Bad cops.

[greybeard]

If that's not them being human I don't know what is. Just because you put a badge on a man doesn't make him a good person.

Again, rationalization.
There is a strange tendency in this country, to immediately rationalize bad behavior or choices made by military and law enforcement personnel but the same behavior by civilian bad guys almost always gets them thrown to the lions in public discourse and social debate. In a nation purportedly founded on the principals of equality, this I just find odd and inexplicable.

Granted, buzzards don't eat their own so don't look for things to be corrected immediately but another thing about buzzards is they are typically a spineless breed and won't be thrown under a bus by the actions of another but they aren't stupid either and when enough paperwork complaints hit their desk you can rest assured action will be taken.

Therein lies part of the problem. The bad birds shouldn't be viewed as "their own" but for far too long they have been and to only a little lesser degree, still are. The blue curtain of silence (green for the military) needs to go the way of the Berlin Wall.

 

[Jogeephus]

I don't follow what you are trying to say. They are human. In humans you have both good and bad. A bad apple will spoil the barrel and is why they need to be culled but the only way you are going to cull them is to do your civic duty and report things like this based on the facts not feelings.

 

[greybeard]

I don't follow what you are trying to say. They are human. In humans you have both good and bad. A bad apple will spoil the barrel and is why they need to be culled but the only way you are going to cull them is to do your civic duty and report things like this based on the facts not feelings.

I don't disagree that are good and bad humans, but the point is, there is a huge difference how the acts are perceived (depending who the actor is) and again when it comes to how the public views and discusses it.
Many, if not most of the same people who will public disdain and decry an act by any civilian, will too often immediately attempt to rationalize the same act by a member of law enforcement or the military.
Why the disparity in the discourse?
Justice in this country is no where close to being equal and balanced and neither is the discussion of it.

 

[True Grit Farms]

I'm all for busting some guys azz with probable cause, but these guys did nothing wrong besides being born black. This is the kind of stuff that makes it hard on everyone.

 

[bball]

I don't follow what you are trying to say. They are human. In humans you have both good and bad. A bad apple will spoil the barrel and is why they need to be culled but the only way you are going to cull them is to do your civic duty and report things like this based on the facts not feelings.

I don't disagree that are good and bad humans, but the point is, there is a huge difference how the acts are perceived (depending who the actor is) and again when it comes to how the public views and discusses it.
Many, if not most of the same people who will public disdain and decry an act by any civilian, will too often immediately attempt to rationalize the same act by a member of law enforcement or the military.
Why the disparity in the discourse?
Justice in this country is no where close to being equal and balanced and neither is the discussion of it.

These are valid observations. Your question is an interesting one.
Possible answers: we, as a society, are conditioned from a tender age to trust, respect and believe the folks in blue and green. Why? They protect us and are willing to risk their lives in order to do such. Human nature is to revere those who keep us safe; protect us with great risk to themselves. Goes all the way back to the early clan mentality.
The problem becomes, as Jo pointed out, when these people behave as flawed humans. Most people have the tendency to process those behaviors differently for them because of the services they provide. Trust is a powerful force.

The real question becomes why do we settle for less than the highest caliber person performing tasks like LE? Possible answers, the LE hierarchy(best and brightest go to Fed agencies like FBI, CIA,etc; then state level, county, then local). LE jobs are available virtually in every community. Many communities struggle to fill those jobs; let alone with a person who displays exceptional judgment skills. You get what you pay for at a local level?

I will share this anecdotally; I was in federal LE as a young man in my 20s. I loved it. I had a wife and 2 small babies at home. My wife met me at the door one day with an ultimatum. Me and your boys or your job in LE. She was tired of the long days I worked, worrying if I was coming home, living along the border, and all that comes with being a LE wife. They warned us all first day at the academy. Told us married folk that 75 % of us will be divorced if we stay in this career.

 

[Jogeephus]

I don't follow what you are trying to say. They are human. In humans you have both good and bad. A bad apple will spoil the barrel and is why they need to be culled but the only way you are going to cull them is to do your civic duty and report things like this based on the facts not feelings.

I don't disagree that are good and bad humans, but the point is, there is a huge difference how the acts are perceived (depending who the actor is) and again when it comes to how the public views and discusses it.
Many, if not most of the same people who will public disdain and decry an act by any civilian, will too often immediately attempt to rationalize the same act by a member of law enforcement or the military.
Why the disparity in the discourse?
Justice in this country is no where close to being equal and balanced and neither is the discussion of it.

It never will be as long as there is a human element. Humans are flawed and each are biased to some level and on the extremes you have hypocrites on both sides of the aisle that are best ignored.

