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FBI Chief Links Video Scrutiny of Police To Rise In Violent Crime (nytimes.com)

HughPickens.com writes: This year, murders have spiked in major cities across America. According to FBI director James B. Comey the additional scrutiny and criticism of police officers that has come in the wake of highly publicized incidents of police brutality may be the main reason for the recent increase in violent crime. "I don't know whether that explains it entirely, but I do have a strong sense that some part of the explanation is a chill wind that has blown through American law enforcement over the last year," says Comey. He says he's been told by many police leaders that officers who normally would stop to question suspicious people are opting to stay in their patrol cars for fear of having their encounters recorded and become video sensations.

That hesitancy has led to missed opportunities to apprehend suspects and has decreased the police presence on the streets of the country's most violent cities. Officers tell Comey that youths surround police when they get out of their vehicles, taunting them and making videos of the spectacle with their cell phones. "In today's YouTube world, there are officers reluctant to get out of their cars and do the work that controls violent crime," says Comey. "Our officers are answering 911 calls, but avoiding the informal contact that keeps bad guys from standing around, especially with guns."

372 comments

  1. Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If the police acted respectfully during encounters with private citizens, I doubt there would be much need to record these encounters. I know I don't record my neighbor getting his mail or washing his car, because I don't consider either behavior threatening. Police have abused their positions of trust and the recording is one of many symptoms of this fact.

    1. Re:Good by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 5, Funny

      But... But... If they have nothing to hide, they should have nothing to fear!

      --
      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
    2. Re:Good by dgatwood · · Score: 1, Insightful

      This is approximately like saying that the Holocaust was caused by someone who bullied Neville Chamberlain when he was a kid. The effect is so distant from the supposed cause that it is laughable.

      To the extent that video scrutiny leads to a rise in violent crime, it is principally because otherwise non-violent criminals have become scared of excessive police brutality, and thus more frequently choose to arm themselves for their own safety. You cannot foment peace at the tip of a sword. Violence begets violence.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    3. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      that's their job. sorry if it's difficult. it doesn't help when the director of the FBI essentially calls them all bitches who are afraid of a camera.

    4. Re:Good by 0123456 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      How do you gain and keep the respect of a group of people, whose sole goal in an encounter is to show they world how little they respect you?

      I'm guessing that beating them up and shooting them isn't likely to work.

      In too many countries, modern police act like an occupying army, and are then surprised when they're treated like one.

    5. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Videos of police officers making mistakes doesn't go viral. Heck, a video of a police officer crapping himself doesn't go viral.
      Police officers using excessive violence goes viral.

    6. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's maybe one out of 1000 videoed encounters. Nearly all of them the ration was 1:1, with the cop unable to restrain themselves towards a single person. Sandra Bland played up for the camera with a mob? Walter Scott?

      No, the facts show that the police are worst when they don't know anyone's recording it. So recording it makes us all safer. The cops are on a strike. They refuse to do their jobs because they are all cowards.

    7. Re:Good by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It's odd that this sort of situation seems to happen so much more often in the US than most places, though. It's hard to get an accurate picture from outside based on just what the TV reports, because that will naturally highlight the big wins and big failures but probably most police work fits somewhere in between. Still, the picture of US law enforcement that is shown to the outside world is often not a positive one, and makes me wonder how much of any cultural problems with law enforcement in the US were caused by the past behaviour of the law enforcement organisations themselves. Perhaps borrowing more of the community-based neighbourhood policing that is used in a lot of other places and accepting the greater degree of scrutiny they now operate under will help, at least in the long term.

      --
      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
    8. Re: Good by nehumanuscrede · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You gain / maintain respect by ensuring those wearing the uniform of a Law Enforcement agency act like professionals instead of thugs.

      You solidify that respect by bringing down the hammer on those unfit to wear that uniform and you do it publicly.

      You SHOW the people that criminal and thuggish behavior will not be tolerated by those in uniform. A zero tolerance policy to remove the idiots and a better screening process to remove them from the pool before they're even hired.

      Yes, they deal with monsters from time to time. Becoming one to deal with them quickly blurs the line between protectors and predators.

      That line is already so blurry that most don't trust any police because we can't differentiate between the professional and the thug.

      You want your respect, trust and peace back ? Begin by clearing your ranks of those who can't seem to live up to the professional standards of those who wore that uniform back when it meant something.

    9. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > But... But... If they have nothing to hide, they should have nothing to fear!

      Good one.

      Another is: Cameras don't film people, people film people.

    10. Re:Good by 0123456 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's not just the picture, it's the reality. US police are trained to believe the public is their enemy, and they treat them as such. Oddly enough, the public have now started to believe the same thing.

    11. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      that's their job.

      What happens to society if that turns out to be an impossible job?

    12. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      How is it impossible? Why is it that cops aren't to be filmed, but it's okay for cops to wear body cameras and have dash cameras to record the public? Don't you see the hypocrisy?

    13. Re:Good by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 1

      I've heard a few disturbing stories over the years that sound a lot like that, but I always imagined it was just hyperbole, at least in most cases. If that is literally true, then it is hard to see how the police organisations with such policies could ever maintain the good community relations necessary for effective police work. Creating a them-and-us culture seems like a sure route to all kinds of problems, not least losing the willingness of witnesses or other relevant members of the public to step up and help.

      --
      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
    14. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you talking about the police or the citizen? What you describe is exactly how I feel every time a cop shows up -- and they never show up alone.

    15. Re:Good by andymadigan · · Score: 2

      Are you speaking from the perspective of the cop or the suspect? I guess the difference is the cops are *definitely* armed.

      Interesting how the FBI's argument could also be used to stop the use of body cameras. The argument is also based on supposition, the directors "feelings", whereas recent events have proven that cops use excessive force, even to the point of murdering people, and lie about it. I'm not saying it's all cops, or that the other side is blameless. Within minutes of Darren Wilson's death, people started gathering around and lying about what they had seen so that they could "get" a cop. The low crime rates we had up until now would seem to be based on a system of injustice and lies that, in the plain light of day, is unacceptable to the vast majority of the population.

      Yes, there's been an uptick in crime, but the director's argument basically boils down to certain neighborhoods having a naturally high murder rate, kept down only by police with no fear of being held responsible for their actions. I'd be more interested to see why those murders are happening in the first place, and tackling that, rather than having large swathes of the population walking around every day with the fear that the next cop they see will beat them to death or shoot them.

      --
      The right to protest the State is more sacred than the State.
    16. Re:Good by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If the job is impossible then there will soon be obvious, highly visible problems. To maintain law and order, society will then have to come up with democratically acceptable solutions to those problems, which might include legislating to give more or different powers to law enforcement and accepting the consequences.

      But hypothetical problems aren't very interesting, and fear of hypothetical problems should not be allowed undue influence in public debate.

      --
      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
    17. Re:Good by KGIII · · Score: 2

      This is not an opinion on cops being filmed nor a statement supporting or refuting it. However, the cops wear body cameras and have dash cameras because we told that that's what we wanted. I don't see that as hypocrisy, really.

      If asked, then yes, I think cops should have to accept that they're *also* being filmed by the public.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    18. Re:Good by zugmeister · · Score: 1

      How do you gain and keep the respect of a group of people...

      They had it. Through their own actions they lost it. Now they have a problem.

    19. Re:Good by gweihir · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Indeed. Nobody is forced to work as a policeman. But I have the impression a lot of people do this job for all the wrong reasons, namely being able to be violent without repercussions, to wield authority that they would never ever have been able to earn personally, etc. It is almost like some type of criminal found becoming a policeman the perfect solution to their desires. And, unlike in sane states, the US does not seem to filter these people out anymore. That is what typically happens in a police-state: You want violent goons as policemen to keep the population in fear and timid. This call to essentially ignore crime committed by policemen fits that picture perfectly.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    20. Re:Good by 0123456 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I've been dragged out of a car at gunpoint for 'stopping at the side of the road while sounding a bit foreign.' Think I have much respect for the US police after that? I'm lucky they weren't 'acting recklessly' that day, or I'd be six feet under.

      I read an interesting article a while back by a US soldier who'd become a cop after he left the army. He said that Americans were scared of ex-military police, because they assumed they'd been trained to airstrike first and ask questions later, but he saw the civilian police do things every day that would have got him courtmartialled when he was in Iraq or Afghanistan. The rules of engagement there, where most people really did want to kill him, were much tougher and much more strictly enforced than on the streets of American cities.

      Now, maybe he's making it up to make himself look better, but I can certainly believe that.

    21. Re:Good by 0123456 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The problem is, there's a long history of recording accidentally going missing, or accidentally not having been recorded, when the police do something bad and the victims want to see the videos. It's a good start, but they just can't be trusted.

    22. Re:Good by gweihir · · Score: 5, Interesting

      By sane standards, the US is now a police state. A key indicator is that the law does not get applied to police members anymore. (There is still some residual rule-of-law that keeps them under some control, but this seems to be become less and less.) A police-state is one of the more benign forms of totalitarian state, but it usually devolves to full fascism over time.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    23. Re:Good by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 2, Insightful

      What happens to society if that turns out to be an impossible job?

      We abolish policing and return to the Militia, with YOU having to report for drill every week and YOU doing the patrolling.
      the only way the job is impossible is if your goal is not Law Enforcement but Police Intimidation!

    24. Re:Good by Thing+1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not only that, the system is set up so that they shouldn't be trusted.

      Eliminate victimless crimes, and their job gets a whole lot easier -- both in terms of the behaviors that they need to "enforce" against, and also in terms of their safety because they will be far less likely to harm innocents (a percentage of whom will fight back).

      --
      I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
    25. Re:Good by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Absolutely, but I don't see any hypocrisy which is what I was responding to. The cops didn't, usually, want the videos in the first place. They still don't. I'm not sure what you're responding to.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    26. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The fact that the police have the same code of silence as the mob speaks volumes.
      no cop ever comes for ward to report another very bad judgment.

    27. Re:Good by davester666 · · Score: 1

      Exactly. The mob's behaviour is based entire on past police behaviour. The PAST. The police don't behave the same way anymore. They've completely fixed the problems they've had with mistreating non-white and/or poor people.

      So these kids should know it's completely wrong to be doing this now.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    28. Re:Good by unrtst · · Score: 2

      However, the cops wear body cameras and have dash cameras because we told that that's what we wanted. I don't see that as hypocrisy, really.

      ... pulling in the quote you replied to:

      Why is it that cops aren't to be filmed, but it's okay for cops to wear body cameras and have dash cameras to record the public?

      One of the reasons that "we" wanted dash/body cameras is because people were, reportedly, simultaneously being told they were not allowed to record the events and the events were violating rights. The hypocrisy is that they want to be able to tell the public when they can and can't record public events, while retaining the ability to control whether they are recording the event. The always on dash/body cam is what is being contested, because they can no longer (illegally?) force others to stop recording.

    29. Re:Good by pixelpusher220 · · Score: 1

      No, it has lead to LOWER violent crimes....i.e. the ones committed by the police over and above anything reasonable.

      --
      People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people :-D
    30. Re:Good by KGIII · · Score: 3, Insightful

      They've always wanted to not be recorded. Hell, were I a thug in a blue uniform, I'd want the same thing (I imagine). There's no hypocrisy here - they're just still wanting to hide their misdeeds.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    31. Re:Good by amiga3D · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Maybe we could just take them all off the street and let everyone wear a gun and handle their own justice? Wonder how that would work out? I know already anytime I have to take a trip to Atlanta to visit Emory University Hospital Midtown that I pack heat. It's gotten to the point that it's not paranoia anymore, they really are out to get you. It's not the fucking police I'm worried about either. They're the lightweights.

    32. Re:Good by anmre · · Score: 3

      Show me a video of a cop gunning down someone who is calm and following directions

      Sure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      You have a strange sense of reality.

    33. Re:Good by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      Look at Baltimore Maryland after the police largely slowed down.

      http://www.npr.org/2015/06/04/...

      And before someone chimes in about how NPR is a conservative wind chime or something, the news articles are available at plenty of other places not normally associated with political douchebaggery.

    34. Re: Good by Solandri · · Score: 2

      You gain / maintain respect by ensuring those wearing the uniform of a Law Enforcement agency act like professionals instead of thugs.

      The problem is police situations rarely if ever resolve themselves into black and white instances where an action is "professional" or "thug-like". There's a substantial grey area in between where some observers would interpret the action as appropriate and professional, while others would interpret it as thug-like.

      You SHOW the people that criminal and thuggish behavior will not be tolerated by those in uniform. A zero tolerance policy to remove the idiots and a better screening process to remove them from the pool before they're even hired.

      A zero-tolerance policy just means you're going to classify all of these grey areas as black. Even the U.S. Constitution does not go that far, requiring that criminal trials be decided by a jury of only 12 people (not everyone in the country) and only "beyond a reasonable doubt" (not beyond all doubt).

      I agree the police are too frequently erring on the overagressive side. But this is a complex social problem without any clear solutions. Anyone who claims otherwise (either pro-police or anti-police) is just letting their personal biases get in the way of an objective analysis of the problem. The solution is mostly going to involve training officers to quickly categorize scenarios, and use pre-approved responses for that particular scenario. Judging them after the fact just invites biased retroactive revision of the policy (e.g. it turns out the subject was black instead of a generic person). This is already done in pretty much all police jurisdictions. The internal police investigations after a controversial incident is mostly about determining if the officer followed the correct procedure he was trained to follow in the particular situation where the incident happened.

      And even if you have the best possible system in place, there are still going to be outlier incidents. Where an innocent suspect or an officer is killed because the police followed procedure but the specifics of the scenario subverted basic assumptions about the appropriate trained response.

    35. Re:Good by sjames · · Score: 1

      I guess they should have thought about that before they made enemies of the public.

      There's only so many times you can shoot preteens and taze 1st graders before people start deciding they don't want you around.

    36. Re:Good by fredgiblet · · Score: 1

      But that would require work, introspection and probably most critically (and unacceptably) a discussion about race. Far easier to blame police, or guns.

    37. Re:Good by sjames · · Score: 2

      Sure. The police have apparently decided that if they're not going to be allowed to beat people to death once they're in cuffs, there's no point in arresting them at all.

      Nobody I know of has claimed we need less police, just that we need police who will act like police rather than goons.

      They spent decades inspiring community hatred, it's not going to go away overnight, especially when they have yet to take steps to accept responsibility and make amends.

    38. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      Indeed. Nobody is forced to work as a policeman. But I have the impression a lot of people do this job for all the wrong reasons, namely being able to be violent without repercussions, to wield authority that they would never ever have been able to earn personally, etc.

      You have that impression because you've seen video of some asshole cop harassing someone. But that's just one cop. Have you ever worked in an office with an asshole? Do you assume every person who works in an office is an asshole? The truth is that the people who become police officers are the same types of people you find everywhere: 99% of them are nice and just want to do their jobs and protect people. But you're judging them all based on a small subset.

    39. Re:Good by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      Oh, I don't think it's that bad but whatever. They were told to stand down and they are. If they do it long enough, most of the problem will take care of itself with the rest of it either dieing in the process or ending up begging for the way it was.

    40. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good thing you are using your real ganjadude.

      Dumbass

    41. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's a thing called policing by consent, and if things continue as they are there's a chance that consent may be withdrawn.

      If that happens it won't be pretty.

    42. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If the 99 percent did anything about that 1 percent other than cover for them, you might have a point.

      Well, sometimes they try, just ask Serpico. Yeah, good moral there.

    43. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've heard a few disturbing stories over the years that sound a lot like that, but I always imagined it was just hyperbole, at least in most cases.

      It's escalated way beyond a few disturbing stories over the years. Police abuse, brutality, summary execution of innocent people, etc. is taking place every day all across the country.

    44. Re:Good by mspohr · · Score: 3, Informative

      So... the cops are justified in arresting "bad guys" on no grounds just because they think they're "bad guys"?
      The problem is that a lot of people are in jail for possession of drugs who are not bad guys.
      We need to stop putting all of these non-violent victimless "criminals" in jail.

      --
      I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    45. Re:Good by HiThere · · Score: 1

      So when evidence shows up that said "asshole" has committed crimes under the cloak of authority, why does he keep his job?

      Any normal citizen engaging in such behavior would often end up serving a long sentence for assault and battery. (Different instances would suggest different crimes. Occasionally I think attempted murder would be closer, and sometimes just drop the attempted.)

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    46. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Non-police lives matter!

    47. Re: Good by HiThere · · Score: 1

      That's bad, but understandable. The real problem is that even when there is conclusive evidence of culpable behavior there is either no or minimal punishment...and reward is not unheard of.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    48. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've not actually seen much push back at all from law enforcement to bring recorded. I believe you will actually find that the overwhelming majority of police have no problem at all with being recorded, so long as the people doing the recording aren't in the way or causing other problems.

    49. Re:Good by Kohath · · Score: 2

      Let's pretend it is and think it through. It becomes impossible to do an effective job, crime rises, people notice, want less crime, make changes to make it less impossible.

      "What if" is a poor argument. Let's try going back to police acting as public servants and see if we miss police bullying. Perhaps you are right. Let's find out.

    50. Re: Good by easyTree · · Score: 1

      The deeply regret that the police were so corrupt and abusive that everyone now takes video of them ?

    51. Re: Good by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

      That's bad, but understandable

      No, that's criminal.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    52. Re: Good by KGIII · · Score: 1

      This is mostly true now, to be honest. When they first started it was quite frequently in the news about how the officers didn't like them. I think they changed, to some extent (you still see some complaining about them on sites like Reddit or Voat for example - I'm sure others), when they realized it also got rid of some of the bullshit complaints about abuses that simply didn't happen. I suspect it's the same ones that complained then that complain now. I don't see it as hypocrisy, I see them as wrong but not hypocritical.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    53. Re:Good by rtb61 · · Score: 2

      Now of course a depressed economy (for the majority, even with the illusion of recovery but it is all going to a minority), crap wages, temporary employment, run down streets, footpaths et al(you are nto going to respect where you live if it looks like shit), constant hammering of violence by main stream media (news or creative content), hate being broadcast by politicians at every opportunity and racism fuelled hatred on the rise. None of that is a problem but naughty law enforcers scared to get out of the vehicles is, uh huh. Reality is good police officers have no fear of getting filmed, officers doing good work in good precincts get promotions and a positive video of them in action is hugely beneficial for them. For the egoistic control freaks, the psychopaths in uniform, a real problem because they are not properly capable of controlling their emotions (want improvement test for psychopathy and reject all those who fail the tests). The FBI chief should be tested for psychopathy, the claim being made is very indicative of it.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    54. Re: Good by ememisya · · Score: 1

      Right, why would someone whose job is to be examplary in public, and enforce the law have a problem with that being recorded? I don't think there is a solution here other than people just not being dicks about recording cops and taunting them to break the law, in turn cops could overlook minor incidents knowing it's not being recorded. That also being said, it's very situational because cops do indeed lie in court if it saves their skin or a fellow officer's, so it's only fair. Cops have a disturbing amount of surveillence technology at their disposal in this day and age, and access to records on each citizen they are interacting with (I was personally told "I'm supposed to be smart" according to the information). So yea, get over it and let everyone do their jobs in "the Internet of Things" *sighs*, where technology excuses you from common decency.

    55. Re: Good by easyTree · · Score: 1

      Oh please. No work is needed. Just make your country less ironically aligned with its mission statement. Remove injustice - why is it ok for the CEO to 'earn' as much as all of the other staff? Increase opportunity. Educate your citizens for the sake of it rather than to get them on the hook for a lifetime of debt. Get some real healthcare. Stop allowing corporations to pay for corrupt laws. Stop being at WAR. Stop trying to ensure that everyone owns ten guns. Stop racism. Basically, reboot your whole culture.

    56. Re: Good by easyTree · · Score: 1

      ...and for the love of God, stop exporting your shitty fast 'food' franchises.

    57. Re: Good by fredgiblet · · Score: 1

      HEY! That's TOO FAR! You'll eat at Arby's and you'll LIKE IT!

    58. Re: Good by easyTree · · Score: 1

      They've completely fixed the problems they've had with mistreating non-white and/or poor people.

      Let's have a big hand for the last act as we go into the break. When we come back we'll be throwing cash at public officials to see who will be the first to create corrupt legislation for peanuts.

