Newt not all cops are bad.

You had a bad experience and as you say "As a Mohawk sporting punk, I was often singled out as a younger teen for no good reason, "

Maybe you just looked like bad egg. Ever thought of cleaning up you act back then?

My brother had a cop put his gun to his head - he deserved it and I've been arrested a few times -- youthful kid stuff. I hold no ill will to cops. They just want to get home safe. If all interactions between cop and respectful citizens things would soften up after some time.

WRT to this video -- All were dicks and need to to have a complaint against them.

You can't understand why he feels that way?

You take umbrage to peoples perception of police officers, yes? You think it's grossly unfair that people classify all of you by the actions of the notable few?

Well here's a little news flash. You get to take off your uniform at the end of the shift. You can go to a restaurant or a shopping center and be perfectly fine with no one sitting around thinking you're a fascist police state tool because of what you wear rather than who you are.

The guy in the video? He doesn't get to take off his skin. He doesn't get to stop being viewed with suspicion, doesn't stop getting harassed by idiots who don't care for the truth and are purely in it to pick on people and raise revenue. He lives with people making assumptions about him 24/7 because of who he is, not because of what he does.

Dig deep down and find that empathy that seems to be lurking in there somewhere. Assuming your one of the good guys (and apologies but your posting history doesn't really support that), don't you feel a deep abiding embarrassment when you see these yahoos make every cop look worse because of their actions?

Yes, it's not fair that people will ascribe the actions of a few bad eggs to an entire population. Not fair for anyone that is victimised by it.

@ 3:13 -
"I'm sure that if this happened to me, it could happen to ...
...
...
... a bunch of other people."

I don't want to put words into his mouth, but let's just say what everybody hears there: it could happen to anyone committing the "crime" of driving while black.

@CreamK is right, arrest quotas and for-profit jails are largely to blame for crap like this; well, that and obviously the scum cops who came real close to getting away with it here. I'm a pretty pro-police guy, but a few bad eggs like this can sure cast a stink over a lot of the good guys. Glad they are getting some comeuppance.

Scary to contemplate how often this might happen with the kind of evidence that cleared him either A) not existing (gotta be REAL careful about how much benefit of the doubt we give law enforcement) or B) being successfully hidden and never coming to light. Very scary.

That driver was immediately fired. The USPS has no, I repeat NO patience for this kind of shit. My stepfather worked for the post office in Rhode Island was fired immediately when he accidentally knocked over someone's mailbox when backing up. He didn't know he had even hit anything (scary I know) until he got back to the station and they canned him on the spot. On the whole, the USPS is such a dependable service with fewer bad eggs than the other delivery companies. This woman should be put up in stocks in the town square.

... and really bad eggs ...

>> ^Esoog:

>> ^tymebendit:
we need more videos of cops.

True. But I dont know if people can handle so much positivity. It might burst everyone's cop hating bubble to know there are plenty of GOOD people who are police officers. And of course, there are bad eggs too.
Im not defending any of the people in this video or saying who I think is right or wrong, but I cant imagine many reasons at all why I would want to stand in front of a Walmart and film something. I wouldnt even put myself in this situation. But then again Im rational and have better things to do.


YOU can't think of a reason for their video, so YOU must be rational. YOU have better things to do, so YOU must be rational. You don't want to say who you think is right or wrong, but those irrational boys don't look to be up to any good that YOU can see, do they? I guess some people just naturally defer to authority, even for no rational reason.

I can think of at least one thing I'd be video-ing if I was in front of this particular Wal-Mart. I'd be recording some asshole, irrational cop being a total prick to a couple of completely rational young men who weren't doing a goddamn thing wrong.

>> ^tymebendit:

we need more videos of cops.


True. But I dont know if people can handle so much positivity. It might burst everyone's cop hating bubble to know there are plenty of GOOD people who are police officers. And of course, there are bad eggs too.

Im not defending any of the people in this video or saying who I think is right or wrong, but I cant imagine many reasons at all why I would want to stand in front of a Walmart and film something. I wouldnt even put myself in this situation. But then again Im rational and have better things to do.

>> ^rottenseed:

>> ^quantumushroom:
The bad eggs are out there, but that's all they are, bad eggs. This is not the norm.
I was most surprised they searched the car without permission. Unlike the clueless Taser tards, this poor guy has a good case for suing.

it's just disheartening that they bestow such power upon the "bad eggs". In fact, it seems like such a power may even be a magnet for bad eggs.


Ding! Ding! Ding!

Sadly, your numbers may be accurate, or even generous. My feeling is it's in the nature of the job to take normal, healthy, well-meaning people who just want to help their community, and slowly turn most of them into egomaniacal bullies with persecution complexes.

I'm not sure it's the training that "Role model cop" received or gives, as much as it's his own inner strength of character that has kept him that cool, a strength which 99% of us lack. Faced with jerks like they have to face all the time, being lied to, taunted, threatened and attacked daily, I think I'd develop an unhealthy hate-on for basically all people who weren't cops. I'd even empathise with and protect the bad eggs because I know what they're looking at and what it can do to a person.

So, empathy is a great thing, but we all, including cops, have to learn it for people other than those like ourselves.

And we need to prosecute abuses of authority.>> ^kceaton1:
For each good apple there is a bad one.

Cops certainly are not all bad eggs, in the sense that they don't all abuse their power over civilians, but a distressing proportion are, and they are not kept in line by anyone, so they tacitly are given this power by their supervisors, and on up the chain. It obviously hasn't even occurred to this officer that there might be consequences for the way he's treating this suspect. Cops all protect one another, good and bad. Even the "Role model cop" would circle the wagons around this guy, who's clearly abusing his power. THAT's the problem.

