nepheleim said:
Most people don't get shot by police. They say that police aren't courteous or polite or pleasant to be around, which varies from individual to individual. No definition of asshole includes randomly shooting people. That would be more "psychopath" or "spree killer".
Addressing that point, it's incredibly rare for an officer in this day and age in the United States to go shoot somebody for "next to no reason" and I can't find evidence of one, in recent history, who shot a man "because they're black".
If you want me to, I can PM several stories where police officers are caught harassing and sometimes tasing minorities while bragging about it, or doing it for shits and giggles. They aren't fun reads.
Bat Vader said:
Something that has always irked me is when a cop does something bad or is corrupt the media is there to cover it and generalize all cops as bad. Yet when a cop does something good the media pretty much ignores it and says that a cop was just doing their job. The story about the cop that was killed inside the GameStop stopping a robbery is one such instance. I saw maybe one or two news stories on it and that was it.
Even if he was just doing his job the man went above and beyond giving his life to stop a crime.
I found it a shame that not that many people were focusing on the story. It is a shame. It's actually a horrible shame. Like everyone, there are people who do what they do because they believe in it, and people who do what they do because they can get something from it. Officer Wilson does remind us that there are many cops who do the first. And we are simultaneously lessened by his loss and strengthened to remember there are police officers out there like this.
But there is a flip side.
As a minority who is 'acceptable' (speak proper english, educated, affable), and because of my jobs and former interests (Personal Trainer and was thinking about becoming an NYPD), cops have opened up to me. And some stand by racial profiling. It works, they claim. Many will have to suffer for a few, because while I'm sure they do arrest a lot of minorities, they are not arresting all those minorities because all are not committing these crimes.
But it's somehow wrong of me to see this out pouring of a handful of cops doing something wrong and having been unfairly harassed in the past... it's wrong for me to be afraid of cops? How is what I'm doing any different from what they are doing? The only difference is, still the majority of people will believe the officer above my word. I'm just another one lying.
And therein lies my OT to this thread.
Everything is populated with humans.
some are good, some are bad, some are blank. That's the way life is.
But no one is given as much Laissez Faire power as the United States Police. Yesterday I saw two local politicians go down for bribery and misconduct. Swift turn over, too. A few months. Teachers aren't given the benefit of the doubt. You find texts about students, they go down. The entire education board will review conduct between teachers and students to make sure the parents feel safe. Plane crashes? Delve deep into the pilot's life, show how they were damaged here and there, offer apologizes and make sure you give a lot of clap trap that this will never happen again.
Each month for the past... I almost want to say year and a half.. we get new videos about improper use of power, abuse, and misconduct. Outright lies that these videos now show conflict. The 'some bad apples' argument doesn't soothe anyone because the question becomes "What if I run into a bad apple?"
Do I sit there and get beat and hope I survive... for what? No one's going to believe me. Hell, I might get resisting arrest because I covered my face.
There are tons of reports that completely conflict with what the authorities are saying. From the New Jersey Man last year who Beat in the face while his hands were up, all the while the police officer yelled "Stop Reaching for my Gun!". The big names like Tamir Rice where the cops made the 12 year old out to be a 23 year old man who refused repeated requests to put the gun down. Police grilling John Crawford III's girlfriend on why he had a gun in the store even though they already saw it was a airsoft toy gun... trying to make her say that he really did have a gun so it could be a justifiable shoot.
By the way, John Crawford III's death happened in Ohio. It's an Open Carry State. You don't need a license to own one. In fact, around 40 people went to that same Wal Mart carrying rifles. There was literally no reason for Crawford's death. No one held the police accountable.
And that's where it gets bad.
Citizens Allow Cops To Do This.
Through their own biases, believing the best about cops... time and time again, Cops commit 'accidents' and are let go by us. No one wants police to stop doing their jobs. They just want to either cut the needless lethality or at least when mistakes happen, they are treated like everyone else and held accountable for their actions. Not protected by the Blue Line that's just supposed to police, not make people untouchable and unaccountable.
Listen, I sound like a cop hater. I'm a cop fearer. I said before I was going to be NYPD. I didn't continue my NYPD registration after my call back because that month I found out that my ex Martial Artist teacher's father was killed by a police officer. The local news made it sound like he was a crazy man that came at him with a hatchet. When the true story came out, things we redacted and the officers were still let go.
It's hard to put your trust in people when you know your life will never matter as much as their word.