protests

[1shemp]

Anybody participating in the protests?Be safe.

 

[Weight]

I can't get the look on that policeman's face out of my mind. As he puts on more pressure he looks pleased with himself. as John Prine said;

 

[1shemp]

When we lost John,we lost a national treasure.

 

[WanderingRose]

It was a terrible, horrible situation, and reflects a systemic failure of that police department for not identifying and acting upon Chauvin’s propensity for unwarranted and deadly violence under color of law enforcement.

It is not possible no one knew, in my opinion, and the murder charges against him are appropriate.

There are too many men out there wearing badges and carrying guns who have no business doing so, from what I see.

Many fine men and women, as well, but there is clearly a problem.

Thank goodness there are security cameras and video recordings.

 

[user 423]

3rd. degree is a travesty.

Anyone else that did that to another human it would be 1st.degree murder.

Cops have a hard job but just like in any other group, there are bad apples.

The shameful fact is that they can get away with brutal behavior for years because other cops won't speak up.

 

[B and C]

The shameful fact is that they can get away with brutal behavior for years because other cops won't speak up.

Which makes those cops also bad cops.  The thin blue line lives on.  We don't care what you do, we have your back. 

The old guard needs to be stopped from training the new guard.

 

[Qxxx]

There are too many men out there wearing badges and carrying guns who have no business doing so, from what I see.

I looked it up, there are 800,000 LEOs in the US, and there is always going to be a fringe group out on the tail of the Gaussian curve, just like in the rest of the population. There are always going to be whackos and people with poor emotional control. That's the reality of human life.

The shame is that, too many of the fringe group get away with it, because they can. More training is "not" gonna help people with that sort of mentality. Whereas, when they screw up, they have to be held accountable for their actions, and then the others might get the message. Don't screw up. The Courts and the Police Departments also have to be willing to hold them accountable. 

The problem is systemic, but the fix has to be done from the top down. The protests have to get the local legislators involved. That's the only way to fix this never-ending mess. Think globally, act locally.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Police kill between about 1000 and 1500 US citizens per year.

A US citizen is about 58 times more likely to be killed by police than by terrorists.

Remember these numbers during every police encounter, no matter how safe and routine it appears to be.

 

[bullfrog]

The biggest problem with our country is a lack of motivation to change many of the things about ourselves and our country in order to be able to be understanding and compassionate towards everyone. The majority of our population has been impoverished by lack of education, health care, housing and things just as simple as a good healthy diet. What does our country offer to motivate individuals to use and follow the systems when they are deprived of the benefits and rewards for doing so. What good does it do to struggle and work for something that will be taken from you in the end? What good does it do to abide by laws that are unjustly applied and not changed by those they do not affect because they do not know or care? Every person should protest the lack of basic education, health care, housing and food when they become aware of others needs. When is it alright to give up on humanity? When is it alright to stop trying to help and just let people die whether it be by the hand of law enforcement, starvation, the elements, or even the pandemic due to lack of preventive medicine? Sadly it seems the people that could change these things only get involved when it becomes violent. What bothers me most is someone took video instead of preventing a man from dying unjustly. I guess we have become a country of bystanders that hopefully events like this will wake up and force changes to at least be considered for a few days before everyone forgets. I yield the soap box!

 

[WanderingRose]

From the videos I have seen, more than one bystander tried to stop the cops, who paid no attention and just told them to get back.

I guess someone could have tackled Chauvin, then they themselves could have been shot and/or arrested.

Making a record of it was important, because without that it would have just been the cops word.

There is apparently a high standard of evidence needed to prove criminal charges against a police officer, beyond a reasonable doubt, and 3rd degree murder takes away the need to prove motive and premeditation.

Better that he go to prison for 3rd degree than get off entirely due to overcharging.

 

[desert_sailing]

Shady operators with a badge and a gun are indeed a huge problem. There is a very easy way to start cleaning this up.

The reason a city is reluctant to act when bad cops are roaming is the liability issue. Many towns can not afford to have one of their employees be the cause of a multimillion dollar lawsuit. So they WILL defend them to the very end. When you battle against police corruption you are also facing the resources of the local govt.

Many communities however are taking a different approach. Instead of burdening their citizens with paying for the actions of a dirty cop they require the officer to pay for his own insurance. Some locales do subsidize those premiums. Just like insurance for your car.. enough issues and you are no longer insurable and no longer able to then drive.

