski]

For the life of me, I can't understand why people resist a cop with a gun drawn. Insanity.

[falafel]

OK regarding this Jacob Blake thing I’m sure somebody can set me straight.

This guy was wrestling with the police and broke away and tried to enter his car?!

I mean people keep guns in their cars all the time right? I’m sure the textbook answer in a police video would be to in no way allow this guy to get into his car and close/lock the door. He could have a gun and he could use his car as a deadly weapon.

I mean I would fully expect to be shot down if I wrestled myself away from the police and tried to get in my car.

Based on all the outrage and canceled NBA games I’m sure I’m wrong — please somebody corrrect me!

I just watched the video. Normally, I'm on the side of the police and will give them the benefit of the doubt when they feel their lives are in danger. Of course, the training is for them to use the lowest amount of force that will adequately address the situation. Here, the kid was basically walking away from the cops. The officer that shot him walked behind Blake, stopped while Blake opened the door, then repositioned himself back behind Blake again (slowly), and then opened fire, shooting him in the back. In my non-police-officer opinion, the officers on the scene could have apprehended Blake, forced him to the ground, cuffed him, etc. Or tasered him (assuming they had tasers). Seven bullets in the back was way above the force necessary to control this kid.

Edit: I just read that the police previously tasered Blake, but it was apparently ineffective. I still think there are intermediate steps between taser and 7 bullets to the back of a subject walking at normal speed away from you.

[old_gregg]

the context is going to be very important. in a vacuum, the shooting is probably justified. but, if the bodycam footage is released and there wasn't a lawful reason to detain the guy or the cops escalated the situation unnecessarily, we might be talking about something worth rioting over. this idea that people are obligated to obey all orders of cops, whether lawful or not, is disgusting.

[Flystripper]

Hard to tell from the grainy videos, but one shot makes it look like he may have had a knife in his hand while walking around the car. He was clearly being aggressive with the cops and not obeying orders. It doesn’t look he was some innocent guy that was just trying to break up a fight, as the current mainstream narrative suggests.

With that said, does any of it justify him getting shot in the back at point blank range seven times? I can’t see how it does. Certainly some use of force was justified, but I find it hard to believe that there wasn’t a better option available. Why no taser? Pepper spray? There’s got to be a better way to physically disable that doesn’t require shooting the guy in the back, right?

At the same time, the fact that he survived, and is apparently in stable condition, suggests that the cop may not have been shooting to kill. How that works with shots to the back at the range is something I don’t understand, but the outcome looks a whole lot worse on video than it turned out to be. And it’s a tragedy that it’s led to actual deaths.

Paralyzed


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[old_gregg]

It doesn’t look he was some innocent guy that was just trying to break up a fight, as the current mainstream narrative suggests.

i suspect you or i would probably not look real innocent if we broke up a fight and then were unlawfully detained by aggressive police who were physically harassing me. not saying that's what happened, nothing in the video speaks to who escalated the situation.

suggests that the cop may not have been shooting to kill.

are you on crack? seven shots at point blank range, hitting spinal cord, lungs and liver is certainly shooting to kill.

[old_gregg]

a common theme in these incidents is that the burden to deescalate a situation falls more on random guy walking down street than on uniformed, armed and trained police officers. a guy who is physically harassed and intimidated (nb: not necessarily the case here) should supposedly be able to compose himself while his face is getting pushed into asphalt and decide to obey the maybe unlawful orders of a police officer who's also in an elevated and emotional state. this hypothetical guy is also supposed to decide that he's going to bring a civil rights complaint against this department instead of physically resisting. cops should disproportionately bear the burden of deescalation and letting the "fuck yous" slide instead of reacting emotionally, but there are just way too many cases out there where that doesn't happen.

[CardiacCoug]

a common theme in these incidents is that the burden to deescalate a situation falls more on random guy walking down street than on uniformed, armed and trained police officers. a guy who is physically harassed and intimidated (nb: not necessarily the case here) should supposedly be able to compose himself while his face is getting pushed into asphalt and decide to obey the maybe unlawful orders of a police officer who's also in an elevated and emotional state. this hypothetical guy is also supposed to decide that he's going to bring a civil rights complaint against this department instead of physically resisting. cops should disproportionately bear the burden of deescalation and letting the "fuck yous" slide instead of reacting emotionally, but there are just way too many cases out there where that doesn't happen.

I agree with this completely. A trained professional should deescalate a situation like this before it gets to that point and should even let this guy drive away.

Doesn’t everybody assume that cops are basically assholes? These are guys who chose a job based on the thought of “Yeah I could shoot somebody or beat up somebody as part of my job.”

There is no doubt in my mind that there is a police violence problem in the country — agree that this is a good example of a shooting that is technically “justified” but shouldn’t have happened.

Sorry to commando and the other super wokes here but I think this dude gets shot even if he’s white.

[myboynoah]

Sorry to commando and the other super wokes here but I think this dude gets shot even if he’s white.

Yeah I think experience and practice is showing us that that isn't the case.

[old_gregg]

Doesn’t everybody assume that cops are basically assholes? These are guys who chose a job based on the thought of “Yeah I could shoot somebody or beat up somebody as part of my job.”

this is my working hypothesis.

[creekster]

this is my working hypothesis.

Agreed. Cops often come from the people who have the same world view as criminals. I am always amazed that so many white people assert they have never been worried about the police. I have always been concerned when I am near police.

[Jeff Lebowski]

this idea that people are obligated to obey all orders of cops, whether lawful or not, is disgusting.

I don't care if it a cop or a criminal or an average joe with an AR-15, if someone is pointing a gun at me I am going to put my hands up and stop. That is basic common sense.

[creekster]

I don't care if it a cop or a criminal or an average joe with an AR-15, if someone is pointing a gun at me I am going to put my hands up and stop. That is basic common sense.

Agreed. It is mind boggling.