With all these flaws America is still the greatest country in the world and offers the most freedom but with freedom comes responsibility. In this instance, the driver has a responsibility to the community to report this officer and I don't mean blasting this officer or all law enforcement on social media.

In my personal experience in a similar situation I had an officer try and bully me and treated me just like this guy did. Like him, I tried to argue on the roadside but it became clear when he reached for his taser this wasn't going to end well for me so I mustered the strength to shut up and let this POS win the battle.

I then filed a written complaint and sent it right to the top and let the shyt run down hill. I shortly received a phone call and then a letter. Both were legal type things where you could tell they were covering their arses and downplaying the incident saying "probable cause" and "justifiable". Typical bureaucracy but it was all on record and that was the important thing. Within six months this officer was let go. I'm not naive enough to think that it was my letter that put the nail in his coffin but I'm sure there were others like it that showed a pattern. I have to admit, it did make me feel good when I heard he'd been fired. It gave me a feeling of satisfaction knowing that I had helped drain the swamp even though it was only a dixie cup worth of slime.

This, I think, is what Chappelle is touching on in his video. First, you have to be a good citizen and not go looking for a run in with the law or looking to be a victim. If stopped, keep your mouth shut and be civil even if you run into one of those officers who think a badge and a gun gives them the right to break the law. If this happens, take on the responsibility and do your civic duty and report him because they can't fix what they don't know is broken.

 

[boondocks]

I'm all for busting some guys azz with probable cause, but these guys did nothing wrong besides being born black. This is the kind of stuff that makes it hard on everyone.

Had they not been trained so well on staying calm when cops freak out on you, I shudder to think what would have happened... I can't imagine what you do with the rage you'd feel after an encounter like that. How does that not eat a man (or woman) alive, to be toyed with like that, and know there's not a gd thing you can do about it?

 

[True Grit Farms]

I'm all for busting some guys azz with probable cause, but these guys did nothing wrong besides being born black. This is the kind of stuff that makes it hard on everyone.

Had they not been trained so well on staying calm when cops freak out on you, I shudder to think what would have happened... I can't imagine what you do with the rage you'd feel after an encounter like that. How does that not eat a man (or woman) alive, to be toyed with like that, and know there's not a gd thing you can do about it?

When your right and someone screws with you that's bad. I don't know how those guys put up with that, but I'm glad they did. If not we'd of been reading about another good cop killing a black thug or thugs.

 

[farmerjan]

I give the black guy credit for not going off. One thing, I would not get out of a car for a cop. Since he did not give a good reason for stopping him, and then telling him to get out of the car, saying he gave him a reason, but it was only because he said so.... it was a stupid question to ask how the car started and could the cop see the key fob. I would not have given it to him either.
Being female, I have even less trust and will not get out of my vehicle. I would have locked the doors, put up my windows, and called the police station. Let them send a dozen more cars.... there would have been alot more body cams and maybe a more reasonable head would have prevailed. Besides, I carry concealed, and if they had a concealed carry permit, and a handgun, that cop would have TOTALLY freaked out. It was a pure case of profiling and harrassment. How many times did he ask if it was his car when he said it was a rental right off. If they guy was slurring his words, acted high or something, different story. But he said they pulled him over because they smelled marijuana....how did they smell it with their windows closed following behind like they did. BS

The cop should be sweeping floors in a warehouse, not being a cop. If he has that much "anxiety" then he is going to be the one that will shoot a suspect for nothing and then try to claim they were trying to "get him". The woman cop should ask for a new partner; one that has some common sense.

 

[greybeard]

""He now stands before this court a convicted felon," said McMahon, the Kane County state's attorney who was appointed to handle the prosecution because of Cook County prosecutors' conflicts of interest. "

Former officer Van Dyke of Chicago PD was found guilty today of 2nd degree murder and guilty on 16 counts of aggravated battery (1 count for every bullet fired) for the murder of Laquan McDonald.
Jurors stated afterwards, that when they entered deliberations, they were convinced by testimony he was guilty and the only sticking point was whether to find for 1st or 2nd deg murder.
Minimum 6 year prison sentence. Sentencing date not set yet. Officer's attorney will appeal the verdict.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... story.html

 

[True Grit Farms]

I expected a lot worse for Van Dyke. I can't see a threat or fear, and definitely there's no reason to shoot someone 16 times. I'm sure the punk was nothing but trouble or going to be, but you don't shoot someone just because you have a gun and badge.

 

[sstterry]

One of the most dam*ing things against him was that Van Dyke told his partner, "Oh my God, we're going to have to shoot that guy," before even arriving at the scene.

