Police earning the hate

Postby **tifosi77** » Thu Mar 21, 2019 12:51 pm

What would be a more useful aim of this thread would be to indicate how many of the officers depicted in these clips faced any sort of sanction beyond administrative punishment (like suspension without pay while an investigation was completed). To Troy's point, the systemic absence of consequence to bad actors is a fundamental disconnect. The cop in iirc South Carolina who was charged with and convicted of murder recently likely never would've faced anything beyond a cursory investigation were it not for a witness capturing the shoot on video.

Postby **AuthorTony** » Thu Mar 21, 2019 1:07 pm

All a police officer needs to say in a shooting trial is that he or she was afraid for his/her life. Unless there's overwhelming evidence that they're lying, it basically gives them carte blanche to shoot first, ask questions later.

What really needs to happen is make cops accountable every time they fire their weapon. How many stories have we read of cops shooting chihuahuas or other small, harmless dogs? Any cop that does that should be immediately fired and never be allowed to work in law enforcement again. It's part of the toxic culture that allows them to think shooting a deadly weapon is an option even in circumstances that don't come close to justifying it.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Thu Mar 21, 2019 1:24 pm

All a police officer needs to say in a shooting trial is that he or she was afraid for his/her life.

Ding ding ding.

Postby **Shyster** » Thu Mar 21, 2019 1:28 pm

While I agree on your point about lack of accountability, I don't think this thread is that nuanced. Given what I 'know' about Shyster he's simply attempting to characterize state actors as bad. In this case it happens to be cops. We could do a similar thread on the military. Or worse, Congress.

I'm not all that fond of state actors in general, but I didn't start this thread to say that the police are inherently bad. I started this thread to highlight the (unfortunately, many) cases where bad police officers engage in flagrant abuses of their power. The longer I live, the more I've come to believe that the notion that there are only a few "bad apple" cops is false. I think there are a lot more than a few "bad apples," and I think the police who aren't personally willing to engage in abuse are nonetheless willing to cover up those who do. Police today are a militarized, paramilitary force that views the public as enemies, their beats as hostile enemy territory, and themselves as being above the law—with the full knowledge that just about whatever they do, they won't really face any personal repercussions. And they won't face real repercussions until the public realizes just how dirty and out of control the police have become.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Thu Mar 21, 2019 1:32 pm

While I agree on your point about lack of accountability, I don't think this thread is that nuanced. Given what I 'know' about Shyster he's simply attempting to characterize state actors as bad. In this case it happens to be cops. We could do a similar thread on the military. Or worse, Congress.

I'm not all that fond of state actors in general, but I didn't start this thread to say that the police are inherently bad. I started this thread to highlight the (unfortunately, many) cases where bad police officers engage in flagrant abuses of their power. The longer I live, the more I've come to believe that the notion that there are only a few "bad apple" cops is false. I think there are a lot more than a few "bad apples," and I think the police who aren't personally willing to engage in abuse are nonetheless willing to cover up those who do. Police today are a militarized, paramilitary force that views the public as enemies, their beats as hostile enemy territory, and themselves as being above the law—with the full knowledge that just about whatever they do, they won't really face any personal repercussions. And they won't face real repercussions until the public realizes just how dirty and out of control the police have become.

Not sure if this was in your wheel house or not. But the NY Times daily podcast ran a five part series on the Baltimore PD. At one point, a unit of the Baltimore PD began running their shop in a way that was indistinguishable from an organized criminal gang.

I think how that sequence of events played out is exactly the reason why folks should adopt the position that you are taking here.

Postby **tifosi77** » Thu Mar 21, 2019 1:40 pm

I tend to agree with Shyster that there are a lot more bad apples than generally believed, and that includes otherwise good apples who stand by when they see the bad apples bad appleing.

Postby **AuthorTony** » Thu Mar 21, 2019 1:51 pm

I've mentioned before that my parents ran a car wash/ gas station when I was growing up and they did business with the local and state police. Most of them were nice guys. Some of them were great guys and I consider many of them friends to this day. Many of them also had questionable morals. I'm not saying they were violent or that they framed people, but the badge/uniform certainly went to many of their heads. The overwhelming majority of them were philanderers. Most of them drove home from retirement/seasonal parties so drunk they couldn't have walked a straight line. They certainly thought themselves "above" the average Joe.

