Agree with those who have also advised their kids that the police are not their friends (and its a justified warning). Sad state of affairs.
[Who’s paying for Michael Slager’s heavy-hitting defense lawyer?](Who's paying for Michael Slager's heavy-hitting defense lawyer?)
I read that the usual law enforcement defense fund people rejected him. GoFundMe also turned him down. The Indiego fund, which concedes he made “mis-steps” has raised $749. I’d bet that the new attorney is doing it pro bono, or close to pro bono, for the publicity.
Finally, someone brings up the unbiased, cold truth. Colored people are killing each other all the time. They compromise the majority of America’s dangerous neighborhoods. Why else are the cops so present there? It’s only about time until one of them committed a crime. Cops have to be overly aggressive with them or our country will continue to be bogged down.
Extreme sarcasm aside, I encourage you, MiamiDAP, to take this weekend to learn about intersectionality, trends and factors of different socio-economic backgrounds, community cultures, and read about black communities and their thoughts on the image of a black person in America and what their plans of change are. I will also encourage you meet black people outside of your Detroit area. Exposure and a variety of experiences are a great thing to have.
I was talking to one of the officers I know about how people remember police interactions. I can’t count the number of times I’ve interacted with police but I remember as bold as anything the one time in 30 years when an officer absolutely lost it and acted like a complete bleep, screaming at me over something that wasn’t my fault. That shows something. It partly explains why police are over-sensitive about criticism - though not, IMHO, why they defend lousy cops (except within the department, where they actively dislike bad officers). It also partly explains, from my observations, the attitudes many police have when they work in higher crime areas: they have a number of bad interactions and are trained (assuming they’re properly trained) and are naturally attuned as people to remember and respond to the worst. None of that, however, explains or justifies shooting a man in the back who is running away from a non-violent crime.
@Lergnom Not to mention the fact that in Tennessee v. Garner, the Supreme Court ruled that police may NOT shoot at a fleeing suspect unless he/she presents a danger. It’s hard to argue that an unarmed man who’s running away from you presents a danger to you, so Slager’s shooting was clearly not justified, either by common sense or by the constitution.
“Extreme sarcasm aside” – @Niquii77, thanks for adding that because my hair stood up on my head reading your first paragraph.
The editorial cartoon with the caption “Worst job in America goes to black man” summed it up perfectly."
@NYMomof2, LOL… it reminds me when, back in 2008, someone asked Chris Rock how he felt about Barack Obama’s election. The interviewer clearly expected some effusive answer, but Chris Rock just smiled and shook his head and said, “It’s not necessarily good to be the first black man at ANYthing…”
I hadn’t heard that, katliamom, thanks! He’s so right.
Good God, here’s another case of police abuse caught on camera just yesterday. What the hell is wrong with our LEOs?
[California sheriff suspends 10 deputies in beating of fleeing horseman](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/10/us-usa-police-california-idUSKBN0N120H20150410)
This story doesn’t state the race of the victim. But it’s another case of out-of-control cops who seem intent on being judge, jury and executioner.
Cynicism taking over
They’re probably going to pull out the good old “He was resisting!” excuse for that one, then those initial two deputies will be put on administrative leave until everything blows over.
But that’s the problem police departments are now facing. Their lies and coverups don’t work when we can see with our own eyes that he wasn’t resisting. Just as we can see Walter Scott wasn’t going for Officer Slager’s taser.
It seems like there is something very sick in police culture. I’m sure there are lots and lots of good cops who’d never do anything like this. But why aren’t they speaking out? Why aren’t they applying pressure to their brethren? Why is this being permitted?
I just saw the video from this incident on CNN.com, and am left gobsmacked by the brazenness of this police assault. Seriously, by what legal rubric is it admissible for law enforcement to physically attack a suspect that has already surrendered? I mean, the guy had literally laid himself face down on the ground and placed his hands behind his back as officers approached him. And that news helicopter circling overhead, filming every moment? Did it not even once enter heads of any of the officers that video evidence of their behavior might land them in hot water? When I saw the blow one of them delivered to the poor guys groin, I grew sick imagining how painful that must have been.
The whole lot of them devolved into a mob of thugs, mindless animals, worse than any of the rioters caught on camera looting convenience stores during the Ferguson protests. And the fact that this beating was not racially motivated (unless they assumed the suspect was Hispanic) makes this incidence no less worthy of outrage. Corrupt and violent law enforcement is corrupt and violent law enforcement. And it has to stop.
I firmly believe there has always been this element in police culture. Black people have known about it since time-out-of-mind. But again, it’s only because video proof of this element is now easily obtainable, that the general public can no longer sail placidly down that river in Egypt.
