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Baltimore Cops Kept Toy Guns to Plant Just in Case They Shot an Unarmed Person

theroot.com

81–90 of 177 posts

Re: Baltimore Cops Kept Toy Guns to Plant Just in Case They Shot an Unarmed Person

#81
post #2

> It is not just Baltimore cops. It is cops. They will shoot you in the face in front of your infant daughter. They will choke you to sleep for selling cigarettes. This is the tone and conclusion of this article. If you want the actual story, read the original report here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-gun...

The author is citing real events.

When some cops are corrupt, does it matter that the rest might be decent? An individual police officer represents the entire force. They wear the colours and the badge as a representative of the whole establishment.

Would you call the police if you knew there were such troubling corruption issues? It would definitely make me think twice - you just don't know which officer will turn up.

Zero tolerance is the only way forwards when it comes to this, otherwise the few destroy trust for the masses.

Re: Baltimore Cops Kept Toy Guns to Plant Just in Case They Shot an Unarmed Person

#82
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article is about a sub-group of these people, but the tone to me as well was one of sweeping generalizations. Edit (instead of replying to all of the individual replies): I'll be the first to acknowledge that there are systemic problems in police forces worldwide, just like there are systemic problems in any large organization, especially one endowed which so much executive power. However, any argument that paint…

Just like it’s a sweeping generalization to call ISIS members terrorists, right? Most of them don’t partake in such ops.

So apparently our police force is equivalent to ISIS. I guess it would be better if gangs ruled the streets. At least they don't do as many bad things as the cops do.

Re: Baltimore Cops Kept Toy Guns to Plant Just in Case They Shot an Unarmed Person

#83
post #66
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because this is a shit article pushing a political agenda with absurd rhetoric pandering to a niche that happens to be prevalent on HN? After reading the last paragraph, I went straight for the flag button; "It is not just Baltimore cops. It is cops. They will shoot you in the face in front of your infant daughter. They will choke you to sleep for selling cigarettes. They will shoot you in the back for walking away.…

You seem outraged, but is anything they said wrong?

In the last paragraph:

> It is not just Baltimore cops. It is cops. They will shoot you in the face in front of your infant daughter. They will choke you to sleep for selling cigarettes. They will shoot you in the back for walking away.

It appears his main point is to say because these Baltimore cops have been accused, all cops are guilty.

Re: Baltimore Cops Kept Toy Guns to Plant Just in Case They Shot an Unarmed Person

#84
post #3
post #2

> It is not just Baltimore cops. It is cops. They will shoot you in the face in front of your infant daughter. They will choke you to sleep for selling cigarettes. This is the tone and conclusion of this article. If you want the actual story, read the original report here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-gun...

> This is the tone and conclusion of this "article" Why on earth did you put "article" in quotes. Are you questioning whether it is, in fact, an article? Because that seems quite self-evident. You might disagree with it but be assured TFA is, in fact, an article and putting the word in quotes just makes it look like you don't know what quotes are for. Hint: quoting.

Presumably to highlight the difference between real journalism and this glorified blog post. He used the quotes correctly.

Re: Baltimore Cops Kept Toy Guns to Plant Just in Case They Shot an Unarmed Person

#85
post #18

This isn't a problem with cops, or blacks, or whites, or anything like that. This is a problem with the USA. In some countries the entire police force of the country combined uses fewer bullets per year than the average police officer in the States. The homicide rates can be 40 times smaller in European countries than there. There's just something fundamentally wrong with that country and it would be a mistake to att…

1 - In most european countries, you are not allowed to carry weapons. 2 - European countries are very small in population in comparison to US.

That is the point. It looks like outlawing firearms tends to reduce overall gun-related fatalities. Who knew? Apparently USA has some catching up to do.