    59. Re:Good by gweihir · · Score: 1

      And that is just the point. Everybody covering for the "asshole" becomes an accomplice and is not really any better.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    60. Re: Good by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      This is mostly true now, to be honest. When they first started it was quite frequently in the news about how the officers didn't like them. I think they changed, to some extent (you still see some complaining about them on sites like Reddit or Voat for example - I'm sure others), when they realized it also got rid of some of the bullshit complaints about abuses that simply didn't happen. I suspect it's the same ones that complained then that complain now. I don't see it as hypocrisy, I see them as wrong but not hypocritical.

      And don't forget, it could show people attacking the officers. In an world approaching normalcy, all that stuff would even out.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    61. Re:Good by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Maybe we could just take them all off the street and let everyone wear a gun and handle their own justice? Wonder how that would work out? I know already anytime I have to take a trip to Atlanta to visit Emory University Hospital Midtown that I pack heat. It's gotten to the point that it's not paranoia anymore, they really are out to get you. It's not the fucking police I'm worried about either. They're the lightweights.

      Because if everyone is packing heat, the world will shoot first, and let the Flying Spaghetti Monster handle it.

      Can you tell me of a universally armed place that is peaceful where everyone is carrying?

      And don't pull the NRA required bullshit that I am anti-gun either, lest ye be labeld a true kook. I'm not, and never will be. I just find the idea of kooks with guns to be about as charming as police in M1A1's. A lot of them are itchin' to dispatch people as well.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    62. Re: Good by easyTree · · Score: 1

      At where? Omg no! there are more to come?? :S

    63. Re:Good by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      Try keeping the scrutiny off you after heaps of complaints supported by growing evidence that your people are abusing their position. How do you gain their respect after you have lost it?

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    64. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      FUCK the police.
      Now that we are FUCKING the police back for their unlawful aggression and being general BITCH MOTHERFUCKERS all up in our faces for no business...
      We can get to social programs to bring these street niggas and thugs up out the ghetto.
      Stead of slanging rock and bein stupid all damn day and erry night.

    65. Re:Good by symbolic · · Score: 1

      Why has it been allowed to get this bad? Despite how much they like to pretend otherwise, police departments are still beholden to one or more elected officials. If people want the problem solved, they need to put the right people in office. That's how a democracy works - it's not something you can put on auto-pilot and expect it to fix itself.

    66. Re: Good by KGIII · · Score: 1

      I've read a few people who claim to be cops, on various forums, cite that and claim that they (and others on the force) are even going to far as to buy their own body cameras just for reasons such as that. The ones who are complaining are, I suspect, those whom are more likely to be doing something wrong and those that need monitoring.

      Sure, sure... Nothing to hide and all that but that stops, in my mind, when they put on the badge and go on duty. Just as an employer has the right to monitor an employee, in some situations, so DO we have the right to monitor police officers. I suspect that there are still areas where recording the police is prohibited due to various laws but I am not positive.

      Anyhow, there are some number (I don't know how high nor am I qualified to speculate on the percentage) of officers who see this as a benefit. Hopefully, this percentage increases. They really do need to return to the time (real or imagined) where police were, for the most part, fine and upstanding citizens. Heh... I suspect that's never been the case but we'll pretend it's true for this conversation.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    67. Re: Good by fredgiblet · · Score: 2

      Yep! We're modifying our B-2s so that we can drop pre-built fast food places. Gonna drop them right into your parks. They'll just pop up one night when you least expect them.

    68. Re: Good by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Anyhow, there are some number (I don't know how high nor am I qualified to speculate on the percentage) of officers who see this as a benefit.

      If I were a policeman, I'd definitely record every second I was on duty.

      But aside from cameras, I think the best tactic is to avoid unneeded escalation.

      There were a few times when I was younger that it was obvious the cop was trying to escalate the situation.

      My favorite was near Philadelphia, where my wife - then girlfriend was going to riding school. Her, one of her friends at school, and I were out for a drive one evening. I saw I was going down a deadend road, so I pulled in a drive to turn around. Suddenly lights flashing a cop pulled in behind me, and a cop gets out. I give him my info, and he asks "What were you doing in these people's driveway?" I told him turning around and I did it very politely. "He said, no you weren't," and I said "Really officer, I wanted to turn around before the road ended" At that point, he started with "I don't like your attitude, Punk."

      Oddly enough, my wife and her friend de-escalated the situation. Both were pretty hot barely legals at the time, and her friend was blessed with a southern accent.

      "Oh really officer, she drawled, we are attending this riding school just up the road, and Ol was just takin' his lady friend and myself out for a little drive to relax a little, we certainly didn't mean any harm turnin' into these folks driveway." My "lady friend" picked up on the drill, and she started flirting with the cop. Then they all start chatting. Finally, he gave me my license and insurance papers back, and said to the girls. "You all have a good evening ladies."

      They laughed, and it's funny now, but at that point I was really pissed off, and a little grateful.. Cop was ready to bust me badly, and a couple hotties flirted him into submission.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    69. Re: Good by KGIII · · Score: 1

      You'd think so, especially today... Not everyone's logical or has pure intentions, I guess.

      Mine? I was on the outskirts of Kansas, had just helped clean up after a major tornado had taken out a whole town - I just happened to be in the area (I was in Clinton OK prior to that and not doing anything but engaging in wanderlust) and was on my way out after a week of helping clean up. I stop, I want a few hours sleep and I'm too lazy to go get a hotel so I pull in behind a factory and go to sleep.

      I'm woken up by cops banging on the window with a flashlight. They're really curious as to why I'm there. They don't believe my story. They're just looking for an excuse. They ask me to search my vehicle. I politely decline. They ask again. I decline again. They say they're going to call for the drug dog. I'm fine with that. Now...

      (They never did call for that dog.)

      The next one gets fun - they say, "You know, refusing to allow us to search your vehicle is probable cause for searching your vehicle." I literally laughed out loud and told him to call his supervisor and asked if they minded if I called my lawyer. I explained that I wasn't a dumb teen. The vehicle was a brand new BMW, much like the one I'm driving today. It's not like it was shabby or anything but I do have long hair - but I do dress nicely in clothing from L.L. Bean typically (or similar).

      Needless to say, they never called the supervisor nor did they arrest me. They told me that I had, "One hour to clear out of Kansas and if they ever saw me again they were going to arrest me on the spot." I chuckled a bit at that, as well. The quotes aren't verbatim, I don't think, but close enough. The gist isn't changed to glorify anything and the verbiage was similar, if not the same.

      The strange thing is, well, throughout my history, I've been a bit eccentric which has meant that I've had more than my share of encounters with the police. Once, I broke a police man's jaw (and, sort of, got away with it as he'd failed to identify himself so it was simple assault and not assaulting a police officer - an even longer story) and, yet, with all these encounters, being not-white, being antagonistic, being drunk (I no longer drink), being a drug using hippie, and generally being a malcontent as far as they're concerned - I've had only that one instance of harassment and abuse.

      -- I'd call the attempt to lie and claim they'd probable cause 'abuse.'

      Anyhow, I'd just come from spending my time, money, and labor in Greensburg, Kansas and was still treated like that, albeit over on the Missouri side. If I recall correctly, this was 2007 (I'd just retired not long before, sold my company and was just rambling down the highway at random). Something like 95% of the town had been a total loss. Yet the cops, in a fairly good sized city, decided I was an outlaw, tried to strip me of my Constitutional rights, and detained me by withholding my papers and by threat of force (implied). I was not impressed.

      Oddly, that's the worst they've done. In the scope of life, and with scaling being honest, I probably should have encountered more but I've had good fortune throughout my entire life. It's often undeserved fortune but I'm grateful for it. Ah well...

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    70. Re:Good by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      But were police encounters getting worse or just being filmed more? The latter is far more likely the case.

      So you are saying "good!" Good that net deaths are increasing rather than decreasing as a result of police adapting to filming?

      Uhhhhhh, thanks, Mr. SJW?

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    71. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.

    72. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is it a democracy when your choices are the wrong guy for the job, or the other wrong guy for the job?

    73. Re: Good by easyTree · · Score: 1

      The horror; I can see the internally-lit primary-coloured plastic signs:

      Drive through 'food' and 'democracy'

    74. Re:Good by pnutjam · · Score: 3

      It's the classic "my way or the highway" spirit that has made America Great. A proud tradition from Jackson to McCarthy to Hoover to Cheney and Rumsfeld.

      America's law enforcement community is peopled with absolutely the wrong types. The worst have risen to the top and fixing this problem will take at least a generation.
      We can't let this sort of press release reporting sway us from a just and fair legal system.

    75. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That has nothing to do with how respectfully they police choose to interact with the citizens they swear to serve and protect.

    76. Re:Good by Reziac · · Score: 1

      Or maybe it's that in the U.S., we still have the right and the balls to speak up against police misconduct, and aren't likely to disappear forever for doing so.

      Yes, our cops are out of line, largely because they are being taught that the public is the enemy -- but compare, say, Mexican or Nigerian cops and ours suddenly look far better.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    77. Re:Good by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      Blue uniform? It seems like cops weren't quite as bad when they actually wore blue. Nowadays they just seem to wear black. I seem to remember about another group of thugs who used to wear black shirts...

      I've also seen cops wear brown, especially here in the southeast. I also remember another group of thugs who used to wear brown shirts...

    78. Re:Good by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      That's a really, really low bar there.

      Compare the US to cops in other **developed** nations (rather than failed states) and it looks pretty bleak. The cops in Germany, Finland, the UK, France, etc. all put ours to shame.

    79. Re:Good by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      Don't you get it? The kooks already have guns. The ones that don't have knives.

    80. Re:Good by PatientZero · · Score: 2

      I'm all for ending the war on drugs, but doing so won't make cops' jobs easier.

      How can it not?

      • No more arresting people for possession of a mostly-benign chemical.
      • No more violence to control market access.
      • No more arms race for smuggling and interdiction.
      • No more payoffs to officials to look the other way.
      • No more slaughter of innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire.
      • No more petty theft to purchase drugs at inflated prices.
      • More people participating in society as citizens instead of marginalized as felons.
      • Fewer people fleeing cartel-ravaged Latin America for the relative safety of the U.S.
      • More time and funds available to fight actual crimes.
      --
      Freedom to fear. Freedom from thought. Freedom to kill.
      I guess the War on Terror really is about freedom!
    81. Re:Good by demonlapin · · Score: 1

      You have listed a lot of things that don't really do anything to make individual cops' lives easier. As for the money, don't forget that the bribes are going... to the dirty cops, so loss of them is a net negative.

    82. Re:Good by demonlapin · · Score: 1

      The cops are usually right. It pains me to say that, but it's true. And they're not arrested on "no grounds", they're arrested for possession of drugs. Which are dumb grounds, sure, but unless your local police force is very corrupt (willing to plant evidence), also very easy to avoid - just leave your weed at home.

      And, frankly, there just aren't a lot of people in jail for drug charges only - the possession (with or without intent to distribute) charge triggers bail or parole revocation for some other charge like assault, weapons, etc.

    83. Re:Good by Reziac · · Score: 1

      One might consider that the U.S. is a weird hybrid of frontier and modern societal modes, not directly comparable to anywhere else.

      But I'd like to hear firsthand experiences on cops in developed nations. Are they really any better, or is it a generally more-compliant populace? I recall a recent study that found Europeans are much more willing to just go along with authority, while Americans are far more likely to question it, and this contrast was especially marked when that authority overstepped its bounds (Europeans knuckle under; Americans rebel). It follows that one would expect American cops will expect more resistance from our less-compliant population, and are therefore more likely to be belligerent toward the public.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    84. Re: Good by HiThere · · Score: 1

      It is, indeed, criminal. I believe the term is "accessory after the fact". But if you don't understand it, you don't understand people.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    85. Re:Good by gweihir · · Score: 1

      It obviously is a defect in Democracy. What the exact nature of the defect is, is still not really known, maybe because modern democracy is only about 100 years old or so. One problem is that there are rather severe limits in some aspects of what voters can manage to do. For example, create fear and they will submit gladly to anybody that promises security, regardless how false that claim is.

      On the other hand, this is neither new or unknown. For example, Hitler was voted into office. Sure, it was a minority government (I think 35% of votes or something like that), but it was a legitimate democratic process that made him chancellor. That was the boost-step he needed to take over.

      So this problem is not only old and well known, it already had catastrophic consequences in the past, and unfortunately, while the safeguards put into place do protect against a fast catastrophe, they do seem to fail against a slow erosion process. It is a little bit like boiling a frog: Turn up the heat to full, the frog notices and jumps out of the water. Turn it up very slowly, and the frog does not notice and dies. (Frogs have variable body-temperature and only notice fast changes.) If you look into the press and the web, there are still very large groups of people that think how the police behaves in the US is perfectly fine, and all those shot, tortured and killed are just "criminals" that had it coming anyways. Add to that that there basically is the political choice between a conservative party and an extreme conservative party, and the picture becomes really clear: The US democracy has become completely corrupted by very successful voter manipulation and a perception of reality based on propaganda, not on reality.

      Unfortunately, this always leads to a totalitarian state. If the populations does not set hard boundaries for bureaucrats and politicians again and again, control is always wrested from the population eventually, and the catastrophe will happen. There is also the problem, now very obvious in the US, that the courts are thoroughly in the pocket of the state (after all they are a part of it) and will become more and more servants of power and "the law" will become a pure tool of oppression.

      Well, it really is not like this has not happened before. Unfortunately, the human race has not (not yet, I hope) learned to reliably prevent it.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    86. Re:Good by gweihir · · Score: 1

      It is indeed not.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    87. Re:Good by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Don't you get it? The kooks already have guns. The ones that don't have knives.

      How does one tell? The odd looking fellow toting his AR15 around Lowe's or Denny's doesn't look a whole lot different than the guy who's planning on popping us, then escaping justice by eating his gun barrel.

      No I don't "get it". You might consider moving to Afghanistan, where even the children are packing.

      http://25.media.tumblr.com/tum...

      http://www.rawa.org/temp/runew...

      The necessity of carrying a gun everywhere is a show of fear. I have guns, I use guns, but I don't have the fear inherent in gun nuts and soccer moms, so I carry when I have a good reason to, and that isn't everywhere.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    88. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've heard this same thing from multiple former military who became police officers.

    89. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But aside from cameras, I think the best tactic is to avoid unneeded escalation.

      You do, do you? Then why are you resisting? Stop resisting! DON'T REACH FOR MY GUN!!! [BLAM!]

    90. Re: Good by marcelfilm2109 · · Score: 1

      Perfectly said. Good, bad - all subjective. Who can actually tell when EVERY interaction with the general public, no matter how minor, is executed with absolutism. submission to the process and childlike apologist-like behavior is expected, or here comes a heaping helping of threatening authoritarian escalation. Not one exception. Good, bad...who can tell. They put on the jack-boots the same way.

    91. Re:Good by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      I think you lost sight of the context of this thread. The comment I was originally referring to was the attack on the police and how they're "out to get us." The comment I then made was a sarcastic one about maybe we could just get rid of the police and fall back on the wild west style of justice. No, I'm not paranoid and don't tote a gun everywhere I go. I do wear one when I go to downtown Atlanta because it's unsavory to say the least. Most of the time I never go anywhere I feel the need to carry. Fortunately we do still have a majority of police that are out there performing their job of keeping the public safe. I think the incessant hatred of the police on this forum is misguided and foolish. There are bad apples but most police officers go to work every day to provide law enforcement for the public so we don't end up dispensing justice from the barrel of a gun.

    92. Re:Good by Fjandr · · Score: 1

      Then the cops who are afraid of cameras will stop applying to police academies, and cops who have nothing to fear from cameras will make up an increasingly large percentage of police forces until the bad apples become such a small minority that there aren't enough of them to pressure their betters into covering for them.

    93. Re:Good by Fjandr · · Score: 1

      Well, in a way it would and in a way it wouldn't. It would make business as usual harder. It would make focusing on crimes that matter easier, because you can't pressure your force to focus on a specific set of behaviors once it's no longer a crime. At least not overtly, anyway.

    94. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also the fact that if you're unlucky to meet the 1% that are assholes in your office, it's unlikely to have massive repecussions on you. When you meet the 1% of assholes policemen, you can end up dead.

    95. Re: Good by marcelfilm2109 · · Score: 1

      911. New York. Rudy Giuliani. Bernie Kerec (sp.?). Data.

    96. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "but compare, say, Mexican or Nigerian cops and ours suddenly look far better"

      Actually Nigerian cops are waaaay better. I know because I lived there. It all goes to their motivation for joining the police force.

      In Nigeria, people join because, well it's really just a job and it puts them in a position to collect bribes. Now, the friendlier you are the more bribes/ hr you collect. It takes longer to extract money from people you intimidate because they are not sure what would happen if they offer you money.

      The American cops join the force because yes it's also a job but they also see crime and believe they need to help stop it. All well and good. However, when you think about the person that decides he wants to spend his time looking for bad people you will quickly realize it's someone who is partial to confrontation and violence. Being a cop gives them the immunity to carry out their desires. Hence the situation we find ourselves in America today.

    97. Re:Good by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      What happens to society if that turns out to be an impossible job?

      We abolish policing and return to the Militia, with YOU having to report for drill every week and YOU doing the patrolling. the only way the job is impossible is if your goal is not Law Enforcement but Police Intimidation!

      A militia is a military force, not a law enfocement one.

      The clue's in the name.

      If you really want the army to police you, welcome to the wonderful world of fascism.

      If you want a volunteer civilian police force, that's a different issue.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    98. Re:Good by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Yes, our cops are out of line, largely because they are being taught that the public is the enemy -- but compare, say, Mexican or Nigerian cops and ours suddenly look far better.

      That's like saying that the US's prisons aren't as bad as North Korea's, so everything's OK there. ,

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    99. Re: Good by Reziac · · Score: 1

      That's an interesting insight, and I think you've got a good point. I'm mostly familiar with what's coming out of the Los Angeles Police Academy, and there's a serious slant toward little tin gods. (And the women are worse than the men.)

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    100. Re:Good by Reziac · · Score: 1

      That's the basic problem with the liberal mindset: everything is either/or. There's no ability to see that things might exist along a continuum. Just because one system is in some ways better than another doesn't mean "everything's OK".

      (Tho I think the AC who responded to me makes a good point, even tho profit-based enforcement has its own difficulties; we used to call that "protection money".)

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    101. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm all for ending the war on drugs, but doing so won't make cops' jobs easier.

      Actually it will! Case in point Portugal. oh and a side benifit, HIV cases have dropped by 50% since 2009.

      the problem with the war on drugs is the laws make it so that police wast the most amount of time with the end user, locking people up for possession. Instead hand them a ticket like a traffic infraction (and put that money to treating people who want to end their dependence on drugs) and then police can go after the producers and traffickers.

      or have some common sense in how you classify drugs because if you think pot should be illegal then tobacco and alcohol should be as well based purely on the long term effects on the human body.

    102. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I recall a recent study that found Europeans are much more willing to just go along with authority, while Americans are far more likely to question it"

      "It follows that one would expect American cops will expect more resistance from our less-compliant population, and are therefore more likely to be belligerent toward the public."

      I think it is the other way around: it's easier to be more compliant with the police when you trust them and they aren't viewing you as an enemy. I'm in France, I had several encounters with the police, sure some of them seemed to be idiots, others bored, and some unwilling to help me (when I tried to press charges for a theft), but they were all polite and respectful, never threatened me or pulled their weapon.

      You can also find the statistics about the number of time the police used their weapons, there is a huge difference between the US and the developped countries.

    103. Re:Good by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Hitler wasn't elected Chancellor. Nobody was. It was basically an appointive office, and the right-wing types running the government thought he'd fail or at least be controllable. He had run for President against von Hindenburg and lost.

      Once he became Chancellor, he got an emergency powers act passed, and used it to remove his left-wing opposition, ending with Nazi dominance of the Reichstag.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    104. Re:Good by Nethemas+the+Great · · Score: 1

      There would be little to no demand for private video if the dash/body cams recordings were public record and readily accessible to everyone without impediment.

      --
      Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once ... with negative results.
    105. Re:Good by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

      Did you ever read the Constitution?
      Purpose of the Militia For which Congress shall direct the Discipline and training
      To repel foreign invasion
      To provide security for the state
      TO SUPPRESS INSURRECTION, law enforcement.
      There was no police force in any American city besides Boston in 1783. That particular idea, from London, did not catch on
      The Judge issued warrants, writs etc, to be enforced by deputized MILITIA called marshalls.
      This is where we went wrong
      We let an army occupy our State from inside
      Which is exactly what the First Article prohibited when it forbade a standing army in peacetime.

