fucking pigs, should be pulled out of their houses and hung from street lamps as traitors to liberty. People will eventually get enough of this group of pigs with god complexes and a little violent retribution will wake some up.

The only civil war I could see this country having is the people vs law enforcement, it would take the government stepping in to keep the law enforcement from being slaughtered

Becoming?

You must have read my mind dude.

I don't understand, stating your rights loudly and defiantly to police officers usually works...

You are correct that it usually works and that is why these videos are so cool because it exposes the cops who are shitty.

Technically they can bust in if they saw a crime committed, and/or evidence of a crime is being destroyed, or something illegal is in plain view.

Like if someone with a bag of coke ran into a house, they don't need a warrant to enter.

I don't know the context of this, like what happened before, but if they saw someone being assaulted or something, I believe they could enter to arrest the person who made the assault.

I don't like the idea of a police state either, but if there are cops at his door because of reports of domestic violence, then that is probably cause. Standing outside a door like that with little ability to see in really puts the cops in a vulnerable state that is unfair to them and their families... if the people inside really had nothing to hide, they would open the door and be normal. Not screaming their rights through a dirty screen door.

a reasonable statement, but thats not the point.

I would love some context for this.

Sad that we accept tazers as compliance instruments rather than non-lethal substitutes for guns now. Slippery slope in action.

Actually, in this video, it kind of is. I get as worked up as anyone about cops abusing their power and ignoring the law they are supposed to uphold, but I'm not sure that's what's going on in this case.

If they received a domestic disturbance call for this house, they need to check it out, and it also gives them probable cause to enter. Having someone inside the house saying "Nope, nothing going on here" isn't going to cover it; it wouldn't be the first time that some guy had beaten his wife or kids unconscious and then answered the door saying there was no problem.

Also, unlike a lot of situations (for example, your neighbor calls the cops saying that you're dealing drugs), there's not time to do an investigation to get a warrant in a D&D situation--by definition, someone's life might be in danger.

I'll upvote almost any video showing cops violating people, but this one doesn't qualify.

I know that kinda thing seems cool when you're 15, but it's just not gonna happen.

In the real world, grown ups solve problems through a democratic process. You don't live in a police state. The fact that you get to post on this site with statements like that is in and of itself evidence of that fact.

So calm down, and let's approach this like rational adults.

Based on the information we have available (i.e. the video), it would seem that there is potentially a case to answer for. However, without context, it's incredibly hard to judge whether the cops actions were justified or not.

Yah, I am pretty wary of power abuse, but those cops are extremely cool and collected. This is definitely not some adrenaline pumped up abuse. That means either they felt they were very much in the right to enter (and some context as to why they felt that way would be very good) or they were the meanest jack booted Fascists yet. I get the distinct feeling it was the former.

That what happens when you let democrats control the government.. you hand over your freedoms to the government.

Come and join the Tea Party and take back you Constitutional Freedoms.

Neighbor (or anonymous bystander/prankster, your chlid's ornery friend) calls 911 and claims to hear from YOUR home, all matter of torment, gunshots, pit bulls, kids, etc. and all these or a combination could be a complete fabrication..... Based on an anon call, can the same cops bust your fucking door down if you don't allow them in warrant-less? If so, fuck you, police state.

Fuck you bob, as usual, you are the most clueless person on the sift. Cuz yeah, shitty cops never existed under Republicans. When can we kick this guy out of here for repeated trolling? You and your incompetence are a blight on the sift.

Anyway. I can't upvote this purely for the title.

1. without context, this video is meaningless. Certainly looks like we're missing a big chunk of why the cops were called out in the first place.

2. Even if it is exactly as it looks without context. One group of shitty cops, a police state doesn't make. A police state requires a systemic change. It takes people at the highest levels endorsing this sort of thing and that isn't happening. We wouldn't need an individual's camera phone to let us know because it would be happening in droves all throughout the state/nation and it would be universally noticed.

Upvoting for the debate in the comments.

So I can just anonymously call up and say "I hear a fight going on in Ickster's house I think someone may be hurt" and the cops will come to your house and you just let them in?

