Ongoing U.S Police Brutality and Corruption Discussion Thread

that's to am xp

you know i've never thought to ask my teacher relatives how the "welcome back kotter" tv series has affected their jobs. maybe i should start!

that n+1 essay posted upthread is v good

Nuclear power plant employees adore the Simpsons

maybe cnn.com could get rid of the 3 line headline and the black background now, for fuck's sake

they live for this shit

if it bleeds it meets their needs

cnn anchors really need to start cutting on camera

not sure this was noted

"Stocks for Smith & Wesson rose about 3% on Friday while stocks for fellow firearm manufacturer Sturm Ruger went up by 5%. The shares surged in anticipation of higher gun sales due to fears of stricter gun control policies following the worst mass shooting of police in US history.

In addition to shares of gunmakers, shares of Taser and Digital Ally also surged on the news. The two companies make wearable video cameras worn by US police, and Taser also makes electroshock weapons used by some police."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/08/smith-wesson-gun-stock-market-dallas-shooting

some day these ppl gonna get tired of buying guns after every newsworthy shooting "i already have 25 guns" theyre gonna say to themselves

what's the exchange rate between guns and black lotus cards

Food vs. Guns

slightly irritated that the guardian (and prob other sites) still have the headline they had in the morning, about the sniper wanting to kill white people/officers. were there any headlines reading similar things about the racist things police officers said? seems a bit unnecesarily inflammatory.

"The deceased suspect has been identified as Micah Johnson, B/M/25. The suspect has no criminal history. Information provided through the course of the investigation, indicates that the suspect was an Army veteran and others have identified him as a loner. The suspect’s Facebook account included the following names and information: Fahed Hassen, Richard GRIFFIN aka Professor Griff, GRIFFIN embraces a radical form of Afrocentrism, and GRIFFIN wrote a book A Warriors Tapestry.

so this is professor griff's fault. I knew it.

and others have identified him as a loner.

🤔

What kind of legislation can I ask my represenatives to support/propose? Is there anything on the table? I am interested in increasing accountability -- convicting racist cops -- but also in reforming police procedure and the overall paradigm that governs how they treat certain parts of the public -- way too much acceptance of all sorts of brutality and nonsense. I am less interested at this point in agonizing about how a lot of white people share their ignorant viewpoints on this topic on the internet. Police violence is a concrete problem. It's reflected in statistics. We should be able to address it.

wapo article says that at one point the dallas police chief thought at least four gunmen were involved:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/07/08/like-a-little-war-snipers-shoot-11-police-officers-during-dallas-protest-march-killing-five/

Some good proposals here about reforming police training and other issues.

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/criminal-justice-reform/

How will Hill implement this though? Obv you cant get federal legislation through with a republican congress but there should be more serious initiatives on the state level in blue states. I dont see it -- the vague admission of the problem by the MN governor was represented as a watershed but it was purely symbolic

It's reflected in statistics. We should be able to address it.

― Treeship, Friday, July 8, 2016 6:02 PM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

except that it isn't --- there's no reliable set of gov't-collected data (at least that's my understanding). one of the first steps would be to mandate data collection at a municipal level. while we're at it, let's let the CDC starting working on gun violence data

the idea that we can make decisions based on data assumes:
- data was collected
- the methodology for collection is sound and the data set is complete
- the data collected is relevant and not subject to biases that are external to the collection methodology

leaving out one variable -- for instance gun violence per capita without correcting for population density -- throws everything off

police violence is also not reflected in stats because it's not mandated to be reported, or reported in the same way, or unequally reported even in places where it's mandated

https://twitter.com/davidcrespo/status/751564021111947269

"What kind of legislation can I ask my represenatives to support/propose?"

tweet at ben sasse and ask him to write a bill requiring all members of congress to spend at least 75% of their waking hours watching literal dumpster fires

They'll just find a way to reason that what's on fire in the dumpster is printouts of Hillary's missing emails.

They'll just find a way to reason that what's on fire in the dumpster is printouts of Hillary's missing emails.

― Now I Know How Joan of Arcadia Felt (C. Grisso/McCain)

oh, good. well, since they have an obligation to find out THE TRUTH about hillary, there's nothing for it but for them to dive into the burning dumpsters.

there's no reliable set of gov't-collected data (at least that's my understanding). one of the first steps would be to mandate data collection at a municipal level. while we're at it, let's let the CDC starting working on gun violence data

― jason waterfalls (gbx), Friday, July 8, 2016 4:20 PM

this would be a great place to start, are there any organizations actively pushing for this?