    106. Re:Good by beastofburdon · · Score: 1

      I suppose you are correct, it will make their job much harder. This is because protecting the public is not, and never has been their job. Their job is to protect the rich and prevent their assets from becoming the poor people's assets. In other words, their job is to maintain the power imbalance.

    107. Re:Good by beastofburdon · · Score: 1

      Well, let's see. How about gun shows? Gun ranges? Have you ever heard of a gun store?
      If you knew that someone who was pissing you off had a gun would you pull out your own in anger, or would you have second thoughts about it?
      If you were dumb enough to pull your gun then you deserve to die in the first place. Oh, and I'll let you in on a little secret, the psychopaths who wouldn't think twice about killing you care far more about their own safety than you care about your own, unless you happen to be one of them too. They are not going to endanger their own lives if the odds are against them. In fact they are not going to unless the odds are stacked in their favor. When anyone around them could be armed the odds are not in their favor.

    108. Re:Good by beastofburdon · · Score: 1

      Well, I did a little research and some math on this issue. These are yearly figures taken from the FBI's website
      murders per 100,000: 5
      killed by police per 100,000: 0.3449
      number of criminals arrested per year: 12,196,959
      number of police: 765,000
      number of people arrested per year per officer: 16.34
      Now, when we adjust the police kill rate up for the difference in the number of police compared to criminals we get:
      adjusted killed by police per 100,000: 5.6

      Now think about this for a minute. This is only counting people who are arrested, not all the criminals. This means that an encounter with a police officer is far more dangerous than an encounter with a criminal.
      Your fear of criminals and trust of police is based on a fantasy world which does not exist.

    109. Re:Good by pagedout · · Score: 1

      (been away from a computer for a week so haven't had a chance to see this, apologies for the late reply)

      Not sure what is strange about of sense of reality. I can watch these videos and compare them to the actions I would have taken (on either side) and see what the outcomes are. I have yet to see one that would conform even remotely to what I would do so none of them concern me greatly.

      From the non-cop side I would say several mistakes were made. I was taught as a youngster to stay calm, make no quick movements and comply with officers. If you think s/he did something wrong that is something to take up with their boss not them. (presuming the cop flashed lights/siren to pull the guy over) His first mistake was getting out of the car, you should always let the cop come to you. (presuming there was no weapon in the car) His second mistake was quickly spinning around and reaching for something in the car. His mistakes were minor but not something that applies to my family as we just wouldn't do these things.

      From the cop side I would say he made several mistakes as well. If an officer does not feel in control of the situation he shouldn't start by asking for documentation to be provided. He should take the time to get comfortable (get the guy to move away from the car or get in the car) before proceeding. Second, "get out of the car" is not the instruction he should have given when the non-cop made the sudden move. If the guy is pulling a gun it does no good. If the guy is honest it will be moving him into a confrontational stance which will get him shot anyway.

      At this point there are mistakes on both sides. Now you have the interesting part. The non-cop turns back around (in compliance with what the officer says) and the officer fires two shots. I can't know what the cop thought he saw so I have no idea if this was legit or not. If it would have stopped right here I would say the non-cop needs a talking to and the cop needs some training on clear communications and situation control. However, at the point the non-cop does exactly what he was supposed to. He puts his hands up and complies in a non-aggressive manner. The cop however, shoots twice more. This is clearly wrong.

      At the minimum the cop needs to get fired (clearly unable to calm down in dangerous situations). At the maximum the cop should be gotten with attempted murder (presuming this is a pattern). I did a touch of searching and can't find out what actually happened to the cop so I don't know if there was a miscarriage of justice or not here.

      All of that being said, none of this applies to me or my family. In any situation with a police officer we always follow instructions and do whatever we can to make sure we are clearly not a threat. When I get pulled over, hands stay clearly on the wheel so they can see them. When they come up to the window if they ask for something that I must reach for I clearly state what I am doing before I do it. The one abusive cop I have run into I continued to comply until the cop went away and then I went down to the station and talked to her boss. I heard that a couple years later she ended up getting enough complaints that they booted her.

      Be calm, be polite, be helpful. Clearly communicate about anything that you think might be misconstrued.

      So, you get the criminals to conform to the same standards and I will start going downtown again after sundown (one too many run-ins with shady people). Until then, they are still a wildly larger threat than any officer I meet.

    110. Re:Good by pagedout · · Score: 1

      (been away from a computer for a week so haven't had a chance to see this, apologies for the late reply)

      I am sorry but your numbers seem all forms of shady.

      Your 'killed by police' number seems wildly off. I have found no 'definitive' source but the best numbers I have seen say between 350 to 750 people a year are killed by officers. I would be interested where your number for this actually came from as you are putting this at 2x the high number I have been able to find.

      Your first two stats show a clear risk assessment. The average person is over 10x more likely to be killed by a non-cop than a cop. This takes into account everything. Add in other forms of crimes and they are clearly the greater risk. After this at best you could classify people into 'more likely' and 'less likely' groups.

      After this you supply 'arrests per year' and 'number of police' do derive 'arrests per officer per year'. Mathematically valid up to this point but meaning less when compared with murdered numbers per year.

      Now you perform your magic 'adjustment'. Here is where I cant even fathom what you are thinking. So, per every 100,000 officers you hare a 5.6% chance of one of the people they arrest being murdered? I think maybe that is what you are saying? What does that even mean?

      I am sorry, but you seem to be trying to bend the numbers to meet your preconceived notion here.

      If you wanted something to support where I think you were going you should compare felons vs murders and cops vs murders. At 20m felons presumably committing 5 murders per 100,000 people we get .25 murders/1m felons/100,000 people/year. This is obviously less than the cop number.

      Now that we have some fact that seems to support that cops kill more people per capita than felons do, I can now say: Who care? Be good and you will have limited interactions with cops. When you interact with cops be aware and don't do anything aggressive and you have a very low chance of being hurt by a cop. Yes, there is always a chance, but the chance is small.

      I have in the past (and chances are it will continue into the future) been the victim of several moderate to petty bad crimes. The worst I have gotten from a cop is tongue lashing. I am sorry, but criminals are a much greater danger than the cops (at the current time, in the USA).

    111. Re:Good by anmre · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the well thought reply.

      Obviously I don't know what your skin color is, and I can't presume to know what this particular police officer was thinking when he shot the man in this video. However, he was fired and is currently out on bond for this shooting. Interestingly, he was just arrested again yesterday for shoplifting. The point is that these types of senseless shootings by police are very much reality if you happen to be black or Latino in the U.S. I'm not going to cite a source on that because I think that you should take a look and discover the information for yourself.

      Being afraid to go "downtown" after dark is one thing. It's still your prerogative and it's based on personal experience. I've been mugged, so I understand. Being afraid that a cop is going to shoot you and/or arrest you during a routine traffic stop because of your skin color is another thing entirely, and it's the reason people want more cameras pointed at the police.

  2. Let me get this right.... by wbr1 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    "Please don't watch us do our jobs, because when we are watched we cannot accost and brutalize the dregs of society into submission, therefore you should be scared as those dregs will come after you!"

    Sorry, but do your job withing the confines of the law (including the constitution). You get no free pass. If you cannot do your job within those confines, then press to have those laws changed, in an open and democratic manner. If you do not, you are little (or no) better than the thugs and gangsters you wish to imprison.

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
    1. Re:Let me get this right.... by msk · · Score: 2

      This sounds like the comments of an AC who is blind to the fact that police _must_ strive to be paragons of virtue while on the job. The law applies to everyone or it applies to no one.

    2. Re:Let me get this right.... by dgatwood · · Score: 2

      This sounds like the comment of someone crazy enough to actually do so alone. Police are not supposed to be an army of one. They are supposed to be a unified force, acting collectively to protect the public. This isn't a movie, and cops aren't supposed to act like John McClane.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    3. Re: Let me get this right.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This sounds like the comment of a person blind to police abuse that happens all the time.

    4. Re:Let me get this right.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This sounds like the comments of someone obviously blind to the realities of stepping into a hostile crowd alone.

      don't just make stuff up. This FBI director clearly says the police are scared right in the teaser:
      "..officers who normally would stop to question suspicious people are opting to stay in their patrol cars for fear..."

      These are not tough guy cops taking on a crowd on their own. This is an officer "opting to stay in their patrol car". when looking at a person for fear of being video recorded.

      the rest of it's just puffed up tough guy talk.

    5. Re:Let me get this right.... by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      Sorry, but do your job ..

      They can do their job 'by the book' and not get into any trouble at all. It's interesting to see the cities turn into shitholes of crime because they do so. Maybe the race-based 'gangs' represent burgeoning self-government and we should just let the cities fester. I certainly don't have any interest in living there.

    6. Re:Let me get this right.... by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This sounds like the comments of someone obviously blind to the realities of stepping into a hostile crowd alone.

      Why was the hostile crowd there, why was it hostile, why was it necessary for law enforcement to enter it, and why was the officer doing so alone? If your hypothetical problem situation ever actually happens, it sounds like a whole lot of things probably already went wrong long before the officer stepped into the crowd.

      --
      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
    7. Re:Let me get this right.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This sounds like the comments of someone obviously blind to the realities of stepping into a hostile crowd alone.

      The crowd isn't hostile.

      The crowd is on the police officers side, if he wasn't to busy thinking every citizen was a potential criminal he would realize that and not have to resort to excessive violence when dealing with regular citizens.

    8. Re:Let me get this right.... by VValdo · · Score: 5, Informative

      This sounds like the comments of someone obviously blind to the realities of stepping into a hostile crowd alone.

      Yes, there is an escalating war against the police. In fact, with one shooting per week in 2015, it is a very dangerous time to be a.. toddler? (checks link) Wow.

      In America, more preschoolers are shot dead each year (82 in 2013) than police officers are in the line of duty (27 in 2013), according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FBI.

                              --- sketchy source

      Well, c'mon, that was back in 2013, before the "Ferguson Effect." What are the more recent statistics--oh...

      2015 may be one of the safest years for law enforcement in a quarter century.

      So how are these "realities" you speak of any different now than before the new "video scrutiny"?

      --
      -------------------
      This is my SIG. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    9. Re:Let me get this right.... by Imrik · · Score: 2, Insightful

      They aren't objecting to being filmed, they're objecting to people trying to get them to make a mistake on camera.

    10. Re:Let me get this right.... by JoeMerchant · · Score: 1

      Better still, don't go on a pouty sit-in (and get paid) strike because you think somebody has taken the fun out of your job.

      If you didn't want to be a police officer that everybody can respect when they see what you do, you shouldn't have applied in the first place.

    11. Re:Let me get this right.... by khasim · · Score: 2

      They aren't objecting to being filmed, they're objecting to people trying to get them to make a mistake on camera.

      The problem is that the kind of "mistakes" that are being filmed are "mistakes" of shooting unarmed people or beating people who have been handcuffed.

      So now the FBI director says that because cops are afraid that someone will film those "mistakes" that the cops will refuse to do the job that the public pays them to do.

      And that's okay with him.

      How in the fuck would that even be logical in any other job? I can't kick customers so don't expect me fix a network problem?

    12. Re:Let me get this right.... by gweihir · · Score: 1

      When is the last time that an US policeman has been "stepping into a hostile crowd alone"? These days they are mostly cowards that will not dare anything unless they are sure that they can kill them all. Sure, not all of them, possibly not even a majority, but the number of utter scum in police uniforms is staggering.

      Policemen _must_ be held to a much higher standard or they become common thugs.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    13. Re:Let me get this right.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When do the police do anything alone what u seem to think is common almost never happens.
      your an idiot they call the swat for everything. it took 2 cops to deal with a harmless old man from India who was guilty of taking a walk in a white neighborhood where his son LIVED and they crippled him.
      A better question is why would a crowd or person be hostile to police because of how they treat everyone who is not rich or connected.

    14. Re:Let me get this right.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How old are you how the fuck are they trying to MAKE them make a mistake?
      did the guy in the park with a camera make the cop empty his clip into someone guilty of running away you must be a cop or related to one.
      Please explain that...

    15. Re:Let me get this right.... by Kohath · · Score: 2

      So? Try being professional then. Change your attitude to "serve the public" instead of "enforce laws" (upon the public). People can tell the difference between helping and bullying on a video, especially if there's sound.

      And, while you're at it, run your own camera and make all the raw video publicly available so no one can release edited videos that take your actions out of context.

    16. Re:Let me get this right.... by fredrated · · Score: 2

      Look, the man '[has] a strong sense ...', surely that counts for something!

    17. Re:Let me get this right.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you want to be taken seriously, normalise your numbers. There are far more toddlers than police officers, so it's entirely possible that police offers are at more risk than toddlers of being shot, while still being compatible with the statistics you quoted. By your logic, I could say that only 17 astronauts have died in the last 50 years, or 0.3 per year - so being an astronaut is clearly the safest occupation in the country.

    18. Re:Let me get this right.... by nightcats · · Score: 1
      Let's review this position...
      • 1. If we say it, it is therefore true (fallacy of belief by authority)
      • 2. If x happened with y, then y caused x (fallacy of causation by correlation)
      • 3. We have been subjected to unjust scrutiny, therefore what we say is true (the victimization fallacy)
      --
      Development is programmable; Discovery is not programmable. (Fuller)
    19. Re:Let me get this right.... by smhsmh · · Score: 1

      More toddlers than police officers??? This is a shitistic.

      It means nothing without considering the size of the relative populations of toddlers and police officers. Also consider that toddlers are toddlers 24/7, while police officers are typically on duty less than 1/4 of that time.

      Quick internet search says there are about 30 million deer in the US today, and about 6 million are taken by hunters each year. (About 1 million are taken by motor vehicles.) Is it statistically more hazardous to be a deer in the US today than a young black male? But why should anyone who is not a gun-rights loony care about a ridiculous statistic like this?

  3. In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Lack of respect slowly eroding civilization.

  4. Radical proposal by whoever57 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Here is a radical proposal:

    don't choke to death petty criminals, don't shoot fleeing suspects in the back. Don't kill people in the vans on their way to the police station, etc... And more importantly: don't support the police officers who do this!

    And finally, actually discipline officers for their misdeeds.

    --
    The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    1. Re:Radical proposal by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      Don't get verbally abusive and resist arrest when confronted by the police

      Do you know what constitutes resisting arrest? Taking a step back. Police officer gets in your face, natural reaction is to preserve personal space, you instinctively take a step back and, boom: resisting arrest.

      Also, did you fail to see the news about a policeman violently taking down a suspect who was

      1. Accused of a non-violent crime.

      2. Not even the actual suspect.

      3. Did not have a chance to resist arrest before being violently taken down.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    2. Re:Radical proposal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why is it when the cops make a massive error in judgment no one(in the police department) ever comes forward until the video is released how often are these employees of the criminal classes aka the cops getting away with violence and murder.
      they cannot have morals if they say nothing after watching a citizen get murdered
      YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE GOOD TO HAVE RIGHTS THEY ARE FOR EVERYONE.
      fuck the police.

    3. Re:Radical proposal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      kill yourself

  5. History of Los Angeles Police by wnfJv8eC · · Score: 1

    The first police department in LA was a gang. We've been fighting crime with paid criminals since then.

    1. Re:History of Los Angeles Police by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The first police department in LA was a gang.

      [citation needed]

  6. Crime is down by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Crime is down. He's lying. End of story. We don't have to consider to a word this person says.

    1. Re:Crime is down by tomhath · · Score: 1

      No, crime is way up in cities where the protests were biggest. Baltimore and St. Louis in particular.

  7. Re:Wrong cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yes. It's the evil stoners. Aggressive lot. They'd kill for their fix on junk food...tomorrow!

  8. Whatever. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Officers tell Comey that youths surround police when they get out of their vehicles, taunting them and making videos of the spectacle with their cell phones. "In today's YouTube world, there are officers reluctant to get out of their cars and do the work that controls violent crime," says Comey.

    Tough shit. Don't like it? Get another job. That's what we in the private sector have to do. And you have to have a certain mentality to want to walk around in public with a badge and gun. It's a primitive desire for physical dominance - it's the ape brain's desire.

    Some officers, he said, scrutinize minorities more closely using a mental shortcut that “becomes almost irresistible and maybe even rational by some lights” because black men are arrested at much higher rates than white men.

    Of course they are. They are policed more and as a result are caught more often doing things that many people do - like smoking pot. When we get rid of these ridiculous drug laws, we'll see a huge change.

    Anyway, I don't see any data to back up what this guy says.

    1. Re:Whatever. by fredgiblet · · Score: 1

      "Don't like it? Get another job."

      And when no one steps in to do the job? I guess things will just fall in line and everyone will be nice and wonderful to each other if we just get rid of those evil cops, right?

  9. Too literal and unmoving by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The problem isn't just with police only, or politicians, or public figures... it's mostly everyone. People are too literal in their intepretation of procedures. There is such a thing as leniency, giving someone the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, and I speak mostly for my generation (~20-35 yrs), there is little there. It's always black and white.

    If a person even looks suspicious, then it's cause to question them, assume they're a bad person, and treat them as such.

    That's the typical attitude, to varying degrees. Too much drama in television, movies, and the media. It's more a psychological influence of how to behave: everything has to be intense. Everything is critical, because it _could_ become critical... though less than 0.001% of the time, it actually is critical.

    Then you have the other side: the criminals who aren't afraid to commit the crime, but are afraid of the punishment. A conflict, I suppose, of moral judgement of behavior. Again, influence of dramatic behavior and examples, and language. News, and marketing, and advertising, make things seem so much better / worse than they really are.

    This, in turn, has given us a generation of people who think things _are_ or _have to be_ dramatic... and thus, the literal interpretation and unmoving nature has come about.

    Take a homeless guy who looks like he's been making some really stupid decisions. Some dumbass young cop might equate his unclean looks, ragged clothes, bad teeth, and putrid smell, as, "fuck, this guy must be a bad person," when in reality, he was a former engineer who helped build the very roads and bridges this cop patrols. But the cop don't give a shit. He's made up his mind that, because this homeless guy is simply _talking_ to people, that they need to be "asked to leave."

    Or some shit.

  10. Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Beat people
    Get filmed
    Blame the film crew for the beatings?

    No shit violent crime is up when no one respects the police anymore

  11. I'll take it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    An increase in crime is a small price to pay in exchange for officers doing what they should be doing - leaving people alone, showing up when called, taking reports and investigating after the fact, stop fishing, not trying to predict and prevent crime at the expense of freedom, not trying to coercing confessions, not profiling, not harassing people who are doing "suspicious" things, not shooting unarmed suspects in the face, and not shooting people's dogs.

    Besides most crime happens in crime-ridden communities, and if people want to let their communities go to hell in a handbasket, it's their problem. If you're in one and don't like it, work harder and move, or just don't raise your kids to be criminals.

    1. Re:I'll take it. by John+Jorsett · · Score: 0

      Besides most crime happens in crime-ridden communities, and if people want to let their communities go to hell in a handbasket, it's their problem. If you're in one and don't like it, work harder and move, or just don't raise your kids to be criminals.

      I think it's time /. instituted an "Anonymous Idiot" nametag.

    2. Re:I'll take it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought it already existed under the name "roman_mir".

  12. why are police so scared of everything? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    the best part is that the director of the FBI says police are afraid of kids with phones who mock them. the police should resign if they are so afraid.

    1. Re:why are police so scared of everything? by 0123456 · · Score: 0

      How would you like every little thing you do scrutinized

      Uh, dude. That's what happens to pretty much everyone outside the public sector. If I screw up at work, I have to explain to my boss and our customers why I screwed up, and how I'll ensure it doesn't happen again.

      It's called living in the real world.

      Law enforcement only works two ways: 1) people respect authority and do as asked (when reasonable) by the police 2) use of force when there is no respect of the law. People have the choice of which method they'd like to be policed by.

      Can I suggest you take a look at this page:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      And then ponder just how far modern policing has moved from its origins in many Western nations?

    2. Re:why are police so scared of everything? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can you cite an actual incident where a viral recording of the police was deceptively edited?

      Further, any police department afraid of this can simply equip their officers with body cameras. That way there is a recording that the police can release if they believe the media is misreporting.

    3. Re:why are police so scared of everything? by akgooseman · · Score: 1

      Bzzzt! Wrong!! Law enforcement only works two ways: 1) authority earns the respect of the people and people and people willingly cooperate or 2) authority abuses people.

