Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

medium.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

421–430 of 816 posts

Re: How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

#421

Post by nopassrecover »

debt wrote: post #406
nopassrecover wrote: post #401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is this in any way related to the parent comment? He did not contest the traffic offence at any point. He did contest the requirement to carry ID and was then punished for raising his rights.

My point is, why contest anything in that moment? You just broke the law and could've potentially caused serious bodily harm to someone. I feel like there's a small window an officer gives you to get out of the ticket. They walk up. They ask you what you did wrong. You tell them. Everyone moves on. Sometimes they write a ticket or a warning. Parent dude completely and intentionally overcomplicated the situation. Wast…

In terms of practicality "shut up and don't ask questions" is certainly going to be minimum hassle. But when the police threatened additional punishments for not having his ID he was perfectly justified in questioning them on the legitimacy of that claim. Acting within your rights shouldn't be punished because it's inconvenient.

Re: How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

#422

Post by pessimizer »

thotpoizn wrote: post #375
pessimizer wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a black programmer, I remember the cliche about problems and regular expressions in my head as "regular expressions are like calling the cops." That's unfair to regular expressions, though, because I actually have seen them solve a problem before. Cops improving a situation? Never seen it.

> "...Cops improving a situation? Never seen it." I suspect that's really just an emotional lashing-out at a pervasive problem. But if it's not, I assure you - I have seen cops improve a situation, and I'm certain that others have too. I might be biased from watching cops running into the chaos of 9/11, while I was running away from it. Or from having my family protected from crazy, violent people while I was busy an…

>I suspect that's really just an emotional lashing-out at a pervasive problem.

It's not. It's my personal experience and was stated that way. I, unambiguously, have never once seen the police improve a situation. I've never even really heard about it happening.

It's good that it's happened to you - it probably makes you feel more secure in the place where you live.

Re: How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

#423

Post by bmelton »

fuckpig wrote: post #380
bmelton wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a ton of law around 'lawful orders' by the police, and how a citizen is supposed to respond to them. Ignoring everything else (please), George Zimmerman was accused of not following a 911 operator's "lawful order" to leave the scene. While I think most of America would have been happy for him to have heeded that device, it is not necessarily a 'lawful order', unless there was a reason for him not to have been…

Unlike the author here, Trayvon Martin was an actual bad actor.

It was perhaps an unnecessarily polarizing example, but it was the first and only thing that came to mind regarding "move" as pertaining to a lawful order without digging up the name of the rather obscure case that recently got a verdict (wherein it was determined that the officer had no authority to tell the citizen to move, that it was indeed an abuse of authority, and paired with 120+ other abuse of power complaints against that officer, resulted in his termination).

Re: How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

#424

Post by fennecfoxen »

dllthomas wrote: post #410
herbig wrote: post #240

Back in November, I was arrested in Brooklyn for running a red light on my bike while on my way to work in Manhattan. Normally you're given a ticket and let go, but in this instance, the officers took issue with the fact that I was not carrying ID. Both officers told me that I "could be arrested for not having ID." For clarification, I asked if it was a city, state, or national law, and the officers adamantly maintai…

I find it sad that the officer could be a "joke around the precinct" - presumably incompetent and apparently eager to abuse their power - and still be an officer.

Police solidarity, and labor unions, for the win!

Re: How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

#425

Post by pessimizer »

[deleted] wrote: post #405
swombat wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a perfect example of the disconnect between "hackers" and the real world. I consider myself part of the HN community because I hope for a society shaped by its ideals, but the real world is so far removed that time spent here becomes more of a therapeutic escape than anything else. You say that, but this ideal world is the world I live in, and have lived in all my life. You should consider moving to Europe (U…

[deleted]

The UK seemed like a strange example.

Re: How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

#426

Post by waqf »

MereInterest wrote: post #332
Gorbzel wrote: post #75

> At this point, I’m left no choice but to present this case to the investigative court of public opinion, be it brave or foolish. Um, no, you can leave it to an actual court of law by finding a good attorney and filing a civil complaint. But until you find competent representation, here's a piece of advice: for the love of god and your own well-being, learn to STFU. The story makes it clear OP has no idea when to st…

To any reader, this is a perfect example of the Just World bias and victim blaming. See how Gorbzel makes it clear that the fault of the encounter lies on the victim, not the perpetrator.

