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

761–770 of 816 posts

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

#761

Post by zurn »

BugBrother wrote: post #690
fulafel wrote: post #677

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> only places where police is actually humane and does mostly good are Scandinavian countries Research does not seem to bear this out. See eg this Gallup study: http://www.gallup.com/poll/102346/many-world-citizens-trust-... Of the top 10 "public trusts the police", only 1 or 2 are Scandinavian countries (definitions vary whether Finland is part of Scandinavia).

Afaik, Swedish police don't take bribes and generally don't commit criminal acts. At least not if compared with most other countries. The main problem with Sweden is that the police is trusted to drink coffee instead of working. :-) (That was a simplification, the Swedish police seems to mainly have organisational issues. The Finnish police is one of the most trusted societal functions there. I have never understood…

The point is that people have relatively good relationship with police in many countries -- as nice as Sweden is, it doesn't appear in the top 10. The very good standard of Scandinavia is common.

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

#762

Post by tptacek »

mindslight wrote: post #760
tptacek wrote: post #536

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That, and the roads that the ambulances use, and for that matter the ambulances. Sheesh.

Well then, the administrators of roads and ambulances should probably lobby to have the police taxes be separable, before too many people decide to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Nobody is going to decide that.

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

#763

Post by mindslight »

tptacek wrote: post #762
mindslight wrote: post #760

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well then, the administrators of roads and ambulances should probably lobby to have the police taxes be separable, before too many people decide to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Nobody is going to decide that.

Well that's certainly the assertion modern bureaucrats feel entitled to.

It works right up until it doesn't :/

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

#764

Post by ryguytilidie »

hmsimha wrote: post #443
ryguytilidie wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Um, so your two arguments so far have been: "The person I'm responding to LITERALLY said he wanted all police to die" "Well, he didn't literally say that, in fact, he didn't say anything close to that". "fuck the police shouldn't be the top comment" evidence is presented to the contrary "Dude, its not like I meant THIS top comment". There's no chance you're anything but a troll or stupid, so either way, I'm wasting m…

BlackDeath3's argument was that a voting system is the means through which the best comments, as deemed by the majority of users, receive the most exposure. You misunderstood them and referred them to the current top comment, pointing out that it was quite substantial. Without realizing it though, you were demonstrating their point.

This was his point:

"Voting should be independent of opinion, should it not? Voting should reflect the merit of a post regardless of its popularity, right? Comments with little more substance than "cops should die" shouldn't be at the top of a comment page, right?"

Sentence by sentence just to make it easy on you:

"Voting should be independent of opinion, should it not? Voting should reflect the merit of a post regardless of its popularity, right?"

What does this even mean? How on earth would this work? He's genuinely upset that voting reflects peoples opinions? I'm shocked that someone could say this and not immediately realize what a dumb thing it is to say. But yeah, this problem in his mind, will be solved by finding a different community, with opinions he likes. See the problem now?

"Comments with little more substance than "cops should die" shouldn't be at the top of a comment page, right?""

Right. And they aren't. So what is the complaint? Oh right, its a stupid strawman with no merit whatsoever, which i pointed out. If BlackDeath3 wants to throw a tantrum when someone says cops could die, he's more than welcome, but the idea that this is what he bases his argument on when no one said anything like that is utter lunacy. I cannot imagine going around being this irrationally angry. It's like being a republican and just screaming BENGHAZI!!! whenever confronted with something unsavory about your own party. Try living on planet earth with some rational people.

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

#765

Post by ojbyrne »

What is especially infuriating about “Ah, you’re one of those billionaire wannabees in this neighborhood.” is the fact that SF police have very high salaries, possibly higher than the poster:

"Due to the high cost of living in the Bay Area, SFPD officers starting salary is the highest in the country at $88,842 to $114,164."

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Police_Departmen...)

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

#766

Post by subpixel »

angersock wrote: post #756
subpixel wrote: post #726

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're overlooking the fact that the cyclist in question ran a light and then tried to school a cop. Being arrested under the circumstance is not abuse - on the contrary it's just about standard procedure. Do you really expect you can give a cop lip - while being cited for a traffic violation - and skip away? When you have an altercation with a cop, give at least the respect you expect to receive.

