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Featured Is it ME, or do you think our police are out of control?

Discussion in 'News & Current Events' started by righteousdude2, Aug 11, 2014.

  1. righteousdude2

    righteousdude2 Well-Known Member
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    Missouri killing of teen - http://www.aol.com/article/2014/08/...rid7|htmlws-main-bb|dl2|sec1_lnk2&pLid=513394

    CHP beating of homeless woman on side of freeway - http://ktla.com/2014/07/17/chp-beat...s-lawsuit-filed-by-family-of-marlene-pinnock/

    Kelly Thomas Beating death - http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/13/us/california-homeless-beating-verdict/

    Innocent homeowner killed during hostage standoff - http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/13/us/california-homeless-beating-verdict/

    NY man dies when cop deploys choke hold - http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...d-homicide-medical-examiner-article-1.1888808

    It doesn't seem to matter what the racial background of the victim is, it just seems that our police and sheriff departments are getting more physical, careless and reckless in the employment of lethal force when addressing the public during an arrest or other law enforcement event.

    Maybe it's me? Maybe it's the fact that our media can bring these killings and beatings to the news, nation-wide at the drop of a hat? Nevertheless, it seems that law enforcement is becoming more out of control in discharging their duties to protect and serve the public.

    I surely don't want to accuse the men and women of law enforcement of any diabolical type of actions, but it seems to me; we have seen a rash of beatings and shootings that with a little more restraint, may have been avoided.

    Look, I know how the men and women feel when going into a tense, life-and-death situation, as my job with the state required me to secure law enforcement assistance in some of our investigations and legal actions. And the fact that both, I and my staff wore vests in some incidents, helped me to see and appreciate h=just how stressful an unknown situation could be.

    Still, I am wondering why we've seen an up tick in lethal action against the public? Do any of you see this too, and if so, do you have any idea as to why the sudden increase?
     
  2. Rolfe

    Rolfe Well-Known Member
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    I think that it is your perception. It is media sensationalism, the internet, and the fact that most people have cell phones/cameras that make it seem more prevalent.
     
  3. ShagNappy

    ShagNappy Member

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    They have always been out of control. We just hear about it more now because of the internet, everyone having a camera/video camera, etc. Over the years I have had lot of friends who were LEO's. It's nothing new, we are just made aware of it now.
     
  4. Gina B

    Gina B Active Member

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    I think in many areas they are. My opinion is a good deal of it has to do with the ones who came up and are coming up from a culture of being desensitized to violence and without proper respect for others. We'be been seeing it as an issue among youth for many years - it doesn't magically change when they choose to take jobs where they get control of others and are given weapons.
     
  5. Bro. Curtis

    Bro. Curtis <img src =/curtis.gif>
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    You are better off assuming that if you are dealing with a cop, it is his desire to lock you up.

    It's getting serious.
     
  6. Sapper Woody

    Sapper Woody Well-Known Member

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    I think a lot of it has to do with the culture of disrespect that we have been nurturing for years. The police have grown up in this culture, and for some it spills into their jobs. On the other hand, this culture has bred people that show no respect for officers. This tension between the two often (IMO) is the cause of these incidents.
     
  7. TCassidy

    TCassidy Late-Administator Emeritus
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    The disrespect Law Enforcement Officers experience is, for the most part, earned by their arrogant assumption that they are our bosses. In fact the opposite is true. They work for us.

    Years ago, when I wore the silver star we were still Peace Officers. Our job was to maintain the peace. To protect and serve the people. That has changed. Now they call themselves "Law Enforcement." Their job is to enhance revenue for their respective employers, the city, county, or state they work for, by armed extortion.

    The downward spiral has been a long time coming. It started with the courts giving Peace Officers qualified immunity which, effectively, put them about the law.

    They can beat a Kelly Thomas to death and walk away immune from the justice system.

    They can choke an Eric Garner to death and walk away free men.

    They can kill an unarmed 14 year old like Michael Brown and suffer no consequences.

    "Qualified immunity" has to go. A badge does not give you additional rights.

    The ultimate indication of something being terribly wrong is the militarization of police. The ONLY reasons for police departments to have military type weaponry and uniforms is to attack and over-power the American people. They now see US as their enemy instead of the criminals.

    They violate the constitutional rights of law abiding citizens every day, and seldom pay the consequences. And when a civil suit under 42 U.S. Code § 1983 - Civil action for deprivation of rights, is won by a victim of police violence, it is not the police who pay. The poor tax payers foot the bill and the officers and their department go right on with business as usual. :(
     
  8. poncho

    poncho Well-Known Member

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  9. preachinjesus

    preachinjesus Well-Known Member
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    This is sage advice and how I operate.

