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To the 4 white male policemen who beat me for checking the health of [detainee]

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Re: To the 4 white male policemen who beat me for checking the health of [detainee]

#51

Post by AWildDHHAppears »

williamgb wrote: post #11

Interesting to see that "white" managed to lead the spate of pejoratives toward the end of the article ("Each of 4 white, ignorant, racist asshole police officers"). I've been the victim of interracial crime, at least once due to my race. I did not consider the race of my assailants to be anywhere near the top of the list of characteristics to which I should like to object.

Without any facts, I'm skeptical. He should either move on with his life, or make a formal complaint and/or a lawsuit.

Taking the middle road with a story with few details on Medium doesn't help anyone.

Re: To the 4 white male policemen who beat me for checking the health of [detainee]

#52

Post by WalterBright »

Consider it from the cops' point of view. A random person shows up and wants to "check the health" of their suspect. When asked for id, he wants to debate "why". Does he seriously think they'll let some unknown person who refuses to provide id interfere with their arrest? Would any cop in any country allow this?

What he should have done is opened with "I am a licensed physician, here's my license and id. May I check the person's health, he appears to be having a seizure?"

It does appear the cops overreacted, but how could he expect anything but a negative reaction from the way he approached it?

Re: To the 4 white male policemen who beat me for checking the health of [detainee]

#53

Post by dleslie »

MichaelGG wrote: post #39
dleslie wrote: post #4

This is why I teach my children never to speak to police officers, to avoid them as much as possible, and to leave the area should they become visibly present. And I live in Canada; when I travel to the USA on business I stay in the hotel or the venue and restrict my traveling as much as possible. I don't fear the citizens, I fear the police.

Are you exaggerating or are you seriously concerned that the police will harm you? No matter what your race/gender/color/face/etc., citizens are far more dangerous. There's simply tons of them. Even in the US, this whole police-violence thing is a bit of a red herring. Yes, it's terrible, police need to be checked more, etc. But no, it's not a "massacre" or remotely the top reason someone will be killed.

If I am assaulted and mugged I get some bruises and lose my wallet.

Those are relatively minor outcomes compared to the enormous court expenses and years or a lifetime of damage that an officer can do. Hell, as per the article, the $300 to get my car out of impound would be a lot more than the pocket change I stand to lose in a mugging.

Most well-fed sharks won't attack a human, but I'm not about to dive into the tank.

Re: To the 4 white male policemen who beat me for checking the health of [detainee]

#54

Post by davesque »

whatshisface wrote: post #30
mdadm wrote: post #15

Why does "white"/"male" matter? I understand that this is potentially a very contentious question, but I genuinely don't understand why those are listed in the title, or why "white" was the first in a list of insulting words used at the end of the article.

"Each of 4 white, ignorant, racist asshole police officers." While he was probably trying to use it in an aggressive sense, I'd avoid getting too offended. You can't expect people to talk nicely right after being wronged like that. If I were telling people about something like that I would try to speak as calmly as possible, but I'd be pretty upset if someone found a slip-up as an excuse to ignore me.

I feel like it's important to point out that, while it's certainly understandable that a person might latch onto characteristics like that in reaction to that kind of a situation, it is, nonetheless, racism. In order for racism to stop, it eventually has to stop with no exceptions.

Re: To the 4 white male policemen who beat me for checking the health of [detainee]

#55

Post by dleslie »

lingben wrote: post #31
gozur88 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Frankly, you've allowed yourself to fall prey to US election year propaganda. If you look at the numbers you're very safe travelling in the US, and to the extent you're in danger it's from criminals and not police.

The problem as I see it is that while 99% of police officers are not only law abiding and do their job with integrity, the 1% out there can and do destroy innocent lives. It is like walking into a mine field. You could very well walk out unscathed but one 'routine' brush with the wrong police officer and your life may never recover. So are you willing to take such a small but catastrophic chance? An intelligent perso…

And the risk is much higher if you happen to not be white.

Re: To the 4 white male policemen who beat me for checking the health of [detainee]

#57

Post by Meegul »

trungonnews wrote: post #50
Meegul wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is it at all legal for the government to demand payment for something when you are not convicted of a crime? It's effectively a 100% discriminatory, corrupt, and unaccountable tax. Completely reprehensible.

I didn't pay the cop. I had to pay the towing company. The cop told the towing company to impound my car.

That makes no difference in the end. The police caused you financial harm, with no restitution. They should be held liable for that under civil law.

Re: To the 4 white male policemen who beat me for checking the health of [detainee]

#58

Post by lambdasquirrel »

WalterBright wrote: post #52

Consider it from the cops' point of view. A random person shows up and wants to "check the health" of their suspect. When asked for id, he wants to debate "why". Does he seriously think they'll let some unknown person who refuses to provide id interfere with their arrest? Would any cop in any country allow this? What he should have done is opened with "I am a licensed physician, here's my license and id. May I check…

Maybe. Are we also breaking people's fingers for a bit of a harried response when they see that someone may be having a fit or a seizure?

Re: To the 4 white male policemen who beat me for checking the health of [detainee]

#59

Post by otterley »

trungonnews wrote: post #21
roflchoppa wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

when i had to pay a ticket at the santa clara court house the cops there are a bunch of smart asses. Except for that black cop who was at the door, he was very helpful.

Agree, officers of color are usually nicer. The Asian cop who helped me retrieve the impound release paperwork was nice to me. Even waived the $100 paper work fee. But I'm still pissed about the whole situation. Wasted three hours and $300 because of some cop decided to arrest a sober person to kill time rather than patrolling the street and catching the real criminals. Edit: had to change colored to officers of colo…

I'm sure you didn't intend any offense, but for future reference, "colored" is considered archaic and borderline racial-epithet in the U.S. (I realize it's quite normal and non-offensive elsewhere.)

Re: To the 4 white male policemen who beat me for checking the health of [detainee]

#60

Post by rjn945 »

powertower wrote: post #14

Wait for the evidence, and the other side of the story, before making a judgment. The last 9 out of 10 of these types of stories turned out to be completely hoaxed on the part of the victim.

Do you have a link to an example of hoax story? I haven't seen that.
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