Do you really expect you can give a cop lip - while being cited for a traffic violation - and skip away? Yes, because I live in a country where--supposedly, anyways--I am given the right of free expression. Telling a cop anything short of a threat, especially as it concerns the laws and especially especially when it is the cop being wrong about the laws, should be a non-issue. You're a damned fool if you think that t…

There's a time to exercise your right to free expression, and a time to shut up and let a cop do her job. If you're being wrongly or unjustly persecuted, speak up. When you're pulled over after committing a traffic violation, you ought to shut up.

It bears repeating: treat people with the respect you expect to receive. Cops are no exception.

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

#767

Post by BlackDeath3 »

ryguytilidie wrote: post #764
hmsimha wrote: post #443

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BlackDeath3's argument was that a voting system is the means through which the best comments, as deemed by the majority of users, receive the most exposure. You misunderstood them and referred them to the current top comment, pointing out that it was quite substantial. Without realizing it though, you were demonstrating their point.

This was his point: "Voting should be independent of opinion, should it not? Voting should reflect the merit of a post regardless of its popularity, right? Comments with little more substance than "cops should die" shouldn't be at the top of a comment page, right?" Sentence by sentence just to make it easy on you: "Voting should be independent of opinion, should it not? Voting should reflect the merit of a post regar…

>What does this even mean? How on earth would this work? He's genuinely upset that voting reflects peoples opinions? I'm shocked that someone could say this and not immediately realize what a dumb thing it is to say. But yeah, this problem in his mind, will be solved by finding a different community, with opinions he likes. See the problem now?

If I think that somebody has said something worth exposure, I upvote it. If not, I downvote it. It has nothing to do with whether I agree with it or not. Does it contribute to the conversation? Is it needlessly inflammatory? These are the sorts of questions I ask and answer when voting.

You can argue that "worth exposure" is subjective, and it is, but I didn't say (or mean) vote objectively. One can try, but mostly I just meant that one should pay more attention to the merit of a post's content, rather than their personal agreement with it.

>Right. And they aren't. So what is the complaint?

You're too focused on the specifics. Shitty comments get upvoted all the time. Thoughtful but unpopular comments get downvoted all the time. Anybody who has been around these sorts of places (HN, Reddit, etc.) for more than an hour has seen it happen.

And by the way, the "cops should die" comment quite literally was the top comment in this thread at one point. Perhaps you weren't here early enough to see it, but I did, and that's what made me say what I said.

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

#768

Post by ap22213 »

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…

Back in 1991, at the age of 16, I was arrested similarly, for skateboarding on a downtown street. I wasn't even damaging property - just skating down the street.

Three cop cars surrounded me. They got out, took my board, broke it, man-handled me, cut up my wrists with handcuffs, threw me in the car, and drove me to the jail. They put me in a gross-ass tiny cell with shit on the walls and vomit on the floor. There I stayed for 24 hours - no where to even sit.

The next day, I sought legal advice - just an ignorant kid, with ignorant parents. I called about 10 different law offices in the city. None would represent me - they all claimed that they represented the police and that it would be a conflict of interest.

Pointless story - but pretty much solidified my suspicion of the police ever since.

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

#769

Post by subpixel »

judk wrote: post #483
nopassrecover wrote: post #421

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

No. When faced with an officer, you record the interaction, note the badge number, and comply with orders, and the only question you ask an officer is "officer, am I being detained, or am I free to go?" If the officer is wrong, unless your life is in immediate danger, you comply and you sort it out later. Call your lawyer to complain when you get home.

Well said.

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

#770

Post by mitochondrion »

neumann wrote: post #237

I've made a few 911 calls, but the last one was pretty surreal. My partner and I were walking past a high rise where people go to score and in front of us on the pavement we saw a man and a woman trying to wake up someone who seemed on the verge of OD. He wasn't responding, the two were frantic, and everybody was watching from the other side of the road. She was screaming at him and us, saying he is ODed, and get an…

What the fuck. Where do you live?
Post reply on HN