General Police Abuse Thread

[Mr Bean]

Clarifying details on the San Diego service dog post per the local news report, the first cop did reach down and pet the dog who bounded over to the other cop who drew and shot the dog. It's about a screwed up a situation as you can get. And yes the first cop did WTF at his partner. We are going to hear more about this soon.

*Edit
Huffpost has the security video nothing graphic you can see the first cop pet the dog and the second cop flip out. The shooting is off camera.

[Dominus Atheos]

Police Killed More Than 100 People In March

In March alone, 111 people died during police encounters — 36 more than the previous month. As in the past, numerous incidents were spurred by violent threats from suspects, and two officers were shot in Ferguson during a peaceful protest. However, the deaths follow a national pattern: suspects were mostly people of color, mentally ill, or both.

...

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/0 ... nts-march/

[Dominus Atheos]

Wrongly jailed since '75 = $1 million settlement while police who got desk duty get $4 million

In 1975, four years before I was born and just seven years after the assassination of Dr. King, Ricky Jackson was wrongly convicted for a murder he didn't commit. Just 18 years old, he spent the next 39 years in an Ohio prison. A 12-year-old boy who later admitted to making his entire testimony up was the only evidence linking Ricky Jackson to the murder of a money order salesman in Cleveland, Ohio, but that was all the state needed to convict a black man. The witness later said that police coerced him into identifying Jackson as the killer.
The longest serving innocent man to be exonerated in American history, Ricky Jackson will be receiving a $1 million settlement for losing these 39 years of his life.

Now contrast that settlement with two police officers who shot and killed an unarmed autistic man and were just given $4 million because they believed they were discriminated against when they received extended desk duty after the shooting. Mind you, they weren't event fired, but received desk duty!

The mother’s attorney, Brian Dunn, said he was surprised by the decision to award the officers damages, saying “there is nothing at all justified about this shooting.”
Steven Washington, he said, was shot in the face by Corrales.

“It was one of the worst shootings we have seen,” Dunn said. “They took the life of an unarmed, autistic man for no reason whatsoever.”

How in the world does a man who spent 39 brutal years of his life behind bars for a crime he didn't commit get $1 million, but police officers who actually did shoot and kill a man get $4 million because they hated the desk duty they received?
Injustice runs deep in this country.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/0 ... -4-million

[Batman]

But Lin wonders why I won't move to the US.

[Kamakazie Sith]

Wrongly jailed since '75 = $1 million settlement while police who got desk duty get $4 million

In 1975, four years before I was born and just seven years after the assassination of Dr. King, Ricky Jackson was wrongly convicted for a murder he didn't commit. Just 18 years old, he spent the next 39 years in an Ohio prison. A 12-year-old boy who later admitted to making his entire testimony up was the only evidence linking Ricky Jackson to the murder of a money order salesman in Cleveland, Ohio, but that was all the state needed to convict a black man. The witness later said that police coerced him into identifying Jackson as the killer.
The longest serving innocent man to be exonerated in American history, Ricky Jackson will be receiving a $1 million settlement for losing these 39 years of his life.

Now contrast that settlement with two police officers who shot and killed an unarmed autistic man and were just given $4 million because they believed they were discriminated against when they received extended desk duty after the shooting. Mind you, they weren't event fired, but received desk duty!

The mother’s attorney, Brian Dunn, said he was surprised by the decision to award the officers damages, saying “there is nothing at all justified about this shooting.”
Steven Washington, he said, was shot in the face by Corrales.

“It was one of the worst shootings we have seen,” Dunn said. “They took the life of an unarmed, autistic man for no reason whatsoever.”

How in the world does a man who spent 39 brutal years of his life behind bars for a crime he didn't commit get $1 million, but police officers who actually did shoot and kill a man get $4 million because they hated the desk duty they received?
Injustice runs deep in this country.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/0 ... -4-million

This is a terrible story of injustice. However, once again we have an author that believes the way to right injustice is to engage in hypocrisy and omission. For example, I find it a hypocritical and disgusting that the subject is about racial discrimination but for some reason that is completely unimportant to the author when the victims are police officers. The two officers that were awarded the 4 million and the subject of the authors article worked for the city of Los Angeles and sued LA for racial discrimination and not because "they didn't like desk duty".