That's not the world I want to live in.

Past rulings, from California and elsewhere, recognize that "probable cause of ongoing spousal abuse at a residence warrants immediate police intervention."

Basically if there is any call on domestic violence made, be it to any age person in the house, police can and will enter the home without a search warrant. You can resist, but the courts will side with the police.

In this case, the police had the authority to do what they did because our courts have been dumb enough to give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety.

It's not "a little Temporary Safety". We're talking about cases of domestic violence here. Absolutely the cops should have the right to enter the home.

Let's be clear here. We're not talking about the police being allowed to enter your home whenever they feel like it, we're talking about a case where there is "probable cause of ongoing spousal abuse".

Yeah, you can do that, and it completely sucks. On the other hand, if I'm actually beating the shit out of my wife and kids and you call, should I be able to tell the police to get a warrant just because the screaming has stopped?

If it's "ongoing spousal abuse" then they would have to be aware of previous cases (my interpretation).

The judgement does not seem sound. If someone says they are fine then they already have the protection of the police (since the police are there and in communication). If the police bust in and they finally admit, yes, my partner beat me, then the police still have to wait for the victim to press charges for an arrest to occur (which often doesn't happen, and which they had the opportunity to do at any time anyway). Meanwhile it makes a mockery of probable cause because they weren't actually in immediate danger of, or currently being, assaulted or battered.

Go figure.

Yes you should be able to tell them to get a warrant. If they don't like it? They can stay outside the building or patrol that area until there is a fight again. Private property is MEANT to be that way.

Also I make it a point to not associate with people that would be beating on me and I think everyone should probably put that in their top 10 list.

I shouldn't have my rights infringed on because some woman who is getting beat doesn't have the common sense to leave when the police show up or scream for help again if she's "locked upstairs". Because you know why? If the woman is like that she'll just keep going back to him anyway. So the police showing up doesn't make a damn bit of difference anyway.

The police aren't counselors and they are not parents. People make dumb choices and they have to be held accountable for their actions at some point.

Good point, but you have to draw a line in the sand somewhere.

I think the problem in this case is an age old one. If a police officer asks a citizen innocent of any crime "do you mind if I search your xyz?" and the citizen rightfully says "yes I mind, and no you may not search my xyz" then the police officer says "what have you got to hide?" and immediately and incorrectly forms a reasonable suspicion that they are about to commit, committing, or going to commit a crime.

This is tempered by the fact that the police officer deals with people all day long who are in fact guilty and will lie about their crime. This does not give the police officer a right to treat people like they are guilty before the fact.

It's good that this has happened because people are talking about it and hopefully this will change things (through law) to be fairer for everyone.

ok people.
if the cops want to enter your house without a warrant, they need what is called:

"EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES"

ie: imminent danger...etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exigent_circumstance_in_United_States_law

did they have it in this case? doesn't seem likely. and it is noted that in this possible domestic violence situation they immediately tasered the woman.

Domestic violence isn't limited to just women. There was a child in the house.

quite true. any notion of a child in imminent danger here?

while i realize there can be situations that justify entrance without a warrant...this power is extremely abused.
i'll note that i worked as an attorney representing victims of domestic violence in New Orleans under a federal grant for about 2 years.

i'll say this about the cops in these types of situations: in exigent situations, cops tend to be very, very light fingered. anything in "plain view" may be confiscated as evidence, and then it is good-fucking-bye.

Good point. I really wish we had more context in this video. Based on the video, it's impossible to say what was happening before the filming started.

It takes an IQ of maybe 60 to understand that if you disagree with a cop, you can file a complaint after the fact, not while he has a weapon pointed at you and he's not sure whether or not you're armed.

Well I don't need to add anything here...everyones already suitably nuts.

I've never seen so few cops as the week I recently spent in Cali.