If abusive cops were brought to justice the same way abusive non-cops are brought to justice, these videos would be insignificant, or just sad, or even funny, like watching stupid thieves getting caught in ventilation shafts. Until that time comes, we need more public awareness and action towards fair, repsectul policing.>> ^quantumushroom:

The bad eggs are out there, but that's all they are, bad eggs. This is not the norm.
I was most surprised they searched the car without permission. Unlike the clueless Taser tards, this poor guy has a good case for suing.

Well, they're not bestowed abusive power with the State's blessing. Yes, it sucks to see this, but how great that many people can see this thanks to the cams.

>> ^rottenseed:

>> ^quantumushroom:
The bad eggs are out there, but that's all they are, bad eggs. This is not the norm.
I was most surprised they searched the car without permission. Unlike the clueless Taser tards, this poor guy has a good case for suing.

it's just disheartening that they bestow such power upon the "bad eggs". In fact, it seems like such a power may even be a magnet for bad eggs.

>> ^quantumushroom:

The bad eggs are out there, but that's all they are, bad eggs. This is not the norm.
I was most surprised they searched the car without permission. Unlike the clueless Taser tards, this poor guy has a good case for suing.


it's just disheartening that they bestow such power upon the "bad eggs". In fact, it seems like such a power may even be a magnet for bad eggs.

The bad eggs are out there, but that's all they are, bad eggs. This is not the norm.

I was most surprised they searched the car without permission. Unlike the clueless Taser tards, this poor guy has a good case for suing.

Sorry I am just now respondinng---I saw your reply buried in my "thousand emails" and I reply to all logical, respectful responders.

Well said btw. I see your points. I think corrupt actions has less to do with acountability than both sides upping the ante. The protestors want to be heard, so they yell louder. Some push the buttons--and law enforcement must respond. Law enforcement must be one echleon above the protestors, or else they lose all power (It is a seesaw effect.)

And so protestors respond in kind. Even the peaceful protests are affected by the bad apples. Then you have the "smart asses" who demean real authority...

Not only that, but when threatened with "stop protestors" or "lose job and family starve" I think most would chose the political route... So, the liabilty falls more on the city, county, state, nation leaders than cops.

sadly, both sides, to me, have lost the high ground. And that includes the side of the law... Sorry for spelling poorly, I am drunk. And thank you again.

>> ^Deano:
>> ^Lawdeedaw:
>> ^Deano:
You gotta love the cops. Do they have some sort of worldwide conference each year where they all get together and discuss how to be complete arseholes?

If most were, I would say yes. But since most do not act like assholes, then no. However, the douche cops, rare as they may be, those who plan on ruining it for the good guys, certainly do watch each other and learn.

That's very fair and balanced of you but in my experience as someone who's been on a couple of (very anodyne) protests and based on what we've seen in the last few years, there is clearly a collective mentality of thuggery embedded in the Met Police in the UK that rises to the surface on these occasions.
I bet in this case those coppers would ordinarily consider themselves great guys. But put them in this situation and they're quick to bare their teeth. It literally becomes an "us or them" situation and they stop policing. They start making stupid decisions. They'd rather kettle people (which is undoubtedly dangerous and now subject to legal challenges) or just whack people like Ian Tomlinson. And why not? There's no one to stop them. And again there were examples of the cops not wearing their numbers - AGAIN - and after the Police Commissioner had said post-G20 that this was NOT acceptable.
There have been so many examples of Police brutality documented over the last few years, not even counting the demonstrations, that I have to conclude there's a systemic problem and not just a case of a few bad eggs turning up each time. And the main reason for this is that the lack of accountability makes it easy, and tempting, to step out of line. You're unlikely to face charges so why not? And you can always claim it was in the heat of battle and thus you shouldn't have to face any comeback at all.
Oh and the latest development is that they want to use water cannon on protestors. Which will of course also include members of the public swept up in these confrontations. I think that when you need to use water cannons you can conclude that your society is a bit fucked up.

>> ^Lawdeedaw:

>> ^Deano:
You gotta love the cops. Do they have some sort of worldwide conference each year where they all get together and discuss how to be complete arseholes?

If most were, I would say yes. But since most do not act like assholes, then no. However, the douche cops, rare as they may be, those who plan on ruining it for the good guys, certainly do watch each other and learn.


That's very fair and balanced of you but in my experience as someone who's been on a couple of (very anodyne) protests and based on what we've seen in the last few years, there is clearly a collective mentality of thuggery embedded in the Met Police in the UK that rises to the surface on these occasions.

I bet in this case those coppers would ordinarily consider themselves great guys. But put them in this situation and they're quick to bare their teeth. It literally becomes an "us or them" situation and they stop policing. They start making stupid decisions. They'd rather kettle people (which is undoubtedly dangerous and now subject to legal challenges) or just whack people like Ian Tomlinson. And why not? There's no one to stop them. And again there were examples of the cops not wearing their numbers - AGAIN - and after the Police Commissioner had said post-G20 that this was NOT acceptable.

There have been so many examples of Police brutality documented over the last few years, not even counting the demonstrations, that I have to conclude there's a systemic problem and not just a case of a few bad eggs turning up each time. And the main reason for this is that the lack of accountability makes it easy, and tempting, to step out of line. You're unlikely to face charges so why not? And you can always claim it was in the heat of battle and thus you shouldn't have to face any comeback at all.

Oh and the latest development is that they want to use water cannon on protestors. Which will of course also include members of the public swept up in these confrontations. I think that when you need to use water cannons you can conclude that your society is a bit fucked up.