Source

I completely agree with the author that the sum of one million is quite low for someone losing 39 years of their life. However, that one million dollar reward is just what the law in Ohio requires the state pay to exonerees for compenstation. Basically, it's 40,000 a year. Ricky Jackson can now sue the state and will likely win a much larger sum, like David Ayers who was awarded 13 million from Ohio and he was only locked up for 11 years.

Source

The dailykos should fire this journalist for failing to do basic research that would have consumed about 15 minutes of his time. Pathetic.

Police Killed More Than 100 People In March

In March alone, 111 people died during police encounters — 36 more than the previous month. As in the past, numerous incidents were spurred by violent threats from suspects, and two officers were shot in Ferguson during a peaceful protest. However, the deaths follow a national pattern: suspects were mostly people of color, mentally ill, or both.

...

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/0 ... nts-march/

No doubt there are some questionable and outright unacceptable shootings in those numbers. However, how do we know? We are only presented with a number meant to seem outrageous, but is it? Really this is just lazy reporting. I'll attempt to explain why.

In 2013, approximately 186 officers per month were attacked with firearms. 74 officers per month were attacked with knives. 577 officers per month were attacked with other dangerous weapons.

That's 837 officers per month attacked with deadly/dangerous weapons capable of inflicting serious injury or death. Why should we be concerned about the 111 when felony assaults on officers are eight times that number?

[Dominus Atheos]

Wrongly jailed since '75 = $1 million settlement while police who got desk duty get $4 million

In 1975, four years before I was born and just seven years after the assassination of Dr. King, Ricky Jackson was wrongly convicted for a murder he didn't commit. Just 18 years old, he spent the next 39 years in an Ohio prison. A 12-year-old boy who later admitted to making his entire testimony up was the only evidence linking Ricky Jackson to the murder of a money order salesman in Cleveland, Ohio, but that was all the state needed to convict a black man. The witness later said that police coerced him into identifying Jackson as the killer.
The longest serving innocent man to be exonerated in American history, Ricky Jackson will be receiving a $1 million settlement for losing these 39 years of his life.

Now contrast that settlement with two police officers who shot and killed an unarmed autistic man and were just given $4 million because they believed they were discriminated against when they received extended desk duty after the shooting. Mind you, they weren't event fired, but received desk duty!

The mother’s attorney, Brian Dunn, said he was surprised by the decision to award the officers damages, saying “there is nothing at all justified about this shooting.”
Steven Washington, he said, was shot in the face by Corrales.

“It was one of the worst shootings we have seen,” Dunn said. “They took the life of an unarmed, autistic man for no reason whatsoever.”

How in the world does a man who spent 39 brutal years of his life behind bars for a crime he didn't commit get $1 million, but police officers who actually did shoot and kill a man get $4 million because they hated the desk duty they received?
Injustice runs deep in this country.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/0 ... -4-million

This is a terrible story of injustice. However, once again we have an author that believes the way to right injustice is to engage in hypocrisy and omission. For example, I find it a hypocritical and disgusting that the subject is about racial discrimination but for some reason that is completely unimportant to the author when the victims are police officers. The two officers that were awarded the 4 million and the subject of the authors article worked for the city of Los Angeles and sued LA for racial discrimination and not because "they didn't like desk duty".

Source

You're right, it's entirely possible that if those officers had been white that they would have been back in the field without punishment. That's not really the point of the story though. There are many issues involved in why this story is wrong. Racism against the officers really isn't a factor in why I or Dailykos posted this story.

I completely agree with the author that the sum of one million is quite low for someone losing 39 years of their life. However, that one million dollar reward is just what the law in Ohio requires the state pay to exonerees for compenstation. Basically, it's 40,000 a year. Ricky Jackson can now sue the state and will likely win a much larger sum, like David Ayers who was awarded 13 million from Ohio and he was only locked up for 11 years.

