Staten Island Resident Eric Garner Dies after Chokehold fr…
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nikj
Canada669 Posts
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screamingpalm
United States1527 Posts
On August 03 2014 03:53 LibertyRises wrote: As a person of color in America you should have known better. You do not break up fights, or get involved with anything where the police will be called. In fact, you do not even stay in the area you might get randomly detained. I made that mistake at a bar once, I got beat up, never threw a punch, when the cops came they took me down cuffed me on the curb and spoke down to me as if I was not even human. When they did clarify my story, and asked me if I wanted to press charges on the culprits I was so disillusioned I only wanted to get the fuck away. I will seriously reconsider anytime I get the urge to help someone in distress. And this is the world we live in. The police, if they do not relate to you in your area, do not feel you have the same rights as everyone else. Assumptions sometimes get you killed. I was in an awkward situation once when I was in the Navy stationed in Mississippi. A group of us went out to a bar that ended up with police brutality of our black shipmate, the only thing he did was talk to a white girl. He wasn't being aggressive or anything, the guy had a very calm and mild manner/personality. I was really close to getting involved, but by the time we had made it outside on the scene, it was over with. It actually ended up being better that we didn't, because the bar owner later had the audacity to consider pressing charges (from past experiences, I know that he would have been screwed if we had helped him- laws concerning alcohol etc). I was even approached by one of chain of command and asked if I planned to testify ("because, you don't have to" he said)- I said that I would and pretty sure the others did the same. | ||
Chocolate
United States2350 Posts
On August 03 2014 09:08 hypercube wrote: The "few bad apples" argument would be more convincing if those bad apples actually ended up behind bars. Ideally based on testimony from their honest colleagues. Oh yes, I fully agree. On August 03 2014 07:16 Dangermousecatdog wrote: I don't think you can argue that "we" are so much bigger is an excuse when proportionally these police brutality incidence appear to be higher than other countries in the developed world. They appear to be higher, they might not be necessarily. Personally I think that since we have so much crime (specifically gang and drug trafficking related), such easy availability of guns, and such belligerent people it makes sense for it to be a little higher, since cops will feel in danger more frequently. Of course, that doesn't excuse police brutality at all | ||
Vindicare605
United States15748 Posts
On August 03 2014 09:08 hypercube wrote: The "few bad apples" argument would be more convincing if those bad apples actually ended up behind bars. Ideally based on testimony from their honest colleagues. This is my main issue with all of this. Are all police bad? No of course not, but you'd think that especially with all of the controversy surrounding various departments (NYPD being probably the most notable) that the Police Departments would actively be trying to punish bad cops in order to promote good will. That's the opposite of what's happening though. Good cops protect bad cops. It gives the appearance that the entire department is corrupt when blatant violence and brutality like the one in this case goes unpunished. If the police department at least LOOKED like they cared about putting a stop to this, it would go a long way at putting people at ease, but they aren't. From my point of view it doesn't look like they care at all. And the thing is, especially with large police departments like NYPD, we KNOW that significant portions of the department can be corrupt for a long period of time. We've seen it in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and almost every major US city, there's been a scandal or several involving police officers being corrupt or highly publicized instances of brutality. There's a lot of very good reasons why cops have a bad reputation in the US. It would go a long way if they at least acted like they cared. | ||
GreenHorizons
United States21793 Posts
On August 03 2014 13:44 Vindicare605 wrote: This is my main issue with all of this. Are all police bad? No of course not, but you'd think that especially with all of the controversy surrounding various departments (NYPD being probably the most notable) that the Police Departments would actively be trying to punish bad cops in order to promote good will. That's the opposite of what's happening though. Good cops protect bad cops. It gives the appearance that the entire department is corrupt when blatant violence and brutality like the one in this case goes unpunished. If the police department at least LOOKED like they cared about putting a stop to this, it would go a long way at putting people at ease, but they aren't. From my point of view it doesn't look like they care at all. And the thing is, especially with large police departments like NYPD, we KNOW that significant portions of the department can be corrupt for a long period of time. We've seen it in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and almost every major US city, there's been a scandal or several involving police officers being corrupt or highly publicized instances of brutality. There's a lot of very good reasons why cops have a bad reputation in the US. It would go a long way if they at least acted like they cared. In fairness that's what I would like too. I really want to believe police are supposed to help people but it's so hard when not only is that the opposite of my personal interactions , but when I see cover-up after cover-up, and lie after lie. Like this cop and the ones who played along. They were going to ruin an innocent woman's life to save a colleague who was driving like a jackass and most of them just lost their job and the one who masterminded attempting to ruin this woman's life ended up getting 90 days?! If it was Washington state she would of lost her license for longer than that, just for the cop writing the ticket regardless if she proved her innocence or not. Convicted of falsifying a crash report and a DUI report, both misdemeanors, Pressley now faces just under two years behind bars when sentenced Dec. 21. He was acquitted on five felony conspiracy counts and two other counts of falsifying records. Source The former Hollywood police officer whose crash with a drunken driver set off a chain