Wasn't the stat that law enforcement is now far safer than its ever been and the main threat to officer life is motorcycle accident?

Treeship, can also maybe inquire at local levels as to whether our local departments have adopted the Obama task force's recommendations on policing. Very few have signed on completely.

http://time.com/4398392/obama-police-reform-report-task-force-on-21st-century-policing/

Hillary, on FB:

The deaths of Alton and Philando are the latest in a long and painful litany of African Americans killed in police incidents – 123 so far this year alone. We know the names of other victims, too: Tamir Rice. Sandra Bland. Walter Scott. Dontre Hamilton. Laquan McDonald. Eric Garner. Michael Brown. Freddie Gray. Brandon Tate-Brown. And tragically, we could go on and on. The families of the lost are trying to tell us. We need to listen.

People are also crying out for criminal justice reform. Families are being torn apart by excessive incarceration. Young people are threatened and humiliated by racial profiling. Children are growing up in homes shattered by prison and poverty. They’re trying to tell us. We need to listen.

Brave police officers are working hard every day to inspire trust and confidence. As we mourn the Dallas police officers who died and pray for those wounded, let’s not forget how the Dallas Police Department in particular has earned a reputation for excellence. They’ve worked hard for years to improve policing and strengthen their bonds with the community. And they’ve gotten results. Police officers across the country are pouring their hearts into this work, because they know how vital it is to our country. They’re trying to tell us. We need to listen.

People are crying out for relief from gun violence. Things have become so broken in Washington that just to try to get a vote on commonsense gun safety reforms, John Lewis himself had to stage a sit-in on the floor of the House of Representatives. Gun violence is ripping apart people’s lives. They’re trying to tell us. We need to listen.

I know that, just by saying all these things together, I may upset some people. I’m talking about criminal justice reform the day after a horrific attack on police officers. I’m talking about courageous, honorable police officers just a few days after officer-involved killings in Louisiana and Minnesota. I’m bringing up guns in a country where merely talking about comprehensive background checks, limits on assault weapons and the size of ammunition clips gets you demonized.

But all these things can be true at once. We do need police and criminal justice reforms, to save lives and make sure all Americans are treated as equal in rights and dignity. We do need to support police departments and stand up for the men and women who put their lives on the line every day to protect us. We do need to reduce gun violence. We may disagree about how, but surely we can all agree with those basic premises. Surely this week showed us how true they areThe deaths of Alton and Philando are the latest in a long and painful litany of African Americans killed in police incidents – 123 so far this year alone. We know the names of other victims, too: Tamir Rice. Sandra Bland. Walter Scott. Dontre Hamilton. Laquan McDonald. Eric Garner. Michael Brown. Freddie Gray. Brandon Tate-Brown. And tragically, we could go on and on. The families of the lost are trying to tell us. We need to listen.

People are also crying out for criminal justice reform. Families are being torn apart by excessive incarceration. Young people are threatened and humiliated by racial profiling. Children are growing up in homes shattered by prison and poverty. They’re trying to tell us. We need to listen.

Brave police officers are working hard every day to inspire trust and confidence. As we mourn the Dallas police officers who died and pray for those wounded, let’s not forget how the Dallas Police Department in particular has earned a reputation for excellence. They’ve worked hard for years to improve policing and strengthen their bonds with the community. And they’ve gotten results. Police officers across the country are pouring their hearts into this work, because they know how vital it is to our country. They’re trying to tell us. We need to listen.

People are crying out for relief from gun violence. Things have become so broken in Washington that just to try to get a vote on commonsense gun safety reforms, John Lewis himself had to stage a sit-in on the floor of the House of Representatives. Gun violence is ripping apart people’s lives. They’re trying to tell us. We need to listen.

I know that, just by saying all these things together, I may upset some people. I’m talking about criminal justice reform the day after a horrific attack on police officers. I’m talking about courageous, honorable police officers just a few days after officer-involved killings in Louisiana and Minnesota. I’m bringing up guns in a country where merely talking about comprehensive background checks, limits on assault weapons and the size of ammunition clips gets you demonized.