Source

The dailykos should fire this journalist for failing to do basic research that would have consumed about 15 minutes of his time. Pathetic.

You're right, this part of the story is not police abuse. Also, the figure I heard and agree with is $1,000 per day in compensation for wrongful imprisonment.

Police Killed More Than 100 People In March

In March alone, 111 people died during police encounters — 36 more than the previous month. As in the past, numerous incidents were spurred by violent threats from suspects, and two officers were shot in Ferguson during a peaceful protest. However, the deaths follow a national pattern: suspects were mostly people of color, mentally ill, or both.

...

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/0 ... nts-march/

No doubt there are some questionable and outright unacceptable shootings in those numbers. However, how do we know? We are only presented with a number meant to seem outrageous, but is it? Really this is just lazy reporting. I'll attempt to explain why.

In 2013, approximately 186 officers per month were attacked with firearms. 74 officers per month were attacked with knives. 577 officers per month were attacked with other dangerous weapons.

That's 837 officers per month attacked with deadly/dangerous weapons capable of inflicting serious injury or death. Why should we be concerned about the 111 when felony assaults on officers are eight times that number?

"Attacked" with something doesn't mean anything. I am assuming you are getting your data from here. According to that report, of the 186 officers "attacked" with firearms, only 10.9% were injured or about 20 officers. If we add the number of people who were shot by police but survived the 111 figure would be much higher, handgun wounds have something like a 70-80% survival rate.

For "other dangerous weapons", if we add everyone who was beaten with nightsticks (I'm sorry, "pain compliance impact striked", as police prefer to call them) the number would be in the thousands.

[Highlord Laan]

Why should we be concerned about the 111 when felony assaults on officers are eight times that number?

Because unlike you and the rest of the Blue Wall, we mere civilians aren't allowed to carry weapons everywhere or wear body armor.

[Kamakazie Sith]

You're right, it's entirely possible that if those officers had been white that they would have been back in the field without punishment. That's not really the point of the story though. There are many issues involved in why this story is wrong. Racism against the officers really isn't a factor in why I or Dailykos posted this story.

The story is about racism, is it not? The journalist fails to conduct basic research of which the answers he would find would make this comparison completely unnecessary and actually totally wrong. If the story of David Ayes is anything to go by then Ricky should receive roughly $3400 for every day he was locked up.

Unless you don't believe the officers deserve any compensation for being discriminated against due to their skin color for five years of their life.

You're right, this part of the story is not police abuse. Also, the figure I heard and agree with is $1,000 per day in compensation for wrongful imprisonment.

I don't have a problem with $3400.

"Attacked" with something doesn't mean anything. I am assuming you are getting your data from here. According to that report, of the 186 officers "attacked" with firearms, only 10.9% were injured or about 20 officers. If we add the number of people who were shot by police but survived the 111 figure would be much higher, handgun wounds have something like a 70-80% survival rate.

For "other dangerous weapons", if we add everyone who was beaten with nightsticks (I'm sorry, "pain compliance impact striked", as police prefer to call them) the number would be in the thousands.

So, you agree that posting simple numbers for complex issues doesn't really tell us anything and is to open for manipulation? Because that's my point. Your 111 number is meaningless without context. Just like the numbers I posted are meaningless without context on how that information is collected and the circumstances behind them.

Because unlike you and the rest of the Blue Wall, we mere civilians aren't allowed to carry weapons everywhere or wear body armor.

Ah yes here comes Highlord Laan with his one liner post that is completely devoid of any content. Look, you're just too stupid to participate in anything more serious then a discussion of a movie trailer so why don't you sit these out and let the adults talk. I don't recall the last time you ever contributed anything useful to these threads. Do you?

[Thanas]

Holy crap

At first I was thinking "Oh good, here come the other officers to restrain the guys" Nope, more like "Let me at him. I haven't kicked him yet".

"In the two minutes after the man was stunned with a Taser, it appeared deputies kicked him 17 times, punched him 37 times and struck him with batons four times. Thirteen blows appeared to be to the head.