of events that cost him and a fellow cop their jobs pleaded guilty Monday to falsifying an accident report in the case. In a deal negotiated with prosecutors, Joel Francisco pleaded guilty in front of Broward Circuit Judge Michael Robinson to two counts of falsifying records and will serve 90 days in jail starting when he surrenders April 30. Source Then there is this story from the same department... On 28 December 2010, Officer Jonathan Commella beat and tasered Arben Bajra while he was handcuffed. Bajra's skull was fractured in the attack and he suffered permanent impairment. Commella had mistaken Bajra for someone. No charges were brought against either man. In November 2013 the department paid Bajra $195,000. Commella had by then moved on to be a deputy of the Broward County Sheriff Source They don't even pretend to care and if they didn't get caught red handed most of the cases would never even be brought. It makes me sick to my stomach to know there is probably cops like this in every major city and plenty of smaller ones too. Politicians may take my money by force and spend it on shit I don't want, but at least I don't have to worry about one of them beating me senseless or choking me to death unprovoked and then just finding a new job as a security guard a few months later... | ||
Nacl(Draq)
United States302 Posts
They don't even pretend to care and if they didn't get caught red handed most of the cases would never even be brought. It makes me sick to my stomach to know there is probably cops like this in every major city and plenty of smaller ones too. Politicians may take my money by force and spend it on shit I don't want, but at least I don't have to worry about one of them beating me senseless or choking me to death unprovoked and then just finding a new job as a security guard a few months later... At least when a security guard messes up and kills someone "accidentally" or "mistakenly" they end up in jail for it. It's such a shitty situation to have a group of people that not only enforce the law but are also allowed to ignore it or even bend it when they want. | ||
Bleak
Turkey3059 Posts
It's pretty sad to hear him repeatedly saying "I can't breathe" and they're not letting go off him. RIP. | ||
Yoav
United States1874 Posts
On August 03 2014 04:58 Dangermousecatdog wrote: Wow, police in USA sound terrible. On a local level, I've found that the police in UK are mostly a friendly lot and I suspect the same for other countries. Perhaps it's a side effect of the glorification and cultural respect given to the police in USA? Well, the questions you have to ask is: 1) Are you from a minority people are racist against? and 2) Are you from a poorer neighborhood? In the US, as in most places, people from dominant racial and economic categories get treated better by cops and by government. It's bad, and we should work against it, but I'm fairly certain poor blacks and Muslims in the inner-city in the UK have a pretty hard time with the police too. Also, I've noticed a difference in rural versus urban cops, but I'm not sure if it's statistically significant. Cops in VT are generally quite friendly, while cops in NYC are often really rude. Or maybe it's just another example of that US phenomena of unequal services due to our decentralization. | ||
Deleted User 3420
24492 Posts
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Gorsameth
Netherlands20769 Posts
On December 04 2014 07:14 travis wrote: Despite the video that clearly shows the police killing him, the fact that a chokehold is a technique that is illegal for police to use, and a ruling of homicide by the coroner, they have ruled no indictment for any of the police involved. And people wonder why there are protests and riot. I would laugh if it wasnt so sad. | ||
Brutaxilos
United States2572 Posts
This disgusts me as an American. | ||
Doraemon
Australia14949 Posts
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Rho_
United States971 Posts
On December 04 2014 08:12 Doraemon wrote: how does this even happen...and having videos on cops is going to change things? I hear you, but statistically it does. Some jurisdictions already have it, and in them the rate of force use is down and the rate of complaints against police is down. That said, it is incredible to me that no charges were returned. Michael Brown had some conflicting evidence, and while I felt like the officer was probably in the wrong, the contradictory eye witnesses cast enough doubt for me to see how jurors could not return charges. In this case, the shit is on tape. Those jurors should be ashamed. I am ashamed. It is beyond me how they did not return charges. | ||
Ace
United States16096 Posts
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killa_robot
Canada1884 Posts
On December 04 2014 09:24 Ace wrote: There is nothing to charge. It's an indictment which means they need to find probable cause for a trial to occur. In both cases, if there is even a shred of conflicting reports it's probably going to trial to hear both sides. That is why people are upset - cops are given leeway far above what citizens are allowed to have. They are being put above the law. There's video evidence he did something wrong. I'm not even sure how indictment cannot occur. I mean, how can you watch a video and be like "Well we see him doing something wrong, and we know it's wrong, but we don't think it's enough to charge him for doing something wrong". This case should cause WAYYYYYYYYY more anger than the Michael Brown one. There's a legitimate reason to get pissed and burn the police station to the ground because of this. | ||
Ace
United States16096 Posts
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Doraemon
Australia14949 Posts
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Rho_
United States971 Posts
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/eric-garner-chokehold-staten-island-grand-jury-indict/ Guess that's why no charges... | ||
peanuts
United States1224 Posts
Wonder how bad the backlash to this is gonna be. NY seems to be relatively calm right now, but I wouldn't be surprised at some heavy protesting in the next few days. NYPD's been gettin a bad rap the past few months and this certainly won't help. :/ | ||
Rho_
United States971 Posts
On December 04 2014 10:39 peanuts wrote: **sigh* Wonder how bad the backlash to this is gonna be. NY seems to be relatively calm right now, but I wouldn't be surprised at some heavy protesting in the next few days. NYPD's been gettin a bad rap the past few months and this certainly won't help. :/ People are blocking the West Side Highway. | ||
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