One story that always sticks with me is of the guy who was in charge of checking up on inspection stations. I'm not sure what exactly his job required, but he'd go around to the stations when required to verify that they were on the up and up. After he retired, the Trooper who replaced him went to the first station and the station's owner greeted him with homemade candy. The next station had a pie. The next station had some other sort of gift. Apparently the former "inspector" would get bribed with food and merchandise and didn't do any real inspections. This was a guy making a really good salary (for Somerset county) shaking down small business owners for sweets and pastries.

Postby **AuthorTony** » Thu Mar 21, 2019 9:41 pm

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ac ... me-n986001

ACLU seeks investigation of arrest of black man moving into new home
The 61-year-old was allegedly handcuffed at gunpoint when police thought he was attempting to burglarize the home.

Karle Robinson, 61, a former Marine, was allegedly moving a television into his home in Tonganoxie on Aug. 19 when police stopped and detained him at gunpoint for suspected burglary

The letter alleges that Chief Lawson told Robinson that he approved of how the officer handled the detainment and that he was "justified" in drawing his weapon and handcuffing him since he "feared for his life."

Postby **tifosi77** » Thu Mar 21, 2019 9:53 pm

Moving a TV in to the house is the hallmark of a really sht burglar.

Postby **Shyster** » Fri Mar 22, 2019 6:01 pm

Cops accuse man of stealing his own car, assault him, arrest him, then let him go.

Postby **MR25** » Fri Mar 22, 2019 10:26 pm

Cops shoot kid running away from a car.

Postby **tjand72** » Sat Mar 23, 2019 12:25 am

...but he might have had done something wrong...

Postby **Nittany Ned** » Sat Mar 23, 2019 8:11 am

I will always stand with my Officers.

The lack of respect in this country is seriously one of its biggest problems.

Postby **Shyster** » Sun Mar 24, 2019 1:24 am

The Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has released the dashcam video showing West Virginia State Police troopers kicking and punching a handcuffed teenage boy on the ground and kneeling on his shoulder during a November arrest in Berkeley County last year. Authorities had withheld the video pending the outcome of the investigation. This week, one of two troopers fired in January was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury. The video is from the dashcam of a Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department cruiser. There is no audio. The video shows two officers yanking the teen through the open driver's side window to the ground, where he lands face first and is immediately placed in handcuffs. Footage shows one of the officers then kicks and stomps him several times and puts his knee on the teen's shoulder blade, pressing down with his full weight. The officer then punches the teen at least eight times. A minute later, the teen is pulled up to his feet but remains limp as he is thrown further to the side of the road.

Gov. Jim Justice has said the incident "cast a dark shadow" on law enforcement. Authorities originally denied media requests for the video, citing the investigation. Troopers Michael Kennedy and Derek Walker and a sheriff's deputy were fired in January. Another deputy who was fired recently got his job back. Kennedy, 29, of Morgantown, was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury on one count of deprivation of rights under color of law — language used to describe crimes committed by police officers while on duty. The indictment accuses Kennedy of using excessive force resulting in bodily injury. The teen was treated at a hospital and released. State police have said the teen was involved in a crash with a sheriff's cruiser before a pursuit ensued, his vehicle crashing again before he was apprehended. Delligatti said she couldn't release details on whether the youth was charged, saying juvenile prosecutions are sealed.

The American Civil Liberties Union's West Virginia chapter has said it would look into whether the teenager's civil liberties were violated. "The brutality witnessed in this video is shocking but all too familiar," said Loree Stark, the West Virginia chapter's legal director, in a statement. "Law enforcement has a constitutional responsibility to avoid excessive force, and it is crucial for videos like this to come to light so that offending parties will be held accountable." Walker also faces an excessive force lawsuit filed last year by a Charles Town attorney who says the trooper dragged his wife and slammed her to the ground in 2016 while she was talking to construction workers about a sidewalk project. State police responded to the scene when a worker allegedly backed his truck into the driver's door of her SUV in a parking lot.

