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."

Comments

More anecdotes

[Okian Warrior]

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.

Re:Let me get this right....

[VValdo]

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"?

Re:Wrong cause

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Lying sack of shit

[PopeRatzo]

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.

Re:It is simply a shifting balance

[whoever57]

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.

Re:Good

[mspohr]

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.