Mrd00d

No I wasn't dismissing you. I see both sides of the coin on this topic...

__________________
Mrd00d's Last.fm

ThePhanastasio

In 2008, a friend of mine was apprehended for felony possession of narcotics. I was also high, but managed not to get arrested.'

An officer actually slammed his door open, bruising me on the hip. That was the closest call in my life. My friend got 90 days, and I was let go.

It was traumatic, and I've not done much of anything - compared to what I was doing, I'e been doing smoke, LSD, Shrooms, and whatnot, but I'm still good

If you don't want to place last, just try to win based on your writing and art. Hopefully it'll work out for you, too.

__________________

• Phish: Studio Discography Reviewed
• 100 Albums I Heartily Recommend
• My last.fm

blastingas10

The answer is obviously yes. Don't believe so? Watch:



Police pepper spraying and arresting students at UC Davis - YouTube

Mrd00d

Yeah, that's the one I was referring to. I had a field day, no week, arguing with folks when this happened. I'm not gung-ho for the Occupiers in every case, but these students were doing it correctly, and they got messed over. If anyone wants, I can explain (for the umpteenth time, though first time on MB) why this was completely uncalled for.

__________________
Mrd00d's Last.fm

MoonlitSunshine

Relatively old topic that someone just voted on, but I was under the impression that in that particular instance, the police were surrounded on campus by those students as they attempted to leave the ground?

__________________
"I found it eventually, at the bottom of a locker in a disused laboratory, with a sign on the door saying "Beware of the Leopard". Ever thought of going into Advertising?"

- Arthur Dent

KMS

Cops are organized crime. There are exceptions, I respect an honest officer, but they tend to just be rare exceptions. What you get instead is an army of formerly bullied dweebs with insane insecurity issue's that choose this career path because of the need for the authority. That imaginary badge that gives them the right to ruin your existence by carting someone off to the cage to live with rabid, dangerous animals is all that gives them that feeling of false respect.

There's a myriad of reasons for this and I don't feel like posting them.

But, this is a yes list of common realities -

Yes, they do target and profile minorities.
Yes, they do overstep their boundaries and authorized power.
Yes, they do arrest harmless drug users to make quota.
Yes, they do beat down and taze people for no purpose.
Yes, they do profit from illegal means on the side.
Yes, they are NOT impartial in a police state.

Add to the legal system which doesn't work hardly at all and a mountain of corrupted, outdated and idiotic laws that they stil bolster up... How can anyone like the police and not have some agenda?

Pfft.

Mrd00d

They were sitting in a circle I believe, and a few cops stepped around and inside of the circle, whilst onlookers gathered around to watch, as onlookers would when expecting to see a fight. The protesters were peaceful and silent. The onlookers were boisterous, yelling "leave them alone" in unison and what not. The police, though, "felt threatened".

I'd say check the video posted above. I know it's only one frame of reference, but I've heard many accounts of the situation. There was no threat on the officers. They could have walked away at any time.

__________________
Mrd00d's Last.fm

MoonlitSunshine

I've seen the video, it's one of many of the kind, and it's part of a rather unfortunate piece of observation bias that went on regarding the #Occupy protests.

There are two things worth noting from the UC Davis protest:

1) Reference

2) (same article)

There have been plenty of cases of police brutality during the #occupy protests. I don't think anyone in their right mind would try to claim their haven't. Similarly, though, there have been at least as many cases of protester aggression and brutality (where they could manage it) towards police officers. In almost all the discussions I've seen, this seems to be conveniently forgotten. I'm not accusing anyone here of this, I'm just saying that's what I've found.

Police men and women are drawn from the populace, the same populace that are protesting. These riots and protests and for many of them a very new experience, and it's very difficult to gauge how someone will react in a situation like this. You could argue that they should have done more rigorous testing on applicants, but as far as I am aware, Crime is a serious problem in the US. Did the police forces have the liberty to turn away the majority of people who apply for the police force? People who will not react aggressively when threatened are rare enough. Certainly they are in the minority.

So the conclusion of this is that we have a situation where police officers, who are just as normal as the test of us, just as capable of being scared or intimidated into stupid decisions, were surrounded by students who were protesting. If doesn't excuse their actions, but.. it does go some way to explaining why the wrong person might take the wrong action.

Finally, every demographic, every possible subsection of the human race contains a certain percentage of dicks. The police force is bound to attract the kind of person who likes lording it over others and having a power trip. As I said earlier, I can sympathise with the police force not being able to be overly picky, so it is hardly surprising that something like this happened. What I would add, is that there are over 600 thousand police officers in the US. Of those 600,000, there are what, less than ten documented cases of pepper spray? Most of those I might add during riot situations where a police barricade was actually being assaulted by the protesters.

If there were truly a problem with police brutality in the US, there would be examples everywhere, all the time, of the majority of police officers abusing their power. Instead, I seem to see the same examples being trotted out again and again. To me, that's not a majority, that's simply the unfortunate truth that a portion of the HUMAN population tends to violence, and that it's to be expected that some of that proportion will be police. All they can really do is remove those people from active duty when they abuse that power, and that is, as far as I can see, what they have done.

__________________
"I found it eventually, at the bottom of a locker in a disused laboratory, with a sign on the door saying "Beware of the Leopard". Ever thought of going into Advertising?"

- Arthur Dent

hip hop bunny hop

That's quite the post. I disagree with about all of it, but I'm going to limit my response to a few things. I underlined what I'm responding to in order to make this clearer for all,

In regards to my first underline; you both acknowledge that police do have to arrest and deal with people you label "rabid, dangerous animals" while simultaneously denouncing their ability to imprison.

Further, I'd point out that police do not have the ability to detain people indefinitely nor to issue sentences.

In regards to the second underlined point; drug users are violating the law, as such they should be arrested. If you've issue with the law itself, fine, but that's a different point entirely because police are charged with enforcing the law.

Anyways, I like the police; they keep drunks off the road, bust drug dealers, and apprehend thieving bastards. I approve of all these activities.

__________________
Have mercy on the poor.

Mrd00d

Excellent post. I agree with the gist that police as a whole aren't corrupt but there are a few rotten apples here and there.

My only two cents on this was that the UC Davis protesters were some of the calmest, non-aggressive protesters in the Occupy scene. The ones that got sprayed with the bear mace didn't even howl or run. They were sitting quietly in a circle before they were sprayed, and sitting quietly after they were sprayed(a couple people cried out in agony, sure, but for the most part, silent). The onlookers were rabble-rousers. But they, also, weren't being aggressive. Just loud.

__________________
Mrd00d's Last.fm