Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby (Post 1811451)

I'll participate. I was worried that it'd be one of those horrible cell phone videos that shows police being brutally violent and threatening to kill or tasering someone who wasn't making attempts to be violent or resisting (there are bunches of those and they're horrifying and I avoid watching them).

This was incredibly tame (comparatively speaking), while at the same time demonstrating CLEARLY why police have earned a poor reputation in some areas of cities and states throughout the country. When they handcuffed him I wished at that time I could've jumped through the computer monitor and protected that kid. Those police know damned well why a young black male in a poor neighborhood would be nervous about being pulled over by a police officer. It's no secret...but they're baiting him, hoping he'll get upset - pushing him to get upset so they'd have a reason to arrest him. That's why they asked the kid why he was acting nervous. They knew the answer before they asked it. They were just hoping for a "reaction."

This is a TYPICAL incident in these neighborhoods. Young black men who are just going to and from work or school, who aren't thugs, don't have drugs, alcohol, or weapons in their vehicles, being stopped by the police for minor infractions that the police escalate through very intentional lines of questioning, into "incidents" that end up with searches - and if the victims (that's what they are - they are victims of the police) get upset - they are arrested.

I've hung out in poor neighborhoods. Heck, I've slept in a graveyard with homeless people, and in a dilapidated condemned building that had a hole in the roof and plastic sheeting over the bed to keep the mattress from soaking when it rained.

Most of the folks living in them are trying to make the best of their situation, and hopefully get out of it. Yes there are thugs, and drugs, and alcohol, and weapons. But most of these people are not thugs, into drugs, alcohol, or killing each other. It makes me sick to my stomach to see the ones who are doing nothing wrong (other than a wide turn - seriously?), being singled out and manhandled and accused and treated like scum, because of the few who actually deserve the scrutiny.

Ask yourselves - when was the last time you even noticed whether or not you were making a "wide turn?" And when was the last time you were pulled over for such a minor infraction? You know minorities get pulled over regularly for failing to signal? For not using their turn signal. It happens. Every single day. Meanwhile, the rest of us who aren't minorities, forget to turn the signal, and then when we remember to use it, forget to turn it off, we roll through stop signs, we don't pull over immediately when an ambulance is trying to pass, we do all kinds of things we aren't supposed to do - and rarely, if ever, get pulled over for it.

SO there you have it. That's my participation piece. This is why the police need their reputation to be repaired. Because there are kids with beautiful smiles and bright futures being bullied and manhandled by cops who think that those smiles and futures are meaningless if their skin is darker than theirs.

Originally Posted by billethkid (Post 1811055)

Nothing wrong with police image.
The focus by the media, special interest groups and politicians on the isolated cases to further an agenda.

Once again the general membership/majority is made to look/appear as needing fixing.

Go after the isolated cases to come up to the standards of the MAJORITY or throw them out. The real problem?

The dudds and incompetence few and bad actors are protected.

Fix the real problem!!

Originally Posted by jimjamuser (Post 1811708)

Wow!!!! That was REALLY some way interesting post. Good to not be afraid to relate to low points in ones life (everybody has those, few let them out to get oxygen). That WAS pure participation. And I was beginning to think that this site was just about CV info-bullies and threads like - What candy bar did you like growing up?

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby (Post 1811743)

It wasn't a low point in my life, at all. I wasn't homeless. I slept in a graveyard WITH homeless people. They invited me. I was welcomed among them because I was a street musician, and Harvard Square (Cambridge, MA) has a sort of counter-culture there with buskers, homeless, near-homeless, artists of all sorts, and "poor college students on scholarships." I considered it an honor and a privilege to share their "living space." To allow an "outsider" into the only semblance of privacy they have, is a very rare opportunity and a huge gesture of trust on their part.

The condemned building was a sort of flop-house for a group of the street people (not homeless exactly - but still part of the counter-culture). I was "with" one of them for several months, he was a Vietnam Veteran suffering from PTSD, alcoholism, and a rare gift of expressing himself through music. He's mostly cleaned up his act, gotten the help he needed, and is now a street-minister who uses his music to spread the good word and help others who live in difficult circumstances.

The stories I share are mostly stories of my personal observance - of other people. How they touched me and my life through THEIR experiences. That's why I'm so passionate about this topic. It breaks my heart to see these kids having to grow up afraid to leave their front door, out of fear of "charged with being black in public."

Originally Posted by dewilson58 (Post 1811688)

Hmmmm


unfortunately there are thousands of positions opened and not filled.

Originally Posted by manaboutown (Post 1811139)

Being an LEO must be a very frustrating occupation. You work hard, risking life and limb to arrest violent felons, and the next thing you know you encounter them out on the street again committing more crimes because the court system released them! God bless our LEOs!

Originally Posted by jimjamuser (Post 1811685)

The answer probably is that most of the LEOs and the criminals are BOTH recruited from or learn their crime trade in the same (lower) class. Also the military police feed directly into the civilian police. Conclusion : there will ALWAYS be plenty of Police. Only the city, state, or Federal budget limits Police numbers, plenty of available recruits.

Originally Posted by LoisR (Post 1811721)

When have you ever heard of a "good cop" turning in a "bad cop?"

How about a college degree being necessary for even consideration to apply?

Originally Posted by skarra (Post 1810941)

Phones with video cameras, along with GoPros and body cams have been fabulous at exposing peoples bad behaviors. No longer do we have to just take someones word about how an event went down. These are wonderful times in that respect.

I’ve been looking at some of the videos of bad policing -
OFFICERS SUED FOR SEARCHING VEHICLE DURING TRAFFIC STOP - YouTube is a great example of what bad policing looks like (it also explains why many people are so mistrusting of the police). They score all parties at the end of the video, police and public, and got me thinking why they couldn’t do that as part of an annual review process for individual police officers in general - namely review the captured videos over the year and rate their overall conduct. Then, just like in corporate America, bad performers who score an F could be weeded out by being put on a performance improvement plan. If they don't improve in the next 3-6 months they should be fired.

The main challenge I see is the tendency for some departments to protect their own, so I would suggest the ratings be performed by a separate team. The other problem are the police unions that get involved in protecting the bad apples (it may be that their time has come and gone too). But it would be great for the many good cops whose reputations are tarnished by the incompetent cops who do no-one any good, especially the public. And it would help repair the damage that the recent exposure of bad behavior has done. Only then will the community trust the police again.

Originally Posted by billethkid (Post 1811234)

175 views.....6 posts.

I suppose this could be viewed as an example of the silent majority.....being silent?

If folks do not participate when anonymous, most certainly can't expect anymore when there is a need to stand and be counted.

:lipsrsealed:

:sad:

Originally Posted by amexsbow (Post 1811918)

As a retired L.E.O. I feel sad for the haters. I and every other officer who served had people spit, urinate, hit, lie, cry and do whatever they could to degrade, evade or attack us while performing our job. How many of you can say the same? Yet you would denigrate each and every one of us by your ad hominem attacks on the police, all the while supporting the organized campaign to cripple law enforcement in its defense of our nation by leftists and socialists who want the destruction of our country and our way of life. Yes America has flaws, but what country can you name which has more freedoms and more opportunity to succeed by sheer will of the individual.