While I grant that we need a police force, a story like this glosses over notorious police abuses of the past few decades, such as police corruption and brutality, very liberal and unconstitutional asset seizure laws, the War on Drugs, militarization of the police, and long time dysfunctional behavior (such as police treating the rest of the world as near enemies, power tripping, and refusing to testify against bad behavior by fellow police officers). For example, the story glosses over legitimate concerns:
It was after the Brown riots, and the Garner protests, in 2014, that the bad days arrived.
It’s worth noting that police behavior contributed to both events above. The Ferguson police department both released very little information about the shooting and death of Michael Brown and responded with exaggerated levels of force and unprofessional behavior to the riot. I think that made the riots worse.
Similarly, the death of Eric Garner would have not have as much public support, if they didn’t leave him lying unconscious on the ground for seven minutes without even checking on his health. It’s worth noting here that while CPR without some sort of electric defilbulator device usually has a really bad failure rate (on the order of 90% or higher) on the elderly with an ongoing heart attack, it’s much more successful for a relatively healthy person who has stopped breathing. There’s a good chance they could have saved his life.
Fantastic. The only thing is that I don’t believe the police were coming to help him against folks who were just trying to re-distribute wealth (the TV) at a grass-roots level.
I’m sure they looked just like Obama’s pretend children.
Karl,
You seem to be yet another person who is ignoring the 240 MILLION 911 calls per year, and the professionals who answer them. The only police matters anyone seems to think happened in 2014 are these two, and those were evidently set up JUST to kill black men.
Those people who lay their very lives on the line for the public, people that they do NOT know, most times do a great job. Many go their entire careers without ever firing their guns on the job. And you seem to be forgetting the number of people who are LAW ABIDING citizens who rely on the law enforcement people to keep their world safe.
I’m not condoning a choke hold over cigarette taxes. But ANYONE who says they would have gladly allowed Michael Brown to get his hands on them, is just a liar. Likewise, anyone who read the stories about the grand jury and the autopsy in MO, and comes to the conclusion that the officer acted too quickly, or with too much force, is either stupid. Or they’ve never actually been in a life or death situation.
My suggestion is simple. God forbid that you need to call the police, but, the next time you do ‘need’ a policeman, or deputy, feel free to call the protestors who burned black owned businesses in Ferguson, ask them for for help. I’m sure if they’re not previously engaged, they rush right over.
der Schtumpy,
I had good and bad interactions with police. They’ve saved my bacon on occasion and helped other people in my life. But on the other hand, I’ve also had several experiences with police looking for trouble (among other things being pulled over three times for driving a rental car from California in Idaho).
And let’s look at the Brown case in more detail. The actual shooting is pretty straightforward. A fleeing fugitive who just committed robbery and assault is fair game. But what the Ferguson case went wrong was afterward. First, evidence was withheld. There was no reason to reveal the police officer’s identity, but basic facts about the case, such as Brown being a suspect in a robbery a few minutes earlier or the physical struggle between Brown and the officer should have been revealed earlier.
Another problem was the absence of professionalism by law enforcement early in the case when police officers desecrated a memorial to Michael Brown twice (first, when a police dog urinated on the memorial and second by later driving over the memorial) the day of the shooting. It doesn’t matter how terrible a person Michael Brown is. Police have a higher standard they need to live up to.
Then there was the later heavy-handed displays of force such as the “SWAT team” (that “swarmed” a protest four days after the Brown shooting). In the picture, note the camo, the Bearcat armored vehicle, assault rifles, the prevalence of the military “look” (and the corresponding absence of actual police uniforms!), and of course, the stand-offish “power wall” pose. What could they do, especially armed with only rubber bullets and tear gas, that a bunch of normal, uniformed police officers patrolling and interacting with the public from the beginning of this affair couldn’t have done better?
My point to this was that there was lot done by the police themselves to turn these two cases (particularly the Brown shooting) into a conflict between the police and general public.
