1721

They had to tase him twice.

1722

Now this is what you can be righteously pissed off about, despite the laughable attempt to tie it to the Martin shooting:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/apr/05/echoes-trayvon-martin-kenneth-chamberlain-sr

The last thing Bartlett hears on the Taser tape is “shut it off”, meaning, turn off the video recording, which the police did. Within minutes, they would shoot Chamberlain Sr twice. Four months later, no one has been charged with the killing.

1723

I saw that on Democracy Now. It’s just mind-boggling. Remember, though! Just a few bad apples. Always just a few. What’s that saying? A few bad apples has no effect on the rest of the bunch. That sounds right.

1724

Bartlett recounted seeing Chamberlain Sr shirtless in the video, hands at his side, without the knife or hatchet that police claim he wielded, standing in his boxer shorts. "The minute they got into the house, they didn’t even give him one command. They never mentioned, ‘put your hands up’. They never told him to lay down on the bed. They never did any of that. The first thing they did, as soon as that door was finally broken off the hinges, you could see the Taser light up, and it was charged, and you could see it going directly toward him."
Even if it’s just a few bad apples, others are watching, letting it happen. Deeper into fascism they go.

1725

What do you mean, “they”? We all live in the same world. We are all going deeper into the totalitarian nightmare, including the rulers of the world who often think they are above it all.

1726

“administers a non-poisonous desensitizing substance ro, or ortherwise interferes with a police service dog”

Hah, aka a dog whistle or any sound device that hinders a cop dog from doing its (often trumped up sniff tests) job.

I’ll start to give a shit about police mutts when they stop using the average citizen/civilian/serf’s dog as target practice.

1727

I know it’s been a while since we updated this thread and we’ve missed dozens and dozens of examples of police tyranny, but I couldn’t pass up this one.

Police claim man committed suicide in back of patrol car. While handcuffed. After being searched. Twice.

His mother, Teresa Carter, disagrees. “I think they killed him,” she said. “My son wasn’t suicidal.” Carter said she was also told her son was shot in the right temple, although he was left-handed.

Is there anybody left that would be surprised if this turns out to be a plain execution? I’m more surprised by the sheer incompetence, either in their cover-up or securing a suspect into custody.

1728

I just love when people talk about police as if they were some different kind of different people. Fuck the police. Fuck the pigs. Right?

My cousin was a cop for a long time. He spent a lot of his time talking to the people in his precinct. He was a a great guy. He had two babies born while he was on the fucking beat.

He stopped a damn bank robbery while he was just going to deposit a pay check in a bank. He is a hero to me. But the average idiot here is all about ‘fuck the police’.

You know what, you wish you had the balls that my cousin has. There is no better guy in the fucking world than my cousin or the guys that worked with him. And when you all get together and bitch at cops, think about this.

How many times have you been out in the street and wished that somebody could saved your ass from the mistake that you made, right then?

Fuck all of you police haters. But they will still be there to help you. And you don’t deserve it.

1729

I don’t hate cops. Far from it, which is why I tend to extra angry about the bad ones when they crop up.

1730

Nice troll.

1731

Troll? Really? Are you a total fucking idiot? Do you really think that was trolling?

Here’s the story:

Off Duty Cop Angelo Russo

What do you have to say about that smartass?

1732

Who were you addressing with your post? Everybody posting in the thread? If that’s the case then you’re no better than those you hate. You essentially said “fuck you” to everybody posting in this thread.

People are individuals. Labeling a group of people in some way is pretty dumb, whether they’re police or people who dislike police abuse.

The fact of the matter is, most policemen and women are good people. Most people on this planet are good people. But sometimes people (even good ones) make bad decisions. And other times, the police are trained and instructed to perform actions which treat citizens as the enemy. Police are often encouraged to protect their own, regardless of truth. Often they work under an immense pressure to make arrests, even when not in the presence of crimes. They also witness criminals get off without punishment, which sometimes colors the way they view all suspects.

A lot of factors go into the situations highlighted in this thread. If you’d like to point out some people who are claiming all cops are pieces of shit or something, go for it. But making blanket statements and nebulous claims is not helpful.

1733

That particular post was addressed to foogla. The one above it was addressed to cop haters in general.

1734

I’m sure your cousin is wonderful and I’m certain there are more. But look at this thread; 43 pages of inexcusable police brutality.
We have a long way to go.

edit: personally, I don’t really blame the police for police brutality. I think they are just agents who’re following the mandates of a near-fascist regime.

1735

I’m sure your cousin is a great guy. Really–I’m saying that without sarcasm. I’m sure he’s a good cop. But there are a lot of bad cops, and they look just like the good cops. The idea that there are just a “few bad apples” looks less and less likely every day. And the good cops protect them; they defend them. We have 58 pages of stories in this thread about rights violated and lives taken by police who were supposed to help people who totally didn’t deserve it.

So you’ll forgive me if I don’t trust the police. I don’t hate them, but I certainly don’t trust them. I was mugged and the police were great–they showed up almost immediately and were very professional. But how on earth could I know which one is going to show up next time? I thought the cops in my neighborhood were pretty all right, but then one of them shot somebody’s dog at a street festival for pretty much no reason at all, so what do I know?

1736

Please to be reading Radley Balko’s daily reporting of the various “isolated incidents”; then perhaps you might have an understanding of the topic on which you spew your irrationality.

Unlike you, I will refrain from cheering when the police you called because you think your house is being broken into shoot you and then claim that you brandished a weapon at them. (Just as a recent example.)

The simple truth is that in modern America, with our wonderfully militarized police forces and pretty damn compliant court system, doing everything possible to avoid having anything to do with cops for any reason, is the safest and sanest course.

Goddamit. I swore to never dive into the cesspool of P&R.

1737

I don’t hate random individual police officers I encounter. But I do hate the system and what the collective as a whole has become: militarization, officer safety over all reasonable behavior, excessive waste for training and toys, idleness and general uncontrollability that leads to bothering non-violent citizens.

Pretty much fuck all that.

1738

Okay, I’ll agree that the system is fucked up. But this fuck the police thing isn’t the way to go. Fuck the system, I’m with you. But fuck the police is like fuck people who have children. Even though some of them are totally fucked up.

I guess it depends upon the lens that you use to view life as a whole. Painting anyone with that broad of a brush is problematic. But if that’s what makes you feel good, you go for it.

1739

Agreed! It’s like shaming soldiers of an unpopular war. It’s a more difficult distinction now though; soldiers do a tour or two, while police are usually for life.

1740

Do you do realize the system is made of people? People that cause the system to be fuck-it-worthy? In this case, people we generally call “cops”? Its not like over here is a system, and over there are cops, and isn’t it such a tragedy that the system is fucked, but what can the cops do about it?

The “good” cops can fucking well stop protecting the bad, for starters. Fire their asses and make sure they never work in another department, ever. Perhaps, even, be tried and punished for their often criminal behaviour.