    4. Re:why are police so scared of everything? by Kohath · · Score: 1

      Like having your actions clipped, cut, edited and put out of context just to make you look bad.

      This is why we need police body cams, with all the raw video released to the public.

    5. Re:why are police so scared of everything? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's a terrible idea. Think of the privacy implications. People call police into their homes during a crisis. Do you want them to bring all of youtube with them so your personal crises can become fodder for a fox "news" infotainment segment?

  13. Purpose of the police by phantomfive · · Score: 0

    The purpose of the police is to enforce the will of the courts (whoever controls those). Don't believe it?

    If you catch someone in the middle of home invasion, have eye witnesses, fingerprint proof, and objects owned by the invader left behind in the house......the police still might not prosecute. They'll just let the guy go.

    But an eviction notice? The sheriff will do his duty every single time.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    1. Re:Purpose of the police by khasim · · Score: 2

      They are now using SWAT teams to deal with unlicensed SERVICE operations.

      Running a barber shop without the appropriate license and fees? They will bust down your door, weapons drawn. Don't resist. Don't try to run. They are authorized to use lethal force.

      Remember, they are on the side of the Law.

    2. Re:Purpose of the police by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 2

      It depends on the department, I suppose. In my middle-class and rather quiet neighborhood, the police actually tracked down and caught a kid who ran into my lawn with this car, damaging some shrubbery, then fled the scene. They then stopped by and asked if I would like to press charged, and I got the officer's advice on whether or not I should do so. All very polite, professional, and efficient.

      I think what's really different in today's society is that *everyone* has a camera now, and we all have access to worldwide media, both as a consumer and as a publisher, via the internet. Any story can become a national story this way, and as such, it feels like we're seeing a lot more bad things happen, when in reality, those same things probably just never made the news before for lack of evidence or, more realistically, no one to tell the story to in the media.

      Nowadays, you really can't expect any event to occur in public and *not* have it filmed and "published", where the entire world can see it uncensored. The police should simply embrace this reality and record everything themselves. This will help to protect both themselves and civilians, as well as provide important evidence (either way) in the case of wrongdoing.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    3. Re:Purpose of the police by fredgiblet · · Score: 1

      That is largely the difference, yes. Every little bad thing goes viral on Facebook, so despite violent crime being lower than it has been for decades we have a ton of people afraid to go outside because some nut shot a few people on the other side of the country. People are trained and conditioned to be afraid constantly be cause that sells advertising space on the news and makes political control easier.

    4. Re:Purpose of the police by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In sensible countries those functions are performed by two entirely different agencies.

  14. They used only two years to call this a spike by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    2012 had the lowest crime rate since 1970 and even with the so called spike, the murder rate stills remains far below the record marks witnessed two to three decades ago, in the late 1980s and early ’90s. Can someone in the media call bullshit ?

    1. Re:They used only two years to call this a spike by wbr1 · · Score: 1

      The uptick (however small) we are seeing in crime is more likely correlated to the economy and the increasing difficulty to live in poverty. It has nothing to do with a war against cops except that blatant police brutality will move the culture to one more prone to fear and violence. If you treat people like enemies, they will respond in kind.

      --
      Silence is a state of mime.
    2. Re: They used only two years to call this a spike by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's called regression to the mean. And no, the press is too fucking stupid to report it because profit.

  15. It is simply a shifting balance by mi · · Score: 2

    Whether or not to stop, detain, punch or shoot a suspect is always a judgement call — calculations weighting pros and cons, risk and reward are automatically made in our heads.

    The additional scrutiny — and TFA talks about all kinds of scrutiny, not just video, that's Hugh Pickens' manipulations — shifts that balance towards the safer (for the policeman) course of action. Because if they do apprehend a dangerous criminal cleanly, at most, they'll get a pat on the back. But if they screw up, or even if they don't, but merely appear to — the entire "Hands up don't shoot" meme is based on a lie, remember? — their lives will change dramatically. For the worse.

    The scrutiny is not going anywhere and that, on balance, is a good thing, in my opinion. The public — and the police — just need to learn not to rush to judgement. And the wronged cops need to receive their days in court — of public opinion — not merely "left alone", when they are exonerated. That might push the balance back a little...

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    1. Re:It is simply a shifting balance by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      Whether or not to stop, detain, punch or shoot a suspect is always a judgement call â" calculations weighting pros and cons, risk and reward are automatically made in our heads.

      And some officers tend towards the more violent approaches. That's why the complaints against NYPD officers are concentrated amongst a small subset of the officers.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    2. Re:It is simply a shifting balance by mi · · Score: 1

      And some officers tend towards the more violent approaches.

      Sure. The amount and measure of violence — is a judgement call too.

      ... concentrated amongst a small subset of the officers

      If it is a "small subset", then it is automatically off-topic where a nation-wide trend is discussed... Please, do not filibust.

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    3. Re:It is simply a shifting balance by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      If there is a small subset in the NYPD, then, it is likely that this is reproduced nation-wide.

      In other words, it is likely that nation-wide the excessive force complaints are against a subset of officers in every city. The problem is that there is no effective discipline for this subset.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    4. Re:It is simply a shifting balance by mi · · Score: 1

      If there is a small subset in the NYPD, then, it is likely that this is reproduced nation-wide.

      If it were, it would've, probably, been reproduced by now. Wake me up, when it is. But remember the saying: New York is not America, and Manhattan is not New York.

      it is likely that nation-wide the excessive force complaints are against a subset of officers in every city

      Sure. But your statement — thanks to its caveat-words like "likely" and "subset" — is non-falsifiable and thus non-scientific. And therefore it can not be debated.

      What all police-critics ought to remember, however, is that "excessive force" is a term, that's even harder to define than "pornography" (as opposite to "erotic art"). One "knows it when one sees it" — at best, and sometimes not even then — and otherwise reasonable people may disagree, whether a particular encounter involved excessive violence or not.

      Another thing to remember is that any time a citizen disobeys a policeman's order, violence becomes justified. The cop(s) should still try to limit it, but any consequences are the citizen's to bear: if one suffers, say, a heart-attack during a violent arrest — remember the "I can't breathe" meme? — it is not the cops' fault. They may (or may not) be breaking some police department regulation, but they are committing no crime...

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    5. Re:It is simply a shifting balance by whoever57 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Another thing to remember is that any time a citizen disobeys a policeman's order, violence becomes justified.

      "Any time"? Really? What if a policeman tells you to go into a bank and start shooting? Or tells you to shoot yourself? Is violence justified then? So, no, not "Any time".

      What all police-critics ought to remember, however, is that "excessive force" is a term, that's even harder to define than "pornography"

      But, it can be recognized when caught on camera.

      Frankly, it's people who blindly support the police, irrespective of the violence that they perpetrate on people, that are the root cause of the situation that we are in now.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    6. Re:It is simply a shifting balance by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Another thing to remember is that any time a citizen disobeys a policeman's order, violence becomes justified. The cop(s) should still try to limit it, but any consequences are the citizen's to bear: if one suffers, say, a heart-attack during a violent arrest â" remember the "I can't breathe" meme? â" it is not the cops' fault. They may (or may not) be breaking some police department regulation, but they are committing no crime...

      Fortunately in civilised nations that's not the case.

      I can refuse to obey a policeman's order, and that does not give them the right to assault me. I may or may not be breaking the law. If I am, they can arrest me. That still doesn't give them the right to assault me.

      Meanwhile the police killing someone through excessive use of force is a crime, whether they're arresting that person or not.

      The police should fucking behave, whatever the response of the public.

    7. Re:It is simply a shifting balance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      any time a citizen disobeys a policeman's order, violence becomes justified

      Christ, what hell-hole do you live in where police have a general 'order people around' power that's backed by some sort of right of violence? Can you cite specific legislation? Have you considered moving to a freer society, or would you require police permission to do that?

    8. Re:It is simply a shifting balance by Budgreen · · Score: 1

      in an interview the other day the cleveland police union rep stated that there is about 10% of the force he has to deal with on a regular basis due to complaints and accusations of misconduct.. that translates to about 20 officers

      --
      The greatest right given is the right to be wrong...
    9. Re:It is simply a shifting balance by mi · · Score: 1

      If I am, they can arrest me. That still doesn't give them the right to assault me.

      They can use whatever violence they — at their own discretion — deem necessary to subdue you. Yes, they can. They may be punished later for exceeding the amount of violence necessary, but that is still a judgment call for the cops to make. For example, consider the following legalese:

      When an officer meets resistance from a suspect, that officer is legally authorized to escalate the level of force employed, depending on the resistance received from the suspect. The continuum of force ranges from an officer’s presence to verbalization, command voice, firm grips, pain compliance, impact techniques and, finally, deadly force.

      Meanwhile the police killing someone through excessive use of force is a crime

      No, it is not. The victim may have a civil case, but it is rarely (if ever) a crime, my loud- and dirty-mouthed friend. Time for you to learn a thing or two about the actual laws.

      The police should fucking behave

      The police are the armor, that society wears to protect itself from criminals. You should not and can not expect the armor to be as comfortable and attractive as jeans or tuxedo. Yes, it is better, when that armor is shiny and smooth. But whether it is or is not, it is that armor, that stands between your pink flesh and the real assholes — the ones immediately responsible for the spike of crime, that's the very subject of TFA.

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    10. Re:It is simply a shifting balance by mi · · Score: 1

      Christ, what hell-hole do you live in where police have a general 'order people around' power that's backed by some sort of right of violence?

      Failure to obey a police order is usually a misdemeanor. You can be arrested for a misdemeanor. If you resist such an arrest in any way, the officer can use whatever violence he deems necessary to subdue you. Even if you are wearing a bikini.

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    11. Re:It is simply a shifting balance by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Sorry, I was discussing a civilised society. You're responding by quoting the law in the US.

      I don't live in the US. I live somewhere that excessive use of force by the police is a crime, and is prosecuted. Quote US law all you like, it's totally fucking irrelevant to me, or to my point.

    12. Re:It is simply a shifting balance by mi · · Score: 1

      What if a policeman tells you to go into a bank and start shooting?

      The law usually limits the cop's orders to "lawful" ones — but it is the cop, who is the immediate judge of whether or not his own order is lawful... If you disobey such an order, you will avoid prosecution later because the order will be deemed by others to have been illegal, but meanwhile he can arrest you. And if you resist the arrest, he can use violence to subdue you, yes. The very arrest may later be deemed illegal, and he will be prosecuted for it, but not for any violence used during it (though such violence may be part of aggravating circumstances during the prosecution).

      Frankly, it's people who blindly support the police, irrespective of the violence that they perpetrate on people, that are the root cause of the situation that we are in now.

      How so? How many murders and other violent crimes — including unjustified police shootings — have we had before and how many do we have now that police are afraid to do their jobs, according to TFA?

      Murder rate is up in cities across America — hundreds more will have died by the end of 2015, than in 2014. How many lives has the police-bashing saved to counter-balance that spike?

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    13. Re:It is simply a shifting balance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Spoken like a true police apologist. Nice cognitive dissonance there.

      So we can't debate that excessive force complaints are probably a subset of officers, because you say it's non-scientific. Leaving alone your confusion about scientific method and probabilities, you go further to say that excessive force is "hard to define" (even though it has a well-defined legal meaning) therefore we should never question police in their actions, ever, because it's alwas the fault of the "perp". I wonder why didn't you just go all the way and just say that they're probably guilty anyway since the police had a "something's not right" feeling about them.

      Maybe that's why this is happening in America so much. So much military idolatry. So many military men conditioned to listen to orders and not question authority. So many responses written in military terms, expecting "civilians" to comply with their narrow police state view.

    14. Re:It is simply a shifting balance by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      How so? How many murders and other violent crimes -- including unjustified police shootings -- have we had before and how many do we have now that police are afraid to do their jobs, according to TFA?

      What evidence do you have that the cause of an increased murder rate is due to cops being afraid to do their jobs? Exactly none. All there is is an opinion piece, unsupported by facts. Did you note that wealth inequality is also increasing? Perhaps that has something to do with it? Perhaps it's because I lost my magic rock this year? <that's sarcasm, by the way>.

      Those cops that are afraid: they should quit their jobs. 2015 is likely to have the lowest rate at which police officers have been killed on duty in recent years.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    15. Re:It is simply a shifting balance by mi · · Score: 1

      I don't live in the US.

      Sorry to hear about it... Didn't mean to push your buttons, man.

      I live somewhere that excessive use of force by the police is a crime, and is prosecuted.

      Citations?

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    16. Re:It is simply a shifting balance by Cederic · · Score: 1
    17. Re:It is simply a shifting balance by mi · · Score: 1

      Try using Google. https://www.ipcc.gov.uk/news/m...

      In this case, the arrested (and beaten-up) kid offered no resistance. I was talking about violence used by police against people resisting. Care to try again?

      Incidentally, http://www.nolo.com/legal-ency...

      Yeah, it might happen, but is very rare — as the very page you cited acknowledges.

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    18. Re:It is simply a shifting balance by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Are you as totally fucking incapable of using a search engine as you are of having a sensible debate?
      http://www.theguardian.com/uk-...

    19. Re:It is simply a shifting balance by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      Even if you are wearing a bikini.

      And that case was a classic example of bad judgement by the police officer. He used excessive force to subdue a weak teenager. Even his fellow officers can be seen to realize that the force used was excessive. That case shows clear racism, as the white teenagers were not treated to the same response from that police officer.

      But, because of people like you, who appear to think that the officer's judgement cannot be reviewed, and that clear racism by the police is OK, that type of unnecessary violence committed by the police will continue.

      My "ah-ha" moment came in a social setting. A local newspaper had sent some reporters round to local police stations asking for some data that state law explicitly required the police to provide. In many cases, the police refused to provide the data and in one case, the police opened an investigation into the reporters. I brought this up at a party with a policeman that I knew -- I did not put any strong opinion of it, I brought it up more as a joke. His response was to immediately go frosty. He responded in a way that surprised me. It was far stronger and colder than was normal for any social interaction, where an appropriate reaction would have been to shrug it off, or just admit that, yes, there had been a screw-up by several police stations.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
  16. Re:Wrong cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nobody talks about the fact Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and *ALL* of the recent highly-publicized decedents that interfered with police had marijuana in their blood.

    All of these people were habitual substance abusers. Rodney King has crack cocaine in his system too.

  17. Correlation is not causation. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Which police officer fears being filmed doing their job correctly?

    Or, put another way, which police officer has been harmed after applying violence only proportionate to that dealt out, as a result of being filmed applying that violence?

    As for people surrounding government cars and filming them, what exactly is the problem? Oh nooo, I have the opportunity to demonstrate that I can do my job properly! Would you prefer to be surrounded by people who are NOT recording evidence of what's actually going on? because that can happen too.

    1. Re:Correlation is not causation. by Imrik · · Score: 1

      The problem isn't that they're being filmed, its that people are trying to get them to do their job incorrectly.

  18. So, what is the REAL question here? by sehlat · · Score: 1

    Its simple: "If the police don't obey the law, why the hell should anybody else?"

  19. Too many cops think that a badge by SwashbucklingCowboy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    is a license to break the law. Cops need to be held accountable for their misdeeds, just like everyone else. Maybe the cops that are afraid to be recorded don't know how to do their jobs while following the law.

    1. Re:Too many cops think that a badge by Shaman · · Score: 1

      This is entirely true. I have had friends and acquaintances that are cops. Not only are they some of the worst offenders, I and other people have found out first-hand why it's not a good idea to befriend a cop. If they decide for some reason that they don't like you (say you start dating their younger sister) or you have a falling-out in general, they can and very well may make your life a living hell. They have all the tools they need to do it, facts be-damned.

      The ones that have made society an us-and-them situation isn't society.

      --
      ...Steve
    2. Re:Too many cops think that a badge by gweihir · · Score: 2

      Actually, because of their special powers, cops need to be held to much higher standards. These days it seems they are held to much, much lower standards.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    3. Re:Too many cops think that a badge by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 1

      The ones that have made society an us-and-them situation

      You mean like all politicians? George Washington warned of this in his farewell address.

    4. Re:Too many cops think that a badge by Shaman · · Score: 1

      I can only nod my head and sigh, friend...

      --
      ...Steve
  20. In other words by dirk · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In other words, police have no idea how to do their job without being able to assault people, racially profile them, and generally be dicks. If these police are afraid to do their jobs because they might be filmed, the easiest solution is to hire police officers who don't do anything wrong that will be an issue if it ends up on tape. The reason people are taping the police constantly now is because they expect the police to do something wrong because they have shown in a lot of cases they do. If the police get better and stop setting the expectation they will treat people like garbage, then people won;t expect it and won't feel the need to film them constantly.

    --

    "Information wants to be expensive" - Stewart Brand, the same guy who said "Information wants to be free"
    1. Re:In other words by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Police have no idea how do do their job when civilians antagonize and make themselves threats to police prior to pulling out cameras once the officers start doing their jobs.

    2. Re:In other words by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And because of this, we have the rise of private security who end up doing that brutal work that police used to do anyways, because, guess what? It's actually needed against thugs and gangs. Private property rights will trump everything. See what's going on in Argentina and Mexico where citizens are taking the law into their own hands because the police are useless. However, it won't actually be the same in the US, where people have the finances to fund their own services to defend themselves against the dregs of society and no one will care about the "Constitution" when it comes to private property.

    3. Re:In other words by Kohath · · Score: 1

      Here's how: be a public servant, not a bully.

  21. Unions by JBMcB · · Score: 1

    To get any reforms through you'll need approval of the unions. The unions will say no. You aren't anti-union, are you?

    --
    My Other Computer Is A Data General Nova III.
    1. Re:Unions by Dog-Cow · · Score: 0

      What sane person isn't anti-Union?

    2. Re:Unions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you don't need the approval of the unions.
      The problem here isn't police officers that commits minor offenses. The problem is that police officers get away with murders that would put someone else in prison for years.
      Disciplining the police officer is the cuddly thing to do. If the unions doesn't like that way the other alternative is to resolve the offense in the court room.

    3. Re:Unions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Anyone who has enjoyed the benefits of being in one, or has a family member, friend, or neighbor who has been a member. My brother is a cancer survivor instead of a corpse because the union fought for and won health insurance.

    4. Re:Unions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unions have no say if federal statues got used to imprison state and local officers who break them.

      It's vitally important that the Black Lives Matter organizers extract real commitment from Hillary to prosecute these state & local cops, fire the bad federal ones, and strengthen existing legislation so that police unions cannot weasel through it. Because currently Hillary is deep in the pocket of private prisons : https://theintercept.com/2015/07/23/private-prison-lobbyists-raising-cash-hillary-clinton If Black Lives Matter organizers cannot extract sufficiently real commitments, then they should throw their weight behind Sanders during the primaries.

    5. Re:Unions by Fjandr · · Score: 1

      In many places, you don't need approval from unions, but if you don't get it you have to have City Council or a Mayor with the stones to call the unions' bluff when instituting policies. Spokane, WA, could have had an independent police ombudsman's office in the wake of Officer Karl Thompson killing Otto Zehm, a mildly mentally impaired (and completely innocent of wrongdoing) man whose dying words were "I only wanted a Snickers." Unfortunately, it was put into place without any independent investigative or disciplinary powers because our political leaders didn't have the guts to tell the unions to put up or shut up.

      Basically, the Ombudsman asks, "I'd like to get an account of what happened."
      Cops reply, "Nah, we'd rather not."
      Ombudsman: "Oh, okay. See you tomorrow!"

      The unions said they wouldn't budge on investigative powers, and under Washington law the contract framework under which officers can be disciplined cannot be changed without the consent of the union. So the city waited until their contract was up. The union said, "No, we'd rather not." And the City Council & Mayor blinked, and deleted the provision from the new contract. Now we have to wait for the new contract to expire before getting another chance at independent oversight. Unions were great when they were fighting for humane working conditions. Now they're mostly around to protect things that should be open to competition. The places that need unions don't have them, and the places that have them don't need them. The only States where they work how they should (where unions have to balance the concessions they wring from employers with competition from local, non-union workers. Right-to-work States are where it's at, because unions can't force membership as a condition of employment. They have to provide a compelling reason for employees to join.

      (And to head this stupid argument off, right-to-work does not mean "Your employer can fire you at any time without cause." Stop parroting that tired lie, because that's what's called "at-will employment," not right-to-work.)