[Dominus Atheos]

You're right, it's entirely possible that if those officers had been white that they would have been back in the field without punishment. That's not really the point of the story though. There are many issues involved in why this story is wrong. Racism against the officers really isn't a factor in why I or Dailykos posted this story.

The story is about racism, is it not? The journalist fails to conduct basic research of which the answers he would find would make this comparison completely unnecessary and actually totally wrong. If the story of David Ayes is anything to go by then Ricky should receive roughly $3400 for every day he was locked up.

Unless you don't believe the officers deserve any compensation for being discriminated against due to their skin color for five years of their life.

Yes, you got me. That was the reason I posted the story, I'm mad that the police got any money at all. Anyway, the points of the story, which I know you know but have to ignore in order to do the best job possible in your self-appointed duty to defend what is basically indefensible, is that:

1. When cops are the victims of racism by other cops, they get 5 years desk duty, stuck in their $96,000 a year pay grade without the opportunity to get second jobs as security guards (obviously a fundamental right for all policemen), and eventually 4 million dollars compensation for that racism; while when civilians are subject to racism by police (and the entire criminal justice system) they get 39 years in prison and 1 million dollars compensation.
2. The police apparently only do the (the start of) right thing out of racism, not because it's (not really) the right thing.
3. The police didn't even do the right thing even in this case. If an armed civilian had shot and killed an unarmed autistic man, there would have been a criminal trial, especially if he were black or hispanic. I don't know if he would have been convicted, but he would have been arrested, held on a 1 million dollar bail, charged, indicted and tried.
4. Seriously though, I agree with you about the racism. If they weren't hispanic, there's a better then even chance that if they killed a mentally-ill black man, they'd be back on the street with weapons regardless of what some silly "Police Commission" ruled as unjustified.

"Attacked" with something doesn't mean anything. I am assuming you are getting your data from here. According to that report, of the 186 officers "attacked" with firearms, only 10.9% were injured or about 20 officers. If we add the number of people who were shot by police but survived the 111 figure would be much higher, handgun wounds have something like a 70-80% survival rate.

For "other dangerous weapons", if we add everyone who was beaten with nightsticks (I'm sorry, "pain compliance impact striked", as police prefer to call them) the number would be in the thousands.

So, you agree that posting simple numbers for complex issues doesn't really tell us anything and is to open for manipulation? Because that's my point. Your 111 number is meaningless without context. Just like the numbers I posted are meaningless without context on how that information is collected and the circumstances behind them.

Context is good:

American police killed more people in March (111) than the entire UK police have killed since 1900

A total of 111 people were killed by police in the United States in March of 2015. Since 1900, in the entire United Kingdom, 52 people have been killed by police.

Don't bother adjusting for population differences, or poverty, or mental illness, or anything else. The sheer fact that American police kill TWICE as many people per month as police have killed in the modern history of the United Kingdom is sick, preposterous, and alarming.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/0 ... since-1900

Given that other countries with 1/5th our population average less then 1 killing every year (with admittedly much, much less gun violence), how many deaths per month are reasonable to expect in the US? 100 times as many would still be less then 10.

[Dominus Atheos]

Edit: posted already.

[Dominus Atheos]

And so the incarceral state continues to bully its way into childhood, parenthood, and family life . . .

First up, another story about teenagers, sex, and the internet in which local law enforcement officials claim that the only way to save some kids from ruining their lives . . . is by ruining their lives.

Four suburban teenagers have been arrested on felony charges, for an explicit video they posted on Twitter.

All four students attend Joliet Central High School, and are between the ages of 14 and 16. A 15-year-old girl and three of her classmates recorded consensual sex acts one week ago, and posted the video on Twitter.

The girl’s mother found out about the video, and reported the Twitter post to police, who seized the original recording.

The four teens were arrested Friday, and charged as juveniles with child pornography

Joliet Police Chief Brian Benton said posting the video online made already risky behavior criminal.

“It’s a criminal offense, first of all, to post that type of material online, especially for underage,” Benton said.

Police want the charges against the four students to serve as a cautionary tale to other youths engaged in high-risk behavior.