Let me start out by saying I work for a county Sheriff’s Office and will give you some insight or an idea what goes on in an officers/deputies head with any situation (which could pertain to this one)

First, I am a big nerd and have been around computers all my life and the internet so I have seen many police videos online. So let me say first that I agree that there are bad officers out there. Are we all bad? No, but the few ruin it for the many and I’m sorry to see such hate and distrust because of it. The only thing I or any law enforcement can do about that is do our job correctly and wipe the stigma away one person at a time.

Second, when it comes to responding to a 911 call (A call for service), 9 times out of 10 you do not know what you are going to. Dispatch (radio or control whatever moniker you want to use) can only give you the info that the person calling 911 gives them. Say this video instance, that someone from inside the home or a neighbor called 911 because of possible domestic violence going on inside the home. This is usually all the info an officer will get before showing up on scene. Now if the officer approaches the house and tries to make contact and is confronted by a man who has locked his door and is shouting at you, this is going to cause alarm with the office. Not only can he not make contact inside the house to verify if someone is actually hurt or to clear the call as it was made on accident by a neighbor, he has a male subject who is disobeying his commands to answer the door. I’m assuming this officer made a few attempts to make contact before he called for backup (fill units). Now with multiple officers, they will attempt to make contact a few more times. These officers broke down the front door to make contact inside the house. The only reason they would do that is because they saw danger or possible harm to someone inside, or the call made to 911 dictated that there was someone inside the house who was injured or in fear of their life.

To be honest, there are many reasons why responding authorities would break down that door. Maybe the 911 call was from a family member inside the home stating that their brother etc… was off his medications and was threating to hurt himself or others. Maybe he was acting erratic because he was off his meds and police broke down the door due to this individual having a violent past when he stops taking his medications. Maybe there were no meds involved at all and this individual has a violent past so the officers chose to act based on past experiences with said individual.

See, that’s the problem with almost 98% of these videos, WE DON’T KNOW. There are so many possible scenarios that without full disclosure on what went on, what info did the police have, and what were they witnessing on scene. We cannot “Monday night quarterback” these videos. I know videos prior to this have shown officer’s acting in the wrong with all the info available, but that doesn’t give us the right to assume this or others videos are showing officers acting in the wrong. I do not go to work every day planning on hurting people or making false arrests. I have said this many times to people who I have arrested or deal with when they ask “why are you arresting me”, “are you taking that money out of my pocket and stealing it?”, “this is a false arrest!”, my response is your few dollars or property or the statistic of making one more arrest if false is not worth my job. I am not going to make false allegations or take someone’s property that would cause me to lose my job and most importantly my pension. My family relies on me to bring money home so I can provide food and shelter. I would like to think almost every officer/deputy thinks and believes the same. We do what is right, even if during the situation it may seem wrong to others (civilians), we do what we think is right so at the end of the day we can go home to our families and the city/county stays a little safer. That’s my whole day, trying to make the city a better place one call for service at a time, and then get home safe to my family.

I really wish we were appreciated like firemen or military but I know we never will be. Law enforcement only show up when things have gone bad to worse. Nobody ever wants to go to jail. Try having a job where everyone hates you no matter what good you do. Yet we still go to work and put our lives on the line everyday (many of us die each year) so people can sit at home or in there office cubicle and judge videos of our actions. So please try to remember we are not all bad.

Just my .02

I wish all of these videos came with follow up reports on who was arrested, what crimes they were charged with, whether they were convicted, and what were the outcomes of any lawsuits.
..oh, and who had to pay for the broken doors.

OK, this is fucking absurd. You do realize that the psychology of abusive relationships is a lot more complex that someone being too stupid to leave, don't you?

I'm a big believer in civil liberties, but this kind of "I'm too good for that, so fuck everyone who's not as great as me" brand of Libertarianism is really sickening.

This, a thousand times this.

If you are going to publish a video about an abuse of power, then you should be including details in the video like names, addresses, badge numbers, etc.

Ya, but when we ban out all the idiots, then we can only argue fine points of what we who are left all believe.

Allowing dissenting opinions, however ignorant, is what made democratic (the concept, not the party) countries great.

there's a difference between stating a dissenting opinion (and defending it) and just dropping down a troll post and running away.

and we're talking about a community forum here, not the nation as a whole. forums need moderation. something I wish the sift would be more active about.

