Obama: Mistrust of police corrodes America

US President Barack Obama said the widespread mistrust of law enforcement that was exposed by the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man in Ferguson, Missouri, is corroding America, not just its black communities, and that the wariness flows from significant racial disparities in the administration of justice.
Speaking Saturday at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual awards dinner, Obama said these suspicions only harm communities that need law enforcement the most.
“It makes folks who are victimized by crime and need strong policing reluctant to go to the police because they may not trust them,” he said. “And the worst part of it is it scars the hearts of our children,” leading some youngsters to unnecessarily fear people who do not look like them while leading others to constantly feel under suspicion no matter what they do.
“That is not the society we want,” Obama said. “It’s not the society that our children deserve.”

newsinfo.inquirer.net...

while i agree there definitely seems to be racial disparity in the justice system that is not the only cause. is he just blind or playing the race card yet again? how about the fact that police seem to not be held accountable for their actions, generally just paid vacations then back to work. or roadside seizures which are little more than legalized theft by the police? how about the fact that it seems a cop's first thought for any situation is to shoot and make sure the suspect is dead? or things like no knock warrants, and when a person fears they are getting robbed and fire at the unknown intruders they are arrested because they are cops even though they never identified themselves. or all the innocent people that cops have been gunning down? why does Obama not mention these and more which have caused the mistrust of police. why does he put it down just to racial issues?

mistrust of police is a major problem. but it will not get fixed if you just try to pan it off as a racial issue. cops are out of control. until that is fixed the mistrust of cops is just going to get worse. people of all colours and races are mistrustful of cops because of their behavior and the fact they are not held accountable for their actions.

I can pull up 1000 videos on youtube of police irresponsibly abusing their power and betraying innocent civilians' trust. Obama was an idiot before and he remains an idiot now.

Obama is close, but I guess I'd go with this theme instead.

Elton: Militarization of police corrodes America

Simple solution:

1: Arm every local police with military hardware and various "non-lethal" crowd control equipment.
2: Conduct extensive Mind War operations.
3: Record and store every bite of data exchanged between users, develop software to disseminate and profile would be terrorist (domestic or otherwise).
4: Race bait the citizenry and insert manufactured and opposing ideology to divide the masses.
5: Build a powerhouse economy by monopolizing the sell of oil.

After that, people's concerns will be irrelevant.

originally posted by: smithjustinb
I can pull up 1000 videos on youtube of police irresponsibly abusing their power and betraying innocent civilians' trust. Obama was an idiot before and he remains an idiot now.

Obama if an idiot is a smart idiot if judged by his transformation of America and his ability to remain out of the impeachment process.

He (Obama) did miss a great opportunity to address Police brutality and improper conduct by the very officers he thinks the American people are supposed to trust. Words with no plan are just words which he is extremely good at.

The house of government and particularly DOJ has become so dirty that it can not be cleaned over night if ever...IMO

a reply to: generik

This statement from Mr Obama, overlooks one vital detail, in an utterly comprehensive manner.

The fact is, that technically speaking, the bald statement "Mistrust of police corrodes America" is entirely accurate, but it fails to address the reason for that mistrust. Failing to trust those who are trust worthy, is a failure of the people. But it is perfectly obvious to even the most dunderheaded oaf, that there IS something severely wrong with the training, quality, and professionalism of the police force in some areas of the United States. There are countless videos detailing that fact, countless examples in the media.

People in the USA have to contend with warrantless seizure of property, No Knock SWAT raids, trigger happy officers, outright murder of restrained and subdued persons, being choked to death by way of an improperly executed sleeper type neck hold, and the list grows and grows.

So clearly, the problem is not mistrust of the police, but the fact that the police cannot be trusted to the degree that they need to be. There should be NO policemen with a foul mouth, no policemen who have an anger management problem, no policemen on the take, no policemen who have a problem keeping their trigger finger away from the trigger, no policemen who are prepared to act against the people, and indeed the constitution, by seizing money from people on spurious grounds, no asset forfeiture in any case which does not have an iron clad link to organised crime, and so on and so forth. No SWAT raid should ever be visited upon the wrong house, or a house not containing a felon. Simple crap like that.

When the police forces in the United States have purged their ranks of ticking time bombs, over zealous officials, and persons prepared to infringe the rights of innocent citizens and hide behind a badge when the consequences start flying, THEN Obama might be able to expect some public trust in the officers of the law. Until then, trusting the badge, no matter how laudable the best of the people who wear one might be, is foolish.

a reply to: generik

I have to agree with you, police have to be held accountable for their actions. They should be treated like every other citizen who would commit a crime or murder. Being a police officer and carrying a weapon that can easily take a life, has a lot of responsibility which goes along with it.