But all these things can be true at once. We do need police and criminal justice reforms, to save lives and make sure all Americans are treated as equal in rights and dignity. We do need to support police departments and stand up for the men and women who put their lives on the line every day to protect us. We do need to reduce gun violence. We may disagree about how, but surely we can all agree with those basic premises. Surely this week showed us how true they are.

that's a good statement, and notably obama-esque, esp. in its slightly (necessarily) pedantic tone: "But all these things can be true at once."

seems the (extremely academic, so far as i know them) police-abolitionists in my feed are keen on the uh less mainstream sentiment here

http://www.luchanofeik.club/2016/07/08/clarityofrupture/

people are going to criticize that as trying to be all things to all people, but I honestly think that's the role of the president, to a degree. It is empathetic, intelligent, and reasoned.

I think she's right in that there's no contradiction or hypocrisy in both thinking police violence needs to be controlled and being horrified by the police shootings in Dallas.

that luchanofeik article is poisonous, self-flattering bullshit

otm. truly disgusting and unhelpful stuff.

What can we learn about ourselves and our enemies as we stand on this side of the chasm? If you now find yourself on the other side of the rupture…good riddance.

Por el comunismo y la anarquía,

L.N.F.C.

cool bolshevism

hillary is so brave and wise
*shits pants*

I think she's right in that there's no contradiction or hypocrisy in both thinking police violence needs to be controlled and being horrified by the police shootings in Dallas.

― Al Moon Faced Poon (Moodles), Saturday, July 9, 2016 12:50 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's horribly sad that anyone would even suggest that there's a contradiction. There may be vast differences between the respective situations and their causes and possible solutions, but I'd like to think that a desire to not see anyone senselessly murdered is something most people could get behind.

while at the same time not indulging in knee jerk false equivalency

The difference is, random criminals/shooters don't act in the name of the state.

I'm sure I didn't phrase things in a particularly clear or helpful way. I'm not suggesting that anyone is eager to see anyone be murdered. I had in mind people like my Lt. Gov. who thinks that BLM protesters are "hypocrites" for peacefully protesting horrible police killings and then running from sniper fire. Or anyone who suggests that there's a war against police.

The whole point of Clinton's post is that all those issues she listed should be common sense to understand and support, yet there are plenty of moronic people who believe that protests against police or calls for reform basically equals outright war vs. the police. It's absurd and sad that these things she's saying should be anything less than obvious, but clearly lots of Americans do not support police reform, criminal justice reform, or stricter gun laws and think that anyone who does is anti-police, anti-law and order, anti-2nd ammendment, etc, etc.

this guy

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cm8PPhcUEAAybh7.jpg

self parody anime face ass

I had in mind people like my Lt. Gov. who thinks that BLM protesters are "hypocrites" for peacefully protesting horrible police killings and then running from sniper fire.

Well, that's a whole separate issue where people shouldn't use words containing more syllables than they're cognitively developed enough to count.

I'm sure in his head it was spelled "hippo crits"

It's a particularly egregious example, but symptomatic of this whole disgusting line of thinking that gets applied to BLM and anyone who dares point out that there are police officers doing a less than stellar job in this country.

It's not hard to figure out that the people who defend the police when they kill unarmed black men are never unarmed black men.

one fella offered a defense yesterday "well statistically, it's cos black individuals commit more gun crime than whites, and the cops are reacting to that".

when asked why he thought that was, he replied "cos statistics".

One of the most disgusting things about D. Patrick's statement is the very real notion that if somehow the protesters resisted sane human nature and actually took those bullets and died like martyrs, he'd probably have said something along the lines of "Well, I'd say they had it coming..."

there was one photo Shaun King posted about a copy showing unrelenting patience with a white gunman IN A WEAVER STANCE with his gun trained on the damn cop and meanwhile, while meanwhile a Black passenger cannot even go for his registration after proactively announcing what is in his pocket first. It's heartbreaking because you could tell he was doing that because he's been trained after years of Black civilians being shot that this was the thing to do AND STILL WOUND UP PAYING THE PRICE.

there's a rumor going around that the car was stopped because Castile resembled a suspect in a robbery (I won't repeat the physical attribute the cop allegedly stated on the scanner cos it's infuriatingly offensive) - but fairly sure that's just noise (not that it would have justified the shooting anyway).

I got three minutes into that video and boy that cop is scum but he also sounds like he knows he fucked up in the exasperated tone of his voice...it's not the voice of someone who actually thinks he used necessary force. praying to God this one gets a conviction but I have very little faith it will.

if I hear "was no angel" as a phrase one more time....