Ongoing U.S Police Brutality and Corruption Discussion Thread

Blowing people up using robots is, uh, not a great development in the history of policing, anywhere in the world.

that's not all we learned. in my experience, there appears to be a lot of veterans who, upon returning, go into the police force. and it occurs to me that the type of guy who is most uniquely unsuited to community policing---almost as exactly wrong as an actual criminal---is a guy that learned everything he knows from kicking down doors in a warzone. and who might also have some unresolved PTSD/TBI/etc

the Army still markets itself like it did for decades, and who knows maybe in the past it was a good way for working class kids to get some training in skill and possibly money for a house or education, but I was thinking about the marketing of the Army as a "ladder up" and how, in reality, the Army experience leaves someone uniquely ill-suited to the modern workplace, which is much more fluid, team and discussion based, freelance economy, etc etc., like the Army is designed to take decision making OUT of the hands of people and replace that with protocol (I'd guess for good reason because of the deadly nature of the work) but in the modern workplace the ability to discuss and collaborate and learn new things quickly and juggle multiple projects and be a part of multiple teams etc etc is really at odds with the military mentality, so it's no wonder these guys go into the most familiar line of work: driving around in a vehicle packing a weapon

Otm

Blowing people up using robots is, uh, not a great development in the history of policing, anywhere in the world.

― They could have been Stackridge. (Tom D.), Friday, July 8, 2016 12:38 PM (17 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

heaven forbid they use some sort of non lethal robot weaponry

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-game-snoop-dogg-protest-lapd-20160708-snap-htmlstory.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

this is kinda off-topic but there are a ton of ex-military dudes working in the community college system. idk why that is (and I only work with California) but it's definitely a thing.

that's not all we learned. in my experience, there appears to be a lot of veterans who, upon returning, go into the police force. and it occurs to me that the type of guy who is most uniquely unsuited to community policing---almost as exactly wrong as an actual criminal---is a guy that learned everything he knows from kicking down doors in a warzone. and who might also have some unresolved PTSD/TBI/etc

no clue as to what the numbers are for former combat vets going into the police force, but i bet it's substantial, and i bet that, in addition to the MRAPs and AR15s, they're bringing that culture of occupation with them

― jason waterfalls (gbx), Friday, July 8, 2016 11:14 AM (21 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

As much as I agree with this, is there really any link to the Castile or Sterling shootings? Were any of the cops involved vets with PTSD? It seems to me like the profile I see more often of a shooter is either a shook, inexperienced rookie or an aggro asshole with a record of brutality, not a PTSD-stricken vet.

whats interesting is this sort of thing hasnt really touched LA very significantly because the LAPD has had a very public very long program of re-ingratiating itself with community and working very hard to maintain trust.. after you know, a massive riot broke out because of police brutality.

xp

there's a desperate need to improve how we vet & hire cops but ultimately that would necessitate higher pay/bigger policing budget which we all know will never happen

dallas police have a relatively good reputation for community relations too as far as that goes, still agents of the police state tho

is there a thread about having crazy racist friends pop up out of nowhere on social media? i mean, this is a pretty common occurrence, right?

i am in favor of paying cops better and vetting cops better and training cops better and disarming cops and it is frustrating that those imperatives are considered contradictory

yeah there have been a lot of stories going around about dallas actually being a relative success story in police reform, which makes the whole thing a lot sadder/more frustrating to the extent it gets used to blunt calls for reform.

they not gonna kill u theyre just gonna lock u up for life on some bs conspiracy charge, congratulations

xp
like this one: https://www.buzzfeed.com/albertsamaha/dallas-police-numbers

not saying that there is any connection in either of those instances --- more observing that the movement from military to police brings with it weapons AND culture. and that affects not just veterans in the force, but everyone: a rookie internalizes the idea that they're patrolling a warzone filled with potential enemies, and pops off because he gets scared. an aggro asshole justifies his aggression on the grounds that he's the only force for order in an otherwise savage environment. that some cops might have undiagnosed combat-related PTSD and/or TBI is noted simply as a possibility, and one that might figure in significantly into at least a few police interactions

xps

being a cop is plenty to give u ptsd on its own

i bet

i am so completely unimpressed by ppl's reactions to this shit. you really have a problem with bad cops? go be a good cop.