If that is the context then the person on whom the cops were called could simply let the cops in, verify that no one is in danger, and then request the cops investigate the asshole who is calling the cops on false pretenses. It is after all a criminal offense to make a false call. However, when you refuse entry in what could be an emergency because you want to stand on principle, you are asking the cops to act in a fashion of utmost precaution and kick your door down to make sure that there is not a women locked in your basement that you and your wife are keeping hostage. The cops had probable cause and no judge in the country would argue that seeing this video. The officers where very clear as to why they were demanding entry.

Requesting at first.

It became a demand just before they kicked the door in.

Judges don't argue - ever - they make a ruling on law. We don't know whether a judge will rule this a legal entry or an illegal entry.

If a cop knocks on my door and says he wants to ask me a few questions, I say "Sure, what's up? What can I help you with?"

Because here's the really odd part . . . If I'm not doing anything wrong, he's going to leave. Why? BECAUSE IT'S NOT A POLICE STATE. *ahem* But yes, any normal, sane person doesn't freak out the moment an officer approaches them. Who typically freaks out? People that are guilty or crazy. I've had officers knock on my door before, and I didn't pull out the camera and start threatening to kill them.

But, on the other hand, I've had officers pull me over for no just cause and my first question to them is "Why did you pull me over." If they don't answer, I tell them point blank that unless they have probable cause I don't accept this as legitimate.

If an officer shows up to a potential domestic abuse, quite frankly, I would expect nothing less than what these officers did. Too many women have died because the officers couldn't intervene in domestic affairs. Under a Republican, mind you Bob. As long as the man said nothing was wrong, that was the end of the story.

So what if someone was critically injured, or near dead, or the child would be severely beaten if the woman didn't tell the officers she was okay? Then what? You'd be crying about how incompetent they are.

You're seeing what you want to see, simple as that. For those of us who are rational, we'll wait until there's more information before jumping on the screaming and moaning bandwagon.

Since it is a domestic violence call, the judge would have to look at precedent cases. There are countless state level cases that uphold a warrant-less entry in the case of possible violence to someone in the home, visible or not. Brigham City v. Stuart is one that went to SCOTUS and further cemented the situation.

Based on the that sadly broad ruling, if a 911 call is made claiming even possible domestic violence, police can force entry into a residence to see if everyone is ok. I don't like it or agree with it, but they will walk on any charges from the entry.

I do think they could call the immediate use of a taser into question, however.

I would rather the police forced entry than let someone remain in a state of harm. I'm sorry, but I've had police come to my home on a 911 call and they were forced to ensure that no one was in danger. In my case my phone had a 911 button on it that got hit when I was cleaning my room, but they don't know that. The guys were polite, walked the house to make sure that everyone was safe, thanked me for my cooperation and left. These are cases that are only as hard as you want to make them. This situation is as stupid as people who are sober refusing to cooperate at sobriety checkpoints.

You asked for context. It seems to be consistent with what everyone thinks. The only debate is whether the use of force was justified. Personally, I feel that they should have opened the door, or at least brought everyone out front so the police could verify their safety. I can see why domestic abuse allegations would qualify as exigent circumstances. Sure, there will be pranks and false charges, but absent reason doubt the caller police should act. It sounds like the call was made in good faith and amounted to a misunderstanding. You can't help but wonder if the neighbors had observed a pattern of behavior that contributed to their decision. I know I'd be hesitant to call if I observed a single instance of a woman crying in the backyard. There are just too many other things I could assume, and the charges are too serious.

@dalumberjack said: "I really wish we were appreciated like firemen or military but I know we never will be."

People who have their lives together appreciate cops as much as or more than firemen or military.

My leftist friends complain about how often they get robbed in our city with far-left laws, so even if they claim to dislike the enforcement of law, their actions speak otherwise.