 

[True Grit Farms]

https://www.foxnews.com/us/police-union ... sham-trial
This is the way cops think and the problem.

 

[boondocks]

I know I'm personally very..what..humbled? embarrassed? no, ashamed, I think..to realize this cr@p has been going on a loooong time and I was pretty asleep at the wheel as to what my fellow citizens were putting up with, and here's me just thinking "if a person just obeys the law and is polite to cops, they have nothing to fear." Eyes been opened. Lots of others too, I think.
'nother thing: if they can presume you've been drinking if you refuse a breathalyzer, I think we get to presume it's homicide if they kill a person while their bodycams are off. Sound fair?

 

[greybeard]

I know I'm personally very..what..humbled? embarrassed? no, ashamed, I think..to realize this cr@p has been going on a loooong time and I was pretty asleep at the wheel as to what my fellow citizens were putting up with, and here's me just thinking "if a person just obeys the law and is polite to cops, they have nothing to fear." Eyes been opened. Lots of others too, I think.
'nother thing: if they can presume you've been drinking if you refuse a breathalyzer, I think we get to presume it's homicide if they kill a person while their bodycams are off. Sound fair?

Don't feel badly.
It has taken a very long time, for these things to come to light for much of America, and a good bit of the credit for it finally beginning to do so can be attributed to gopro cams, iPhones, dash and body cams that most police depts railed against being implemented.
So many police depts and their city councils didn't want police activity to be filmed, it took a ruling by SCOTUS to stop police from confiscating cell phones that were filming police in the performance of their duty.*


I found it interesting and somewhat ironic that the FoP spokesman put so much emphasis on the police now having 'to fear' what a judge or jury might do. The rest of us have been told and have lived under that premise our entire lives.
As 'they've' always said to the citizenry *"If you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about"..
Evidently, he thinks differently when it's his own ox being gored.

Throw out the bad ones, keep the very high percent of good ones that make up most of the force.

 

[Nesikep]

That union leader sounds like someone who'd act exactly like Van Dyke...

I don't think I've ever seen a thread go 3 pages and everyone keeps agreeing!

 

[greybeard]

Since this one has pretty much played out....A 'good cop' story, intertwined with something not so good.
Babysitting while black.

https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/10/ ... sm-georgia

White woman sees a relatively young black man with 2 white children..asks if they are his, and gets "no' as an answer then asks if they are ok. Response='yes, why wouldn't they be?"
Not content, she follows him home, then calls the police on him...evidently for babysitting 2 white children.
The mother defended the black babysitter.
To his credit, the police officer was 100% honest about it.

Lewis called the incident "babysitting while black." As he sees it, there's simply no reason the woman called the police on him besides his race, because the kids were totally fine.

The children's mother, Dana Mango, defended Lewis to the police. She recalled asking the officer, "Are you telling me that because a woman saw a young African-American male with two white kids that they were pulled over by the police?" The cop reportedly responded, "Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry, that appears to be what happened."


"It doesn't make sense in light of what happened," Mango said. "They weren't crying. They weren't distressed."

I can't say I'm surprised by this.

 

[boondocks]

Since this one has pretty much played out....A 'good cop' story, intertwined with something not so good.
Babysitting while black.

https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/10/ ... sm-georgia

White woman sees a relatively young black man with 2 white children..asks if they are his, and gets "no' as an answer then asks if they are ok. Response='yes, why wouldn't they be?"
Not content, she follows him home, then calls the police on him...evidently for babysitting 2 white children.
The mother defended the black babysitter.
To his credit, the police officer was 100% honest about it.

Lewis called the incident "babysitting while black." As he sees it, there's simply no reason the woman called the police on him besides his race, because the kids were totally fine.

The children's mother, Dana Mango, defended Lewis to the police. She recalled asking the officer, "Are you telling me that because a woman saw a young African-American male with two white kids that they were pulled over by the police?" The cop reportedly responded, "Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry, that appears to be what happened."


"It doesn't make sense in light of what happened," Mango said. "They weren't crying. They weren't distressed."

I can't say I'm surprised by this.

She'll go to church Sunday and all her friends will commiserate with her and swear "you did the right thing, honey. You just never know. What if those kids had been being kidnapped and you said nothing? You'd never forgive yourself." Instead of taking it as a learning experience, she'll go away feeling like she's the victim....Well, at least he didn't get the vigilante/emmett till outcome, so we're making...progress? :???:

 

[ddd75]

more stories how whites are terrible and racist.



one of mainstream media's top stories of the year.

 

[ddd75]

double standards though..

https://twitter.com/robsmithonline/stat ... 3922217985

https://www.dangerous.com/50054/cnn-for ... llege-kid/