http://www.kare11.com/mb/news/police-scanner-audio-1/267042738

maybe robot cops will be less likely to kill black people indiscriminately

white supremacists also promote the idea that policing in black communities is some kind of "warzone" activity, I mean there are a lot of things in media, police subculture, and conservative middle class communities in general that contribute to cops having at a minimum a subconscious idea that a black person is threatening.

apparently from the Castile arrest xxp

maybe robot cops will be less likely to kill black people indiscriminately

― ejemplo (crüt), Friday, July 8, 2016 1:02 PM (4 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

not if they let white ppl program them

self-driving car that crashed didn't see color, iirc

We taught a twitter bot to be racist and anti-Semitic in like three hours, turning a robot into the dog from White Dog should be child's play.

Recently revisited this piece from last year:

Police Shootings Won't Stop Unless We Also Stop Shaking Down Black People
The dangers of turning police officers into revenue generators.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/07/police-shootings-traffic-stops-excessive-fines

http://images.mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/robocop_top.jpg

newt gingrich said this

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cm25nXqWEAAX7X3.jpg

http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2016/07/08/newt-gingrich-white-americans-dont-understand-being-black-in-america/

honestly the most shocking thing so far

police need to be trained like monks, or Jedi or some shit

Trump said (in a Facebook post mostly about Dallas), "The senseless, tragic deaths of two people in Louisiana and Minnesota reminds us how much more needs to be done."

so it WAS Newt in the Jheri curl

xpost I believe he initially said "two motorists": http://hinterlandgazette.com/2016/07/donald-trump-finally-addresses-alton-sterling-philando-castile-shootings-get-slightly-wrong.html

I am likewise flabbergasted by that Newt Gingrich statement.

trump not actually going so far as to admit racism exists (outside of anti white racism of course)

In terms of risk, I was just talking to a friend about how Castile was reported to have a prior "record" of 31 minor traffic infringements. He was a school cafeteria worker (i.e. low wage) who presumably needed a car to get to work. Being poor plus black = missing insurance payments, not being able to renew license right away, not being able to fix stuff like broken tail lights, etc., and being black and riding in an old clunky car = being WAY more likely to get pulled over every single time you slip. So just thinking about how many more interactions with police he had to go through than the average person and then how much more likely it was that police would be aggressive with him each time it happened.

I mean that's fucking crazy, 31 times. I've been pulled over exactly twice in my life and have definitely done my share of speeding, driving without proper documents on me (even if I had them), violating minor traffic rules, driving with a light out, etc.

(to be clear he was probably pulled over more than 31 times, assuming some of those ended with a warning).

(er also I guess there could have been multiple infractions on a single stop, but w/e, that's a lot any way you slice it).

classic Newt - go from eye-opening legit cogent point to a totally irrelevant cultural dogwhistle about hip hop

I take that back, a more generous reading of his statement about alienation leading to sloganeering is certainly possible

woke newt

lol

I'm still boggling at that statement from Gingrich

also lol: so it WAS Newt in the Jheri curl

https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13620723_10101088199830621_8507605349493606196_n.jpg?oh=aa0ebb9937aaee4d11abbb35884bc155&oe=57F05CA3

what the fuck

http://i.imgur.com/tFVzEEB.png

is that dumb tweet about the diverse people of our nation, and, if so, are latinos...tabasco??

i guess this is glaringly obvious but maybe it's time to change this model of choosing among the dregs of the public labor force to roam the streets with a license to kill

feel like she was just having feelings while eating breakfast