I have serious issues with authority of any kind, especially uniformed thugs employed by cities or counties. The state of law enforcement in America is absurd-I do not believe you can remain a cop with noble ethics or morality; YOU WILL compromise any noble intentions you had to"protect and serve" eventually.
I never give police factual information when I do not absolutely have to. I will of necessity or impulse, reaction or response, engage injustice when I see it, regardless of personal safety or violation of statutes.

I don't know you, don't strike a woman in my presence: I don't care if she hit you first and don't need any "whys", I won't stop pummeling you until you are unconscious.

I have met about 5 fair cops in the hundreds I have ever had to engage.

Sorry porky, you chose a douchbag profession. Sorry Velocity5, I suppose I simply don't have my "life" together enough to appreciate Mr. Badgy. I do however get wood when I consider the noble fireman or EMT. Used to hang out at the firehouse with my son once a week in Durango. You can't "hang out" at a police station....If you did, some dickhead would start asking questions and probably arrest you for loitering. Fuck the PO-Leece.

I agree with what you said here. I don't distrust the police, we are all working off of hypothetical situations here.

I'll just say if someone from INSIDE the house called 911 then the cops have the right to kick your door in.

What's absurd is that you would rely on the police to be marriage counselors and psychotherapists.

You can't save EVERYONE and ESPECIALLY people who don't want to be saved!

Thanks bmacs!

Don't tell me what I'd "cry" about. Because I wouldn't blame the cops at all just the woman who chose to stay with a man who beat the crap out of her all the time.

There are MANY options for people who are being abused to ESCAPE. People have to want to help themselves before someone else can help them.

@dalumberjack - Very well stated.

"I really wish we were appreciated like firemen or military but I know we never will be."

Well, I was recently involved in a similar experience and was nearly 51-50'd because the police in California, apparently, can just kick your door in if someone in your family says you're suicidal... EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT.

Have a shitty morning, express your depression to a family member, police kick your door down.

Fuck this state.

FUCK THE POLICE

FUCK THE POLICE

FUCK THE POLICE

FUCK THE POLICE

FUCK THE POLICE

FUCK THE POLICE

You want context?! I'll show you my cell phone text message history with a police officer telling me they are going to kick my door down.

This shit is happening EVERY WHERE. This is not isolated.

It IS a police state.

And then they searched the house. Unlawfully. Without any consent from myself or the owner.

Quick question I often pose to people that don't trust police. If there were a different legal attitude towards prohibition, especially of drugs, do people suppose their attitude towards officers would change? I find that most often distrust of police stems from discomfort with the validity of the laws they are enforcing. I suppose there is also this sense of abusive authority types, i.e. the guys attracted to the gig for the badge and gun. Still, I think most people's trust is undermined by the law, not the enforcement. I find that most cops are professional and polite if you show them the courtesy of treating them like polite professionals. This is a case where I have absolutely no problem with officers being a bit heavy handed in their enforcement. Given the severity of the allegations, a miss would be a more costly error than a false alarm. They could have done without the taser and the obstruction charges though. That was just retaliatory.

When the police start going after the the bad apples (cops) there are then maybe you can get people to trust cops. Of course it won't happen because cops are all part of the same gang. Always protecting each other regardless of the evil that's done by your "brothers". If you're a cop and turn the other way when the bad ones abuse their power or you don't vigilantly pursue eradicating the bad ones then you're just as much a part of the problem as they are. I will never trust any police because my past experiences tells me police are not to be trusted. The problem is cops all look the same and i have no way of knowing which ones i can trust. Show me where good cops are protecting me from the bad ones - they aren't. Also the judicial system is set up to protect the bad cops because the potential money they can cost a city due to lawsuits is enormous. So many cops go on abusing their power because they can and no one is willing to do anything about it.

Clean up your own house first before complaining about not being appreciated.

There should be more transgender police people....and they should hire dwarfs as well, make a special unit with all teeny-coppers. Hire Asian women to replace all male uniformed patrol officers and then, after changes like these, maybe people will begin to trust the fiiiinnne members of our fiiiiine law enforcement communities in this great country.

I mostly feel sorry for most cops, mostly....