    6. Re:Unions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unions got us something known as the weekend.

  22. more correlations there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pretty sure there's a link between violent police and violent crime.

  23. Because they know they're criminals. by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "In today's YouTube world, there are officers reluctant to get out of their cars and do the work that controls violent crime," says Comey.

    If they have nothing to hide, why are they afraid of being recorded? If they aren't breaking the law, then they should not fear to do their jobs. That's what they've been telling us all along; if we have nothing to hide, we shouldn't fear their disregard for the fourth amendment. But if the cops have to break the law to save it, what are they fighting for anyway?

    The cops are still playing this issue like it's part of the non-existent "war on cops". There is no such thing. Instead, there's a ground swell of support for the idea that the cops should be made to follow the law just like the rest of us, or even moreso. With great power comes great responsibility.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  24. From the article by tomthepom · · Score: 4, Interesting

    But he acknowledged that there is so far no data to back up his assertion

    Now there's a surprise.

    1. Re:From the article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (reverting some accidental down-moderation)

  25. More anecdotes by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 5, Informative

    Since wer're posting anecdotes and vague "feelings", here's what I've noticed.

    I've lived in my neighborhood for decades, and haven't had any problem with police... except this year, in which I was stopped and questioned three times. Make that "stopped, handcuffed, searched, ID'd, and questioned" three times. One time I had a prescription in my jacket pocket (antibiotic), and the officer jotted down the drug, my name, and the prescription number in his notebook.

    We're supposed to be free to go about our business, and we're not required to interact with police when they call out to us. Police can walk up to someone and try to start a conversation, but I've always been told that they are like any citizen, and you can choose not to interact with them.

    In all three cases I *could not* avoid interacting with the police despite trying, and all three situations ended in a confrontation. The officer *began* the encounter visibly irate, and escalated to *enraged* when I wouldn't interact. (Yes, I'm aware of my state's "must identify" law. I don't/didn't lie to them, but I don't show ID when asked.)

    One told me he was going to taser me if I didn't show ID, one actually arrested me for not having ID (while hiking on a public trail), but then changed the charge at the last minute. On that last one, the officer stated that not carrying an ID was illegal.

    I'm white, elderly, and live in a low-crime bedroom community, and I can't take a walk at night without fear of being randomly intimidated by an angry cop.

    A neighboring town had a pumpkin festival last year, and the police had snipers out during the event.

    I don't know what it is with America these days, but we're definitely seeing more angry police, and this is reflected in the public's perception.

    I think it's counter productive. I won't have anything to do with the police now, and I don't know anyone on my block who will. If they come door-to-door asking if we witnessed some crime, they get nothing from me.

    The chance of abuse is too high for me to have any interaction with them. If they come door-to-door, I didn't see anything.

    1. Re:More anecdotes by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      A neighboring town had a pumpkin festival last year, and the police had snipers out during the event.

      Yup. Most police today look and act like extras straight out of RoboCop, and many of them behave as if they're about to be killed at any moment. They overreact at the slightest thing and rarely use their discretion any more. It's just gone fucking nuts.

      Most cops carry 2 guns, a knife, a baton, a Taser, and pepper spray. They wear a bullet-resistant vest, steel-toed boots, and have a radio to call for backup with...and yet they're terrified of a guy in shorts and a t-shirt. WTF?

      When I was young the police (most police) were actually friendly and you could count on them for help. Most people liked and respected police officers. Now they mostly seem to be dicks itching for any excuse to make an arrest over the smallest thing. I avoid them at all costs.

      The problem is that most cops these days can't tell the difference between a felony and just fucking around.

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    2. Re:More anecdotes by Nyder · · Score: 1

      Tasers are part of the problem. They were introduced as a way to keep officers from having to shoot with their guns when someone was out of control, but didn't have a weapon. Instead officers think that it's okay to use it to get compliance for everything, thus abusing people while abusing the intent of tasers.

      --
      Be seeing you...
    3. Re:More anecdotes by 0123456 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The problem is that most cops these days can't tell the difference between a felony and just fucking around.

      To be fair, the bigger problem is that many things that were 'just fucking around' when we were kids are now felonies. If you demand that the police 'enforce the law', they're far more likely to arrest kids who are 'just fucking around' than gang members who are likely to shoot them.

    4. Re:More anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Yes, I'm aware of my state's "must identify" law, but I don't show ID when asked.

      So, you're purposefully being an ass, and then you act surprised when the cops get mad at you?

    5. Re:More anecdotes by 0123456 · · Score: 1

      So, you're purposefully being an ass, and then you act surprised when the cops get mad at you?

      "Halt! Ihre papiere, bitte!"

    6. Re:More anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The police force being corrupted into an occupying military force is just about as troubling as the right wing reducing American politics to a childish bizarro-world. And, directly related.

    7. Re:More anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Yes, I'm aware of my state's "must identify" law, but I don't show ID when asked.

      So, you're purposefully being an ass, and then you act surprised when the cops get mad at you?

      kill yourself you piece of fascist garbage

    8. Re:More anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What about Option B? You stop acting like a prick and show the guy some ID, making EVERYBODY's day easier?

    9. Re:More anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, you're purposefully being an ass

      Um, no, that would be you, right now.

    10. Re:More anecdotes by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 2

      To be fair, the bigger problem is that many things that were 'just fucking around' when we were kids are now felonies.

      I disagree. I don't think there have been very many civil offenses or misdemeanors that have been upgraded to felonies. Some, I'm sure, but not many.

      Drinking beer in a park, hanging out after dark ("loitering"), getting caught with a joint, graffiti, minor vandalism, etc etc have never been felonies. It's just that with the advent of "proactive policing" (also called the Broken Windows theory of enforcement) every tiny little thing is now taken to the extreme and prosecuted.

      When my friends and were caught with a 6-pack in a local park at night the cops would pour the beer out, yell at us, and tell us to get out of the park. That's it.

      These days it's "loitering", "minor in possession of alcohol", "trespassing", and whatever else they can think up. You're arrested (!!), possibly jailed for the night, taken to court, prosecuted, and then you're made to go to Drug & Alcohol Intervention, etc etc etc.

      *Boom*, suddenly now you have 4 or 5 new "criminals" in the system, and what once was no big deal is now a $3000 to $5000 bill for each set of parents (court costs, fines, Intervention classes, etc).

      It's just that now everything is looked upon as a prosecutable offense (smell the money $$$$) in need of a major response and serious treatment.

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    11. Re:More anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I agree, personally I feel that the only excusable reason for any form of police detainment is serious risk of actual bodily harm of another. Meaning if your "prank" or speeding, etc... put no one in harms way then there should be no risk of jail time. Police should have actual proof of a crime before they can act against it. So, do a little homework before you take that anonymous tip for drugs etc... before you break into someones home and arrest them while they record a video online. This means no risk of harm than no risk of jail, prison etc... no matter how much money is involved. This should not include exceptions in cases of deliberate misconception of perceived risk, so you hold up a corner market with a candy bar you should expect jail time. But if you hack into some database somewhere there should be no risk of jail time, unless that database could actually get someone hurt. (examples would be space shuttle missions, military databases, and traffic systems.) Now don't get me wrong, if you steal money by hacking, you should be held responsible, just jail time is stupid. Please explain to me how jailing some one will help them pay back a massive debt incurred for downloading a movie? It's just stupid and makes no sense.

      To add to things, if police do a search and seizure anywhere for anything make them libel for damages they do. If they find evidence of actual crime that is one thing, but if they break down your door and tear apart your home based on bad evidence. They should have to pay to fix it. If it costs the department money when they screw up then they will make changes to ensure that these mistakes are not made again. While the costs are on us then they don't care, if they tear down support beams in your living room to look for that pot your supposed to have. While on that subject we need to remove monetary gains for police from things that are minor offenses. Meaning speeding tickets should cost nothing, they should simply be a warning system that if you get too many of you can loose your license. Not a profit making system that forces officers to use them to gain funds. If it costs so much to protect us then one of two things needs to change. One pass those costs on to us in a way that make sense, or two (probably the better way) reconsider what is really a crime so that you are not spread out so thin.

      Also make it illegal for a police officer to "loose" any camera footage. The police are required to keep malicious records, are you telling me that their database skills conveniently and suddenly drop to near non-existent once they have a case where a defendant states that they did something wrong? If they are that incompetent with technology outsource to someone who is competent. I'm sure there are many established surveillance firms who would happy accept liability in exchange for upkeep and proper maintenance of police surveillance equipment. Even with the understanding that they will be held liable for lost records which could include paying medical bills, and wrongful arrests for violent criminals if their footage diapered and their testimony conflicted with officers. (granted the costs would probably be higher.)

      The police are supposed to protect and serve, not over react and bully.
      Before you think I am against the police, I have heard of cases (especially my local department) where the police have handled things exceptionally well. Including a recent incident locally where several police officers took a beating and a few were even shot because they could not discharge their firearms without risking innocents. They did manage to contain the incident, but these officers are true heroes willing to do the right thing even if it meant harm to themselves. Not all officers are bad, but the few that are bring the whole force down. I should never fear speaking with an officer, even if it's about how good or bad my day was. They are not above us or below us, they are our neighbors our friends, our family, and if they are not then something is wrong, and both sides need to work to fix

    12. Re:More anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most cops carry 2 guns, a knife, a baton, a Taser, and pepper spray. They wear a bullet-resistant vest, steel-toed boots, and have a radio to call for backup with...and yet they're terrified of a guy in shorts and a t-shirt.

      They're also afraid of naked people. The officer in that case went to the grand jury this week with a powerpoint show explaining how he thought the victim had "super powers," and would not be stopped by pepper spray. How tazing him would have made him stronger.

      The powers that be have been teaching us to be afraid of shadows for so long, even the police are paranoid

    13. Re:More anecdotes by speederaser · · Score: 1

      Tasers are part of the problem. They were introduced as a way to keep officers from having to shoot with their guns when someone was out of control, but didn't have a weapon. Instead officers think that it's okay to use it to get compliance for everything, thus abusing people while abusing the intent of tasers.

      torture --n. 1. The act of inflicting excruciating pain, esp. as a means of punishment or coercion. - Random House College Dictionary

      Taser is torture unless it's to avoid shooting someone. Police who torture should be prosecuted.

    14. Re:More anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So true. Just suck and swallow, be on your way in five minutes. Why be a troublemaker?

    15. Re:More anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So true. Just suck and swallow, be on your way in five minutes. Why be a troublemaker?

      Many people don't carry ID unless they're driving. This isn't the former East Germany.

    16. Re:More anecdotes by Shaman · · Score: 1

      In the Nuremberg trials, they explicitly mentioned electrical torture methods as being particularly heinous and despicable.

      --
      ...Steve
    17. Re:More anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why not just show him your ID?

      I've noticed that these blacklivesmatters cases have been due to citizens not following instructions of a police officer and even provoking and fleeing from them because they know they have broken the law.

      If a police officer asks for my ID I will show it to them, why wouldn't I?

    18. Re:More anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm white, elderly, and live in a low-crime bedroom community, and I can't take a walk at night without fear of being randomly intimidated by an angry cop.

      On the other hand, I'm guessing that you're male - which is the single largest risk factor for being shot by police (and presumably also for being harassed), more so than being black, young or poor.

    19. Re:More anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are living in a police state.

    20. Re:More anecdotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where the f_ck do you live? Never seen anything like that in my 10+ million person metro area + suburbs. I also spend a lot of time "in the sticks" and haven't seen this. I'm not saying you are lying, I just have a hard time picturing where this is happening. I have family/friends on the other coast as well (3 decent sized cities) with no mention of this type of police state/action, and one in the mid-us, major city (for the area it is in), same thing.

      I will say that I've never understood why people (like you) are so hostile to police interaction. I can understand once you have "been wronged" by them, but your "confrontations" all sound like you were not cooperating from the onset. I've had a few run-ins with the law, and one that I especially found offensive/un-professional, but in all cases, I politely complied with reasonable requests, such as seeing my ID. I may not have been required to by law to produce it (although a few were driving, so I guess I was), but why not provide your ID when requested? You don't know what is going on in that area...maybe a call was put in to be on the look out for an old guy on the trail named Bob Jones. They just want to confirm you aren't Bob Jones so you can be on your way. By escalating the interaction, and casting doubt on your identity and "positive" relationship with law-enforcement you immediately become more suspect. Just think about it: If a cop asks for identification and your response is "I don't have to give it to you, now leave me alone", won't their next thought be something like "Who is this guy, and why doesn't he want me to identify him? He seems awfully intent on not cooperating with my basic non-threatening request, what would make someone not want to help?"

      A minor incident, but one time after a PITA day at the lake with my friend, I dropped him off at his house around 2-3am. I looked pretty haggard, and was out late driving in a residential area that typically sees little traffic after mid-night (just to set the scene) and was pulled over. Apparently I had a broken tail-light (which was oddly fixed by the time I got home!). The office asked for license, insurance, etc, normal routine, then after running my name/plates and finding nothing, started asking me some questions...what I was doing out this late, where I had come from, then if I'd had anything to drink. I answered honestly, no laws were broken, and then he turns away, as if to walk back to his car...and whips around and begins yelling at me, face right in my rolled down window. Thankfully, I didn't hit him (my initial internal reaction, as I think his motion could be considered assault), but I was flabbergasted by his action, as he started accusing me of being under the influence of alcohol. I calmly denied his accusations, and "weathered the storm". When he stopped, I gave him the story in full of my day, something like:

      Listen officer, I just want to get home. I've had a rough day, which is why I'm out this late. My friend an I were at lake XYZ (which is a few hours away). He blew a tire on the way home. We pulled off the next exit, which was a tiny town with two gas stations. We pulled into the dark stations which appeared closed, no lights at all (it was pretty odd). (odd topic, but it turns out the town's electricity was out). We swapped out the spare on the side of the dark road with a flashlight (it is pitch black by this time), and it turns out that his spare had a big hole in it....his younger brother borrowed his truck, brew a tire, replaced it with the full-size spare and didn't tell him. So we turned around, drove back to the previous exit (which had lights) with a bum tire (probably damaging the wheel), bought that insta-seal-a-flat stuff. It seemed to work, we weren't losing air, so we drove home....pop, insta-crap-fix didn't hold. So we pulled over at the same no-lights exit and call for a tow truck (3-4 hour wait they say). So I literally hitch a ride back to my place, got lucky and found some people coming back from the lake who lived nea

  26. Re:Wrong cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    yeah right marijuana is the same as crack cocaine

  27. Is this a joke? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Police are afraid of video cameras and don't do their jobs because of it?

  28. How Dare You Watch Us Misbehave! by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

    Seriously, how can we fuck around, beat you, shoot you, and violate your rights on a whim if you pesky citizens are going to video us all the time?

    Signed,

    The Police

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  29. Murders have not "spiked" by riskkeyesq · · Score: 5, Insightful

    538 recently ran a piece on this misguided and largely misleading storyline police are touting. It's worth a read if you like facts. But this is /. http://fivethirtyeight.com/fea...

  30. Three things... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1) With the way some cops have treated people of all colors, its no surprise that people don't want to be policed and have a bad reaction to american policing. e.g., traffic stop turns into murder, the cop shoots the unarmed occupant(s), and its happened to whites as well, its not just a cops vs blacks problem. Or, on a less non-violent level, people perceive police to be dogmatic enforcers of traffic or other minor violations and its viewed as harassment. There's also too many stupid laws and regulations, and policing is often perceived as a way to generate revenue for the State.

    2) If people want to harass cops in certain neighborhoods and don't want them around, then the police should just let those people kill each other and just answer the 911 calls and take the bodies away, which is where we are at now, e.g. Baltimore and other towns. This non homogeneous society we live in is falling apart, america lacks cohesion among its diverse groups of citizens and there is a feeling of alienation and disenfranchisement on all sides. No amount of policing or police tactics is going to solve that problem.

    3) We need video and other surveillance of authorities, it has a way of bringing to light cases where abuse of power occurs. This police state we live in now works both ways Mr FBI Director.

  31. Re:Wrong cause by msk · · Score: 1

    Citation needed, AC.

  32. if you have nothing to hide... by NostalgiaForInfinity · · Score: 1

    Let's use the usual police argument:

    He says he's been told by many police leaders that officers who normally would stop to question suspicious people are opting to stay in their patrol cars for fear of having their encounters recorded and become video sensations. That hesitancy has led to missed opportunities to apprehend suspects and has decreased the police presence on the streets of the country's most violent cities.

    If you have nothing to hide and don't break any laws, why would you object to being recorded and scrutinized?

    1. Re:if you have nothing to hide... by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 2

      He says he's been told by many police leaders that officers who normally would stop to question suspicious people are opting to stay in their patrol cars for fear of having their encounters recorded and become video sensations

      Good...maybe they'll learn a little fucking restraint instead of popping out of their cars and shooting 12-year old kids for holding a toy gun.

      Seriously, stay in your fucking copmobile unless you have a reason to be "interacting" with the public. It's not your job to go on fishing expeditions hoping to make another arrest or choking a guy to death for selling cigarettes or "jogging while black".

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    2. Re:if you have nothing to hide... by 0123456 · · Score: 1

      Nevertheless, police clearly acted recklessly.

      I'll remember that, next time I shoot someone. "Sorry, your honour, I was just acting recklessly." "Well then, try not to do it again."

      As for Democrats vs Republicans, here's how I see it:

      The American left hate the police, because the police prevent them from murdering the rich and stealing all their stuff.

      The American right hate the police, because the police prevent them from cleaning out the criminals who the police won't touch.

      Everyone else is trapped in the middle, never knowing when they'll be shot by a cop 'acting recklessly'.

      It's not going to end well.

    3. Re:if you have nothing to hide... by zugmeister · · Score: 1

      so characterizing this as "shooting 12-year old kids for holding a toy gun" is wrong

      I (don't really) hate to break it to you, but factually, the cop killed a 12 year old kid who was holding a toy gun. Nobody questions the validity of those facts. If you want to debate the efficacy / wisdom / morality of shooting someone before you know what's going on, I'm up for that.

    4. Re:if you have nothing to hide... by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Seriously, stay in your fucking copmobile unless you have a reason to be "interacting" with the public.

      Really? Fuck that. I like having police officers on foot, amongst the community they're part of.

      That way there are fewer barriers, there's greater understanding and there's greater trust.

      Crime prevention is a bonus, or do you only ever want the police to turn up too late?

    5. Re:if you have nothing to hide... by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

      Really? Fuck that. I like having police officers on foot, amongst the community they're part of.

      Yeah, and I'd be fine with that if the cops didn't take every interaction as an opportunity to whip out their balls to show you who's boss or as an opportunity to go on a fishing expedition hoping to find something to bust people for.

      No, fuck that. Stay in your fucking cars and respond to calls for assistance or crimes in progress, don't swagger around my neighborhood acting like Mussolini on parade hoping to plump up your arrest metrics.

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    6. Re:if you have nothing to hide... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      About 80% of the problem is due to them staying in the car, except when making arrests. That sets them apart from the public and reinforces the "us vs them" mentality (on both sides). We need more beat cops working in pairs and fewer car hermits.

    7. Re:if you have nothing to hide... by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

      . Nevertheless, police clearly acted recklessly.

      Yeah, no shit. What's your fucking point?

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    8. Re:if you have nothing to hide... by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

      "Sorry, your honour, I was just acting recklessly."

      I know, one of them said it was a "mistake".

      No, a "mistake" is when you put too much sugar in your coffee.

      Shooting a kid to death within 5 seconds of arriving on-scene seems more like "wanton murder" to me.

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  33. More likely from reversing effective policies by John+Jorsett · · Score: 0

    The move lately to release felons (ostensibly "nonviolent", but's that for just the latest, often plea-bargained-down, offense) from prison back onto the streets, and to prohibit police from stopping and questioning people who they have reason to believe are up to no good are more likely a larger contributing cause. Then there's California's new Proposition 47 law where a number of former drug and property-crime felonies have been reclassified as misdemeanors, even potentially retroactively for existing felons, so now habitual offenders know they can operate and just expect citations and not arrest. Then they don't show up in court and just keep going. Combine that with California shoving thousands of felons out of its prisons to local jails, where they end up being released because there's no room, and you have a crime wave in CA. Car breakins are up 47% in San Francisco, robberies up 28%, car theft up 17%, violent offenses up 21% in Los Angeles.

  34. In otherwords by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Becuase they can now be held accountable for doing their job properely and by the book. They are now refusing to do so.

