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App To Hold Police Instantly Accountable In Stop and Search (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A collective of London-based youth clubs and organizations has released an app called Y-Stop to help encourage those involved in unfair police encounters to instantly record and report their experiences. The idea is to 'encourage police accountability' by making it easier for anyone to have a say about what they think may be unjustified or illegal police action. The app allows its user to immediately send audio and video footage of harassment for secure holding with the charities themselves, or with the police directly. It also enables easier communication with lawyers for assistance and advice.
Read the woman's blog about how she was stopped for "Walking While Black", then watch the police dash cam.
Because the first thing you want to do when a cop starts illegally frisking you is quickly shove a hand in one of your pockets to get your phone...
It's perfectly sensible reasoning.
It call comes down to not voluntarily putting yourself into a dangerous position.
If you dress like convicted criminals typically do, and then hang around in known high-crime areas, be prepared for the police to target you.
If you dress like a prostitute, and then hang around in seedy bars, be prepared for molesters to target you.
If you dress yourself in raw steaks, and then hang around in the lion's den at the zoo, be prepared for a lion to maul you.
So if you don't want to become a victim, don't go out of your way to do stupid shit that will greatly increase your likelihood of becoming a victim!
There are few things petty, small-minded people resent more than knowing you are right when they dislike your message. Nowhere is this more obvious than when you explain to a victim how they can take control over their situation so they don't have to be victims anymore (or can at least improve their chances). They will immediately frame the discussion not in terms of fact, but in terms of blame, with a childish concern for how to most favorably allocate it.
Victimhood was once viewed as an undesirable state in which any sort of improvement or advice is welcome. Now it's like a dysfunctional sainthood, as resistant to truth as any other form of idolatry.
I'll give another example of the same mentality. A long time ago, I was overweight. I didn't like it. I knew it would continue to get worse if I didn't change. So I did something about it. An acquaintance noticed that I became slim and fit, and, being overweight themselves, wanted to know how I did it. What they really wanted was a magic pill or shortcut. When I told this person that I started seriously exercising, learned to like vegetables, stopped eating junk food and lost my taste for sweets, they immediately became hostile. They resented the implication that their own actions contributed to their situation, even though changing those same actions is what worked so well for me.
This person doesn't have the emotional maturity to cope with the reality in front of them and do what it takes to change it. This person has continued to gain weight. I hope they enjoy their dysfunctional sainthood. I hope it comforts them when they achieve diabetes, heart disease, painful joints, various cancers, reduced quality of life, or any one of the other many health problems obesity causes or worsens.
This is the mentality you're dealing with. It's resistant to reality. It resents even the facts and logic it asks for because they aren't the cheap effortless quick-fixes it hoped they would be. I don't believe it's capable of improving. It must run its course until it reaches its inevitable failure. I think nothing less than natural selection will rid us of it. The best thing you can do for yourself is to recognize and avoid such people.
The sad part is that cops used to be viewed as heroes that would put their lives on the line to save innocent people. Now their procedures require them to put their own lives above all others, including use of lethal force on the slight chance their lives are in danger (such as the shooting of the kid with the toy gun).
Meanwhile they stand around outside waiting for backup while listening to people get gunned down (columbine).
Soliders are heroes. They put themselves in danger. Firemen are heroes. They risk and sacrifice their lives for the just a chance of saving a life. I have no doubt some cops are heroic or at least would be if procedures allowed.