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Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

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Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#141

Post by tedks »

ohitsdom wrote: post #130
tedks wrote: post #99

This has been the rebuttal every time the argument "we just need bodycams on police" comes up in the latest thread about police indiscriminately raping or abusing women/shooting black men in the street like hunters shooting deer/pepper spraying protesters at point blank range for having the audacity to stage a sit-in. Body cams won't magically make police accountable or less corrupt. Power corrupts. The only solution…

We do need bodycams on police, but the program needs to be properly administered. Documentation when things break, enough spares so malfunctions are quickly and easily replaced. The Chicago PD is clearly rife with corruption, so you can't just point to this program and say it won't work. There are lessons to be learned here, and they can be avoided with actual (and immediate) accountability.

I think it's naive to assume that prosecutors will ever prosecute cops without massive public outcry, that police departments are at all capable of policing themselves (including documenting broken bodycams), or even that politicians are going to have enough teeth to stand up to the police unions.

It's so naive it borders on stupidity. Do you really think "documentation" would change anything? It'd just lead to "Oops, didn't know that was broken sarge, I'll get a spare." "Oops, looks like all the spares are gone. Sarge, can you order some more?" "Oops, forgot to order some spares. Maybe I'll get to it tomorrow."

Chicago is especially corrupt (as far as I know it's the only metropolitan police force with its own CIA-esque black site), but it's absolutely naive to think this can work anywhere. This is just the tip of the spear.

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#142

Post by gnaritas »

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #128
gnaritas wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because that's "being soft on crime" which will lose you an election here. The propaganda machine makes it very hard to oppose the police.

Go after pensions and overtime pay (for bs like court appearances) to compensate for lawsuits and the costs to society (hospital treatment to abused citizens) instead of regular day-to-day funds and you can hardly be called soft on crime. I think the more accurate term is "fiscally conservative."

> can hardly be called soft on crime

Anything anti-police will be called soft on crime by the police union; politics doesn't care about reality, only about perception.

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#143

Post by jcromartie »

fredley wrote: post #134
jcromartie wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Police officers abuse their romantic partners at about twice the average rate. Domestic violence occurs in about 40% of households with police officers.

Do you have a citation for this statistic?

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Police-domestic-violen...

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#144

Post by compactmani »

callinyouin wrote: post #106
bbarn wrote: post #74

Let's see.. in the 20 odd years here in Chicago, the sum of my police interactions are: Hit by a white shirt (supervisor) who came out of an alley on clark st while in a bike lane - somehow my fault, detained. Hit on foot, by a car with no lights on in a residential neighborhood while crossing at a crosswalk - somehow my fault for being outside while there was "a suspect being hunted" Watching officers on foot in 7-1…

I'm moving to Chicago in a few months. Are there certain neighborhoods that should be avoided on the basis of corrupt police activity? I wonder because I could see neighborhoods that are relatively safe in terms of civilian crime, but cops posted in that area might have nothing better to do than mess with its inhabitants.

The safest neighborhood in Chicago wrt police if you ask me is Hyde Park. This is of course if you are affiliated with the university. You get a free pass there because the police are paid extra to pamper.

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#145

Post by [deleted] »

jcromartie wrote: post #129
rickdale wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Helping a friend move to another city because he ended a relationship with a cop who made his life a living hell after they broke up. I was dating this girl a couple of years ago and we were pretty early on, but she wanted to spend the night. And we were cool so it wasn't an awkward thing, but what I figured out as that she didn't necessarily want to stay the night as much as she was afraid to go home at night. Her r…

Police officers abuse their romantic partners at about twice the average rate. Domestic violence occurs in about 40% of households with police officers.

[deleted]

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#146

Post by bbarn »

callinyouin wrote: post #106
bbarn wrote: post #74

Let's see.. in the 20 odd years here in Chicago, the sum of my police interactions are: Hit by a white shirt (supervisor) who came out of an alley on clark st while in a bike lane - somehow my fault, detained. Hit on foot, by a car with no lights on in a residential neighborhood while crossing at a crosswalk - somehow my fault for being outside while there was "a suspect being hunted" Watching officers on foot in 7-1…

I'm moving to Chicago in a few months. Are there certain neighborhoods that should be avoided on the basis of corrupt police activity? I wonder because I could see neighborhoods that are relatively safe in terms of civilian crime, but cops posted in that area might have nothing better to do than mess with its inhabitants.

I wouldn't say so. I have lived mostly north, and sometimes west, and found it to be generally the same.

Pick your neighborhood based on other factors.. closeness to the CTA trains, quality of food options, and general cleanliness. I've found these to be pretty good indicators of overall safety/quality of life in a neighborhood. (I won't get into the cause/effect argument, just saying that as a newcomer they are good measuring points)

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#147

Post by ams6110 »

eevilspock wrote: post #72
bdisraeli wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no national body that oversees police, but Chicago has the Independent Police Review Authority. However IPRA rarely upholds complaints against police (it's staffed by ex-cops and other people connected to the police), and recently an investigator was fired after finding a shooting unjustified[1]. [1] http://www.wbez.org/news/city-fires-investigator-who-found-c...

> There is no national body that oversees police We have a national body. It's called the citizenry. But, sadly, few people are rising up because it isn't happening in their back yard, or to their children. Sure there will be comment threads on HN or some Facebook liking, but these are weak responses, and without more, change will come very slowly, and in the meantime thousands more will be trampled on, abused, viola…

Marginalized people can still vote. The problem is they tend to vote for the people who are causing the problem, or at least not solving the problem.

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#148

Post by frandroid »

rickdale wrote: post #78
bbarn wrote: post #74

Let's see.. in the 20 odd years here in Chicago, the sum of my police interactions are: Hit by a white shirt (supervisor) who came out of an alley on clark st while in a bike lane - somehow my fault, detained. Hit on foot, by a car with no lights on in a residential neighborhood while crossing at a crosswalk - somehow my fault for being outside while there was "a suspect being hunted" Watching officers on foot in 7-1…

Helping a friend move to another city because he ended a relationship with a cop who made his life a living hell after they broke up. I was dating this girl a couple of years ago and we were pretty early on, but she wanted to spend the night. And we were cool so it wasn't an awkward thing, but what I figured out as that she didn't necessarily want to stay the night as much as she was afraid to go home at night. Her r…

> ridiculously childish

"crmiminally abusive" comes more easily to my mind.

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#149

Post by Thriptic »

forgotpwtomain wrote: post #94
pjc50 wrote: post #8

Until police are jailed for this, nothing will improve. What's the US equivalent of the Independent Police Complaints Commission?

The curious thing is that police-forces are paid for by state and local taxes. Why is no one advocating cutting their funding until come into compliance with certain higher standards?

People likely fear reprisals

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#150

Post by mslate »

rayiner wrote: post #122
__jal wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another poster already alluded to the point, but I'd like to make it explicit: if you believe Chicago is exceptional in this, you are wrong. The NYPD is almost as bad (as far as we know, the NYPD doesn't have an off-the-books torture chamber[1], rather preferring to sodomize arrestees with brooms in the regular jails on a more ad hoc basis). But just as life-destroying are the things that go on in smaller communities…

> rosecutors and especially judges, always slow to change when change makes their jobs harder, will take longer to get used to the notion that wink-and-nod isn't going to work any more. Police unions are going to lose this fight, especially as activists are starting to become savvy to the tactical advantage of splitting Republicans between law and order fears and union busters. I'm optimistic. State budgets are such…

I'm not sure why anyone is excited about paying policea less--the less they're paid, the more corruptible they are.
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