Hands Up, Don't Shoot

[Hauldren Collider]

This is exactly what I would expect someone who credulously believes there are very few issues with law enforcement to say. You really do think that everything is right in America today.

If there was no cell phone footage it'd be open and shut based on the word of the officer and we'd kick the can down the road to the next police shooting.

And yet we have police organizations fighting to prevent video documentation of their activities.

Ever present corruption or lack of capability to be a good officer isn't a reason to kick your feet up and call it a day, which you seem very satisfied in doing.

I don't think that there are no issues, but I think the issues are highly exaggerated. I agree that cops should carry cameras. I also agree that the courts have an unfair bias against blacks.

I think that the shooting of blacks is not systemic, but more a symptom of the fact that black men are vastly more likely to commit crimes, particularly violent crime, than others. Why this is is an interesting question and one I'm not inclined to try to answer here.

EDIT: I think the best rule we could have for the justice system is to require that public defenders be as well-staffed and well-paid as prosecutors. I think this would reduce false convictions, and in doing so, also reduce crime.

[Kidlicious]

It's South Carolina. Unfortunately, it would be shocking if there weren't any racist cops there.

[Berzerker]

I think that the shooting of blacks is not systemic, but more a symptom of the fact that black men are vastly more likely to commit crimes, particularly violent crime, than others. Why this is is an interesting question and one I'm not inclined to try to answer here.

drug wars create a nation of suspects and trigger happy cops

[rah]

While I agree that there are many trigger happy cops due to the drug wars, they also produce a highly armed group of the population.

But I don't think it's fair to automatically paint every cop as a being trigger happy.

[Donegeal]

Tens of thousands of civilian contacts over 17 years and I have never had to pulled the trigger; and these types of numbers are fairly common among officers.

[Hauldren Collider]

Berzerker doesn't live in reality.

[Donegeal]

Some new information coming from the guy who taped the SC shooting: There was a struggle on the ground between the two prior to him starting to video the incident. This info could be a basis for claiming the subject posed a great risk to the community, but I don't think so (and I certianly don't think a jury would). Also, since the cop has already claimed that his justification for shooting him was he feared for his life, it's to late for him to go back and change his justification to protecting the public.

[C0ckney]

indeed. people are rarely in fear of those running away from them.

[pchang]

Chasing after him could have induced a heart attack. Shooting him in the back prevented that.

[FlameFlash]

And then dropping the taser to make him look armed... that created a bunch of other heart attacks...

Though to point out, until the footage came out, it's interesting that the media started painting him as a "Thug". The media is part of this and needs to fix their house as well.

[Berzerker]

that was murder

[The Mad Monk]

And then dropping the taser to make him look armed... that created a bunch of other heart attacks...

Though to point out, until the footage came out, it's interesting that the media started painting him as a "Thug". The media is part of this and needs to fix their house as well.

Which media did that? The first I heard of this, the video was already out.

[I AM MOBIUS]

US Police Kill More Civilians In March Than UK Police Killed In 100 Years

A new report by ThinkProgress.com unearthed disturbing figures when it came to the number of police-related deaths that occurred in America in the month of March alone.

Just last month, in the 31 days of March, police in the United States killed more people than the UK did in the entire 20th century. In fact, it was twice as many; police in the UK only killed 52 people during that 100 year period.

According to the report by ThinkProgess, in March alone, 111 people died during police encounters — 36 more than the previous month.

This high number in March increased the average for police killings from every 8.5 hours, to nearly 1 police killing every 6.5 hours in the US.

China, whose population is 4 and 1/2 times the size of the United States, recorded 12 killings by law enforcement officers in 2014.


On average, US police kill people at a rate 70 times higher than any of the other first world countries as they “protect and serve” the American citizens.


This is not what freedom looks like.

I mean, What the absolute ****!!!?????

Barbarians!

[OneFootInTheGrave]

but the terrorists!!!

[FlameFlash]

Which media did that? The first I heard of this, the video was already out.

The local affiliate went so far as to manufacture witnesses of the police story.

The media should be able to take a police account of a situation as true, but sadly whenever it involves an officer shooting there really shouldn't be anymore.

It's why I have so much issue with the Brown situation. Holder, media... they still take the official story as fact even though the soup has been so muddied by false statements (on both sides) that sometimes somebody should just come out and say "the facts present are not clear enough to create an accurate account of events. Likewise, the facts present are not enough to indict Officer Wilson in a grand jury."

Wondering what would have satisfied me in the Brown situation? That would have. It would have been the only honesty possible because we cannot trust the events Wilson lays out nor can we trust the events the witnesses lay out. It's somewhere in the middle and there is unfortunately not enough citizen journalism (twitter coverage) to go one way or the other.