“The child pornography offense that was charged is in place for a reason, because we don’t want to accept that type of behavior as a society,” Benton said. “It’s making a strong statement, and I think it’s important to do so, to send a message to others that kids shouldn’t be involved in this type of behavior, and hopefully this will serve as a deterrent.”

Benton said such behavior could seriously affect the teens’ lives “for years to come.”

“It’s an incident you may not recover from,” he said.

How bold of Chief Benton to be willing to destroy these kids’ lives with child pornography charges for a series of mistakes they made that (a) only victimized themselves, (b) were made while they were minors, and (c) is only the digital age version of the same mistakes a significant percentage of teenagers have been making for as long as there have been teenagers. I wonder if Chief Benton ever made a mistake as a teenager.

Next up, Holiday, Florida officials want to ruin a kid for a dumb prank.

Eighth-grader Domanik Green, 14, of Paul R. Smith Middle School in Holiday, Florida, was recently arrested and charged with offense against a computer system and unauthorized access (which is a felony charge). He was released from Land O’Lakes Detention Center on Wednesday.

The Tampa Bay Times reports that the Pasco County sheriff’s department took action after Green used a teacher’s administrative password to log onto a school computer. While accessing the machine, he changed its desktop background to an image of two men kissing. The computer had state standardized testing questions on it, though they were encrypted and police say that Green didn’t access them. “I logged into a teacher’s computer who I didn’t like and tried putting inappropriate pictures onto his computer to annoy him,” Green told the Times.

Sheriff Chris Nocco said, “Even though some might say this is just a teenage prank, who knows what this teenager might have done.”

As far as I know, we don’t punish anyone in this country, let alone minors, for crimes they might have committed. Let’s be clear about something: It’s the adults who are failing in these stories, not the kids. Perhaps these children do have some problems above and beyond the normal growing pains of being a teenager. That’s a reason for adults to reach out to them, and offer them help. That requires some patience, some nuance, and some empathy. But the criminal justice system is a blunt instrument. There’s nothing nuanced about it. Using cops, courts, and jails to address problems once handled by schools, parents, religious leaders, and community institutions isn’t bold or difficult or brave. It’s just throwing the threat of violence at our problems. It’s easy. And it’s lazy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the- ... continued/

[Flagg]

Frankly, the police in this country should thank whatever gods they believe in that Americans are so goddamned apathetic to this horrendous shit and haven't resorted to "second amendment remedies" (as Republican politicians would say) by now. But then, only white people are allowed to march around with AR-15's on their backs in Walmart, as I suspect if a minority did such a thing they'd be shot and killed. I mean it's already happened to a black man with a fucking BB-Gun picked up off a store shelf in said poverty machine/ big box store.

Christ, if I were black I'd either never leave the house or wear body armor (even though that's illegal for civilians in many states) if I did. And it's just going to get worse as the "White Christian Male Power Structure" (as a conservative liar on FOXNEWS (TM) whose first name fittingly rhymes with "shill" once called it) teeters and then collapses a decade or so after the whites are in the minority. I wonder if one day white mothers and fathers will have to sit down with their young white male children and have "the talk" about how to not be murdered by the cops...

Just something to think about!

[Kamakazie Sith]

Yes, you got me. That was the reason I posted the story, I'm mad that the police got any money at all. Anyway, the points of the story, which I know you know but have to ignore in order to do the best job possible in your self-appointed duty to defend what is basically indefensible, is that:

I don't think you're understanding me. Your author is comparing the monetary awards from civil suits awarded in two different states for two different reasons. This means that your findings will be lopsided.

Ohio law allows for a maximum of 40,000 a year awarded to those wrongfully imprisoned. For Ricky this resulted in 1 million dollars in compensation. Had this happened in California he would have received less because CA only allows for a max of $100 per day or 36,500 a year.

If you want to claim that there is a bias in favor of police in civil court then you need to keep it in the same state for the same reason. Show me that police are awarded more money than a citizen who sues for the same reason.

