Ongoing U.S Police Brutality and Corruption Discussion Thread

i have mounted cops in my neighborhood sometimes

tmi

rock hard tree trunk

Lol

My uncle was an exceptional cop in many ways: he wasn't racist or sexist, and came down like a ton of bricks on younger family members who repeated anything from the playground along those lines. He spent most of his spare time participating in nature conservation of one type or other. He absolutely drilled it into us that police were expected to behave in exemplary fashion on and off duty, because that was how the police should win the respect and trust of the general public (bottom line being that a co-operative community made his job easier, while a tyrannised community did not). His profile was very high, and he was always in the paper because he'd publicly clash with people just a few rungs up from him over best practice or issues of corruption. As a lieutenant detective, he didn't have to be in uniform or drive a squad car - and from what I can gather, the detective side of things was where the city of Minneapolis liked to place its mavericks.

He died 20 years ago this October, and would be appalled by all the Kevlar zombies in law enforcement today. And that stars-and-bars angel-wing thing? I can just imagine his voice, deriding it as macho bullshit van art.

I think the Kevlar zombies are setting the tone these days.

those wings look more like tarantula legs imo

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/166023_10152838982200567_63766925_n.jpg?oh=e76d99c81ab28f2d7a2209baedf08e1d&oe=5503F103&__gda__=1430744944_edcad2dce0dd9f4763853dc563e0a6c0

Friend just posted in FB:
"So who's in the spotlight to address these issues after co-opting groundswell responses? Al Sharpton and (police union leader) Pat Lynch.
We're fucked."

That image just makes me think of those terrible crying eagle pick-up truck decals from 2002-2003

I know this has been said a thousand times today, but killing police is never, ever okay. The reaction of law enforcement in NY to this helps nothing, though.

jesus, i just read that quote from patrick lynch. i'd like to think that there are some NYC cops who are decent enough to be embarrassed or outraged by this asshole who claims to speak in their name.

Xp and yet you can bet that nobody will commence to digging through these two officers' service records to determine if, hey, maybe they were bad people and deserved it somehow.

I'm sure you'll find a minute somewhere

where's that shit with the statistic about cops dying on the job vs. roofers/foresters/cab-drivers
I just saw it the other day

http://www.premierhandling.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/most-dangerous-jobs.jpg

... much of which can be accounted for by the fact that cops drive a lot

The Officer Down Memorial Page lists the following causes of death for officers in the line of duty this year. Don't know how complete or up to date it is.

Assault: 2
Automobile accident: 25
Drowned: 1
Fire: 1
Gunfire: 46
Gunfire (Accidental): 2
Heart attack: 15
Motorcycle accident: 3
Struck by vehicle: 3
Vehicle pursuit: 5
Vehicular assault: 10

Read more: http://www.odmp.org/search/year/2014#ixzz3Mduh6Nxu

BTW this has made national news now, but I first saw it last week in Cleveland SCENE, the alt-weekly.

http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/12/volunteer_cop_resigns_after_his_racist_youtube_comments_are_exposed.html

lol @ De Blasio calling for an immediate suspension of protests - everything's even-steven now eh

Patrick Lynch is indistinguishable from every predecessor of his; no cop ever did anything wrong, they bray.

blaming these cop murders on the protests is pretty gross

one convenient insane person

lol @ De Blasio calling for an immediate suspension of protests - everything's even-steven now eh

― Οὖτις, Monday, 22 December 2014 22:06 (23 minutes ago)

this doesnt really have anything to do with what de blasio is saying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxJSBU2KgnI

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday called for protesters to suspend demonstrations in the aftermath of the killing of two New York police officers, who were gunned down in Brooklyn as they sat in their patrol car.

“It’s time for everyone to put aside political debates, put aside protests, put aside all of the things that we will talk about in due time,” Mr. de Blasio said in a speech. “That can be for another day.”

I was referring to this lede in the NYT

The obvious purpose of that is to protect protesters from vengeful cops.

“That can be for another day.”

it's always another day somewhere, de blasio

^^^

feel like vengeful cops won't have any problem identifying people to vent their rage on if they're so inclined. hasn't really been a problem, historically speaking.

as some twitterer sez:
Isn't it instructive that there is talk of 'placating' a police force, as if they were less civil servants, and more an angry tribe?

I was referring to this lede in the NYT

― Οὖτις, Monday, 22 December 2014 22:46 (1 minute ago)

and i was referring to your low functioning sarcasm, whatever one thinks of his suggestion of collective pause in order to respect dead public servants, it is not identical to a curtailment of protest as such, nor does it intimate that critics of criminal justice will or should now feel satiated

i imagine de blasio has an interest in maintaining a somewhat working relationship between the police and the communities they work and is probably trying to taper down hostilities before they turn into a broader problem. i think he's less worried about the police picking a rando to vent their anger on in revenge, and more worried about police responding to protests more forcefully/hostilely, protests becoming more aggressive in response, etc. de blasio doesn't want that kind of dynamic obvs.

no i am pretty sure de blasio is worried about police unions shitting on him in general. there is nothing heroic about this move imo

pragmatism is a kind of heroism i guess

uh

Isn't it instructive that there is talk of 'placating' a police force, as if they were less civil servants, and more an angry tribe?

terribly instructive if one hadn't already noticed that placating vicious cop union leaders is giving him palpitations, and that subtly alluding to their blackmail might actually help his cause, given that even people in the mainstream are objecting to it

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-12-22/why-cops-and-republicans-are-blaming-blacklivesmatter-protests-for-a-double-murder

nor does it intimate that critics of criminal justice will or should now feel satiated

except that "in due time" usually = "never"

except that "in due time" usually = "never"

― Οὖτις, Monday, 22 December 2014 23:10 (1 minute ago)

that remains to be seen, given that even george w bush queried the garner decision those criticisms are not such a minor interest these days

de blasio has already made comments sufficently sympathetic to those criticisms that he is a police pariah, and the right already fucking hates him, so it would lead to
charges of hypocrisy and backtracking from his natural constituencies if he were to close down reformist discussion in the longer term

and his comments to that idiot reporter are a fairly clear defence of protest rights with the usual 'large majority of peaceful protestors' liberal caveat, so one can hardly accuse him of a volte face just yet

Isn't it instructive that there is talk of 'placating' a police force, as if they were less civil servants, and more an angry tribe?

no

that is precisely how commentary/opinion always refers to any specific interest group who come bearing real or imagined grudges, including civil servants

lol u british

gov't employees here aren't "placated" ever, mostly they're just vilified

testament to how dense you that are that it's probably more reasonable to conclude that you think deems is british, or that dublin is british, than that you are making a delightful west brit zing at his expense

ach its not like I'm invested here but the contortions are p ridic is all

I know he isn't british and would hate the suggestion that he is british but thx for playing

xp

see the joek is to call anybody in the UK british explaining comedy makes it funnier to u see

british isles eh whatever

outic,

if you were de blasio, and you knew that elements of the police were hostile to you personally, that they also despised the recent anti-police protests, that emotions were running high after the killing of two officers carried out on the nominal behalf of these protesters' cause, and that the entire world has watched, over the past several months, a much smaller city in this country devolve into riots under very similar circumstances, would you seriously not try to de-escalate this situation? you don't have to believe it is right, i guess, but i'm not sure it's plausible for a mayor to act otherwise while still carrying out his duty as mayor.

fantastic xp

see the joek is to call anybody in the UK british explaining comedy makes it funnier to u see

dublin's not in the uk...

mayor shakey would be like "this was a good start - i expect more cop-killings in the morning"