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Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

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Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#241

Post by neves »

maxerickson wrote: post #59
themartorana wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, this, as simple as this. This isn't a rogue "bad cop" - it's systemic, criminal abuse of power, and the very reason we have separation of powers - so this kind of activity can be checked all the way back to its origins. Which is pretty much the origin of my disillusionment, since it isn't happening at all, in the face of red-handed evidence.

What's the bar for 'at all'? People seem to speak (at least relatively) favorably of the new policing situation in Camden, the old department was disbanded: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camden_Police_Department_%28Ne... That's a large municipality discarding their entire police organization and creating a new one.

the police officers have been fired?

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#242

Post by exstudent2 »

tptacek wrote: post #238
exstudent2 wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience definitely does not match yours, poor people are just like everyone else and I actually find the communities in areas like that to be MUCH stronger if you take the time to get to know people.

I agree with you; I think there are some amazing strong communities all across the poorer areas of Chicago. But there are also people who will fuck with you there. The communities don't support them; in fact, on the west side (where I live), they put up signs on every block saying they want to chase those people away. Ask people who bike from the loop to Oak Park if they've ever been fucked with in Lawndale. I have a…

> I've come to the conclusion that part of "respecting" the poorer neighborhoods is not pretending like you can walk in front of a crowd of young men hanging out on a corner as if you have just as much a right to be there as they do.

Well this is part of what I mean by treating people respectfully. As an outsider I always respected that the locals "owned" the neighborhood. You have to be cognizant of the local culture and try not to clash with it.

Any neighborhood can be "dangerous". I'm pretty sure you're more likely to get in a car wreck in the suburbs than mugged in the inner city. Just as you have to practice safe driving in the suburbs, you have to be careful of different things in the inner city.

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#243

Post by neves »

bbarn wrote: post #74

Let's see.. in the 20 odd years here in Chicago, the sum of my police interactions are: Hit by a white shirt (supervisor) who came out of an alley on clark st while in a bike lane - somehow my fault, detained. Hit on foot, by a car with no lights on in a residential neighborhood while crossing at a crosswalk - somehow my fault for being outside while there was "a suspect being hunted" Watching officers on foot in 7-1…

First world problem there. In Brazil we had the "Caso Amarildo": https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caso_Amarildo

They locked a humble worker without proofs, tortured him, killed him during the interrogatory, erased the cameras recording, turned off the GPS of the police cars that got rid of the body, and bribed a woman to commit perjury.

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#244

Post by kasey_junk »

tptacek wrote: post #238
exstudent2 wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience definitely does not match yours, poor people are just like everyone else and I actually find the communities in areas like that to be MUCH stronger if you take the time to get to know people.

I agree with you; I think there are some amazing strong communities all across the poorer areas of Chicago. But there are also people who will fuck with you there. The communities don't support them; in fact, on the west side (where I live), they put up signs on every block saying they want to chase those people away. Ask people who bike from the loop to Oak Park if they've ever been fucked with in Lawndale. I have a…

I think the truth is somewhere between your guys' position. There is a very real statistical difference between the crime rates between neighborhoods. But its also true that the actual incident rate is much exaggerated by the media and perceptions of neighborhood differences are greater than reality.

One thing that is for sure, young black teens/men have a much, much more dangerous time of it, regardless of neighborhood than anyone else, and that is tragic.

And while we are adding anecdotes to the thread, I've lived in a "bad" neighborhood on Chicago's South Side for over a decade and I've never had a single violent incident (property crime has occurred). In that same span I was attacked in Lincoln Park and Streeterville, and had an attempted bicycle incident near McCormick Place.

I routinely walk in front of crowds of young men hanging on corners (its daily for me as I pass by a couple of schools) and have never had an incident (and I in fact know many of those young men). But there are also neighborhoods less than a mile away where I would not be comfortable doing that.

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#245

Post by 13thLetter »

Doing a ctrl-F for "emanuel" or "daley" in this comment section produced zero results, which is unfortunately rather telling.

Chicago has been run by the same political party since 1931. If the police are this bad and you keep re-electing the people running the city anyway, you are part of the problem. Throw the bastards out, don't just grump on message boards and then keep obediently pulling the same lever in the voting booth where it counts.

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#246

Post by minusSeven »

Juz16 wrote: post #217
branchless wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to say America just seems like a dreadful mess.

The thing to keep in mind is that America isn't as homogeneous as a European country, it's as diverse as the entire European continent. Would you say that Denmark is a dreadful mess because of the crime rate in Serbia? Probably not.

Same is even more true about India, yet it doesn't stop many people from calling it rape capital of the world.

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#249

Post by [deleted] »

Juz16 wrote: post #217
branchless wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to say America just seems like a dreadful mess.

The thing to keep in mind is that America isn't as homogeneous as a European country, it's as diverse as the entire European continent. Would you say that Denmark is a dreadful mess because of the crime rate in Serbia? Probably not.

[deleted]

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#250

Post by thatswrong0 »

mgleason_3 wrote: post #200

Look at the comments from the union rep. at the end of the story. Why is there no call from the public to: Outlaw public employee unions?

You're getting downvoted, but I think this is a legitimate question to ask, at least about police unions. There are many serious problems with public sector unions. I'd like to point to the financial situations (unfunded pension liability related) of California and Illinois as prime examples of such problems.
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