    Granted, I'm on the friendly side of almost all law enforcement in our area because they use our facility for meetings and seminars without cost. Plus we have a ministry to first responders that is important and meaningful.

    That said, too many police officers are going beyond the limitations of their badge and are in a dangerous place. These recent examples are not sensationalized, but are reality. A young black teen, on his way to college, is on his knees with his hands up and still gets shot multiple times by a white officer. That's a problem and not a sensationalized one.

    I love and respect the law enforcement officers in our area but too many of them walk with a swagger and deal harshly at minor offenses. They have a hard job, and when a criminal acts violently they should be able to respond, however the line between criminal and citizen is blurred in too many of their eyes.

    We've been watching violence escalate and pointless prosecutions ramp up. It is getting out of hand nationwide.
     
  10. poncho

    poncho Well-Known Member

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    ERIE COUNTY, NY — (EXCLUSIVE) — A family was traumatized when gun-wielding police officers walked onto their quiet property and shot their dog in the head while looking for a man who did not live there.

    http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/justice-for-lady-erie-county-ny/

    This is happening all the time . . .

    Police vs. Pets http://www.policestateusa.com/tag/police-vs-pets/

    No Mr. preachinjesus, this isn't from one of your "legitimate" news agencies. They'd rather ignore these kinds of stories or spin them to make the cops look good. They almost always side with the tyrants in government.
     
    #10 poncho, Aug 11, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 11, 2014
  11. preachinjesus

    preachinjesus Well-Known Member
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  12. poncho

    poncho Well-Known Member

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    #12 poncho, Aug 11, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 11, 2014
  13. carpro

    carpro Well-Known Member
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    I don't know if I buy into that completely, but it's worth considering.

    I know it's true of an increasingly young and violent prison population. It makes sense that some of the ones that don't get imprisoned will become cops.
     
  14. Gina B

    Gina B Active Member

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    Carpro, one doesn't necessarily have to be on their way to a life of crime to be the type who doesn't mind bullying others.
    What about the average teen who goes home from school and spends an hour or two playing video games that reward him/her for harming or killing people? That time adds up. Add movies, add typical television shows and the immorality they teach. The kid enters adulthood after spending five days a week in a school where G-d isn't allowed, going home and having the value of life reduced to a game, and morality mocked.
    It's actually pretty surprising that a lot of adults are turning out pretty decent despite this insanity!
    Anyhow, take all that, and then mix in any natural or taught influences towards classes or races.
    That kid is now an adult and wants a good job. That's a decent thing. But it IS a little scary when you consider that the above is pretty average in the life of a kid, and then as police officers, they get power, authority and welpons, and I must trust them to use them all with wisdom and restraint if they happen to one day be dealing with my loved ones. My children. My husband. Myself.

    What kids are exposed to on a regular basis is pretty wild. What they're not allowed to be exposed to is getting wild. It has its results.
     
  15. carpro

    carpro Well-Known Member
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    Inner tendencies, Gina.

    Sometimes they don't come out until a person is in a position to exercise them either without penalty or they just stand a really good chance of getting away with it.

    Most cops go bad... or routinely use excessive force because it's in them to do so and they think they can get away with it.

    With some individuals, the line between being a criminal and a cop it very thin and easy to cross.

    Most young criminals in prison have little self control and even less respect for themselves or anyone else. A little self control and they could have become cops. some of them would make good ones. Some of them would be bad. A very few would be very bad.
     
  16. righteousdude2

    righteousdude2 Well-Known Member
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    That happens several times amonth out here. A cop will be chasing a bad guy, and they'll jump fences and find themselve eyeball-to-eyeball with a pit bull, or german shepherd, and one shot kills the dog!

    No reason for it, as the bad guy jumped in the same yard, and got by the dog, so, the cop, you would thin, could evade the dog too! :BangHead:
     
  17. righteousdude2

    righteousdude2 Well-Known Member
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    With a world dominated by camera's ...

    .... You'd think the cops would stop and think, hey someone could be videotaping this event on a handheld cellphone camera and waiting to sent if viral on social media!

    But, Oh no! They go straight into the situation and break the rights of the criminal by beating them of shooting them! All they need to do is find the person with the camra and give a brief interview!
     
  18. Rippon

    Rippon Well-Known Member
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    Do you work for the ESV?
     
  19. Rippon

    Rippon Well-Known Member
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    I have no issues with police here. I hardly ever see any.
     
  20. Gina B

    Gina B Active Member

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    If you have been training on video games for years to shoot, and you're rewarded for it, what is your first instinct when put in that situation?
    I really do think people underestimate the power and influence these games have on people. I am reluctant to even call them games. They're training. What do you think would happen if that was replaced with something else? Witchcraft chants? Bible training? Math problems? Put something into a brain over and over, it's tough to stop it from coming out.
     
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