  35. Re:Wrong cause by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

    So the increase in crime should correlate with places that have relaxed drug laws. I didn't see that in the results. Where are you getting your statistics from?

  36. BS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    First there is no statistical increase in crime. On a day to day basic crime will random walk allover the place. The general trend for crime is downward. As for the recording of police detering the police from doing their job that should only be if their job was killing unarmed black men. If it wasn't then they shouldn't worry about it.

  37. Re:Wrong cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They also had red and white blood cells coursing through their veins. These phychosis-inducing blood cells must be eradicated!

  38. Re:Wrong cause by AK+Marc · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Sandra Bland didn't.

    Martin didn't interfere with police. He was stalked down a blind alley by an aggressive man with a gun who had indicated a desire to hunt. He defended himself when he thought himself cornered, according to the Stand your Ground laws, and was executed by Zimmerman.

  39. Too be fair by nedlohs · · Score: 1

    If the police routinely harass, put in hospital, and arrest for "disrespect cop" random people, you would expect crime rates to go down. After all they'll get lucky occasionally and pick someone who was just about to rob a gas station or something.

    Apparently the FBI thinks that's a great way to reduce crime. Which isn't unexpected given the FBI's views on warrantless surveillance.

  40. Re:Wrong cause by randalware · · Score: 1

    and the people are NOT as afraid of the police as before !

    They can't bully, beat, harass, shoot, stalk, etc the people without a witness anymore !

    --
    This is my opinion based on what little I know and understand of the rumors and lies Thanks, Randal
  41. The little scumbags doing this? PUNKS! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: They're NO DIFFERENT than trolls online - they'll taunt & keep @ you, then wonder WHY they got their asses kicked... & personally? IF I saw that or was that policeman?? Blow the little fucks away...

    Why?

    It'd set an example for the REST of "their kind" that don't RESPECT anything else, let alone logic & reason + they think MERCY is 'weakness' - that is until one of them gets put into the morgue & it's "discrimination" BULLSHIT!

    (Street SCUM pieces of shit that don't realize MINUS THOSE POLICEMEN, we'd have fucking chaos).

    * I don't care about what anyone thinks - I have to LIVE near shit like that & yes, cops have even given ME A CLEAN SLATE/GO/GREEN to knock the fuck out of them (& I've had to, admittedly slicing them or taking bats to their heads - of course, when no one is around to fuck me over + when they've TRIED & yes badly failed @ "gang jumping" me) - not officially of course, but I've had roommates who witnessed the entire thing... & in front of police cameras, not TOO long ago, I knocked the FUCK out of one such scumbag... he never did it again, & right in front of HIS neighbors, his daughter (who unfortunately was crying) etc.

    Why? To stop anymore such occurences.

    About a year++ ago around here, I put myself @ risk doing it & I'm not afraid (lol, NOW @ least) of what I did, since it worked out for everyone around here - calmed that fuckhead's jets FAST & in the end I told him "Motherfucker, you get OUTTA LINE? You'll think this was a swedish massage!" - store owner gave me shit, but I was like "Did you see him swing first?" He said "Yes" & I said "Well, so did the camera - we'll see what happens!" Nothing EVER did - why? I ran it by the RIGHT GUYS first - policemen! They're not ALL "dirty", in fact I'd say MOST aren't, but the crap they see, day in & DAY OUT? Would make most people mad/nuts I figure - I also feel these guys who are police shouldn't be on the street TOO long (I have pals I grew up with as police, even a former employee of mine when I was loss prevention decades ago who are - the shit they see would mess with YOUR MIND - it's not good to be exposed to, too long)

    APK

    P.S.=> Do I think that THIS is the ONLY REASON we have murder rates going up? Hell no - It's mainly when you have a POOR ECONOMY breeding a lot of HAVES vs. HAVE NOTS, you get not only culture shock, but also unrest internally inside society, as happy people who are fat & content DO NOT CAUSE TROUBLE or upset the status quo - but THAT, like so much else, HAS TO BE CORRECTED @ THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF SOCIETY (in other words, the wealthy - they've gotta GIVE some to get some, giving back - it's not the Bill Gates of the world, they already ARE trying that - it's the stockmarket wannabe Bill Gates' out there that do)... apk

  42. We prefer Type II errors by coldsalmon · · Score: 2

    Our criminal justice system is biased in favor of Type II errors (false negatives), rather than Type I errors (false positives). We think it is worse to jail, kill, or harass an innocent person than to let a criminal go free. Recently, we have had a lot of Type I errors (false positives), and we have corrected our procedures to reduce this type of error. There is a corresponding rise in false negatives (criminals going free), but this is the way we have deliberately designed the system. We are going back to the way we want things to be.

    1. Re:We prefer Type II errors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why do you bother writing Type I & II if you're going to follow every instance with the terms false negative and false positive?

  43. the patrol cars should have more/better cams by laurencetux · · Score: 1

    there should be a record of EVERYTHING that goes on around a patrol car when either its stopped or the lights/sirens are going (full 360 coverage)

    get clever and have it stamped with a running hash of timestamp/frame content (to prevent tampering) and things should calm down.

    Of course part of this is in any case that the deciding evidence is the Video Record if that record is MISSING it should result in the LEO losing the case.

    but in any case if you do film a LEO please
    1 be respectful
    2 make it available when asked

    1. Re:the patrol cars should have more/better cams by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

      3. Subscribe to Copblock, so if they delete your video (and they will) you can easily have them prosecuted for obstruction and perjury

  44. The real issue with violence and police... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ... is that we citizens are filming it more, and thus able to back up claims of police violence.

    Violence AGAINST police, on the other hand, is down. (Watch! While authority cherry picks data and adjusts charts to reflect their narrative! More at 11!)

  45. Re:Wrong cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Martin wasn't "cornered". His body was not found in a corner or in any place where he wasn't readily able to flee from.

    He attacked Zimmerman, Zimmerman defended himself. Nothing in the forensic evidence suggests that Zimmerman instigated the violence.

  46. So let me get this straight by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

    The FBI is telling me that taking pictures of the people who MURDER unarmed men and get away with it means I have to tolerate being MURDERED by people who will not get away with it?
    Can you say "PROPAGANDA"?
    I can!

  47. Obvious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Correlation is not causation.

  48. Somebody has a massive inflated sense of his worth by gweihir · · Score: 2

    For example, murders are typically not stopped by police at all as they are very rarely crimes of opportunity. This person must know that. That he choses to ignore this knowledge is is a very bad sign, but what do you expect from the chief official of a police-state. What he also completely ignores is that some of the officers that have become "video sensations" are cold-blooded murderers. He seems to imply that these scum being caught is somehow a bad thing. Another strong indicator the US is a de-facto police-state, because only in a police-state is catching criminal policemen a bad thing.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  49. UK police are OK with being filmed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    UK police don't mind being filmed. They have received training in various procedures and they're applying those procedures. If there's something wrong with the procedures then they need to be changed. They do not make up stuff as they go.

    They have this holding position where they twist your arm towards your back, which can be painful if you resist, but otherwise you're pretty immobilised while still on your feet, with the officer also a safe distance away from you. If you decide to act as if you want your arm broken then the officer will swiftly do that for you - also part of their training.

    1. Re:UK police are OK with being filmed by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Or you could do a martial arts somersault to free yourself.

      Lets hope someone's videoing when you try that one!

  50. Re:Wrong cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Trayvon Martin also owned an illegal pistol, and had pictures of himself posing all "gangsta" with it on Facebook. They sure took *that* picture down a hury.

  51. Re:Wrong cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Please feel free to reference any of the evidence from the case to show how my comment is wrong.

    AK Marc alleges that Martin was cornered as an affirmative defense to Martin's instigation violence towards Zimmerman. The evidence does not suggest that.

    You're free to reference the prosecution's evidence if you disagree.

  52. Ashamed at the comments by 89cents · · Score: 0

    This is a bad thing. Yes, there are a few bad cops who get put on Youtube and become many people's understanding of what a cop is.

    These are just people trying to do their job. How would you like to have people filming you work, ready to scrutinize your actions with millions of internet viewers?

  53. Illegal Police by JimSadler · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Could it be that so much police work is done illegally or in violation of policy that they have trouble doing their job unless they can commit criminal acts? And it is racist as it can be. How much stop and frisk and the like goes on in wealthy, white neighborhoods? If cops acted the same way with wealthy people that they do with poor people every cop on the force would get fired quite quickly.

    1. Re:Illegal Police by 0123456 · · Score: 0

      If wealthy people mugged and burgled as often as poor people do, the police would probably be stopping and searching them as often.

      Wealthy criminals are wealthy because they commit crimes that bring in a lot of money, rather than mugging old ladies. Stop and search doesn't do much for catching bankers who are stealing those old ladies' savings through the financial system.

    2. Re:Illegal Police by Stan92057 · · Score: 1

      How much stop and frisk and the like goes on in wealthy, white neighborhoods?

      NONE because they don't need to stand on the local corner and sell drugs for a living or sex slave girls out or have meth labs in their basements.Or do gang drivebys and kill children You want to pretend the wealthy white neighborhoods are the same as a poor black neighborhood that is just so very wrong lol Stop the reverse racists comments they are baseless and fact less. And where are all the black cops at? why are they not working in there own hoods? because they are not stupid that why, it pays less and its 1000% less safe then the white hoodies. And i would gather a bet, wealthy black neighborhoods don't get frisked either.

      --
      Jack of all trades,master of none
    3. Re:Illegal Police by mvdwege · · Score: 1

      [wealthy white people] don't need to stand on the local corner and sell drugs for a living

      No, instead they sell bad bonds and take billions of dollars of government handouts when their scam collapses.

      Honestly, they've done more damage than poor people trying to buy into the 'get rich quick' dream by engaging in street crime.

      --
      "I know I will be modded down for this": where's the option '-1, Asking for it'?
    4. Re:Illegal Police by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And it is racist as it can be. How much stop and frisk and the like goes on in wealthy, white neighborhoods?

      Which has everything to do with wealth and little to do with race. There is plenty of that sort of behavior going on in poor white neighborhoods.

    5. Re:Illegal Police by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Could it be that so much police work is done illegally or in violation of policy that they have trouble doing their job unless they can commit criminal acts? And it is racist as it can be. How much stop and frisk and the like goes on in wealthy, white neighborhoods? If cops acted the same way with wealthy people that they do with poor people every cop on the force would get fired quite quickly.

      Oh, cops are not told to use stop-and-frisk tactics in wealthy white neighborhoods, because that would get chiefs fired and mayors tossed out of office, for sure. Wealthy people don't riot when they're pissed, they exercise power through money, whether spending it, refusing to spending it, or taking away someone else's. Poor people don't have such an option. As a policy, stop and frisk is not racist in and of itself, it discriminates based on economics regarding where it is used, though the same can't be said of the departments and officers who use it.

    6. Re:Illegal Police by Stan92057 · · Score: 1

      Which would lend a cop to do a stop and frisk why?how?

      --
      Jack of all trades,master of none
  54. Re:Wrong cause by KGIII · · Score: 1

    That doesn't make sense. Relaxed drug laws don't mean people do more drugs - they mean that people don't go to jail for doing the drugs they are doing. In fact, you'd expect more crime where the tougher drug laws are as people are going to drugs regardless. If people couldn't get drugs we'd not have a "drug problem." It's not like lax drug laws means people will suddenly decide to go do heroin. If they want drugs they can already get them.

    So, no, the crime rate will not correlate with lax drug laws. And the GPP was a moron but we knew that. Weed doesn't usually make you go out and commit additional crimes in and of itself.

    --
    "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  55. Zeno strikes again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    'Zeno Effect' Verified: Police Officers Won't Move While You Watch

  56. Also good! by thedarb · · Score: 1

    I'd much rather have my ass beat or murdered by a criminal who likely will do hard time for it, than by a cop who gets away with it 'because he's a cop'.

    --
    This sig intentionally left blank.
  57. Agreed, 110% & why inside... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I live near it, I see it, & I have had to DEAL with it http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...

    APK

    P.S.=> Yes, there are "bad cops" but MOST are what you said - just fellow human beings that yes, made a conscious choice, accepting a job where you WILL see things that mess with your mind (which is why I closed the above the way I did, that they ought not be "on the street" too long) - what do they call it? A "thankless job" but MINUS cops, good cops?? Trust me, I live in inner urban areas FULL of little shits that don't respect *ANYTHING* but a good busted head to curb their bullshit - yes, it's SAD to have to resort to it, scary too (anyone can die), but I'll never forget this Black Guy "ULYSSES" I met right after another such occurrence 3-4 yrs. ago by now that I told Hairyfeet (another member here) about telling me (after he saw me take care of another scumbag that tried following me to where I live after I humiliated him in "front of his own" in the street):

    "MAN, if more people did what YOU just did? There'd be a LOT LESS of those shithead punks!"

    Verbatim!

    Heck, after you read the above link, IF you do (pure truth, no bullshit)? People can & DO help police "in their own way" @ CONSIDERABLE risk but it's amazing what you can accomplish that stops a lot of it (not all the time, but only when it needs doing & you don't CROSS the police that is, or have witnesses against you (Funniest part was, I did, the DIGITAL STREET CAMERA KIND, but, knowing the moron was STOO-PID & thought he was a "bad ass"? I got him to swing first... NO problems then, none @ all, never happened again))... apk

  58. Lying sack of shit by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Informative

    There is no "rise in violent crime". It's still lower than it was in the '90s, and one data point does not a trend make.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com...

    Also,

    The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, said on Friday that the additional scrutiny and criticism of police officers in the wake of highly publicized episodes of police brutality may have led to an increase in violent crime in some cities as officers have become less aggressive.

    With his remarks, Mr. Comey lent the prestige of the F.B.I., the nation’s most prominent law enforcement agency, to a theory that is far from settled: that the increased attention on the police has made officers less aggressive and emboldened criminals. But he acknowledged that there is so far no data to back up his assertion and that it may be just one of many factors that are contributing to the rise in crime, like cheaper drugs and an increase in criminals who are being released from prison.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10...

    So really, it could very well be that the rise in violent crime is the result of increased surveillance on the general population rather than increased surveillance on police.

    You don't have to be dishonest to be in law enforcement, but it helps.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  59. Re:Wrong cause by blindseer · · Score: 2

    Rodney King has crack cocaine in his system too.

    Still? After all these years? Wow, must have been some party.

    Okay, with that out of the way I'll try to be serious.

    Nobody talks about the fact Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and *ALL* of the recent highly-publicized decedents that interfered with police had marijuana in their blood.

    Some surveys of Americans show regular marijuana use as high as 25% of the population. Few will show marijuana use lower than 10%. Marijuana users tend to be the kind of people that would find themselves running into police. Marijuana can be detected in the blood and urine of casual users for days, perhaps weeks, after last use. Regular users will show detectable amounts of marijuana metabolites for a month or more.

    Warning, sloppy use of statistics follows....

    Assuming 25% of the population has used marijuana in the last year, and marijuana use can be detected for a week, then my math tells me that picking 50 people at random will show a high probability of finding someone with THC detectable in their blood or urine. If 10% of the population are regular users where marijuana can be detected for a month then just pulling 10 people at random and you'll find someone with THC in their system. Add on top of that selection bias, people that don't have marijuana in their system after getting arrested or killed don't make the news, and you have a recipe for equating marijuana use with criminal behavior.

    While we're at it lets test these people for alcohol. Alcohol use can also be detected for a long time after use, as long as four days. If you pick up someone for speeding on a Monday morning, and test them for alcohol use like we do for marijuana, then we're going to have to clear out a lot of prison space for all of those "drunk" drivers.

    Having read the history of marijuana prohibition I see that the prohibition was not based on anything scientific. What it was based on was racism, immigrants from Mexico brought their marijuana habit with them and people were looking for ways to make them look like the bad guys. Same goes for opiates, the Chinese brought opium with them and that scared people. Considering the damage alcohol does to society I think we did Prohibition all wrong, keep the alcohol ban but let people get their weed and heroin. However, Prohibition was doomed to fail, it's not like it takes a chemical engineering degree to make a moonshine still. Same goes for marijuana, it grows every where, why else do you think it's called "weed"?

    Opium, on the other hand, doesn't grow well in the USA so banning it here may have worked in the age of sail. Now, with two day express shipping from China, there is no hope to contain it.

    --
    I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
  60. OK by koan · · Score: 1

    "I don't know whether that explains it entirely, but I do have a strong sense that some part of the explanation is a chill wind that has blown through American law enforcement over the last year," says Comey. He says he's been told by many police leaders that officers who normally would stop to question suspicious people are opting to stay in their patrol cars for fear of having their encounters recorded and become video sensations.

    Then you fucking fire them from their 100K + a year jobs.
    And Comey is some useless fascist left over from the "Dubya" era of idiocy.

    --
    "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
  61. Re:Wrong cause by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

    Trayvon Martin also owned an illegal pistol, and had pictures of himself posing all "gangsta" with it on Facebook. They sure took *that* picture down a hury.

    Mainly because it's irrelevant to all except those that mistakenly think that justifies Martin's death.

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  62. Re:Wrong cause by AK+Marc · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Martin was cornered, down the alley he lived on. When Zimmerman blocked the exit of the alley, Martin attacked the armed aggressor.

    Zimmerman stalked and threatened Martin, and Martin defended himself, so Zimmerman killed him in cold blood.

  63. Re:Wrong cause by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

    The AC's assertion was that using drugs results in higher violent crime. AC implied usage increases as legalization increases. Using the AC's own assumptions, violent crime should be higher in places where legalization has hit.

  64. Re:Wrong cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Funny thing... Opium poppies grow just fine here, no matter what the DEA says about them. The problem is that it is very hard to hide a field full of bright red flowers.

  65. Or maybe, just maybe, rising inequality? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think there's a much stonger correlation between the rise of violence and the extreme gaps between wealthy and poor - but that's just my history books talking to me. Clearly the solution is more and less accountable law enforcement to keep people in check.

  66. Re:Wrong cause by KGIII · · Score: 1

    Which is why I pointed out that the AC was a moron.

    --
    "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  67. Re:Wrong cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    WRONG. You cannot grow Opium in North America.

  68. Re:Wrong cause by ganjadude · · Score: 2

    really? thats what happened?

    because his girlfriend said, in court, under oath, that trayvon made it home, and then went back out to confront "that cracker"

    --
    have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
  69. Re:Wrong cause by ganjadude · · Score: 1

    thats some great fan fiction there

    --
    have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
  70. Let's hope so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As we saw in Baltimore when the police stopped doing their job because of one incident, the rate of murders surged. Oddly, the very people who whined about the police being too aggressive turned around and pleaded for police protection because of the huge rise in murders and other violent crimes.

    Therefore, it isn't surprising that when police take their time when people are filming them that crime rates will rise. After all, the reason crime rates were lower was because police were doing what they were supposed to do.

    Now, since everything they say or do can be misinterpreted by armchair lawyers, they don't bother doing what they've been doing since the vast majority of people wouldn't understand why they do things certain ways. This is the result.

    As we saw with Michael Brown, rather than comply with a simple request (quit walking in the middle of the road and use the sidewalk), thugs and other rejects think they can get away with not observing basic rules of society. When the police do what they have been tasked with doing, suddenly they're in the wrong, not the criminal who broke the law (robbing a store and assaulting the owner in this case).

    One can only hope this trend of increased murders continues. The drug users/dealers will keep killing each other, turf wars will be settled by carcasses on the streets, business owners will move out because things have gotten too dangerous resulting in people whining the government has to do something because things have gotten so dangerous, completely oblivious to the fact they're the ones who created the situation.

    Of course if people wouldn't be criminals there would be no need for any of this, but since that would require personal responsibility and living within a civil society, that won't be done. It's easier just to be a criminal rather than a productive member of society.

  71. Re:Wrong cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Martin was cornered, down the alley he lived on. When Zimmerman blocked the exit of the alley, Martin attacked the armed aggressor.

    Zimmerman stalked and threatened Martin, and Martin defended himself, so Zimmerman killed him in cold blood.

    I watched the entire Zimmerman trial, and I mean literally almost every second of it, switching between the several cable networks which were carrying it live or nearly live. None of what you said is supported by the evidence presented at trial.

