Ongoing U.S Police Brutality and Corruption Discussion Thread

I'm sure you'll find a minute somewhere

where's that shit with the statistic about cops dying on the job vs. roofers/foresters/cab-drivers
I just saw it the other day

http://www.premierhandling.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/most-dangerous-jobs.jpg

... much of which can be accounted for by the fact that cops drive a lot

The Officer Down Memorial Page lists the following causes of death for officers in the line of duty this year. Don't know how complete or up to date it is.

Assault: 2
Automobile accident: 25
Drowned: 1
Fire: 1
Gunfire: 46
Gunfire (Accidental): 2
Heart attack: 15
Motorcycle accident: 3
Struck by vehicle: 3
Vehicle pursuit: 5
Vehicular assault: 10

Read more: http://www.odmp.org/search/year/2014#ixzz3Mduh6Nxu

BTW this has made national news now, but I first saw it last week in Cleveland SCENE, the alt-weekly.

http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/12/volunteer_cop_resigns_after_his_racist_youtube_comments_are_exposed.html

lol @ De Blasio calling for an immediate suspension of protests - everything's even-steven now eh

Patrick Lynch is indistinguishable from every predecessor of his; no cop ever did anything wrong, they bray.

blaming these cop murders on the protests is pretty gross

one convenient insane person

lol @ De Blasio calling for an immediate suspension of protests - everything's even-steven now eh

― Οὖτις, Monday, 22 December 2014 22:06 (23 minutes ago)

this doesnt really have anything to do with what de blasio is saying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxJSBU2KgnI

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday called for protesters to suspend demonstrations in the aftermath of the killing of two New York police officers, who were gunned down in Brooklyn as they sat in their patrol car.

“It’s time for everyone to put aside political debates, put aside protests, put aside all of the things that we will talk about in due time,” Mr. de Blasio said in a speech. “That can be for another day.”

I was referring to this lede in the NYT

The obvious purpose of that is to protect protesters from vengeful cops.

“That can be for another day.”

it's always another day somewhere, de blasio

^^^

feel like vengeful cops won't have any problem identifying people to vent their rage on if they're so inclined. hasn't really been a problem, historically speaking.

as some twitterer sez:
Isn't it instructive that there is talk of 'placating' a police force, as if they were less civil servants, and more an angry tribe?

I was referring to this lede in the NYT

― Οὖτις, Monday, 22 December 2014 22:46 (1 minute ago)

and i was referring to your low functioning sarcasm, whatever one thinks of his suggestion of collective pause in order to respect dead public servants, it is not identical to a curtailment of protest as such, nor does it intimate that critics of criminal justice will or should now feel satiated

i imagine de blasio has an interest in maintaining a somewhat working relationship between the police and the communities they work and is probably trying to taper down hostilities before they turn into a broader problem. i think he's less worried about the police picking a rando to vent their anger on in revenge, and more worried about police responding to protests more forcefully/hostilely, protests becoming more aggressive in response, etc. de blasio doesn't want that kind of dynamic obvs.

no i am pretty sure de blasio is worried about police unions shitting on him in general. there is nothing heroic about this move imo

pragmatism is a kind of heroism i guess

uh

Isn't it instructive that there is talk of 'placating' a police force, as if they were less civil servants, and more an angry tribe?

terribly instructive if one hadn't already noticed that placating vicious cop union leaders is giving him palpitations, and that subtly alluding to their blackmail might actually help his cause, given that even people in the mainstream are objecting to it

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-12-22/why-cops-and-republicans-are-blaming-blacklivesmatter-protests-for-a-double-murder

nor does it intimate that critics of criminal justice will or should now feel satiated

except that "in due time" usually = "never"

except that "in due time" usually = "never"

― Οὖτις, Monday, 22 December 2014 23:10 (1 minute ago)

that remains to be seen, given that even george w bush queried the garner decision those criticisms are not such a minor interest these days

de blasio has already made comments sufficently sympathetic to those criticisms that he is a police pariah, and the right already fucking hates him, so it would lead to
charges of hypocrisy and backtracking from his natural constituencies if he were to close down reformist discussion in the longer term

and his comments to that idiot reporter are a fairly clear defence of protest rights with the usual 'large majority of peaceful protestors' liberal caveat, so one can hardly accuse him of a volte face just yet

