361–370 of 816 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, I love the attitude of "look, if you want to make a complaint about police beating you and falsely imprisoning you, you should quit your job and invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in a case against them, anything else is stupid." Super realistic and clearly enabling a better world to happen very soon.
Have you ever sued the police?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In NY it is a "violation" of the law for most traffic offenses. Technically you can be arrested for any traffic infraction but in practice they give you a ticket. Upon conviction you can be imprisoned for up to 15 days. With violations the officer has 100% discretion about what to do. They can decide not to write a ticket/arrest someone for any reason. This officer was obviously a bad officer that is on a power trip…
I've always wondered about this with traffic tickets: How can officers have discretion on how to prosecute and still satisfy "equal protection under the law"? Or does equal protection only apply to federal statutes? [Edit: Thank you to OP for sharing, and my heart goes out for your exp]
Actually, the 14th Amendment (where the "equal protection" clause is) applies specifically to the states:
"...nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."[1]
The 14th Amendment is applied to the federal government via a process called "reverse incorporation":
"Whereas incorporation applies the Bill of Rights to the states though the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, in reverse incorporation, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment has been held to apply to the federal government through the Due Process Clause located in the Fifth Amendment."[2]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Amendment_to_the_Un...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incorporation_of_the_bill_of_r...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Out of all the comments on this thread, this is the only one with an actionable solution to the problem.
SFPD are going down this road, OPD (Oakland) and many others already do, but the officers often find an excuse for their camera to malfunction when they want, and in many cases they are instructed to turn the camera on themselves before interacting with anyone, and they simply don't. It turns out that telling the cops what to do isn't very effective.
FTFY.
Or... Even better...
It's high time to hire better cops.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would argue that the police deserve somewhere in the neighborhood of one million times more blame for false imprisonment and beating than a civilian deserves for, gasp, talking when they people they pay to protect them didnt want them to talk.
No problem, thanks for providing an example of the naiveté that underscores way too many HN comments. First off, I never said that there isn't a problem with the way the police treated OP. In fact, I'm encouraging him to sue both the police department and the officers personally for the way they treated him, which was clearly unacceptable behavior. Translation: I want to see him get justice. But I also am able to see…
"His behavior was unacceptable, and holding him to account for that as someone who enjoys their constitutional rights and insists upon defending them in NO WAY MAKES ME A POLICE APOLOGIST."
"Holding him to account" in your book happens to mean beating the shit out of him and putting him in a cell, whereas I simply don't think someone who is yelling things the police don't like deserves this treatment. If that makes me naive, I'll take it.
"But I also am able to see nuance in a situation, which clearly you're lacking."
This is one of the dumbest things I've ever read. Because you were able to see subtle details like "this person wasn't being polite!" only super wisdom filled you is able to understand that the police were right to beat them up and put them in solitary. I genuinely cannot believe that someone could make such an utter shit argument and then have the gall to blame the OTHER person for a lack of understanding of the nuances, like yourself, who is of course brilliant.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would argue that the police deserve somewhere in the neighborhood of one million times more blame for false imprisonment and beating than a civilian deserves for, gasp, talking when they people they pay to protect them didnt want them to talk.
No problem, thanks for providing an example of the naiveté that underscores way too many HN comments. First off, I never said that there isn't a problem with the way the police treated OP. In fact, I'm encouraging him to sue both the police department and the officers personally for the way they treated him, which was clearly unacceptable behavior. Translation: I want to see him get justice. But I also am able to see…
There was a place I've heard about where the police was scary, though I never lived there: that was communist Romania, where my parents grew up. And the US, too, it seems.
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 actually see a silver lining in this story. The worst thing an officer of the was able to do was inconvenience you for a day. Compare that to pretty much another other time in recorded history, and indeed still many places today, and you could have been locked up for far longer for pissing off someone in an authority position. Now obviously this is a ridiculous situation and the officer was on a powertrip, but you…
The worst thing that officer could have done to that person for that day, rather. A different officer, different victim, different judge on a different day? Could have been a lot worse. It often takes a couple of days just to see a judge.
>encountered pretty much the worst scenario possible
No.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Where were you last night? Shooting holes in my own car so I could waste 20 minutes of your time. Why do you ask?
Wrong answer. Never try sarcasm or irony with cops. Either they don't understand it - or they just don't want to. All it does is getting you into trouble.
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 actually see a silver lining in this story. The worst thing an officer of the was able to do was inconvenience you for a day. Compare that to pretty much another other time in recorded history, and indeed still many places today, and you could have been locked up for far longer for pissing off someone in an authority position. Now obviously this is a ridiculous situation and the officer was on a powertrip, but you…
The female officer could easily have beaten or killed this person and would never see justice. Don't even bother trying to convince me otherwise.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Arrested. NYC. Turnstile ducking. No Miranda rights. Zero crim history. Mugshot. Prints. Solitary 5 hours. I recommend you listen to this if you're wondering why (apart from bullshit police state) people like us are getting arrested for petty offences: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/414/r...
Adrian Schoolcraft, a good cop. Pay attention to how he was treated.
"After voicing his concerns, Schoolcraft was reportedly harassed and reassigned to a desk job. After he left work early one day, a SWAT unit illegally entered his apartment, physically abducted him and forcibly admitted him to a psychiatric facility, where he was held against his will for six days."
But Schoolcraft was expecting them to do something like that, and was able to make a recording of the entire incident.
It seems that the NYC police have adopted the Soviet practice of using the psychiatric system as a weapon against their enemies[2] (which happened both to Schoolcraft and the author of the posted article).
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Schoolcraft
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punitive_psychiatry_in_the_Sov...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is terrible advice.
It would have greatly reduced the likelihood of this guy getting assaulted and imprisoned, so I would consider it good advice.