This is indeed a perfect example of what is typically called "victim blaming". Where I disagree with you is that I do not read Gorbzel as suggesting that the perpetrator is not at fault: by my reading Gorbzel says nothing one way or the other on that subject.

If you read the comment with the preconception that every interaction has one side which is Right and one side which is Wrong, then you will see the cops portrayed as "Just". If you read the comment without that preconception, you will not.

I am very afraid of people with that preconception, because they pick sides and then try to stick to them by confirmation bias. Like the cops.

(Just in case it wasn't absolutely clear: my position is that the victim here was careless-in-a-way-that-would-have-no-negative-consequences-in-a-perfect-world, like I was careless the time I left my flat unlocked and a guy tried to steal my laptop. Whereas the cop's actions were criminal, like the guy who tried to steal it. Both sides are "at fault" in some sense, but hardly equally.)

Re: How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

#427

Post by late2part »

moheeb wrote: post #275
AngrySkillzz wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Basic rules like "have no compassion" and "respect people with guns?"

No...more like "leave when the cops show up". What is some drunk yahoo gonna do to help after the call has been made? I'm sure the cops have all kinds of anecdotes about how helpful the drunks loitering around a scene at 1AM are!

I don't believe the police have any right to give a lawful order to compel a citizen from leaving a public area unless there is a public disturbance or danger. The samaritan, according to her own story, was not creating a problem. 3 drinks in 3 hours makes few people intoxicated. The people have a right, nay, an obligation, to resist unlawful orders. If her story is true and accurate, that law enforcement officer and the jailors with poor behaviors need to be fired, arrested, and prosecuted. I don't care what bad examples "cop logic" can use to justify their immoral and prejudicial thoughts. This story is a travesty and LE's actions reprehensible.

Re: How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

#428

Post by sneak »

rdl wrote: post #287
elohesra wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does he? Because I read it as the latter, and with the amount of internet bravado that surrounds any talk about the police, I'd be unsurprised if it was meant as the latter.

I know him, and he's moved from one corrupt third-world shithole (Detroit) to an almost civilized city in a civilized country (Berlin) for this reason.

The police in Detroit (where I grew up) are saints compared to the cops in NYC (where I lived when I moved to Berlin).

The NYPD is the largest terrorist organization in the United States. They are a blight on this nation.

Re: How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

#429

Post by jey »

fnordfnordfnord wrote: post #304
herbig wrote: post #240

Back in November, I was arrested in Brooklyn for running a red light on my bike while on my way to work in Manhattan. Normally you're given a ticket and let go, but in this instance, the officers took issue with the fact that I was not carrying ID. Both officers told me that I "could be arrested for not having ID." For clarification, I asked if it was a city, state, or national law, and the officers adamantly maintai…

> I was retina scanned and placed in a holding cell with around 10 other criminals. Charges ranged from domestic abuse to armed robbery. One man was on the floor going through drug withdrawals. Everyone scoffed at the idea that I was there because of a traffic violation, and likely assumed I was making that up "...Running a red light.... and creating a disturbance" is what you should have said. herbig's situation sou…

What was the "disturbance"?

Re: How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

#430

Post by ChuckFrank »

I know this is probably going to get buried, but I believe that this is part of a larger scam. I believe that the Police receive kick backs from the bail bonds men, in the form of institutional charitable contributions at the very least, if not outright cash kick backs. With this in mind, the police are inclined to make what they call 'Money Arrests', which are essentially an arrest to scare people into getting bailed out, since that the money paid to bail bonds men is non refundable even if the charges are dismissed. I have no evidence of this money trail. But based upon my personal experience, and the language that I've heard used during an arrest, such as the 'Oh you must be one of those tech billionaires', I believe that this is the case.
Post reply on HN