    • There was no evidence that Martin was cornered
    • It was not an "alley" with only one "exit", but a paved walk between the backyards of homes on different streets; several, if not all, of those homes had rear entry access to the walkway through their backyards
    • There was no evidence that Zimmerman blocked any such exit, and Martin's destination had backdoor access to the walkway via a small back yard
    • There was no evidence that Zimmerman had drawn his firearm prior to the physical encounter, therefore there is no evidence that Martin knew he was armed before the altercation
    • Following someone you don't recognize in your own neighborhood, even while legally carrying a firearm, does not make you an "aggressor"
    • You misspelled the word "followed" as "stalked"
    • There was no evidence that Zimmerman threatened Martin, and the mere act of following does not in itself constitute a threat
    • There was no evidence supporting self-defense on Martin's part during the altercation
    • Killing someone during a physical fight, even an avoidable one, clearly does not accord with the usual concept of "in cold blood"

    Zimmerman made several foolish choices that night, and his life since is clearly fubar based on news reports, but none of what you asserted is supported by the actual facts presented at trial.

    - T

  72. Probably true, but the point is not what he thinks by matthewv789 · · Score: 1

    All this shows is just how far out of touch police have become with the communities they're supposed to be serving. The problem isn't the videos, it's the police. They need to de-militarize and become community officers who not only get out of their patrol cars, but don't even patrol in a car in the first place, instead choosing to walk among and be friends with the people they're supposed to be a part of and protecting.

  73. So in other words by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let me get this straight, recording the police committing crimes is causing the reported crime rate to go up. WELL DUH! Making it illegal to video the police committing crimes is not the solution, prosecuting the criminal element within police departments is. If Comey is too stupid to figure that out he is too dumb to be employed pumping gas. Most teens right out of high school I've talked to doing this job have much more common sense than Comey does.

  74. Re: Wrong cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Uh... they grow fine in Canada. very similar climate in parts up here, to Afghanistan. Many varieties of poppy in fact produce it, the RCMP just don't care unless someone has whole fields of poppies.

  75. Re:Wrong cause by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

    It was not an "alley" with only one "exit", but a paved walk between the backyards of homes on different streets;

    "alley - a narrow passageway between or behind buildings." - a dictionary

    So why would you put alley in quotes? Because you are unable to accept words you don't like the "feel" of, despite them being used exactly to the dictionary definition? Sounds like you have an emotional problem related to this issue.

    There was no evidence that Zimmerman threatened Martin, and the mere act of following does not in itself constitute a threat

    Is that your legal opinion? It's wrong. Following someone is a threat. Oh, and Zimmerman had made numerous comments that indicated he was "hunting", which wasn't a specific threat, but a more generic threat.

    There was no evidence supporting self-defense on Martin's part during the altercation

    Yeah, he was dead, thus unable to stage the scene before police responded, and unable to give testimony on his behalf.

    Killing someone during a physical fight, even an avoidable one, clearly does not accord with the usual concept of "in cold blood"

    Zimmerman was hunting. Zimmerman killed his unarmed prey. That's cold blood.

    Zimmerman made several foolish choices that night, and his life since is clearly fubar based on news reports,

    Zimmerman's life is fubar based on his statements, and his statements alone. He followed a "suspect". He didn't try to follow him, but was lost one block from his house, and thought he best way to find an address was to chase the dangerous person he just called in to the police down a blind alley, looking for street signs and addresses to give to 911. After chasing the suspect into the blind alley, he lost him, and was walking back to his vehicle when the prey, who realized he was being stalked, defended himself from the armed pursuer.

  76. Re:Wrong cause by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

    Slightly colored language, consistent with Zimmerman's testimony. I believe Zimmerman, and would have convicted based on his own accounts, were I on the Jury.

  77. Re:Wrong cause by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

    And Zimmerman claimed he left his car to look for a house number to give 911, and walked down the blind alley to Martin's house. Who walks down a blind alley to find a house number for where they are parked on the street? Who gets lost one block from their house?

  78. Ok, andy: I'll tell you a part I've seen... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That causes the "why" of WHY things are going nuts - imbalance in society in general. MOSTLY financial based. See, & I'm sure you know this - when times are good? People who are "fat & happy" do NOT rock the boat! Guess what we don't have now? Guess what the result is - in the end, murders - people KILL for money (not only due to greed, but their lives are on the line or that of their kids).

    Don't think these street freaks are totally stupid either.

    In my time, I've met some with FAR SUPERIOR BUSINESS SAAVY to so-called 'business leaders' in the Fortune 100-500 I've know or met personally. They just know when things aren't right. There's no other way for them (due to wasting their youth yes, not educating their way out).

    HOWEVER: There's always the blue collar route. We aren't a manufacturing nation anymore. They're getting squeezed. I saw that b.s. being pushed in the 80's in my 1st degree & told my profs that THIS TODAY, yes almost exactly this, would be the result (as a 19 yr. old kid product of UNION workers families no less).

    I've read stats where it was said IF THEY PULLED BACK ALL THE OFFSHORED JOBS THEY SENT AWAY, WE'D ALL HAVE OVER $25/hr. jobs... the stupid shits in business don't realize that those are their CONSUMING PUBLIC... they can't BUY goods & services above rent/mortgage, food, utilities anymore. Prices due to shenanigans much higher up have created this along with the stock market Bill Gates 'wannabes' forcing mgt.'s hand.

    We truly HAVE real "1% Haves" (with HUGE slices of pie that goes to waste, as in underutilized capital that sits in banks who absond with it anyway, & we foot the bill AGAIN ontop of it).

    Man - the effects of that thievery just doesn't "go away" - it raises costs of EVERYTHING just like retail shoplifting theft does but at FAR HIGHER & FASTER RATES on everything, every good or service!

    As that's what businesses DO to counter losses... sure, roughly a 10% "shrink" (loss) figure is automatically assumed & built-in vs. say, thefts or perishable goods loss, but the ripoffs going on ABOVE street-level are the root... the root of that?

    The STOCK MARKET...

    You, of all people if you're really involved in this field professionally (yes, I think you have been for a bit now, ~ 5 yrs., right?), should KNOW that!

    Yes - it's also why "noobz" are hired, & we get "noob" quality in wares - especially online ones, or they're just contractors that do a 1/2 ass job, knowing the customer themselves won't know if say, actual safe typed variables & stored procedures + secured OS & database engines are used vs. SQLInjection vulnerable 'direct query' insecure b.s. is used - "when the cat's away" (or is essentially blind), it's done...

    Yes, I've SEEN it &/or had to correct for it (especially going from "original ASP" to .NET driven stuff).

    * Yes, there IS an element of slime out there that no matter WHAT YOU DO, they're going to be there & I know that kind personally...

    Imo, they're literally totally sociopathic saying "If I don't 'get the gold' first, some other one like ME will beat me to the punch so make hay while the sun shines"... this goes ALL THE WAY up from street levels with drug dealers right up into banking, the stock market, & wallstreet.

    (HOWEVER - Most of the fools I've seen in my life pulling b.s. like that aren't "I've got to get rich to get the 'holy dollar' because my 2" penis is TOO SMALL to get women any other way" (for those still @ 'the mercy of their hormones', usually meaning youth, mostly men youth too) - they're fools that made SOME BIG MISTAKE & are desperate to try "get out of it" - most times JUST to feed their kids, sometimes, to "save their dreams" (John DeLorean being a PRIME EXAMPLE to save his DMC company, dealing blow to try save it, being caught or ratted out etc.)).

    APK

    P.S.=> That's my take on it, & Andy? I've lived all over this country + been all over this planet in my 51 yrs. (which is a he

  79. Re:Wrong cause by fredgiblet · · Score: 1

    Now now, don't go bringing FACTS of all things into this. This is about FEELINGS, and it FEELS better to be righteously indignant over a non-story that's been manipulated into national news.

  80. Re:Wrong cause by fredgiblet · · Score: 1

    But that means I can't be righteously indignant about it, so it must be wrong.

  81. Andy, here's my take on it... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That causes the "why" of WHY things are going nuts - imbalance in society in general. MOSTLY financial based. See, & I'm sure you know this - when times are good? People who are "fat & happy" do NOT rock the boat! Guess what we don't have now? Guess what the result is - in the end, murders - people KILL for money (not only due to greed, but their lives are on the line or that of their kids).

    Don't think these street freaks are totally stupid either.

    Now, as to your "fear the cops beating the death out of them"? Remember Rodney King? About 2-3 months BEFORE that happened to him?? I had it happen to me (yes, I won a lawsuit settlement for it)... but I do NOT hate or FEAR the police (& yes, they were wrong, why else pay me? They busted right into my then apartment & beat the shit out of me with nightsticks... bad move! Should've killed me!).

    In my time, I've met some with FAR SUPERIOR BUSINESS SAAVY to so-called 'business leaders' in the Fortune 100-500 I've know or met personally. They just know when things aren't right. There's no other way for them (due to wasting their youth yes, not educating their way out).

    HOWEVER: There's always the blue collar route. We aren't a manufacturing nation anymore. They're getting squeezed. I saw that b.s. being pushed in the 80's in my 1st degree & told my profs that THIS TODAY, yes almost exactly this, would be the result (as a 19 yr. old kid product of UNION workers families no less).

    I've read stats where it was said IF THEY PULLED BACK ALL THE OFFSHORED JOBS THEY SENT AWAY, WE'D ALL HAVE OVER $25/hr. jobs... the stupid shits in business don't realize that those are their CONSUMING PUBLIC... they can't BUY goods & services above rent/mortgage, food, utilities anymore. Prices due to shenanigans much higher up have created this along with the stock market Bill Gates 'wannabes' forcing mgt.'s hand.

    We truly HAVE real "1% Haves" (with HUGE slices of pie that goes to waste, as in underutilized capital that sits in banks who absond with it anyway, & we foot the bill AGAIN ontop of it).

    Man - the effects of that thievery just doesn't "go away" - it raises costs of EVERYTHING just like retail shoplifting theft does but at FAR HIGHER & FASTER RATES on everything, every good or service!

    As that's what businesses DO to counter losses... sure, roughly a 10% "shrink" (loss) figure is automatically assumed & built-in vs. say, thefts or perishable goods loss, but the ripoffs going on ABOVE street-level are the root... the root of that?

    The STOCK MARKET...

    You, of all people if you're really involved in this field professionally (yes, I think you have been for a bit now, ~ 5 yrs., right?), should KNOW that!

    Yes - it's also why "noobz" are hired, & we get "noob" quality in wares - especially online ones, or they're just contractors that do a 1/2 ass job, knowing the customer themselves won't know if say, actual safe typed variables & stored procedures + secured OS & database engines are used vs. SQLInjection vulnerable 'direct query' insecure b.s. is used - "when the cat's away" (or is essentially blind), it's done...

    Yes, I've SEEN it &/or had to correct for it (especially going from "original ASP" to .NET driven stuff).

    * Yes, there IS an element of slime out there that no matter WHAT YOU DO, they're going to be there & I know that kind personally...

    Imo, they're literally totally sociopathic saying "If I don't 'get the gold' first, some other one like ME will beat me to the punch so make hay while the sun shines"... this goes ALL THE WAY up from street levels with drug dealers right up into banking, the stock market, & wallstreet.

    (HOWEVER - Most of the fools I've seen in my life pulling b.s. like that aren't "I've got to get rich to get the 'holy dollar' because my 2" penis is TOO SMALL to get women any other way" (for those still @ 'the mercy of their hormones', usually meaning youth, mostly men youth too) - they're fools that m

  82. Re:Wrong cause by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    Opium, or more precisely, the plant which it is harvested from, groes quite nicely in the USA.
    However people using Marihuana are usually not the same people taking Opium.
    In deed I would not care about an alcohol ban much if Marihuana or Hashisch would be available legaly at low cost.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  83. Wow, all the animosity towards police by non0score · · Score: 2

    Yes, yes, a handful of police officers breaking the law means all police officers are assholes. Just like a couple of citizens breaking the law means all citizens are assholes. Great job, everyone.

    Honestly, this is simple to solve. The police should start taking videos of everything they do as well. If an edited video pops up of them doing bad things, then they can simply post the video from their perspective. Now no more "look at this video of a cop beating this innocent man" AFTER the supposed "innocent man" kicks the officer, except not on camera or edited out. Mass surveillance works in every way. Govt. -> public -> police -> public.

    1. Re:Wow, all the animosity towards police by Shaman · · Score: 1

      No. Because what you are saying isn't true. And even if it was *sort of* true, then every "good" cop that stands behind and protects the "bad" cops makes a lie of them being "good." They are not just everyday people - everyday people do not have guns, a badge and a massive, built-up immunity to using force against other citizens regardless of the reason or the outcome. Seeing it your simplistic and flowery way is pure fantasy.

      --
      ...Steve
    2. Re:Wow, all the animosity towards police by non0score · · Score: 1

      When did I talk about equality between police and civilians? I never did and neither did the article, so I have no idea what you're responding to. On the other hand, I'm referring to the original article, where the police is afraid of doing their job because they're scrutinized for their work, perhaps even taken out of context. I think you lacking reading comprehension and setting up a straw man is reality.

  84. It's the Opposite by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Officers tell Comey that youths surround police when they get out of their vehicles, taunting them and making videos of the spectacle with their cell phones

    This is why you should always have your camera on as well, officers! Showing your point of view is the best defense, if the review panels and judges are not tainted by the lunacy of the masses and you remember your training before the corrupting influence of your peers.

  85. Re: Wrong cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nothing in the forensic evidence suggests that Zimmerman instigated the violence.

    Zimmerman got out of his car, instead of going about his business. Had he even remained in his car, as a sensible person would have done, he would be believable.

  86. Re: Wrong cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    His girlfriend was in that house? She was able to see him?

    No? Do we have any data to confirm that story? Can you even show me where that was her testimony?

    At least the 911 call was recorded. Wha ican find of her testimony indicates a creepy ass cracker following him but nothing about him getting home. She did apparently lie about being in the hospital, or was wrong about it but nothing to support your particular allegation.

  87. Re:Somebody has a massive inflated sense of his wo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For example, murders are typically not stopped by police at all as they are very rarely crimes of opportunity.

    Ironically, if an unarmed citizen was killed by a police officer this would indeed be a crime of opportunity.

  88. Papers or else by fyngyrz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Their "jobs" were never to break the law. All this whining about pressure on cops is utter BS. If they had been doing their actual jobs, instead of being criminals, they'd be fine. This is simply their own malfeasance coming back to bite everyone -- us and them -- in the ass.

    Every cop that breaks the law is a criminal. Every cop that knows about such things and does not turn the criminal in is a criminal accessory. That's cop culture. They think they are above the law, instead of its servants. I have no sympathy for their current situation at all. I do regret that they have been allowed, both by their internal culture and by the courts, to screw the public over so badly. And that the courts, in particular the supreme court, has failed to obey their oaths to uphold the constitution, instead wreaking sophist havoc on its meaning and intent.

    I honestly do not think there is any chance at all of fixing this. The downhill slide is too profound; the public almost completely unaware of the issues at hand until they too are caught in the toxic, broken gears of the system. When that happens, they often disappear into the depths of the world's largest imprisonment undertaking. When (if) they come out of that, they're treated as unemployable and sometimes worse.

    The "retribution, not rehabilitation" mindset the media has inculcated into the American public and to which their legislators pander, creates a permanent lower class whose only hope for advance is more lawbreaking, and this constrains almost all of those who actually pursue an upwards economic path. The rest are hopeless, and rightfully so. There is little hope to be had.

    The root cause is bad legislators, bad law, bad police, and bad courts. There's actually no reason to expect this to work well. Nor does it.

    Now the cops are paying for it, a little bit, as the Internet makes public what used to be a quiet secret known only to the cops themselves and their victims. It won't be enough, though. Because it isn't just the cops. The entire system reinforces these results, from top to bottom.

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    1. Re:Papers or else by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

      A Tyrant is a person who thinks themselves above the law.

    2. Re: Papers or else by easyTree · · Score: 1

      Every cop that breaks the law is a criminal

      I wonder if they considered all those crimes not committed by officers against innocent members of the public to count towards the stats? I half expected crime figures to decrease.

    3. Re: Papers or else by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      tldr but you care really hard, huh?

    4. Re: Papers or else by MobSwatter · · Score: 1

      Thinking along the same lines of recording police work being attributed to a rise in crime rates, I'd say that the state of the economy is also a huge factor in the rise of crime. If all the doughnut shops go out of business, we're all screwed...

      There was a point in time that the FBI openly stated that there is no such thing as organized crime, now we have unregulated banksters, and to be a success in politics one must be member of a secret society leading to the abuse of the national security apparatus to cover up lawless political behavior in the name of commerce resulting in obvious false flag events, too bad that politics no longer attracts the honest. Only one way to go from there and I think the TPP seals the deal on selling out the remainder of US sovereignty. Without national sovereignty, exactly what authority are government officials acting under? Corporations that ride for free on taxes and stick it to the people. Plenty of problems for federal authority if that authority wasn't made a corporate bitch by commerce. It is what it is and the federal reserve is imploding. If there is someone or something to blame for the rise in crime, blame previous generation's political leadership that sold this country out a long time ago.

    5. Re: Papers or else by robinAKAroblimo5226 · · Score: 2

      I'm white, 62, and a veteran, exactly the sort of person you'd expect to support his local police. My wife is black, but she used to *be* a cop in Baltimore. You'd expect her to be at least a little pro-police, too. Sadly, we've had enough bad experiences with LE that we are suspicious instead of trusting. I personally suspect that about 20% of all officers are bullying fuckheads and that the rest are okay, but that gives each encounter with one cop has a 1in 5 chance of being negative, and if you're dealing with multiple LEOs the odds of a rational encounter go down. SO: I've registered the domain name, Keeping Police Honest, and that is the working title of the book + DVD I hope to start writing/filming after the 1st of the year.

    6. Re: Papers or else by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While I agree with your statements for the the most point, you 'seem' to be using a very broad brush when painting the LEO. Its almost as if you are saying most cops are bad and that is very far from the truth. I'm not a cop and dont play one on TV but I have been on patrol several times with close friends that are in major cities. After going out on patrol and getting involved in some domestic issues, I wouldn't want to be a cop. The things I saw from a cops perspective and the crap they have to put with....no thanks.

        In one incident, we were helping a bar owner shut down for the night and just wanted to get everyone to go home. Yeah....didn't go well. My friend and his partner with me as an observer ended up arresting 5 women just by ourselves. Why? We repeatedly asked the women to just get in their car and go home. But for some reason these women just had keep shooting their mouths off. Didn't matter how nice the police were, didn't that the police assured them they wouldn't get arrested if they would just leave now even though they appeared a bit drunk. Five rounds of back and forth and all 5 get arrested. All because these women just had to back talk to the police. I think 8 to 10 people were arrested that night all over stupid crap but no fights.

      My friend is now retired at 47 from the force. He and his partner were attacked by a drug dealer on pcp which is bottled superman juice. They tried to take him down without lethal force but the guy beat the crap out of both of them. Super drug dealer pulled his gun at one point and it became a race to see who was going to live. My friend put five 9mm rounds into him before he finally started to go down. While spending a year trying to recover he ended up getting sued by the drug dealer's family for lost of income.

      Police have a difficult job and in today's society are treated with a complete lack of respect.

    7. Re:Papers or else by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is a great answer. In particular, I'm disappointed by the downward slide of the judicial system, at all levels. If it doesn't save us, then nothing is left to, really.

    8. Re: Papers or else by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

      What I am saying - specifically - is that there are bad cops, and in addition, any cop that does not arrest or otherwise bring to justice a bad cop that they are aware of is also a bad cop. I am not specifying a percentage in any way, however, I will say that there are far too many, and that at this time, there are enough bad cops that one cannot assume that any encounter with an LEO is an encounter with a good cop.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    9. Re:Papers or else by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Down with democracy, up with anarchy!
      Along with hypocrisy, all for the world to see!

  89. Re: Wrong cause by ganjadude · · Score: 1

    i watched the entire trial live (out of work at the time) go watch it yourself if you dont believe me. the information is there for those who actually want it

    --
    have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
  90. "Leader of Abusive Police State... by r-diddly · · Score: 1

    ...Links Public Oversight of Said Police State to All Kinds of Bad Stuff" Also see: "Abusive Advertisers Link Doom, End Of World, to use of Ad Blockers"

  91. Informal contact by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does that mean harassment is required on a massive scale? informal contact that keeps bad guys from standing around

    Then there has to be a better way.

