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Perhaps Mayor DeBlasio could explain his obsession with selling loose cigarettes. Revenue?
The thing that made and makes me sick about the Garner case is presence of law enforcement officers at the scene who did nothing to de-escalate the situation and didn’t provide medical assistance to Mr. Garner. I don’t know how that is even possible as a human being.
Hear, hear.
Freddie Gray pleaded for medical assistance — when he was still capable of speech — during the second stop of the van. It was ignored.
Even if no criminal charges are filed, there should at least be some disciplinary action, suspension without pay, or some response for the shameful way this was handled.
@zoosermom Well its a good thing this is a forum, therefore we can agree to disagree! Its your opinion Im blowing smoke, but facts dont lie. Cops are rarely indicted. I dont care if you know him personally or not. The video was quite clear, and once again cops walked. I dont think the one cop killed Garner intentionally, but he shouldve faced charges, that chokehold had been banned for good reason. Cops are rarely indicted because cops and the prosecutors are too intertwined. When you have to give your son “the talk” then we can agree. When I stop having to pray my law abiding husband and son, arent pulled over, then we can agree. When my son( who is graduating next month near the top of his college class) doesnt have to feel dread every time a state trooper or cop is behind him, then we can agree. I could go on and on. And the sad thing about all of this is, until now, folks thought we were making this stuff up. And even with cameras, some still feel the need to justify the behavior of bad cops.
Garner was not selling loose cigarettes that day. The cops came to the store because of fight. Garner was breaking up the fight. Instead of focusing on the two that were fighting, they decided to harass him.
Partyof5, you have no idea what happened with the grand jury. None. You can speak to your own experience with authority and I will listen with great respect. But you weren’t in that grand jury room, therefore you are blowing smoke. And you don’t know anything about me, my family, my son or our circumstances, so don’t speculate there, either.
Mr. Garner sold loose cigarettes for a living. There is no question about that. The thing you don’t understand is that the police are always right there. They may have been involved in breaking up a fight at that moment, but there is always a police presence at that intersection and there was unquestionably a crackdown on the selling of loose cigarettes.
That being said, I am appalled by Mr. Garner’s death. It is inconceivable to me that someone would lose his life in that circumstance and even more inconceivable that people who are supposed to serve and protect could stand by and let a human being die.
It may well be true (and undoubtedly is) that cops are rarely indicted, but that doesn’t give you insight into the workings of this specific grand jury and certainly not into the lives of the jurors’ family members. There are many police living on Staten Island, as there are in all five boroughs as well as Nassau and Suffolk, because of that pesky residency rule. I have an idea about what could have happened with the grand jury, and it’s not the same idea as yours, but the fact is that the court has ruled that the proceedings won’t be made public, so all anyone can do is speculate. And Mr. Pantaleo still faces departmental disciplinary proceedings. We shall see.
Whenever there are riots like this, I am really sorry for the small business owners whose establishments are looted and destroyed. Many of these people are immigrants who work extremely hard.
Did you see the woman whose home and place of employment were destroyed? Heartbreaking.
News is starting to hit about the Gray investigation and it’s very confusing.
@partyof5 , not to diminish your fears and dread about having a state trooper or police cruiser behind your son , but we ALL feel that way in our family…and it isn’t because we are breaking the law in any way , but they can pull you over for anything they feel like at any time, and do. I know we are not the only ones either
@zoosermom clearly because you live in the area you don’t feel my points are valid. As I said before, we can agree to disagree. You are certainly entitled to your opinion as am I. You seem to be taking this personally. The fact remains grand juries by in large do not indict cops. They are always given the benefit of the doubt. The Staten Island jury was no different and once again a cop walked and another man is dead by the hands of a cop.
It’s hard to get rid of rogue police officers. A very minor example: my husband was pulled over and ticketed for “going through a standing red light”. I was in the car with him, and the light, which was on the far side of the intersection, changed from yellow to red just the light disappeared from view at the top of the windshield (it was between my cataract surgeries and I was still amusing myself by looking at traffic lights), which means that our car was almost out of the intersection before the light changed, and well before the 4 second delay allowed the cross street light to turn green. The police officer was a full block behind us, turning onto the street from a cross street.Since then, we’ve heard that this same PO has ticketed other drivers for violations that never occurred. The only way to protest it is to go to traffic court, which is held in the day time. Husband was of the opinion that he would then lose a day’s pay in addition to the cost of the ticket, as it was only our word against the PO’s.My insurance bill will arrive in a day or two, and I dread seeing what this has done to our rates.
Similarly, when one of our daughters was a brand new driver, she was at a downtown traffic light, waiting to turn left. When the light turned green, the police officer in the oncoming traffic at the other side of the intersection, did not proceed through the light. She concluded that he had a delayed green, or was being nice and allowing her to turn before the heavy traffic proceeded through the light. After she turned, he turned after her and ticketed her for failure to yield. He then actually bragged to her that he had been doing this for half an hour and “snagged” (“entrapped” would be a better word) several people. Again, we did not go to court as she was a 16 year old with a nose piercing, and it was her word against his. Boy do I wish she’d had a cell phone with video recording.
