I read a list of complaints against Austin police officers. One comment was that APD officers should be trained to accept having water bottles thrown at them and not respond with force. I just now figured out that police chiefs, commissioners, majors, captains, and lieutenants should be on the streets with the one stripe cops so they could lead and prevent over reaction. No joke.
It’s scary on the streetz. You could get killed. They should be in the front lines leading by example but the majority won’t be. It’s much easier to second guess from the CP.Originally Posted by willie
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Just a dog chauffeur that used to hold the dumb end of the leash.
https://fox59.com/news/crimetracker/...nument-circle/
Prosecutor is setting himself up for a mayoral candidacy. He's also announced he's looking at charges for officers for actions during the riots and (untruthfully, according to someone who is in a position to know) claiming the chief asked him to.INDIANAPOLIS — Criminal charges have been filed against a 68-year-old woman after she allegedly drove into protesters with her minivan on Monument Circle.
Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.
What a surprise. Not.
There's nothing civil about this war.
Some might think he's a slimy piece of shit pandering to the current climate at the expense of decent people caught up in trying times to advance his own political standing. I'm certainly not stating that, of course. I just see how perhaps someone could read the media accounts and come to that conclusion.
Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.
Cops distrust city hall. They say that mayors, councils, and chiefs will betray when standing with them is not politically expedient. We are seeing widespread disavowal as municipal leaders sever relationships with police departments. In a municipality, if city hall is the brain, and if the police department is an arm of this body, then how is it that the brain allowed this appendage to become malignant(if that is the charge)?
If some police departments have too many employees, then reducing hiring numbers, restructuring precincts, and offering early retirement incentives is a logical way to minimize the big footprint. Taking money spent on law enforcement and placing it other areas like education, homeless programs, and other community endeavors will certainly help those who get the jobs. They will walk around and grin as they too enjoy interacting with others already on the payroll. A crucial question is will they make a difference? I doubt it.
If ya'll don't mind -- I noticed that the reaction to officer's kneeling with protestors recently has been receiving a very different reaction from the officers here than it has from my general internet reading and social circle. Most people here seems to think the offensiveness of the officers' actions is obvious, whereas everyone outside seems to think that their actions are obviously correct. As I'm not a police officer, but I massively respect the knowledge and opinions of the posters here, I'd like to reconcile this.
The non-cops I talk to interpret kneeling as showing basic empathy and respect for a guy who is dead and shouldn't be. Sort of akin to taking off your hat a funeral even if you didn't know the dead guy. "Even if we don't agree with the rest of your demands, we agree that Floyd shouldn't be dead, and we understand that you're very unhappy about this."
Obviously, this interpretation makes stories like officer's resigning over it make *zero* sense other than as some extremist expression of "us vs them" "thin blue line" kind of bullshit. Which doesn't really fit with how ya'll have reacted to the rest of the protests or to the Floyd killing.
So what is the moral line this is crossing that makes the action offensive? I would really like to understand better if you don't mind taking a minute to educate me.
I am speaking for myself alone and not a representative of any other LEOs, active or retired, from any agency or department.
I believe much depends on context.
There are ways of expressing empathy and sympathy without taking a knee, which is generally seen as a sign of submission.
Was the move coerced or freely given?
Was this a calm dispassionate discussion of viewpoints, or acceding to crowd (mob) rule?
Was there intimidation, implied or real?
None of the LEOs I know support the unreasonable use of force...and yet they are all being held responsible for the actions of the very few. Put yourself in their position and try to understand what that means.
Did the crowd see their action as one of being sympathetic to righting a wrong...or one caving to their demands and admitting that there is systemic racism within their ranks.
It's not a simple yes / no question, imho. Context and nuance matters.
There's nothing civil about this war.
Speaking for myself only, it's pretty unsettling to see a type of person who's sworn to protect the general public appear to be bowing down before any portion of that public. Make an effort to be seen on equal footing, sure. Grovel on your knees when you personally did nothing wrong, I don't think so.
Sometimes societal expectations are just wrong. When they are, don't cave to them.
I can only speculate, but I think the some folks from both inside and outside the justice community would see members of law enforcement kneeling to a group who had just firebombed, looted, hurled bricks and in some case shot at them, as capitulation to mob violence and the further reinforcement of an outrageous and dangerously false narrative.
As to respect for Floyd, I find little respectable in a life of drug abuse, theft from persons, selling dope and aggravated robbery to include leading a team of five guys who dressed up as water district employees and entered a woman’s home, pointing a gun at her stomach while looking for drugs and money. The woman was pistol-whipped by another member of the group. Those are just the crimes he was caught and prosecuted for. At the time of his death he was barely able to stand, being stoned out of his gourd on fentanyl and methamphetamine while in control of a motor vehicle and had just committed another crime.
His death was senseless and criminally negligent and the perpetrators have been charged. If they would have handled the call as they should have the Floyd would have been cuffed, medically screened and charged for DUI and the phony currency. The prosecutors may have even deigned to take the case. Who knows?
I have empathy for his family members at the loss of a loved one. George Floyd was someone’s bouncing baby boy, they probably thought every coo-and gurgle the finest ever, reveled in his first steps and first words. They likely loved him tremendously and hoped that he would lead a happy productive life. I listened to a brief portion of his family’s statements, which left me wondering what actions those same family members took over the course of Floyd’s life to get him off the dope and out of the criminal lifestyle that he led.
You mention the “thin blue line” as a form of bullshit. It’s meant to be an expression of the fact that the nations law enforcers serve as the line which keeps society from descending into chaos. In olden times there was a notation at the line on the edge of maps which noted, “Beyond here, there be Monsters.” I would suggest that the monsters are still there. You can certainly think the blue line thing is quaint or self-aggrandizing or non-inclusive. I sincerely hope your family never gets a visit from the ‘Water District’ while you’re off working to make a life for them. If they do, to a certainty, the people that comprise that bullshit, “thin blue line” will come to help, regardless of the race, creed or color on either side of the badge.
Last edited by FNFAN; 06-13-2020 at 03:52 PM.
-All views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect those of the author's employer-
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