1. When cops are the victims of racism by other cops, they get 5 years desk duty, stuck in their $96,000 a year pay grade without the opportunity to get second jobs as security guards (obviously a fundamental right for all policemen), and eventually 4 million dollars compensation for that racism; while when civilians are subject to racism by police (and the entire criminal justice system) they get 39 years in prison and 1 million dollars compensation.

LAPD makes 95,000 a year? That's impressive. According to my sources they make around 58,000. I guess if you include all the benefits they receive then it would equal 95,000 a year but I digress.

David Ayes was awarded 13 million out of Ohio despite serving much less time than Ricky. By the way, it's not discrimination if they awarded him the max amount allowed to by law. Unless you can show me that a police officer wrongfully incarcerated in Ohio was awarded more than the 40,000 per year limit.

[*]The police apparently only do the (the start of) right thing out of racism, not because it's (not really) the right thing.

[*]The police didn't even do the right thing even in this case. If an armed civilian had shot and killed an unarmed autistic man, there would have been a criminal trial, especially if he were black or hispanic. I don't know if he would have been convicted, but he would have been arrested, held on a 1 million dollar bail, charged, indicted and tried.

As has been covered numerous times, even if you don't agree with it, being unarmed does not mean you can't be justifiably shot by police or even an armed civilian.

That being said LAPD apparently did punish these two for something. If they felt they did wrong in the case of shooting and killing someone then you are absolutely right they should have done more than just desk duty. They should have fired them.

[*]Seriously though, I agree with you about the racism. If they weren't hispanic, there's a better then even chance that if they killed a mentally-ill black man, they'd be back on the street with weapons regardless of what some silly "Police Commission" ruled as unjustified.[/list]

The police commission ruled that they failed to follow proper training and tactics. Specifically "Diego drove the patrol so near to Washington that the officers had little chance to take cover and assess the situation before Corrales shot Washington, Aguilera said.

“They should never have been that close,” he said."

Basically, just because the cops fail to follow proper training and procedures does not mean that a shooting is unjustified. I am not saying that their shooting was justified though.

Context is good:

Yet you post another article with a number that doesn't provide context.

<snip article>

Given that other countries with 1/5th our population average less then 1 killing every year (with admittedly much, much less gun violence), how many deaths per month are reasonable to expect in the US? 100 times as many would still be less then 10.

I think it helps that the UK only has roughly 6500 armed officers in the entire country and yes the far lower homicide rate and the much much less gun violence play a significant role. You combine that with other factors such as social services, affordable health care, etc then this question quickly becomes very complicated.

However, I will end with that US police could do more to shoot less people while accepting a negligible increase to their own risk. I'm just not sure what the reduction would look like but I do think the number would still be far higher than the UK or any other country with sane social services and firearm control.

[Kamakazie Sith]

Frankly, the police in this country should thank whatever gods they believe in that Americans are so goddamned apathetic to this horrendous shit and haven't resorted to "second amendment remedies" (as Republican politicians would say) by now. But then, only white people are allowed to march around with AR-15's on their backs in Walmart, as I suspect if a minority did such a thing they'd be shot and killed. I mean it's already happened to a black man with a fucking BB-Gun picked up off a store shelf in said poverty machine/ big box store.

Christ, if I were black I'd either never leave the house or wear body armor (even though that's illegal for civilians in many states) if I did. And it's just going to get worse as the "White Christian Male Power Structure" (as a conservative liar on FOXNEWS (TM) whose first name fittingly rhymes with "shill" once called it) teeters and then collapses a decade or so after the whites are in the minority. I wonder if one day white mothers and fathers will have to sit down with their young white male children and have "the talk" about how to not be murdered by the cops...

Just something to think about!

Frankly, Flagg. We should be thankful that the violent mentally ill are a very small minority and those with access to firearms are even smaller. What you just described "second amendment remedy" is the behavior of a crazy person.

So, no I don't believe we should be thankful for the apathetic citizens. We should be thankful that violent crazy people with access to guns are a very tiny group.