These PO’s getting away with abusing citizens; how much easier is it to get away with roughing up people with arrest records when others on the force have developed an “us vs them” mentality or sees minority persons in impoverished neighborhoods as people with records or people who “just haven’t been caught yet”.
I am by no means a cop hater , but I am concerned about the bad ones and how they take advantage of their power.
It is different from departments, communities and who the citizens are. I was brought up to trust police officers, to respect them and to do what they say if ever in a situation where you interact with them. Most of the places I have lived in my life have been pretty quiet , residential communities ( with the exception of Staten Island , NY )
The town we live in doesn’t have a police dept , but rely on the local state police. For the most part , they are pretty fair, well respected and do their jobs without bothering anyone…but that isn’t necessarily the case with other, city run police depts…one in particular is known for hunting down drivers for the smallest of motor vehicle violations…like driving 5 mph over the speed limit.
It seems like too many of them are out to harass and generate revenue , rather than to serve and protect.
This is something that many people in our area discuss amongst ourselves…pretty silly when compared to the very serious issues that urban communities deal with , but it makes me wonder if there is a larger problem with a disconnect between police departments and the communities they serve ?
I have been watching interviews with peaceful protesters in Baltimore and I respect the message they are trying so hard to deliver.
I do not respect anyone who resorts to violence , looting or destruction of anyone’s personal property ( or any public property either )
I just can’t get on board with any of that activity , on any level.
Um…beg to differ. We live in a ‘nice’ neighborhood. Shortly after we moved in a MOM up the street developed a meth habit…she brought her oldest daughter into the lifestyle. We saw them running up the street barely clothed, out of their minds. We saw the sheriff having to restrain one or the other while they were at the peak of a high. We took in their youngest daughter anytime she showed up scared for her safety. So…um…yes…meth heads can and often are irrational, aggressive (that’s what 10 cups of coffee would do you) and a danger to themselves and those around them.
“It seems like too many of them are out to harass and generate revenue , rather than to serve and protect.”
I doubt that police officers get a bonus for how much revenue they generate. If they are nitnoiding people, trying to raise revenue (which certainly feels like it every time I get stopped for something trivial), that is a problem with their leadership or the city government’s direction. I sincerely doubt it’s a bunch of rogue cops out there doing it for the fun of it. They have their marching orders.
busdriver, I would argue with that. I think that there are people who become police officers because they like having power over others, and that other PO’s develop a liking for that sense of power. Are you old enough to remember the Zimbardo experiment? My brothers in law are both volunteer fire fighters and EMT’s. They will tell you that they enjoy the adrenaline rush that they experience when they are called out…we often choose our careers to meet our own needs.
I’m sure that you are right that there are some officers that are there for the power, KKmam. I would hope that people would get comfortable with it, or they are in the wrong profession. But I’m sure there are many that have other reasons for choosing it, like a natural progression after being in the military, or a good paying job with benefits. In my husband’s family, a number of them have ended up in law enforcement. I doubt that would have happened if my FIL wasn’t involved in it. I chose my career when I was young and stupid, and thought my job would be interesting and exciting. We don’t always put a lot of thought into these things, and you never know at the time if it’s going to last forever, or be what you expect.
But the last cop who stopped me seemed just like the rest of them who have given my family tickets. Just knocking em out every five minutes, as fast as he could, as little communication as possible. He seemed quietly bored, not having much fun and not on a power trip. I’m sure the speed trap was one that was assigned to him, and he wasn’t enjoying it at all. I felt rather sorry for him. I didn’t challenge him, threaten him, yell at him, or run from him. I put my hands on the wheel, was polite, did what I was told, and he didn’t shoot me. All in all, a better day than some.
You are right bus driver…they do have their marching orders. I know a couple of officers that have admitted to that, although the captain fervently denies it.
There are, unfortunately, many places where the revenue raised from fines is a large part of the municipal budget.
When we were driving through Colorado, we noticed that as you come into a town, the speed limit changes ABRUPTLY, usually right before you come over a hill. Of course, not visible to you at the moment the speed limit changes, there is a cop just beyond the hill waiting to see if you have observed the speed limit change. 
DH got nailed twice. But he has been known to be a slow learner in that regard.
^^ True, that.
The township I live in was sued a few years ago because there was a "no truck" sign posted so far up the block after turning from the main road that drivers couldn't see it until they were doomed - and the police officers sat by that sign a lot until they were forced to move the sign onto the main road, banning truck turns onto that street.
A friend of mine’s husband got a job with our township police department. At the end of his probationary period, they told him that he was not aggressive enough (didn’t make enough stops, issue enough tickets,…) and let him go. I know there are a lot of really great police officers out there, but just like any other job there are bad ones too that abuse their power and make people uneasy. It may be racial in some cases, but not always.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/freddie-grays-death-ruled-homicide-states-attorney/story?id=30728026
So much for the “he broke his own spine” and “he already had a spinal injury” excuses.