Downvote for zero context, no matter how engaging the discussion is.

interesting, I agree this video needs context. Also the guy should have just cooperated with the officers and went outside - why unnecessarily provoke a situation like this when it could most likely be better resolved through cooperation?

I am however curious where the line is drawn with these sorts of calls and the laws allowing police to enter regardless of warrant. Obviously the police should have some authority to enter - many violent crimes take place inside homes, and they should have the authority to enter to prevent these crimes given reasonable suspicion - but where do we draw the line? I once was up late with some friends at our place, and we saw the police at a house next door. They saw we were up, came over, and asked us if we knew our neighbour (which we didn't) or had any information about whether or not he might have been inside because someone called in worried that the guy was going to kill himself. The police eventually left without breaking in the door. I think they were right in doing so in this situation.

but it's such a tough situation.. In the end, I think if there was a violent crime taking place against me in my home, which perhaps was called in by someone else who heard the noise, I would gladly forfeit my privacy and the cost of new hinges for my door for my own safety. I would want the police to enter, even if the perpetrator was yelling about police states and so forth... I would assume that most victims might also opt for this, which is why we allow police some discretion in these circumstances.

Great discussion. Here is a news story with the particulars.

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/05/16/cotati-mans-video-shows-police-barging-into-home-using-stun-gun/

Wouldn't it have been easier to open the door and say,.. "We were having a loud argument, but as you can see, there is no violence here and no one has been harmed. We have a nosy neighbor who likes to call that cops on people he doesn't like. If he calls again, take it with a grain of salt."?

In a perfect world where police are on your side that's a lovely scenario. I think a more realistic scenario has you with a mouthful of carpet and a knee on your head and in your back after you've opened the door. They will always assume the worst about you and operate accordingly. Its much safer for them that way. Once you open the door you aren't saying anything as they rush in and subdue you first thing. You are after all the reason they are there and will be considered the bad guy until its all figured out. My experience with the police tells me that my scenario is much more realistic and not all that uncommon. Not to say your scenario couldn't happen. I do think the way you are treated has a lot to do with the affluence of the area you live in.

And you don't think that this creates more harm than good. If you live with an adversarial relationship with your local police then you have to expect them to treat you in the same fashion. This "authority corrupts" attitude will only lead to it doing so. In my work I deal with people daily. The people who start giving me shit right away are going to get no favors from me. They are going to get the bare minimum of me doing my job and are probably going to be less happy with the experience. The people who are polite and nice get every effort I have to help them. And I don't know what hell hole of a town you live in, but most cops are just trying to get to the end of the day, just like everyone else. I would love to see a case by case scenario where you can provide evidence of a personal experience where a cop abused authority for personal gain. I'd wager that your experience of corrupt cops lies more in the realm of "he turned on his lights to run a red light" and nothing of actual abuses (no running red lights with your lights on is not an abuse of authority).

@chingalera

II've never had a negative interaction with a police officer.

Every one I've interacted with has been professional and polite.

*fear *biopolitics

Adding video to channels (Fear) - requested by notarobot.

This may run long, so bear with me.

Law Enforcement employees tend to come from two specific groups of people. The first group is going to consist of people who actually joined up to try to protect people and make things safer for them. They are idealists who may grow jaded over time; because realistically if your only input on what being a LEO is the internet and reality TV, you are not prepared for the type of mental assault you will endure day in and day out. I'm not talking about angry people, but stuff like drawing circles around little chunks of brains on the highway from a teenage girl that went through a windshield.

As an officer at any level (except maybe a small town), you are going to see the absolute worst side of humanity on a daily basis and you aren't on a tour of duty like the military. You don't get to 'rotate' home and put it behind you. This will wear on anybody who is not a sociopath, it will grind you down to a nub. You could see professional help for this, but I will go into that later.

The second type of person who goes into law enforcement is someone who likes authority, a sense of power over someone else, a bully. This person is in the job because it gives them power over others and the law will protect them because it is vaguely worded in SO many cases. This person will shrug off the effects that cripple the first type over time, because they feel in charge of every situation. After a while, if they don't tone it down, they will get caught. Thankfully the cell camera and the internet tends to be helping clean them out due to their own incapability to see they can't ALWAYS be in charge, but it will be a long road because this group is the BULK of the ones that join LE organizations.