While I grant that we need a police force, a story like this glosses over notorious police abuses of the past few decades, such as police corruption and brutality, very liberal and unconstitutional asset seizure laws, the War on Drugs, militarization of the police, and long time dysfunctional behavior (such as police treating the rest of the world as near enemies, power tripping, and refusing to testify against bad behavior by fellow police officers). For example, the story glosses over legitimate concerns:
It was after the Brown riots, and the Garner protests, in 2014, that the bad days arrived.
It’s worth noting that police behavior contributed to both events above. The Ferguson police department both released very little information about the shooting and death of Michael Brown and responded with exaggerated levels of force and unprofessional behavior to the riot. I think that made the riots worse.
Similarly, the death of Eric Garner would have not have as much public support, if they didn’t leave him lying unconscious on the ground for seven minutes without even checking on his health. It’s worth noting here that while CPR without some sort of electric defilbulator device usually has a really bad failure rate (on the order of 90% or higher) on the elderly with an ongoing heart attack, it’s much more successful for a relatively healthy person who has stopped breathing. There’s a good chance they could have saved his life.
Fantastic. The only thing is that I don’t believe the police were coming to help him against folks who were just trying to re-distribute wealth (the TV) at a grass-roots level.
I’m sure they looked just like Obama’s pretend children.
Karl,
You seem to be yet another person who is ignoring the 240 MILLION 911 calls per year, and the professionals who answer them. The only police matters anyone seems to think happened in 2014 are these two, and those were evidently set up JUST to kill black men.
Those people who lay their very lives on the line for the public, people that they do NOT know, most times do a great job. Many go their entire careers without ever firing their guns on the job. And you seem to be forgetting the number of people who are LAW ABIDING citizens who rely on the law enforcement people to keep their world safe.
I’m not condoning a choke hold over cigarette taxes. But ANYONE who says they would have gladly allowed Michael Brown to get his hands on them, is just a liar. Likewise, anyone who read the stories about the grand jury and the autopsy in MO, and comes to the conclusion that the officer acted too quickly, or with too much force, is either stupid. Or they’ve never actually been in a life or death situation.
My suggestion is simple. God forbid that you need to call the police, but, the next time you do ‘need’ a policeman, or deputy, feel free to call the protestors who burned black owned businesses in Ferguson, ask them for for help. I’m sure if they’re not previously engaged, they rush right over.
der Schtumpy,
I had good and bad interactions with police. They’ve saved my bacon on occasion and helped other people in my life. But on the other hand, I’ve also had several experiences with police looking for trouble (among other things being pulled over three times for driving a rental car from California in Idaho).
And let’s look at the Brown case in more detail. The actual shooting is pretty straightforward. A fleeing fugitive who just committed robbery and assault is fair game. But what the Ferguson case went wrong was afterward. First, evidence was withheld. There was no reason to reveal the police officer’s identity, but basic facts about the case, such as Brown being a suspect in a robbery a few minutes earlier or the physical struggle between Brown and the officer should have been revealed earlier.
Another problem was the absence of professionalism by law enforcement early in the case when police officers desecrated a memorial to Michael Brown twice (first, when a police dog urinated on the memorial and second by later driving over the memorial) the day of the shooting. It doesn’t matter how terrible a person Michael Brown is. Police have a higher standard they need to live up to.
Then there was the later heavy-handed displays of force such as the “SWAT team” (that “swarmed” a protest four days after the Brown shooting). In the picture, note the camo, the Bearcat armored vehicle, assault rifles, the prevalence of the military “look” (and the corresponding absence of actual police uniforms!), and of course, the stand-offish “power wall” pose. What could they do, especially armed with only rubber bullets and tear gas, that a bunch of normal, uniformed police officers patrolling and interacting with the public from the beginning of this affair couldn’t have done better?
My point to this was that there was lot done by the police themselves to turn these two cases (particularly the Brown shooting) into a conflict between the police and general public.