151–160 of 222 posts
Baltimore police were stealing drugs from Baltimore dealers and selling the stolen drugs to dealers in Philadelphia. Hard to believe actions like that were taking place in the U.S. Sounds like something straight out of a Narcos episode.
Adding to this common problem in larger metropolitan police forces in the US is their rapid militarization. Shaking down kids while cruising around in a black and white is one thing. Being equipped with military gear including armored cars opens up a whole new level of control issues. http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-the-rook-armored-cater...
When the police have to go up against criminals wielding AK's and high powered rifles I want them to be as equipped as possible to defend themselves. The problem is not with the police but rather the widespread availability of guns in our society. It's easy to heft blame on the police, but also intellectually disingenuous because they act and react to the conditions of the society they are tasked to protect. Those conditions are where blame must be placed.
As an aside, if a malicious government ever wanted to exert control over the populace then they would have a very easy time doing so with the military regardless of how well equipped the police were. In fact, distributed police forces beholden to local municipalities would likely be a line of defense against a centralized aggressive military.
"Police militarization" is really nothing to be concerned about. Unless you're a criminal.
Edit: Not being sarcastic.
Baltimore police were stealing drugs from Baltimore dealers and selling the stolen drugs to dealers in Philadelphia. Hard to believe actions like that were taking place in the U.S. Sounds like something straight out of a Narcos episode.
This is nothing new. These things get exposed quite frequently, and surely happen far more often.
The reason you haven't heard about it is that just doesn't get widely reported when it happens.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There should be a body cam on every officer and their police powers and privileges should deactivate the moment its turned off deliberately or “accidentally”. A time delayed feed should be made public and an independent federal agency should randomly audit the recordings for civil rights abuses. Police should be treated like other political officials and there should be a democratic mechanism for the public to remove…
I'm not anti-bodycam at all - but they don't seem to have had the effect we all hoped for... https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/20/558832090... From a minute of googling, looks like San Diego had more dramatic results
I contested a ticket I received from an aggressive traffic cop in Portland for texting in a stand-still bumper to bumper traffic jam. He was on a motorcycle and saw me as he rode by on the sidewalk!!! This guy had incredible nerve. In court, I insisted we view the footage from his body camera, which could only be done if I first refuse his plea offer, a significant issue IMO. I took the risk. The way he spoke to me was so militant and I thought it would be good to have the room give it a listen and see the traffic jam. The footage turns off as he is walking up to my car!!! Then he told me “either the battery died or the tape ran out”. Tape!!! This was 2015. The ticket was dropped, but I don’t think many people I know would have had this persistence, especially risking the plea denial. Beyond being annoyed, I was also intrigued with the abuse of power in such a trivial case.
Baltimore police were stealing drugs from Baltimore dealers and selling the stolen drugs to dealers in Philadelphia. Hard to believe actions like that were taking place in the U.S. Sounds like something straight out of a Narcos episode.
>>Hard to believe actions like that were taking place in the U.S. Is it? I'm a Canadian and everything I hear about the US police terrifies me - SWATing leading to innocent people being killed, unarmed black men being shot, no-knock warrants, civil forfeiture, the impossibility of convicting police for just about anything. If the worst thing they were doing was selling drugs that'd be an improvement as far as I can t…
You are allowing yourself to be misguided if you focus on what gets put on the front page of CNN.
Adding to this common problem in larger metropolitan police forces in the US is their rapid militarization. Shaking down kids while cruising around in a black and white is one thing. Being equipped with military gear including armored cars opens up a whole new level of control issues. http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-the-rook-armored-cater...
Nothing wrong with them having advanced equipment to bring out when necessary. Listening to some people you'd think that the police are cruising around in tanks. When the police have to go up against criminals wielding AK's and high powered rifles I want them to be as equipped as possible to defend themselves. The problem is not with the police but rather the widespread availability of guns in our society. It's easy…
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Don't judge all the the US by its corrupt big cities. I recognize nothing in this story in my town's local police (we're about 65,000 population, and the cops are quite relaxed and civil as a default).
> Don't judge all the the US by its corrupt big cities. > I recognize nothing in this story in my town's local police (we're about 65,000 population, and the cops are quite relaxed and civil as a default). I was stopped without explanation in Andover, KS (population In a neighboring city (Wichita), police responding to a 911 call that I placed after being robbed at gunpoint played good-cop-bad-cop with me. They suspe…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nothing wrong with them having advanced equipment to bring out when necessary. Listening to some people you'd think that the police are cruising around in tanks. When the police have to go up against criminals wielding AK's and high powered rifles I want them to be as equipped as possible to defend themselves. The problem is not with the police but rather the widespread availability of guns in our society. It's easy…
I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not...
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I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not...
Not at all, but I'd be curious to hear why you think I'd have reason to be.
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Half my family is from there so partly anodically, but these seem to back it up: * http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/house-races/221721-how-r... * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Minnesota "Minnesotans have voted for Democratic presidential candidates ever since 1976, more times consecutively than any other state outside of the south, and longer than any state."
> Half my family is from there so partly anodically, but these seem to back it up. Your family must live in the Twin Cities metro because Minnesota gets real conservative real quick outside of Minneapolis, St Paul and the inner Suburbs.