Now why do these two groups tend to be the ones that you are going to run into on a consistent basis? The simple, hard answer is that we pay our front line LEO's very little compared to other services that risk their life or experience the mental grind. Your average patrol officer is going to pull a median salary of about 35k with comparable benefits to someone working in a office job. A firefighter is going to pull around 45k and scales up much quicker, not to mention their benefits are beyond good. EMT's make about the same as patrol officers, but their benefits are also very good and they don't have the same stressors. I know that ranges will vary and State LEO's are very well paid on average, but we are talking about the people you are going to encounter most often.

If you have to choose between a job where you are going to be considered a 'hero' or a job where everyone is going to be biased towards you being a 'villain, and the hero jobs pay better, which would you logically choose? Assuming of course that you are not sorted into one of the two groups I described, most are going to run away from serving in LE. In fact, this is why more of the 'bullies' tend towards LE and the 'idealists' don't. So you already have created a situation where the 'stormtrooper' mindset is going to prefer this job and haven't considered options to rectify it. The people you don't run into that much are going to be the people that took college and got pushed through the ranks quickly. If you didn't take college or just took an Associates Degree, you have to beat these people out. It is extremely hard to do that, even if you do your job much better than they did.

The final factor that runs into this is the mental issues I mentioned earlier. If you seek help from your employers for mental stress, they are going to handle it differently if you are a LEO. You are going to find out quickly that you are expendable. If you seek help and get classified as PTSD, you set a chain of events in motion that is inexorable. You will be rotated to a desk. You will see a Psychiatrist who will prescribe anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medication. This person will meet with you for around 15 minutes 3-4 times a week, ask you questions, and ask if the medication is helping. If you return to functional status in a month or two, you get put back on duty. If you don't, they put you on short term disability for up to one year. Your visits drop to once a week, then once a month. One year later, your employment is terminated. They hire a new recruit and start the cycle again about the same time that you start your short term disability. You get to try to salvage your career in anyway possible, hopefully you paid through the nose for long term disability, or you can try to find a smaller department that doesn't bother to dig too deep on background checks.

Other related fields like firefighters/emts comprehend PTSD and work with their people much harder. They have better benefits so you they can see outside therapists as much as needed. There is less stigma if you have a problem, because they understand. You go on the fritz as an LEO and you will overhear people who used to respect you call you weak or a pussy. Sadly this type of thing happens at all levels of LE, even as a State Trooper you are expendable.

In any case, the point to this essay is that the system is flawed and is going to drive out the good LEOs and save the bad ones to protect itself from litigation. Protect yourself at all times with video, be advised of the laws and loopholes in them that bad LEos will exploit, and don't force confrontation with a LEO if there is a loophole. If the man had stepped outside and talked calmly, the incident would not have escalated as it did. In this case he did not inform himself of the loopholes correctly and got tasered (which was improper, they didn't warn him correctly or anything), and the LEOs look like villains again.

Remember California, you voted for this.

Fill me in. What exactly did we vote for that you are referring to?

I have a friend who had a nearly identical situation. When the cops arrived, he opened the door and had a discussion with the officers. After determining there was no substance to the neighbor's claim, the cops left without incident.

Just watching the video, it did angry me to see what happened, but as I read the comments, I did begin to think well, what are the police supposed to do in a reported domestic abuse situation.

A few things that crossed my mind are... firstly, everyone is different, some sensible and some not so; some clever and some not so. This is fact, and one would expect the police to know this and be able to deal with different situations appropriately. Sure there are many possible reasons why they don't handle situations properly like poor pay, assuming everyone is at their worst from experience, personality types etc, but this is not what the public wants or expects - hence the dislike.

Secondly, no matter any other context, if the person holding the camera did not have a weapon in their hand, did the police have to taze him?