When a dirty cop accumulates enough dings against his policy he also is not insurable and then can no longer work in that field. When the community has a blanket liability insurance policy for the actions of their employees nothing happens and bad cops continue to act badly.

How many people would speed and engage in reckless driving if they could always do so because someone else was taking care of the insurance..

Require law enforcement officers to carry their own insurance... eventually the financial component will drive them out and they will never be able to get a policing job again.

Below are a couple links to articles with numbers.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/insurance-companies-police/529833/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ance-industry-could-reform-american-policing/

Until governing bodies decide to no longer defend the indefensible nothing will change.

The almighty dollar is the most powerful tool available to citizens.. bankrupt the corrupt and inept communities.

Until they are held directly financially liable ...COMPLY..ALWAYS  COMPLY... citizens never win against a cop in the field.. fight them in court.

 

[Qxxx]

From the videos I have seen, more than one bystander tried to stop the cops, who paid no attention and just told them to get back.

Exactly. Three cops are holding Floyd down, one with his knee on his neck. There are "women" a few feet away shouting for them to stop, and a fourth officer is pointing at the bystanders to stay back. What were the onlookers supposed to do?

 

[Matlock]

Nothing will change until everyone who is someone stands up and demands it.

 

[B and C]

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Not that they have absolute powers but it is pretty close when the other police don't step in to stop any wrongdoing.

 

[WanderingRose]

They carry guns and have arrest powers, which makes them pretty powerful and pretty dangerous if they have anger and impulse control issues.

George Floyd was apparently already in the police car via responding officers when Chauvin arrived on the scene, removed him to the ground and put his knee on his neck.

The other three officers will apparently also be charged in the near future, and I think it is good the prosecutor is methodically getting all of his ducks in a row.

I tell my grandchildren that if they are ever stopped by the police to be completely compliant and polite, as you just never know who you may come across.

I was in a National Park campground last year, at the self service kiosk filling out the self registration and writing a check.

I was approached by a female ranger, with her hand on her gun, when it was very obvious what I was doing. She then got someone on the phone and very authoritatively tried to instruct me to pay by credit card. I had already written out my check, so took my stub and politely left, but it was a bit unnerving. Some people should not be carrying weapons.

I had a conversation a bit later with her supervisor, who told me she had been state police and they’d had complaints before about her hand on her gun when taking with campers.

You don’t know who you might be dealing with. Polite and completely compliant is the way to go.

 

[desert_sailing]

You don’t know who you might be dealing with.

Back in the olden days, especially in the Wild West.. the communities ALWAYS hired the local thugs to "enforce' the laws.  Put them on the payroll and they would defend what is now "their" territory from other rabble rousers....

It is a "policy" that continues to this day.

 

[Pleasant Travels]

These people only do what they do because there are no consequences for doing so.

Thus,...until consequences are universally imposed on such behavior,...it will continue.

As the governments continue to fail to impose those consequences, the public is losing their ability to restrain themselves from imposing them themselves, as we are currently witnessing.

I say bring on the consequences.

YAY CONSEQUENCES!!!!!

 

[Qxxx]

I tell my grandchildren that if they are ever stopped by the police to be completely compliant and polite, as you just never know who you may come across.

I was in a National Park campground last year, at the self service kiosk filling out the self registration and writing a check.
....

You'll find dozens of videos on youtube by guys who say you should face down LEOs when stopped and not cooperate. It's a sure way to increase viewing stats, and make more money. Without naming names, there was a guy in bread truck who was getting about 1,000 views per extremely boring video, then posted a LEO stop, and suddenly received 500,000 views. Ching, ching, ka ching.

I have a friend who is a full-timer, and was dispersed camping back in the woods during the lockdown, and a "psychopathic" (her terminology) ranger came up and read her the riot act, exhibiting behavior that scared the hell out of her, even though the regulations were not spelled out in a straight forward manner on the NF webpages. 

You never know when you might run across one of those emotional types way out on the tail of the Gaussian curve.

 

[1shemp]

With the gun laws in this country,I don't understand why every black person doesn't carry a gun.We have white supremists trying to intimidate state and local governments by carrying guns and you never hear of one of them getting murdered.Where are the Black Panthers when we need them?I'm not black but I would join them in a heartbeat.

 

[desert_sailing]

What I see is, that after every police murder, as well as any worthwhile disaster, the looters have a hay day  "shopping" only this time the masks are hiding their wide smiles.

Indeed! The disconnect  is striking. How can folks equate two wrongs = right.

There are tools to fix most problems that don't include theft, fire or violence.