Re: Baltimore Cops Kept Toy Guns to Plant Just in Case They Shot an Unarmed Person

#86
post #40

Body cams on police and actual consequences for misconduct. Some of the videos of people (of all colors) being unlawfully murdered have led to absolutely zero consequence for those responsible. Those with authority granted by the public should have HIGHER accountability and more severe consequences, not be able to subvert them altogether. It's not difficult to imagine the level of misconduct that is likely occurring…

The price for this should be massive. Doing this once or twice corrupts the justice system and destroys public trust in police. This invites gangs to become the law and order. Look how that’s worked out in Chicago.

What goes on in Chicago and its gangs goes far beyond the police and the indiscretions that go on there. Case in point:

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/October-2016/Chic...

Drill rap, the music of Chicago's gangs, is ultra violent and serves as a method of calling out other crews and taunting them into a response. Thanks to Youtube, Soundcloud, and social media the spread of this music is now easier than ever. The threats that come from this music are often followed up on.

Why do they do it? As one rapper says: “If I wasn’t doing this, would you even be down here in the low incomes? Would you even care that I exist?” “You know, white people, Mexicans, bitches, those people don’t live the life, but they love hearing about it. People want the Chiraq stuff. They want a superthug ghetto man, and I’m giving that to them. I’m just playing my role.”

Re: Baltimore Cops Kept Toy Guns to Plant Just in Case They Shot an Unarmed Person

#87
post #61

Ignoring the content of the article, why are so many articles on sites like these written so "weird"? There is lots of text and it seems there is very little actual content. It is like only a few lines actually have something to say, but the rest is just filler content. It is like someone wrote an article of a few lines, and someone else just extended it with random sentences to fill a page. To make matters worse, us…

Because this is a shit article pushing a political agenda with absurd rhetoric pandering to a niche that happens to be prevalent on HN? After reading the last paragraph, I went straight for the flag button; "It is not just Baltimore cops. It is cops. They will shoot you in the face in front of your infant daughter. They will choke you to sleep for selling cigarettes. They will shoot you in the back for walking away.…

Not sure about any niche audience here (haven't hung around that long), but that last paragraph got all my red flags up as well. Writers like this need a body cam of their own. Oh wait, that's right, there is one already - called the internet...

Which may prove that proof of rotten behavior is not enough to solve the problem when the root cause is confusion as to what is appropriate behavior in the first place.

Re: Baltimore Cops Kept Toy Guns to Plant Just in Case They Shot an Unarmed Person

#88

For those in countries outside the USA-- please be assured this is sensationalist rubbish. Cops are the most under-payed, overworked, least respected workers in the country. They put their lives on the line every day and have to put up with hostile press. They are told to wear body cameras, then are told to take them off when the results are not to the liking of the agitators. Cops are simply a political football, an…

So are you saying cops weren't planting toy guns, and the story is false?

Or are you saying that they're excused from behaviour like this because they have a hard job?

Re: Baltimore Cops Kept Toy Guns to Plant Just in Case They Shot an Unarmed Person

#89
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any member of the force, its leadership, or the surrounding politicians who is not 100% supporting the investigation and calling for heads to roll, is complicit. If that's a large enough group, then a sweeping generalization is absolutely warranted. "Bad apple" arguments only work if there's actual evidence of "good apples" working to expel the bad ones.

There's no evidence that even 1% of all police are complicit. What is your standard for "large enough"?

Is there evidence of 99% of supposedly non-complicit officers standing with victims, insisting on justice for those guilty?

Because that's the standard I'm calling for.

Re: Baltimore Cops Kept Toy Guns to Plant Just in Case They Shot an Unarmed Person

#90
post #81
post #2

> It is not just Baltimore cops. It is cops. They will shoot you in the face in front of your infant daughter. They will choke you to sleep for selling cigarettes. This is the tone and conclusion of this article. If you want the actual story, read the original report here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-gun...

The author is citing real events. When some cops are corrupt, does it matter that the rest might be decent? An individual police officer represents the entire force. They wear the colours and the badge as a representative of the whole establishment. Would you call the police if you knew there were such troubling corruption issues? It would definitely make me think twice - you just don't know which officer will turn u…

> When some cops are corrupt, does it matter that the rest might be decent?

Yes. Of course it matters.

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