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Milwaukee Police News

milwaukeepolicenews.com

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Re: Milwaukee Police News

#91

Post by pc86 »

bdunbar wrote: post #52
luke_s wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in Melbourne Australia and I have got to say, this is the first reaction I had as well. The imagery used on their website was frankly shocking. My first response was "WTF! Is this really how Americans see their police? Is their job to charge round shooting people?" Compare and contrast the pictures used on the 'about' page of the Victoria police website: http://www.police.vic.gov.au/content.asp?Document_ID=3 W…

"WTF! Is this really how Americans see their police? I live in Wisconsin, in a small town of 20,000. Our police department has an armored car, with a mount for a water cannon. We've got a TAC [1] team. Our cops carry rifles in the trunks of their patrol cars. Elsewhere you can find comparable sized police departments that have .50 machine guns, armored personel carriers. So .. yeah. That's not how we see the police.…

I live in a small Pennsylvania borough with an operating budget of about $1 mil/year (this includes all services for the entire borough of 3-4 precincts).

Our police department is 8 full-time officers and 3 part-time officers with I believe 2 full-time admin/support staff in the office. We have 5 cruisers, 4 SUVs and at the last borough council meeting the council approved the purchase of a 6th brand new cruiser and a new fleet of AR-15 style rifles for the officers.

Because America.

Re: Milwaukee Police News

#92

Post by brudgers »

luke_s wrote: post #42
jpxxx wrote: post #13

It's militaristic, it's alienating, it's fetishistic, it's hostile, it insidiously portrays class and ethnic conflict as an everyday battle worth fighting, and it panders to the worst in Americans who already endorse the myriad excesses and injustices of an ever-growing quasi-private law and order machine that has ruined the lives of millions. But awesome job on the scrollbars, yo.

I live in Melbourne Australia and I have got to say, this is the first reaction I had as well. The imagery used on their website was frankly shocking. My first response was "WTF! Is this really how Americans see their police? Is their job to charge round shooting people?" Compare and contrast the pictures used on the 'about' page of the Victoria police website: http://www.police.vic.gov.au/content.asp?Document_ID=3 W…

It is not so much how Americans see their police. It is more a case of how America's local police forces see themselves. The militarization of local law enforcement is a long term trend which began in the 1970's. At the time it was portrayed in a popular TV drama, Los Angeles's Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) team arose as a tool for a massive metropolitan area.

Today, even small towns have trained snipers.

The website is simply branding itself to potential recruits and marketing itself to those who fund it. A picture of an officer talking to an elderly lady isn't going to attract young adults nor support a training budget for automatic weapons marksmanship.

Re: Milwaukee Police News

#93

Post by TheFuture »

swalsh wrote: post #40
w1ntermute wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I grew up in Milwaukee, and I agree, it only serves to support the strong division in that city. Can you elaborate on this? Wisconsin has never struck me as a state with a particularly conservative streak.

I grew up in a suburb of Milwaukee. As a city, it is probably one of the most segregated in the country. While the city has been making great strides in improving itself, its still rare to see people of different ethnic backgrounds living next to each other. Additionally, there have been some bad incidents involving racial prejudices in recent history. A few years ago, there was a small riot between blacks/whites aft…

> small riot between blacks/whites after the state fair

Uh, that's one way to describe it.

A large group of black teenagers/20-somes started fighting with each other and then just started jumping white people, beating on them, then moving on to the next victim.

A similar scene took place after July 4th fireworks were several white people were beaten and a convenience store trashed.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/126828998.html

Re: Milwaukee Police News

#94

Post by headShrinker »

I grew up in on the east side of Milwaukee, moved to Chicago and now live in NYC. With each move the police grew progressively more militarized. I always felt it, but obvious when I was travelling in Italy over the summer. I noted how unassuming and calm the Italian police were.

Parts of Milwaukee, can be very rough but I don't think the police looking and acting like paratroopers is the answer to staving social unrest and anxiety. No matter where I am in the US it seems the message of "protect and serve" gets lost in translation.