Postby **Shyster** » Mon Mar 25, 2019 4:42 pm

This San Antonio bike cop was fired for giving a homeless man an actual crap sandwich. Then he demanded his job back on a technicality.

https://reason.com/blog/2019/03/25/is-t ... ttiest-cop

Postby **AuthorTony** » Mon Mar 25, 2019 5:49 pm

This San Antonio bike cop was fired for giving a homeless man an actual crap sandwich. Then he demanded his job back on a technicality.

https://reason.com/blog/2019/03/25/is-t ... ttiest-cop

But as Luckhurst is still in deep **** and faces termination yet again for another stunt. In another 2016 incident, KSAT reports,

Luckhust and another male officer defecated in the women's restroom at the bike patrol office and intentionally didn't flush the toilet. Luckhurst and the other officer then spread a brown substance over the toilet seat, "giving the appearance that there was fecal matter on the seat," the disciplinary documents state.

WTF is wrong with these people?

Postby **Willie Kool** » Mon Mar 25, 2019 5:59 pm

The lack of respect in this country is seriously one of its biggest problems.

Police should respect the citizens, more than the other way around, and that is what is seriously lacking...

Postby **shafnutz05** » Mon Mar 25, 2019 7:36 pm

This San Antonio bike cop was fired for giving a homeless man an actual crap sandwich. Then he demanded his job back on a technicality.

https://reason.com/blog/2019/03/25/is-t ... ttiest-cop

But as Luckhurst is still in deep **** and faces termination yet again for another stunt. In another 2016 incident, KSAT reports,

Luckhust and another male officer defecated in the women's restroom at the bike patrol office and intentionally didn't flush the toilet. Luckhurst and the other officer then spread a brown substance over the toilet seat, "giving the appearance that there was fecal matter on the seat," the disciplinary documents state.
WTF is wrong with these people?

As I've stated before, many cops were jocks or bullies in high school. This isn't surprising.

Postby **NAN** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 11:02 am

The lack of respect in this country is seriously one of its biggest problems.
Police should respect the citizens, more than the other way around, and that is what is seriously lacking...

Should be a mutual respect.

Postby **Jim** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 12:43 pm

The lack of respect in this country is seriously one of its biggest problems.
Police should respect the citizens, more than the other way around, and that is what is seriously lacking...
Should be a mutual respect.

Yeah, but I can rather easily go through life without have any reason to interact with an officer. Yet apparently if I am moving a TV into my new house there is a possibility of getting tazzed. Etc...

Postby **llipgh2** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 1:30 pm

The letter alleges that Chief Lawson told Robinson that he approved of how the officer handled the detainment and that he was "justified" in drawing his weapon and handcuffing him since he "feared for his life."

KDKA reported on the woman juror who was dismissed from the Rosfeld trial just before deliberations started. She said because of the way the PA law is written (that police are justified in using force and/or defending themselves if they fear for their safety), there was no option to find Rosfeld anything but Not Guilty. She said she found it "disheartening and frustrating". I wonder if she recused herself.

She is also the daughter of a cop.

Postby **NAN** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 3:54 pm

The lack of respect in this country is seriously one of its biggest problems.
Police should respect the citizens, more than the other way around, and that is what is seriously lacking...
Should be a mutual respect.
Yeah, but I can rather easily go through life without have any reason to interact with an officer. Yet apparently if I am moving a TV into my new house there is a possibility of getting tazzed. Etc...

Or they can come and protect/save you from a dangerous or life threatening situation.

Postby **Shyster** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 5:26 pm

Florida police caught using mug shots of black men for target practice

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/family-outra ... t-practice?

Postby **Shyster** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 5:26 pm

No Jail Time for Virginia Cops who Shot Man for Leaving his Door Open

https://newsmaven.io/pinacnews/public-r ... 7sw8mPu3Q/

Postby **Shyster** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 10:08 pm

Sixth Paterson NJ cop arrested in FBI police corruption probe

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/ ... 275528002/

The FBI’s arrest of Paterson Police Officer Daniel Pent on Tuesday stems at least partly from information provided to federal investigators by two of his fellow cops — and alleged co-conspirators — who are trying to get a break on the charges pending against them, according to court records. Pent is accused of taking money from people during illegal traffic stops, including one instance in which he and another accused officer, Eudy Ramos, allegedly stole $10,000 from a passenger in a vehicle they pulled over, according to the charges against him.
. . .
Five cops — including one who already has pleaded guilty — are accused of making rogue traffic stops and cash shakedowns from 2016 until 2018. Meanwhile, two officers have pleaded guilty to assaulting a patient at a hospital emergency room in March 2018. One of the cops in the hospital case also has admitted selling drugs multiple times over the course of more than six months in 2017 and 2018.