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Small business owners say they're pressured to hire off-duty cops for security

minnesotareformer.com

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Re: Small business owners say they're pressured to hire off-duty cops for security

#51

Post by john-radio »

willcipriano wrote: post #28

You have to scroll far past the accusations of racism and outrage to reach the story here: > Here’s how the off-duty work program works: Some businesses — like large nightclubs — are required by the city to have security, which until 2020, sometimes had to be off-duty Minneapolis police officers. Nightclubs often are required to have security beacuse they are a nuisance to the surrounding area and the taxpayer should…

Unfortunately corrupt cops aren't limited to just one legal fig leaf for collecting payments, or even to operating inside the bounds of the law at all. Even this specific article discusses four or five different towns with varying flavors of this corruption problem; it focuses on Minneapolis probably just because that's where the newspaper is based out of, not because that's the only place where cops do a protection racket.

Re: Small business owners say they're pressured to hire off-duty cops for security

#52

Post by rjbwork »

thedaly wrote: post #49

> Santamaria was later required to come up with security plans outlining the number of officers needed per night. The officers insisted on getting paid cash, she said. She feared if she didn’t oblige, she’d lose her license. > Eventually, another officer helped schedule off-duty work: Derek Chauvin. He worked security at her club for 17 years. > ... > She sold the club in 2019. When Santamaria saw Chauvin pinning Geo…

>I didn't know that they worked together.

Surprising. It came out fairly shortly after the incident that they were at least known to one another on some level through that security job.

Re: Small business owners say they're pressured to hire off-duty cops for security

#53

Post by soco »

MattGaiser wrote: post #43
DonnyV wrote: post #30

The DOJ has to start actually doing its job and completely dissolving these corrupt police departments and rebuilding them. Thats the only way we're going to get rid of corrupts cops like this.

Given the shortage of cops, I am not sure there is the appetite for this. Politically, cops shaking down businesses people associate with trouble seems more palatable than exacerbating the police shortage.

I'm not sure what is the role of police here. If their role is to extort citizens I see no reason to keep them around. Or you think corrupt cops also protect some neighborhoods? Maybe for a nice price? I can rent my own thugs instead and I bet they'd be cheaper.

Re: Small business owners say they're pressured to hire off-duty cops for security

#54

Post by datadrivenangel »

Fascinating to learn that George Floyd and the cop who murdered him worked at the same nightclub for a while, and that the cop ended up also being charged for not paying taxes on the ~10k he earned under the table at the nightclub.

Re: Small business owners say they're pressured to hire off-duty cops for security

#55

Post by lagniappe »

seanthemon wrote: post #37
_moof wrote: post #18

Already we've got two top-level comments who think this article is about crime. It isn't. It's about corrupt police shaking down small business owners under threat of losing their business license. ETA: Please give the pedantry a rest. Of course I know police corruption is criminal. That's not what the people talking about "crime" are talking about.

The new mafia game's shaping up nicely.

Only a short amount of time before it devolves into pizza cartels

Re: Small business owners say they're pressured to hire off-duty cops for security

#56

Post by malfist »

willcipriano wrote: post #28

You have to scroll far past the accusations of racism and outrage to reach the story here: > Here’s how the off-duty work program works: Some businesses — like large nightclubs — are required by the city to have security, which until 2020, sometimes had to be off-duty Minneapolis police officers. Nightclubs often are required to have security beacuse they are a nuisance to the surrounding area and the taxpayer should…

Did you miss the part where the cops weren't requiring it for white ran nightclubs?

That smells just a little bit like racism to me.

Re: Small business owners say they're pressured to hire off-duty cops for security

#57

Post by DonnyV »

MattGaiser wrote: post #43
DonnyV wrote: post #30

The DOJ has to start actually doing its job and completely dissolving these corrupt police departments and rebuilding them. Thats the only way we're going to get rid of corrupts cops like this.

Given the shortage of cops, I am not sure there is the appetite for this. Politically, cops shaking down businesses people associate with trouble seems more palatable than exacerbating the police shortage.

Here one solution that could fix shortage and quality in police departments. I see a lot of college educated people that can't find jobs. Raise the requirement for being a cop to need 2 to 4 years of college and hire all the college people looking for work. That will also fix most of the corruption problems. I bet a lot of college graduates would kill for a pension right about now.

Re: Small business owners say they're pressured to hire off-duty cops for security

#59

Post by lemmsjid »

willcipriano wrote: post #28

You have to scroll far past the accusations of racism and outrage to reach the story here: > Here’s how the off-duty work program works: Some businesses — like large nightclubs — are required by the city to have security, which until 2020, sometimes had to be off-duty Minneapolis police officers. Nightclubs often are required to have security beacuse they are a nuisance to the surrounding area and the taxpayer should…

Why do you summarily dismiss (and recommend that other people dismiss) the multiple viewpoints in the article suggesting that the law you’re mentioning was unfairly targeted at immigrant owned establishments? It’s absolutely part of the story. Is it really that hard to believe that a corrupt way of enforcing a law might intentionally be targeted at people who are less likely to feel empowered to fight it?

Re: Small business owners say they're pressured to hire off-duty cops for security

#60

Post by willcipriano »

malfist wrote: post #56
willcipriano wrote: post #28

You have to scroll far past the accusations of racism and outrage to reach the story here: > Here’s how the off-duty work program works: Some businesses — like large nightclubs — are required by the city to have security, which until 2020, sometimes had to be off-duty Minneapolis police officers. Nightclubs often are required to have security beacuse they are a nuisance to the surrounding area and the taxpayer should…

Did you miss the part where the cops weren't requiring it for white ran nightclubs? That smells just a little bit like racism to me.

I saw the claim, I didn't see the evidence. The way the claim of racism was pulled way up front and the facts were buried deep makes me suspicious.
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