  92. Dire situation by easyTree · · Score: 1

    In today's YouTube world, there are officers reluctant to get out of their cars

    That is not a good state of affairs. One can only sympathise with the owners of donut stores - perhaps they are eligible for bail-out money?

    Fortunately for crime-prevention stats, history has shown that even the fastest unarmed suspicious black youths can be shot through the window of a police cruiser.

  93. Gee.. Let me think of how to rebut that idea.. by moorley · · Score: 1

    What a load of shit!

    To say that increased visibility of those responsible for our safety and security when they perform their duties leads to danger is a non sequitur.

    I don't worry about additional audits or information on any process for business or manufacture. If fear is they only conclusion they have, their premise is false.

    --
    "Don't fear death... fear not living..." -me :)
  94. Consider the source by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    James Comey has made numerous dick-like remarks and been involved in constitutionally questionable behavior:

    http://it.slashdot.org/story/15/09/29/0134232/how-the-fbi-hacks-around-encryption

    http://news.slashdot.org/story/15/09/11/1714254/spy-industry-leaders-befuddled-over-deep-cynicism-of-american-public

    http://yro.slashdot.org/story/15/05/08/0146207/james-comey-the-man-who-wants-to-outlaw-encryption

    http://yro.slashdot.org/story/14/10/16/1915216/fbi-director-continues-his-campaign-against-encryption

    Therefore consider the source. He probably also thinks that any principled opposition to him or his ideas are criminal, un-patriotic, part of a degenerate culture, or alien.

  95. Re:Wrong cause by HiThere · · Score: 1

    IIUC, opium poppies are (were?) white. During pioneer days every household grew them, as they were an effective pain medication.

    OTOH, L. Frank Baum, in The Wizard of Oz, said they were red, and also said that smelling their perfume would send you to sleep. Perhaps he was right...

    --

    I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  96. Re:Wrong cause by HiThere · · Score: 1

    Well, users of marijuana are generally safer drivers than users of alcohol...but I'm not sure whether that would change if it were legal.

    Still, the social effects of drug prohibition are so bad that I'd be in favor of legalizing ALL drug use, if you could just keep people from advertising brands of them.

    --

    I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  97. Multiple reasons. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Of all the reasons, scrutiny of police is not the top reason. Detail all of the actual/potential reasons and include them for comparison/scrutiny or you are just pushing a single false narrative. Don't tell us, give everybody the facts and examine everybody's conclusions.

    Social media sharing of inappropriate police response is part of it, but what are the the specific causes of the inappropriate police responses? Quotas? News media bias.. not telling the whole stories over and over? People not only notice what the news tells you, they are also able to identify what the news doesn't tell you. People are aware of who manages the media as well. The irony is this Slashdot story itself doesn't tell you any of the other actual/potential links to an asserted increase in violence. Think since the public doesn't say anything about it that they don't notice? Many do.

    The summary reads like propaganda. The (intended?) takeaway by the less-critical thinkers could easily be something like.. Oh shit.. more violence.. it's because of people with cell phones.. they aren't letting police be saints because the police are afraid of being demonized on video. Maybe this is just another reason to take away their guns... and while their cell phones are good to track the public's communications and locations.. it kind of fucks us up when they can see us being dicks. So damn... FBI is "some big shit" so I guess this story is legit. lol. nah...

    US police forces do not consist of 100% heroes. Many are decent folks... many are not. There are officers who wanted to be cops "just to bust some punks and beat some asses". If you sifted them out you wouldn't have the same headcount. The best of the best on Earth simply aspire to be something that isn't police related.. generally speaking. And even if they were all the absolute top notch best human beings to ever exist in the history of time, like literally ever single one of them.. they don't make the policies they enforce. Those are politicians and lawyers. Politicians and lawyers are a crooked breed by nature. Queue the lawyer jokes. Some of them are decent people too. There are many variables with humans. The hypothetical best you can do is have public agreement every time on policies. This is also hard to do in a multi-cultural society now isn't it.

    Imagine just immediate cultural diversity (forget about racial, cultural is not racial) in USA basically equally distributed. Even just 3. Take 100 million from China. Take 100 million from India. Take 100 million from Russia. Roughly double the US population. Move them right into USA and pretend there is housing for every single family... and that social services are all there too... Nearby Walmart's for everybody, etc. All copacetic, except culture. What would you expect? Who to govern, how to govern? Everybody would be safer with guns for sure huh. You would be fools to test it.

    What is the actual cultural diversity of police though? Not all US police are even Masons, by a long shot. Merely the immigration at the Mexican borders is a huge deal. They are not all even Mexican. I don't have a problem with Mexican people whatsoever but the nature of an immigrant who literally swims here to the rescue of our social services... is detrimental to the social services paid for by citizens. Politicians don't know this? Of course they fucking do. The border patrol know it too... but again.. they don't make the policies. They rely on career politicians... who are also swayed by the group-think/propaganda everybody else in society are swayed by... with even more facets and even enticements.

    Now queue the xenophobia accusations, even accusations of racism, all the other lies too. If you want to break USA simply send ships to any third world country and move them ALL to USA. South Africa may be happy to come. Go get them. Is the infrastructure capable of coping with the strain? The USA is 18+ trillion dollars in debt as is. Will the hypothetical new immigrants increase domestic manufacturing to the extent the USA is back in the black again? I bet not. So it goes if you trickle vs all at once.

    Be looking for subterfuge.

  98. Re:Wrong cause by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

    So the increase in crime should correlate with places that have relaxed drug laws. I didn't see that in the results. Where are you getting your statistics from?

    Fox News and the 700 Club.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  99. IQ issue by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Most police are too stupid for that kind of thing - a result of the mandatory limit on intelligence when hiring. They shouldn't be expected to find "suspicious" people. If they see a crime in progress, after asking a more intelligent member of the public, they can engage.

  100. Nothing to hide by hambone142 · · Score: 1

    I guess we could use the old "NSA logic".

    If they've done nothing wrong, they have nothing to hide.

    Recording admirable actions should have no negative reactions.

  101. Red poppies in Oz. by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

    AFAIK poppies come in a variety of colors and potencies. Here in the real Oz the red poppy means one thing, href="http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-mccrae-in-flanders-fields.htm">Flander's Field. Legend has it that all the poppies in Flanders Field where white, the bloodshed of WW1 turned them red. There is a national holiday where lots of people wear the (fake) red poppies that are sold by the 'RSL' - a highly regarded returned soldiers charity.

    --
    And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    1. Re:Red poppies in Oz. by HiThere · · Score: 1

      Yes, poppies come in many colors. But it's been my understanding that the opium poppy was white, and of a slightly different species.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  102. Funny that the OP didn't mention bad cop deeds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bad people want to be cops. The power trip draws them. Sure there are good cops, but there are way too many bad ones.

    Bad cops do bad things, then lie about it and get away with it.

    It makes me mad just thinking about it, and that effect is what is causing the rising crime rate, and I'm not even the demographic that gets hurt by bad cops.

    I think that all the bad cops and all the government people that help them get away with it should be fired with a clause that they are not trustworthy for any unsupervised work and thus can never be cops again, anywhere.

    This won't be fixed until we get some REAL whistleblower laws. Whistleblower laws could help curb the runaway illegal abuse by government TLA's too. Make it a law that everyone that knows about a crime must report it or be charged with a crime. Make it a law that there are no unknown laws and anyone who says you must obey one gets locked up. Of course none of this will happen. Our beautiful government will see to that.

  103. But..but...guns! by cyber-vandal · · Score: 1

    How can violent crime be going up when you have these magical items that lower crime just by existing?

  104. incredible! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He says he's been told by many police leaders that officers who normally would stop to question suspicious people are opting to stay in their patrol cars for fear of having their encounters recorded and become video sensations.

    This makes no sense to me. First officers "talking" to suspects do not make for internet sensations so why would officers be shy of such?

    Is it because their standard procedure for "questioning" suspects on the street includes beating the answers out of them?

    It seems we should be able to expect police officers to be braver than this. If they are scared of a bit of fame, what will it take to get them out of their cars when the shooting starts.

  105. Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is the increase in the murder rate from "street" shootings where suspicious looking people are walking around looking for their victims? Or is it from domestic violence levels and irresponsible gun owners leaving loaded weapons laying around to be used in their next argument. I suspect the murder rate has nothing to do with nervous cops hiding from cameras in their cars.

  106. What if we actually need heavy handed cops? by swb · · Score: 1

    I sometimes wonder if the answer is something we don't want it to be -- that heavy handed policing is repugnant, but the nature of our society is that the poor, urban populations suffer from so much social malaise that without heavy handed policing they will tear themselves apart while inflicting collateral damage on the rest of society through crime and violence?

    The causes of malaise are often unjust -- discrimination, lack of opportunity, but also include self-inflicted problems of unplanned/bad parenting, purposeful rejection of positive social choices (dropping out of school, etc) and so on. It's not completely their fault, but it's not completely a question of inescapable victimhood, either.

    Heavy-handed policing is likely not the best course to *solve* these problems, but the scale and nature of them is such that the costs and scale of the social welfare solutions which could possibly be more effective are seen as an impossible burden (which itself is a byproduct of economic inequality and ineffective governance).

    Heavy-handed policing is thus seen as the most obtainable possible solution -- the least worst possible alternative.

    In other words, we may hate heavy handed policing because it also as collateral damage of all kinds, including gross injustices, but without it we may have a kind of chaos that ends up being worse.

  107. Not the police! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This guy does not speak for the police. He is the Director of the FBI. He's probably completely making this up, just like he does every other week when talking about just about everything else.

    This guy is just cajoling you into thinking that he speaks for police. He's trying to get you to assume that there is some federal hierarchy that all police information rises up through. It's easier to subvert the police into being under federal control if the public thinks they already are, especially if the public thinks there are problems with them that being under federal control will solve, and they're inching that process along step by step.

    Don't be fooled by them.

  108. FBI Crimes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the last article i read said common law crime is at an all time low. (crime with a injured victim).... Regardless, the police can void scrutiny altogether if they treated everyone like their neighbor (any reasonable man might brutalize another for certain conduct i.e. caUGHt raping a kid) . Then, they wont have to whine about being "watched" as they abuse people. State statutes and Supreme Court jurisprudence have destroyed the moral fabric of America, largely in the last 100 years, ramping up intensity each decade (now each month). If police want to enjoy population's UNconditonAL Support, they could give Top priority to common law crime, before tackling the victimless crime BS i.e. merriJane, administative burdens like driver license, gun permitting.... OR $h!t, how bout ACTUALLY INvestiGating the Trillions robbed from Americans by Banks/CorpsOrations.... and jailing them, instead of Mikey and his $30 bag of weeds.... or the Senseless Wars killing MiLLioNs of INNOcENT inhabitants (not involved in govt) WorlDWiDe.. for 50+ years. FBI should LEAD BY EXAMPLE, and tackle CRIMES that HURT folks..... but then they would have to go after their Masters... Banks & LArgest DonorLobby Groups.... and that will NEVER happen.... How effective is The People's Lobby ???? not very

    Perhaps govt has been hiring then training violent psychopaths to be cops

  109. Spirit? or Letter of the Law? by fred133 · · Score: 1

    I'm tired of hearing the term "Law Enforcement"... What happened to "Keeping the Peace"?
    why must even the smallest infraction be prosecuted to the "Nth" degree of the letter of the law?
    This only breeds hate and discontent.
    Defuse! don't escalate the situation!
    Too many "Barney Fife's" running around,but instead of 1 bullet, its 17 rounds in a Glock...

    and too,too many police agencies, I can't even think of all the three letter acronyms there are ...
    everybody's got their own police force, and its bringing out all the amateurs, (e.g. - Tesla dust-up)
    so lets go back to "Peace Officers", and maybe it will change the mindset.

  110. psychological profiles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A profiler who is a friend of a friend says that police profiles are almost the same as those of serial violent offenders and the like.

    I think they should pay them more. I worked for the feds, and the people were somewhat more professional, if only because they were paid more, and had more to lose. And personally, although I'd like to be a cop, it's 1/2 to 1/3 the pay of what I make, so sorry, I think I'll stick with computers.

    My other idea is to have a draft, like the military, where everyone has to be a cop for 3 months or 6 months or whatever. Doesn't sound very libertarian, I know, but then again, exposure to all of the different parties involved probably wouldn't hurt anyone. Hopefully it won't get to that point, but it would be better than societal decay and vigilantism.

  111. Translation: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cops: "We can't do our jobs well if you watch us and make sure we abide by the law, so crime and is sucking at our jobs is your fault, citizens."

    Well, isn't that special.

  112. This just proves what many people have been by ToddInSF · · Score: 1

    saying for decades.



    The police are a criminal class.

  113. Re:Wrong cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    TL;DR: You are woefully misinformed or outright lying. Of course, those are not mutually exclusive states. A point-by-point refutation follows.

    It was not an "alley" with only one "exit", but a paved walk between the backyards of homes on different streets;

    "alley - a narrow passageway between or behind buildings." - a dictionary

    So why would you put alley in quotes? Because you are unable to accept words you don't like the "feel" of, despite them being used exactly to the dictionary definition?

    Perhaps you could take a few moments to review a map of the paved walkway behind the houses in question, which should make it obvious that it does not fit the definition of an alley in consideration of the yards on either side of it. By the isolated dictionary definition you quoted, many city streets would fit the definition of alley, yet we do not call them alleys; near where I grew up, some of the city streets were more narrow than the walkway (including the backyards) Martin took. I put it in quotes because you (intentionally) misused it.

    If you had ever looked at a map of the neighborhood, it should also have been obvious that you misrepresented the nature of the "alley". Zimmerman could not have "blocked the exit" as you had stated, because the pathway was not a dead end, and furthermore there was also the option of Martin simply going into his father's fiancee's home through the back entrance. Finally, there were many backyards in which he could hide, and spaces between the townhomes through which he could have exited had he felt cornered. To be clear, I'm not asserting that Martin had a duty to flee, but rather that it is not reasonable to assert that his exit was blocked. Note that his destination was away from the shooting, and per the timeline established in the trial, Martin had several minutes to go the short distance to it. So, either you never actually looked at the evidence and have no idea what you're taking about, or you simply lied about the environment and situation..

    Sounds like you have an emotional problem related to this issue.

    To the extent that annoyance is an emotion, and I tend to become annoyed at clumps of assertions not based in facts, I suppose there might have been some emotion involved, but certainly not at a problematic level. Upon re-reading your post, the emotional froth still comes through quite clearly. Also, see below.

    ...the mere act of following does not in itself constitute a threat

    Is that your legal opinion? It's wrong. Following someone is a threat.

    I merely re-iterated the consensus of multiple commentators, who were actual attorneys (some even licensed in Florida), on multiple news outlets, including outlets hostile to Zimmerman, such as MSNBC. Of course, perhaps those attorneys were wrong, as you seem to be very confident. If so, you should be able to cite the relevant portion of Florida law which states that mere following is a threat. I'll note that the prosecuting attorneys couldn't do it, but I'm pulling for you.

    Oh, and Zimmerman had made numerous comments that indicated he was "hunting", which wasn't a specific threat, but a more generic threat.

    Would you cite this from the trial transcripts? No? Because it doesn't exist, right? Go ahead and do a Google search for "Zimmerman Martin +hunt" (w/o quotes) and see what comes up - nothing. Try it with +hunted and +hunted, and you'll still get nothing. Some of the links come up with "witch hunt" and unrelated headlines about hunting season, but nothing like you claimed. He has said all kinds of stupid things on Twitter the last few years, but maybe I would, too, if the Black Panthers had a $10,000 bounty on my head.

    There was no evidence supporting self-defense on Martin's part during the alter

  114. consider the source by Meniconi,Nando · · Score: 1

    I would normally just say fu$k this bull$hit, but then I saw it was a NYT piece, a newspaper which has turned into the onion, but without the self awareness.

  115. Bad laws make bad cops by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Police are the teeth of government. When they are hired and tasked to enforce bad laws and become revenue agents for the police departments and courts by fines and asset confiscation, they are no longer friends of the innocent. It hardly matter whether you start out as a good guy, after a few years on force you lose the the altruism and go for the job security. That means get the little offenses, get the revenue, don't push against bad cops and corruption,

  116. The new Mafia... by sursurrus · · Score: 1

    Police officers are the new Mafia. They are an armed gang of thugs that are generally more interested in their own profit than the well-being of ordinary citizens. They pick and choose which laws to obey, and who to muscle in on. Now the interesting thing is that mob-run neighborhoods are generally pretty safe. The mob doesn't want rival criminals around, because it's bad for business. Cops don't like rival criminal gangs for much the same reason. The power of video-recording is that it brings 'heat' in the form of bad press, which everyone must pay lip service to. Of course, cops are basically the lowest paid foot soldiers in the Blue Mob, you've got judges, prosecutors, and politicians who really organize and run the system.

  117. BS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I expect this to get modded to oblivion, but seriously, f-ck you knee-jerk anti-cop enthusiasts. I'm not a cop, but I have quite a few friends who are--good men and women, working their butts off to make this country a safer place. No one brings a camera to your job--no one mocks you and taunts you, trying to goad you into doing something wrong. The president hasn't passively condemned your profession categorically, while supporting people who are known criminals, simply because those known criminals were on the receiving side of a handful of bad actors. I'm not a republican--heck, I even voted for Obama at one point, but...

    You make it easier for someone to choose to not do their job? Guess what happens, psychology student? Get off your @#$@#$ moral high horse, we're talking about humans who are now under the impression that they are considered guilty before violent offenders are. You're talking about people who will get paid whether or not they stop a crime in progress... And then tell them that if they stop a crime in progress, there's a high likelihood that they're going to face incredibly negative public scrutiny, even if none was actually there.

    Screw the bad cops, but they aren't the majority, they're the minority.

    And screw you all for vilifying people who have an incredibly tough job.

  118. Squirrel! by ancientmyth · · Score: 1

    It's the typical point and dodge tactic. Blame something else for what you don't like. There was a floating argument that there was a spike in attacks on police and it was allegedly due to the increase in police surveillance, however statistics actually a decrease in attacks on police (possibly because they acted nicer? hmm). Now there is a spike in crime ('tis the season) and agents are trying to portray the innocent bystander as the culprit. I call BS on the "strong sense". I blame training (evangelized fear) on why police officers are "staying in their cars".

  119. Consequences by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There are consequences for acting out of line on the warfield. No such consequences exist for domestic police. That's all there is to it.

  120. Dicks? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think "oppressors" is the correct term here. A "dick" is something you call your disrespectful neighbor, i.e. someone who holds equal power to yourself, not greater power.

  121. Nothing to fear by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If they aren't doing anything illegal they have nothing to fear about being watched, right?

  122. Efficacy of police stop-and-question interactions? by dcrocker · · Score: 1

    Are there any studies that look at the efficacy of police stops? That is, how useful are these opportunistic police efforts to stop and question someone, in terms of preventing crime? The FBI Director's claim relies on a belief that spontaneous stop-and-question interactions are responsible for preventing an extremely significant percentage of violent crimes.

    --
    Dave Crocker bbiw.net
  123. And yet no comments about the content of the video by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What about the content of the video being captured, showing examples of excessive force and abuse of power? After seeing a video like this:

    https://youtu.be/kr9pcplqHhE

    It's hard to swallow the opinion that because cops have become afraid to interact with citizens, it's the citizens' fault for putting them under increasing video scrutiny. It's more plausible to believe that citizens have become increasingly afraid of armed law enforcement and lack any other means of defense but to document the interaction.

  124. Fuck off, Comey! by sydbarrett74 · · Score: 1

    Why should anyone listen to this Brownshirt-in-Chief, who finally reveals he has no evidence to support his ludicrous assertion?

    --
    'He who has to break a thing to find out what it is, has left the path of wisdom.' -- Gandalf to Saruman
  125. Um, no, it's not Youtube by rickb928 · · Score: 1

    "In today's YouTube world, there are officers reluctant to get out of their cars and do the work that controls violent crime,""

    No, this is evidence that they have already lost control of the situation. They were in danger before YouTube, already outmanned and outgunned, it just wasn't on display so readily.

    Our largest cities are being lost to the welfare/gang/drug class. this isn't about race, per se, as any race caught in that trap would likely do the same things and be in the same situation. Blame the governmental responses that have created the conditions resulting in war zones.

    --
    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  126. Re:Wrong cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    groes
    Marihuana
    In deed
    legaly

    Stop it. Just STOP IT already, you nigger.