Isn't it instructive that there is talk of 'placating' a police force, as if they were less civil servants, and more an angry tribe?

no

that is precisely how commentary/opinion always refers to any specific interest group who come bearing real or imagined grudges, including civil servants

lol u british

gov't employees here aren't "placated" ever, mostly they're just vilified

testament to how dense you that are that it's probably more reasonable to conclude that you think deems is british, or that dublin is british, than that you are making a delightful west brit zing at his expense

ach its not like I'm invested here but the contortions are p ridic is all

I know he isn't british and would hate the suggestion that he is british but thx for playing

xp

see the joek is to call anybody in the UK british explaining comedy makes it funnier to u see

british isles eh whatever

outic,

if you were de blasio, and you knew that elements of the police were hostile to you personally, that they also despised the recent anti-police protests, that emotions were running high after the killing of two officers carried out on the nominal behalf of these protesters' cause, and that the entire world has watched, over the past several months, a much smaller city in this country devolve into riots under very similar circumstances, would you seriously not try to de-escalate this situation? you don't have to believe it is right, i guess, but i'm not sure it's plausible for a mayor to act otherwise while still carrying out his duty as mayor.

fantastic xp

see the joek is to call anybody in the UK british explaining comedy makes it funnier to u see

dublin's not in the uk...

mayor shakey would be like "this was a good start - i expect more cop-killings in the morning"

de-escalate the situation

it seems to me that the institution that is threatening to keep escalating the situation is the police department. so while "placating" them makes total sense given the politics of the position De Blasio is in (ie, he's the mayor and requires, at least to some extent, the cooperation and loyalty of the police department) it does not actually de-escalate the situation, insofar as it leaves the public with the impression that reverting to the status quo - where it's ok for the PD to regularly murder black men - is acceptable. From my point of view (as a non-resident and non-mayor of New York City) this is not really acceptable. The police department needs to be disciplined, or at least be shown that the possibility of disciplinary action can be reasonably expected. The murders are, frankly, irrelevant and not a reflection on the protestors or their goals. I get why De Blasio is acting as he is - which is probably even counter to his own instincts - but guess what this is what happens when you're the mayor and in charge of corrupt institutions, the institutions bend you to their will through the leverage of political expediency.

lol mordy

but seriously as mayor I would immediately empower an independent (ie, non-DA) prosecutor to be in charge of police brutality/fatality investigations

the police department would hate this and probably have me killed immediately

dublin's not in the uk...

yes yes hence my post immediately following my typo do keep up

either way, isn't it problematic to insult someone by referring to him by the nationality of his nation's former colonizer?

it seems to me that the institution that is threatening to keep escalating the situation is the police department.

this is not rly true tho
but I do generally agree with the rest

and I'm not from fuckin Dublin, which btw is part of the uk tbrr

xp this wasn't that and the thread does not need sidetracking that way

insofar as it leaves the public with the impression that reverting to the status quo - where it's ok for the PD to regularly murder black men - is acceptable. From my point of view (as a non-resident and non-mayor of New York City) this is not really acceptable.

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 23 December 2014 00:17 (1 minute ago)

this is not a particularly lucid reading if it requires entirely forgetting comments he made a couple of weeks ago about the fear of his own son being murdered by the nypd, comments that absolutely nobody in the america media is forgetting

outic OTM throughout

I get why De Blasio is acting as he is - which is probably even counter to his own instincts - but guess what this is what happens when you're the mayor and in charge of corrupt institutions, the institutions bend you to their will through the leverage of political expediency.

^^^^^

requires entirely forgetting comments he made a couple of weeks ago about the fear of his own son being murdered by the nypd, comments that absolutely nobody in the america media is forgetting

huh have literally not seen this quoted anywhere

not surprised he said it (makes total sense)

that's why the police turned their backs on him during a recent appearance iirc