America is a very fear riden place and I would guess that when a fearful people vote and elect representatives, they elect people who assure safety of the people by more and more aggressive stances.

Re: Milwaukee Police News

#95

Post by TheFuture »

yesimahuman wrote: post #46
w1ntermute wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I grew up in Milwaukee, and I agree, it only serves to support the strong division in that city. Can you elaborate on this? Wisconsin has never struck me as a state with a particularly conservative streak.

The division is segregation, not conservatism. That being said, I find Milwaukee to be more conservative than some Wisconsin cities, especially Madison (where I live now).

Is there a single Republican/conservative in any elected position in Milwaukee?

I realize that the city elections are technically non-partisan, but there are clearly no conservatives in positions of power here.

The only cities Milwaukee would be more conservative than (in WI) would be Madison and possibly Racine. All you have to do is look at the results from the recall election to see that Madison and Milwaukee are the 2 centers of liberal votes.

That said, you are absolutely correct, the division is segregation, not conservatism. The overt racism against whites (by blacks) has gotten violent in the last decade. There is a large Hispanic population here too, while it does have Mexican gang problems, that part of the city is far far safer than the black parts. Lots of Hispanic business in Milwaukee are thriving, plenty of white people as customers. You won't see many whites on the north side unless they're cops.

Re: Milwaukee Police News

#96

Post by TheFuture »

nostromo wrote: post #11

If you want your city to be perceived as a war zone, this is the website for you.

I'm here, it is.

At least certain parts are. There's about a 4sqmi area that almost certainly someone will be murdered in this weekend. Maybe a few. Shootings almost every day. If they're even reported.

Re: Milwaukee Police News

#97

Post by iy56 »

noonespecial wrote: post #66
bdunbar wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The vehicle is a tank festooned with gun ports. You're being needlessly alarming. The vehicle is a wheeled armored personell carrier. Totally not a tank - there aren't any caterpillar tracks. Go back to bed, nothing to see, no worries, Citizen.

My mistake. By the by, when should we expect the armor and weapon upgrades on the fire trucks to be complete?

They are already there. Firehoses and ladders are weapons against fire, just as guns are weapons against criminals.

Re: Milwaukee Police News

#98

Post by quomopete »

A perfect example of design that complete overshoots and denigrates its usability and usefulness. I wouldn't even expect this amount of slickness from a web app that dispenses froyo from my cd-rom drive. The Mobile experience should be the desktop experience, as well; for something like a police blotter.

Re: Milwaukee Police News

#99

Post by stuartmemo »

shaggyfrog wrote: post #43
mikeash wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a rather impressive rant to write without apparently ever considering whether this site is intended to be used for any of that stuff.

Clearly it is intended for those use cases, because, as grandparent said, the links to find the answers are there, it's just not that easily available. I'm not sure exactly what issue you're taking up here, because grandparent clearly states some very straightforward and common user scenarios that any police website should be expecting to handle, and handle efficiently. This site loads like a dog on my machine. Or pe…

Speaking of dogs, if you scroll along the officer line-up and click on the dog it barks!

Re: Milwaukee Police News

#100

Post by goatforce5 »

luke_s wrote: post #42
jpxxx wrote: post #13

It's militaristic, it's alienating, it's fetishistic, it's hostile, it insidiously portrays class and ethnic conflict as an everyday battle worth fighting, and it panders to the worst in Americans who already endorse the myriad excesses and injustices of an ever-growing quasi-private law and order machine that has ruined the lives of millions. But awesome job on the scrollbars, yo.

I live in Melbourne Australia and I have got to say, this is the first reaction I had as well. The imagery used on their website was frankly shocking. My first response was "WTF! Is this really how Americans see their police? Is their job to charge round shooting people?" Compare and contrast the pictures used on the 'about' page of the Victoria police website: http://www.police.vic.gov.au/content.asp?Document_ID=3 W…

This is not an official photo of the Toronto Police, but it has been widely circulated since...

http://twistedsifter.com/2011/07/picture-of-the-day-cops-in-...

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