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When I first heard rumors of this going around I just immediately assumed they were fake media hysteria. I didn't think any police agency or brass could actually be that stupid or self-destructive to maliciously vandalize property in the middle of a nationwide protest about police conduct.
Jesus. Never underestimate human stupidity, even the good guys.
I haven't commented earlier because this just escapes me. I'm still perplexed and await hearing an explanation that makes sense under the specific circumstances.
Shit, if you only knew. Some of our smaller departments are Reserves only (usually only the chief gets paid) running guys on a 40-hour pre-basic. Low call volumes and part timers result in not much experience. Lack of training means they have very limited grasp of case law or police powers. I had a friend take a position at one as a training sergeant so he could attend a bunch of training that our department wouldn't send him to. He left pretty quickly saying that whole department was an indictment waiting to happen. There's some good people there, but unless they are retirees from somewhere else just wanting to hold onto a badge for part-time work or the like they don't have the foundation they need and it shows.Quote:
Originally Posted by LockedBreech
This.Quote:
Originally Posted by blues
The Anoka County Sheriff has commented on the issue. This is my local LE agency, and one that I have a lot of respect for.
https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota...-cities-unrest
None of that explanation makes sense to me nor do I see a rise to probable cause. I suspect they'd lose any lawsuit directed their way unless there's a lot more that's not in that article or the one it links to. Saying cars were used as weapons and some cars that were stopped were stolen is probably true and definitely lets you deal with those particular cars. It doesn't allow you to flatten tires on cars in parking lots and I don't see how you stretch that enough to cars on a street, either. If they are hampering police/fire/ems response, flattening the tires isn't going to fix that.Quote:
Originally Posted by tjmitchem
I don't pretend to understand it either. The whole thing just seems weird to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by BehindBlueI's
Given my very positive interactions with the Anoka County Sheriff's dept, I'm basically giving them the benefit of the doubt, even though I don't understand why they did what they did.
Sometimes things decided in the heat of the moment with sleep deprived intel gatherers reporting foggy information up the chain to also sleep deprived decision makers results in head scratching decisions, shrugged shoulders, and actions executed that in normal moments of clarity would never occur. Maybe that explains some of it and now they are applying lipstick to the resulting pig? Or maybe there was some legitimate reason not being communicated that I can't come up with in a hypothetical. I dunno. But I bet they would have to pay for the tires if somebody pushed it in the courts.Quote:
Originally Posted by tjmitchem
That makes as much sense as anything else I've heard. I'm just filing it under "weird stuff happened because reasons" and leaving it at that.Quote:
Originally Posted by BehindBlueI's
Thanks for posting that article, I appreciate it.Quote:
Originally Posted by tjmitchem
I’m not entirely sure the explanation holds up, since a star tribune reporter’s car was also "disabled," but at least there’s a discussion happening.
I’m personally still shaking my head on this. Maybe because I was enough of a juvenile miscreant in middle school and early HS to know conclusively that if you’re slashing tires on parked cars CONUS, you’re probably on the wrong side of the law.