I’m not entirely convinced it’s fair to charge good cops with “not speaking out/applying pressure to their brethren.” Just because they aren’t taking to the street with bullhorns and words of public condemnation doesn’t mean they aren’t talking about it at muster, during meetings, and in their squad cars. It reminds me of the charge conservatives like to level against “black leaders” (of whom they cynically have only a couple in mind) concerning black-on-black crime (as if they give a flying flock that black people are killing each other). It does no good to point out that black communities have been organizing rallies and community meetings over crime and gang violence for years and years (sometimes, even conservative-identified “leaders” show up at them). But controlling people’s minds, attitudes and behavior isn’t easy under the best of circumstances. This is true of gangs, and also of bad cops.
Yes, what is it in police culture that leads them to believe that they are justified in administering punishment rather than just making the arrest.
All these incidents remind me of the 1980 murder of a black insurance broker in Miami when I was working as a news reporter. Arthur McDuffie was on a motorcycle and rather than pull over on a traffic stop, he took off and led police on a chase. In testimony, it was said that after they did catch up to him, he got off the cycle, put his hands up and said, “I give up.” Four Miami-Dade cops proceeded to beat him to death with fists and heavy-duty flashlights.
What makes them think it’s their prerogative to do this?
It was sickening to read the accounts of this beating of an unarmed man who was being stopped on a traffic violation. That it is still happening is even more sickening.
Requiring officers to wear cameras at all times is the only thing I can think of that will prevent the power-trip violence that seems to occur if they encounter any resistance at all.
There were, what, ten deputies with that guy who stole the horse. I kept expecting one to start pulling the other guys away. Ten deputies, not one with enough character to stop the rest from beating up a guy who had lain down on the ground with his hands behind his back. That’s not one rotten apple; that’s a whole barrel of spoiled fruit.
You know who never, ever, ever comes forward with videos or testimony about police brutality? Other cops. We keep hearing about how these brutes are the exception, but if they are, then why don’t the supposedly overwhelming number of good cops expose them? If you let an abusive cop continue to abuse, you’re just as bad as he is. They’re all rotten. From top to bottom, the entire system is rotten. There are no good cops. If there were good cops, they’d expose their criminal brethren. Aren’t they supposed to be catching criminals?
There was an interview this evening on NPR on the subject of police culture. The guy said that an us-versus-them attitude is inculcated from the very beginning, in the academy. Cops think of themselves as warriors, as soldiers in enemy territory, and every interaction with civilians must be seen as potentially fatal. “Protect and serve” is nice for public consumption, but in reality their mission in many places is to keep their feet on the throats of the citizenry. That’s how Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Walter Scott ended up suffering summary execution for committing misdemeanors. They stepped out of line, and an occupying army cannot permit that.
IMO this may explain the hair-trigger violence, and what I can only call police rage which is out of all proportion to the situation. The new fad of military gear, weapons and vehicles fosters the soldier mentality among police. Those 10 cops in California weren’t beating up one guy who had already surrendered. They were punishing an enemy combatant and by extension, the rest of the enemy combatants (I believe that a lot of this violence is intended to send a message to the rest of the community. Don’t mess with us or we will tear you apart. And we will get away with it, again and again.). Of course, that sort of thing wouldn’t be allowed in the real military, but as you say, Fang, cops never ever rat each other out, and heaven knows, prosecutors don’t rat them out. There are no court martials for the police. So they know they’re safe, no matter how heinous their actions.
So where are all the “white leaders” who should be condemning the indefensible murder of Walter Scott? Where is the sanctimonious Rudy Giuliani, who’s always prepared to go on television and impugn people’s integrity and patriotism for daring to criticize the police? Where’s Patrick Lynch, who threw a prolonged, public tantrum when Mayor DiBlasio talked about what he had to teach his black son, and essentially claimed that the police should be above criticism? Where’s Rupert Murdoch and the New York Post? I’m waiting.
Oh Donna, I couldn’t have said it better. And while we’re at it, how is it that CC’s sizable conservative contingent has remained so collectively mute over this incident (with the exception of one or two), when they usually have oh-so-much to say about news reports of law enforcement overreach?
Brings to mind that old TV show, Hill Street Blues, whose tag line was something like “Let’s do it to them before they do it to us.”
@LasMa I almost cried when I saw that video. It was absolutely disgusting. But now, they are on paid administrative leave, which is basically just a vacation. It is beyond me how people who are supposed to protect and serve have found a way to completely devalue human life. These guys who are supposed to be “brave” are extremely arrogant and cowardly and have fragile psyche. Every blow to their ego in some of their eyes is justification for death and is justifications for physical abuse.
I mean, the guy stole a horse. A freaking horse. Yeah, it’s not right. But it’s not like this guy was committing a heinous crime. He didn’t put anyone in danger.
I wish the system had more accountability. Cops usually have this “us against the world” mentality, so even when they do wrong, they find some pathetic way to justify it. It’s disgusting. And Lord knows how many times this has happened.
How many times has someone been killed or beaten because they “grabbed his gun” or because their “life was in danger”? And how many times have cops gotten off with that excuse because there was no footage to prove otherwise. We have way too many wimps in law enforcement.
And I know this doesn’t apply to all cops, but it applies to far too many.