Now having read the article, I wonder if some previous commenters still believe that their behavior is justifiable. The police were reported to have turned up in their numbers with guns in hand without explaining the situation.
For those who may ask why he didn't get go out there or let them in... bear in mind that he has returned from serving in the army to return home to have guns pointed at unarmed civilians by people who were not able to hold a calm enough conversation long enough to handle the situation properly.

In regards to the police state, it isnt just about how the police behave, it's about what the mob are willing to accept. Judging from the comments, it seems that the some are willing to accept to a lot already. The questions is how many and how easily they could be persuaded into accepting more.

edit
Maybe its not a good idea to share so much

The police industry is like the porn industry - because of its nature, it has an attraction to bad people. Police as an abstract is just fine and necessary, the problem is people. People are idiots. People with power are dangerous.

I get angry when the police abuse their mandate, but very very often it's not them that is the problem, it's the people they are dealing with.

From the news link - "In a press release, Cotati police said the officers’ actions were justified because it was a call for domestic violence, and as such, the officers could not leave without making sure everyone inside the apartment was safe."

Oh the irony. Bombing for peace is like fucking for virginity.

I know my enemies and my friends and allies. I also have become quite deft at disengaging a potentially hind-brained copper from his predictable, robotic license.

My general rule of thumb is polite, courteous, etc.-Keep the robot's heart-rate down, make them feel in control, cooperate.

Sometimes this does not work, especially the further out of the city you travel, constables and sheriffs necks tend to be redder...This is Texas, you must remember and while the pigs of Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Carolinas (deep south) are much worse, you still have to factor in asshole-redneck-douchebag.

In the event I get no quarter from a cop who's simply human garbage, I let rip with my assessment, this after I already know I'm going to jail. Every time this has happened incidentally, was for unpaid parking tickets, and once for possession of an oz. of weed, which the prick searched my vehicle about 30 mins. for before he found it....A total piece of shit, this assessed after an attempt at a conversation with the asshole-The cunt risked my life with his driving as well, breaking all speed limits to get me downtown to county, probably because I would not stop verbally assaulting him from the backseat...He deserved all I had and more, the buzz-killing prick who was "JUST DOING HIS JOB."

Here's to all the people who scream "TROLL" whenever someone leaves one remark on a post without returning for a "discussion" (perhaps that's all that one felt needed said to make a simple point?)


@shatterdose "Who typically freaks out? People that are guilty or crazy"-That sounds like a willing herd animal using broad generalizations in favor of a police state.

@arekin-Agreed-I am not implying that I would have handled this scenario any differently-

@bmacs27-All relevant and valid observations-Our distrust, fear and derision of cops in the U.S. comes from conditioning-The so-called, "war on drugs" has been the bane of law enforcement since prohibition, that and CORRUPTION from top to bottom-

@moopysnooze THANK YOU!!?? How much more WILL the cattle take, eh??

Oh and arekin??? I got many a story where a cop, "abused authority for personal gain." -Very few of my cop encounters were the result of one's actions to the contrary. They can't help it, it goes with the territory they have created for themselves.

Hmm, so by your own volition, you got in trouble with cops for not paying parking tickets, and possession of a substance that you know is illegal (Not arguing whether or not pot should be legal mind you). And then when you got caught, you complain about police abusing authority? Cops generally just do their damn job, have some abused authority? Sure, but that is because there are some bad people in the world. I've seen a Walmart night manager abuse his authority, not because he had an abundance of power, because he was a damn jerk. What you are displaying is an issue with authority. Your own authority issues make you believe that those with authority are out to get you. I'd quote dalumberjack above, and let you know again how the cops are just trying to make it through another day, but you'll insist that your antecdotal evidence makes you right. So our cycle will continue. But I have one thing on my side, we all live with cops everyday, millions of encounters every day in the US, and we see a handful of videos every month of police encounters, some rather questionable about their "abuse". If their is an epidemic of dirty cops in the world, where are all the videos supporting it? Their should be a 1000 fold increase in these videos every month if only a handful of people actually posted their bad police encounter.

Context? all i see is daft speculations