[Dominus Atheos]

[LAPD makes 95,000 a year? That's impressive. According to my sources they make around 58,000. I guess if you include all the benefits they receive then it would equal 95,000 a year but I digress

That is from your link:

Corrales testified that he was offered a security job at Dodger Stadium and that he needs the additional money in addition to his $96,000 annual salary to support his family and other relatives.

http://www.dailynews.com/government-and ... on-by-jury

My heart bleeds for them.

[Block]

$58,000 a year is starting pay KS, these were 12 year vets apparently, so they'd be making a lot more. $96k isn't out of line. Hell, the small cities near me start around $95k.

[Kamakazie Sith]

[LAPD makes 95,000 a year? That's impressive. According to my sources they make around 58,000. I guess if you include all the benefits they receive then it would equal 95,000 a year but I digress

That is from your link:

Corrales testified that he was offered a security job at Dodger Stadium and that he needs the additional money in addition to his $96,000 annual salary to support his family and other relatives.

http://www.dailynews.com/government-and ... on-by-jury

My heart bleeds for them.

Yeah, not exactly a tear jerking story and I certainly never thought it was to begin with. Ricky's story, on the other hand, is very sad.

$58,000 a year is starting pay KS, these were 12 year vets apparently, so they'd be making a lot more. $96k isn't out of line. Hell, the small cities near me start around $95k.

Alright. I top out at $67,000 a year after eight years of service but I imagine cost of living in and around LA is quite high.

[Flagg]

Frankly, the police in this country should thank whatever gods they believe in that Americans are so goddamned apathetic to this horrendous shit and haven't resorted to "second amendment remedies" (as Republican politicians would say) by now. But then, only white people are allowed to march around with AR-15's on their backs in Walmart, as I suspect if a minority did such a thing they'd be shot and killed. I mean it's already happened to a black man with a fucking BB-Gun picked up off a store shelf in said poverty machine/ big box store.

Christ, if I were black I'd either never leave the house or wear body armor (even though that's illegal for civilians in many states) if I did. And it's just going to get worse as the "White Christian Male Power Structure" (as a conservative liar on FOXNEWS (TM) whose first name fittingly rhymes with "shill" once called it) teeters and then collapses a decade or so after the whites are in the minority. I wonder if one day white mothers and fathers will have to sit down with their young white male children and have "the talk" about how to not be murdered by the cops...

Just something to think about!

Frankly, Flagg. We should be thankful that the violent mentally ill are a very small minority and those with access to firearms are even smaller. What you just described "second amendment remedy" is the behavior of a crazy person.

So, no I don't believe we should be thankful for the apathetic citizens. We should be thankful that violent crazy people with access to guns are a very tiny group.

I wouldn't call the Police a very tiny group.

[Kamakazie Sith]

I wouldn't call the Police a very tiny group.

There's something distasteful about pretending to be stupid just for the sake of a lame insult especially when it is just a one liner devoid of content and is just basically a cheap concession.

[Flagg]

I wouldn't call the Police a very tiny group.

There's something distasteful about pretending to be stupid just for the sake of a lame insult especially when it is just a one liner devoid of content and is just basically a cheap concession.

Would it be more or less distasteful than running to the defense of law enforcement agencies after virtually every police shooting of an unarmed (usually but not always) black and/ or mentally ill person? That said, I don't believe race or racism on the part of the individual who is a member of this forum I'm describing plays even the tiniest smidgen of a part in what I believe to be kneejerk defense due to |BLUE WALL-ISM| as opposed to race because I do not believe for a second that this person is in any way shape or form a racist.

And then using the fictions findings of whichever somehow personally connected to a high ranking member of the department or DA's office (as if they're even separate entities in most places these days) "Independent Investigation" that completely exonerates the officer(s) involved!

[Dominus Atheos]

[Borgholio]

No, that cop-watcher definitely deserved that. Standing there, not interfering at all. How dare she?

[Flagg]

Could have been worse. They could've beaten, TAZER'd, and arrested her. I mean she began running from him (at least 6' in my estimation, hard to tell weight with all the armor the big strong man attacking a seemingly petit woman is) so could have been made-up charged with "resisting arrest" or "not following the orders of a police officer".

[Borgholio]

True. Thankfully this third party was videotaping the whole thing, either way.