Police threatening citizens when they're video recording public arrests should also be a reason for dismissal. They serve the public, it's not the other way around. It's the only way the public can hold the police accountable for their actions. There's been way too many incidents where police are reaching for their gun on unarmed civilians or brutally beating them when it isn't necessary.

I had hoped the Ferguson shooting would bring attention to police brutality problem. Of course it was turned into a racial issue instead of the national problem it is in fact.

a reply to: generik

Does this guy read the news. The Ferguson case is NOTHING. It just got a lot of over reaction (and a cop was killed, likely in retaliation there yesterday).

The case with the guy in walmart shot in the back without a voice command because he had a pellet gun he picked up off the shelf is WAY more outrageous. Oh and the guy shot for getting his license after the cop asked him to?! Luckily he was just grazed and not murdered. That cop went straight to jail - but you know what.. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he was locked up and fired because he let the guy live meaning litigation. I bet he'd be on paved leave if he would've finished the guy.

I think that... if you don't see a gun you should be forbidden to shoot. Why not tase first until he sees what the guy is getting if he felt so threatened? I am glad that officer is facing possible 20 years and I hope he gets it.

a reply to: TDawg61

Don't worry.. the gas station and walmart shootings are pretty damn bad. Walmart shooting is a thousand times worse than the ferguson shooting.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Would rather hear him say police corruption corrodes America and obviously American's trust in police. I would like him to start a new Internal investigations group, non law enforcement to start cracking down.

a reply to: GogoVicMorrow

I think that would be very wise indeed, and I agree entirely with your outlook on the reality of the situation. It is the behaviour of some police officers in recent times, which feeds the lack of trust that the public have in their police force, and it always will be.

The reality is pretty clear. When a police force acts in all things, in a forthright, honest, and laudable manner, citizens under its protection (other than the actual criminal element) respond to officers in an entirely different manner, than in locations where there is a high incidence of criminality within the ranks of law enforcement agencies operating there.

If anything Obama is underplaying the situation far beyond the reasonableness test. I suppose though as President, he can't come out and say there is real concern about police behaviour, instead he focussed on 'mistrust,' that kind of blames everybody and that's unfair.
You may recall the recent video of the woman being pummeled in the head and on the ground by a policeman, that was so widely seen, that event has just cost the US taxpayer $1.5m. As someone has rightly pointed out, the are heaps of video on police madness, (probably enough by now to fill a server) that's the way to go, and get rid of the rent-a-tank to the police brigade, that's fecking crazy.

His remarks were directed at Ferguson, (where he was?). I particularly noted the

guilty of something because, "--driving while black, walking while black."

At the bottom of the CNN screen read the caption:

"Black man shoots white officer in the arm."

I guess this is breaking news this AM. Shows how the media promotes race hatred.

a reply to: generik

Definite race baiting. The media does a stellar job of putting emphasis on race to keep the racial divide going.

US President Barack Obama said the widespread mistrust of law enforcement that was exposed by the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man in Ferguson, Missouri

Meanwhile, I don't recall ever seeing/hearing it repeatedly pointed out that Timothy McVeigh, Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold, James Holmes, Adam Lanza, TJ Lane, etc, etc are white.

The problem with police mistrust can't be blamed on race instead of policies and police actions. One of the most overlooked issues that is finally receiving more awareness is not just police brutality -- it's the fact that police have taken over the role of guidance counselor and school principle.

19 Crazy Things That School Children in America are Being Arrested For

The link is from 2012 and includes incidents as far back as 2007.

a reply to: generik
Those who administrate this country wanted and created the current racial and law enforcement issues in this country. And they're only going to get worse from here. He's blowing smoke up the public's backside... again.

ETA: I would add. America has "corroded" from the top down.

No wonder he got the peace prize (sarcasm). I realized this before I left elementary school.

My take on ATS and Obama..

He could say water is wet or the sky is blue and the same people here would be complaining about that.

a reply to: generik

America is already corrupted, people mistrust already a government that is corrupted.

So is not only the police corruption but also the corruption of our system of government.

originally posted by: opethPA
My take on ATS and Obama..

He could say water is wet or the sky is blue and the same people here would be complaining about that.

And it won't be any different for the next puppet who lives in the white house.