Unarmed naked black man shot by police in Georgia.

[Al B. Sure!]

I counted them:

1 mugging/beat down in Germantown, Philadelphia in 2003
1 mugging/beat down in North Philadelphia in 2003
1 mugging in Olney, Philadelphia in 2004
1 attempted mugging in North Philadelphia (they chased me but I outran them) in 2007
1 attempted mugging in North Philadelphia (they showed the gun but again I outran them) in 2007
2 armed robberies on my shift at the store I worked at in West Oak Lane, Philadelphia (I was robbed as well) in 2004

In addition:
Chased down a guy in 2011 who assaulted a store owner who pursued him after he shoplifted

I've also witnessed several crimes, most recently the robbery of a Walgreens in Claymont, Delaware in April 2014 two weeks before my mobilization. I did not intervene because I didn't want to jeopardize my mobilization.

Probably the scariest was when I was shot at in 2004...

There's a specific common demographic to every single one of these crimes: Black males between ages of 16 and 35, usually in a group of two or more.


It's funny relating my experiences to people who lived in completely different places. They are shocked by the frequency of crime I was exposed to.

[Al B. Sure!]

You don't know the fear I had walking home at night after work through the hood. Every single night, the worry that tonight will be the night. Is it any comforting that I was only a victim less than a dozen times in the few thousands of times I was walking home? Is that a statistic that comforts you when you're walking under a dark railroad bridge in the blighted hellholes of this country and you see two young Black men with hoods on in front of you walking to you?

It's the dirty little secret White America is too scared to admit.

[regexcellent]

Race is a better predictor of criminal activity than anything else in this country, and since it is also very visible, it's a natural human reaction to use it as a heuristic. Is that right? No. Is it profiling? Yes. Is it natural human behavior? Absolutely.

edit: this is just an addendum to what Alby wrote, not a commentary on this particular case.

[Thoth]

I counted them:

1 mugging/beat down in Germantown, Philadelphia in 2003
1 mugging/beat down in North Philadelphia in 2003
1 mugging in Olney, Philadelphia in 2004
1 attempted mugging in North Philadelphia (they chased me but I outran them) in 2007
1 attempted mugging in North Philadelphia (they showed the gun but again I outran them) in 2007
2 armed robberies on my shift at the store I worked at in West Oak Lane, Philadelphia (I was robbed as well) in 2004

In addition:
Chased down a guy in 2011 who assaulted a store owner who pursued him after he shoplifted

I've also witnessed several crimes, most recently the robbery of a Walgreens in Claymont, Delaware in April 2014 two weeks before my mobilization. I did not intervene because I didn't want to jeopardize my mobilization.

Probably the scariest was when I was shot at in 2004...

There's a specific common demographic to every single one of these crimes: Black males between ages of 16 and 35, usually in a group of two or more.


It's funny relating my experiences to people who lived in completely different places. They are shocked by the frequency of crime I was exposed to.

Philly is a ****hole.

[PLATO]

Officer had taser on him at time of shooting

I'm curious why that wasn't his first choice then.

Well, he was a black man...

[Donegeal]

Reg, I don't know why I don't have you on ignore yet.

Regarding the Taser: I love the Taser, but just like body cameras, they are not the be all to end all. One of their main limiting factors is the 20' range (which has to be eyeballed as there aren't nice easily seen distance markers all over the place). Another is that with increased range, accuracy dwindles dramatically. The top prong is sighted by a laser. The bottom prong fires downward at like 10 degrees. The further apart the prongs upon impact, the more effective the tase. Speaking of prongs, both have to hit and stick for the weapon to work. If you hit with one and miss with the other it'll try to complete the circuit, but it can't (then if in the ensuing struggle you're arm happens to touch the loose prong prior to 5 seconds from discharge, you both go for a ride (don't ask)). Finally, do I even need to go into detail about the difficulties of hitting a moving target with two prongs?

[pchang]

Well, we do know that tasers can work on naked men:
http://gizmodo.com/5316508/nevada-po...ked-terminator

[Lorizael]

Reg, I don't know why I don't have you on ignore yet.

Regarding the Taser: I love the Taser, but just like body cameras, they are not the be all to end all. One of their main limiting factors is the 20' range (which has to be eyeballed as there aren't nice easily seen distance markers all over the place). Another is that with increased range, accuracy dwindles dramatically. The top prong is sighted by a laser. The bottom prong fires downward at like 10 degrees. The further apart the prongs upon impact, the more effective the tase. Speaking of prongs, both have to hit and stick for the weapon to work. If you hit with one and miss with the other it'll try to complete the circuit, but it can't (then if in the ensuing struggle you're arm happens to touch the loose prong prior to 5 seconds from discharge, you both go for a ride (don't ask)). Finally, do I even need to go into detail about the difficulties of hitting a moving target with two prongs?

Well, I would have tried not killing that naked unarmed man, but it's such a hassle!

[Donegeal]

That reminds me, Tasers are also only a single shot. If you miss, that is no second chance.

[C0ckney]

yes but i think that policeman have arms and legs, and they have presumably had some training on how to handle themselves in a fight, so they should be able to cope with an unarmed man without killing him.

[Donegeal]

True, and in most cases they probably would be able to; but how do they KNOW they'd win? What they do know is that whomever it is that is attacking them has already demonstrated a disregard for the law and poor decision making. They are thinking about what this person would do to them if they lost.

[C0ckney]

i think it's very rare that they find themselves in any real danger because of an unarmed man - i mean how many policeman are killed by unarmed men per year? if it's not zero it must be a number very close to it.

[Donegeal]

A lot. Almost a third are killed by an unarmed man that takes their weapon. Most are done in by traffic; either a car crash or being hit on the side of the road.

[Donegeal]

BTW, they are working on a bracelet/gun combo where the gun will only work when in close proximity to the bracelet.

[Dinner]

Clearly he was asking for it.