More police getting shot at from Florida to Los Angeles

CNN is on it in a story with a wide-sweeping, dramatic headline. Two more incidents of patrol cars getting fired on. This story links these incidents to the two NYPD deaths (but doesn't mention the attack on the PA state trooper killing) and also shows a video of at least one protester making an alarming statement and saying the tenor of the protests are provoking anti-police sentiment.

A week after two New York City officers were killed while sitting in their patrol car, more police across the country are getting shot at.

In Los Angeles, two officers were driving in their patrol car Sunday night when at least one gunman open fire, police said. The officers returned fire and were not injured.

One suspect was arrested, and police recovered two weapons -- including a rifle.

And...

And in Pasco County, Florida, someone fired three bullets toward two sheriff's deputies as they were sitting in their cars Sunday morning, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office said.

"Both deputies reported hearing the whizzing sound of each projectile as they flew by," the sheriff's office said. "Deputies did not see the suspect or the vehicle from which the shots were fired."
...
The Pasco County Sheriff's Office is also searching for whoever spray-painted graffiti reading, "Shoot MP Cop." The graffiti was written on a road barrier in a subdivision called Meadow Point.

[CNN]

Everyone's for justice, but caution, logic, and calm heads really have to prevail here. Hope this pattern with the protests, the attacks, the media pushing it, and the politicians playing with it doesn't continue or we're really in for it.

Everyone's for justice, but caution, logic, and calm heads really have to prevail here. Hope this pattern with the protests, the attacks, the media pushing it, and the politicians playing with it doesn't continue or we're really in for it.

True. But this is just the result of people that are desperate.
We have tired all the other ways, peaceful protests, youtube videos, twitter hashtags, marches, protests, signs...all of it has brought no result.
So what do you expect, nobody hears our prayers, ultimately nobody really gives a sh!t about us or the victims of police brutality, of injustice.
Shooting cops that might actually be on our side doesn't help at all, they are innocent, have done nothing wrong.
It's just that people don't know what else to do.
It's all very sad, and frankly i have no solution in mind to fix it.

a reply to: IShotMyLastMuse

I don't know that I can agree with "people don't know what else to do" though. I think there's opportunists coming to the surface who are going to try and be famous or make a name for themselves. Or maybe they just want to kill cops.

No offense, Lucidity, but I expect a fair number of replies (if anybody cares in the first place that is) to this to fall on the "# the pigs" and "serves them right" and "that's what happens when you bully people" side of things. Because somehow offing a cop in Tampa is the appropriate response to a cop from NYC getting away with something. Somehow the way to stop brutality is to up the ante to the level of murdering somebody who had nothing to do with what a person is mad about.

Personally, I don't see the need to be a jackbag on the job. I don't see the need to treat people as lesser beings. I don't see the need to brutalize people. But I also don't see the need to try and kill somebody in Iowa because I'm mad about something that happened in Maryland.

a reply to: IShotMyLastMuse

If people really don't know what needs to be done, then yes, there is little hope.

You would think that it would start by getting the cops on the side of the people though. Yes, that certainly sounds easier said than done, but why wouldn't people start there, as opposed to being against them?

They are only human, why not appeal to their better nature? They too are being bent over and rammed in the backside by TPTB. Why not show them this?

Protesting is useless. Always has been and always will be, as it does NOTHING other than piss most people off and annoy others, cops included. Also, protests don't exactly bring the police on the side of the people, as it automatically sets up police lines to "protect the greater population", from asinine stupidity and possible violence. Case in point: The occupy protests. What a sad fart in the wind that was. It accomplished NOTHING!

It's a bad situation but I saw it coming. The cops quit respecting the people so the people have quit respecting the cops. No respect, no fear. Not everyone of course but it will spread. Rebellion is contagious in chaotic times when people are being tromped on (by law enforcers).

a reply to: Shamrock6

Oh i am sure it'will be so, some of these people are looking for an excuse, and don't really care about what they are doing or who they are doing it to.
To assume all cops are evil is of course insane, most of them try to do their best and hope they don't get killed in the process.
But of course people like to lump everyone together, as if all the cops in america held secret meetings or acted like some sort of hive-mind.
But in all honesty, i don't know what else people could do. It's clear that America is against the behaviour of these cops, it's obvious that people want change. but that change is not happening.
A few years ago this man in italy snapped and went to the italian parliament with a gun, and started shooting, this to say that we might be reaching a boiling point, and maybe i'm a pessimist, but i don't see any peaceful outcome.

a reply to: Sparkymedic

totally agree about the occupy movement.
The movement in itself is great, and has a lot of reason to it, the people carrying it out...not so much.
They just ended up looking like slackers.

originally posted by: IShotMyLastMuse
It's just that people don't know what else to do.

I don't buy that at all. Very few cops are 'bad cops' and this is just a case of street thugs wanting to shoot and kill those who rein them in. I'd love to see a case of 'blue flu' hit hard so people wake up to the fact that most of the cops are hard working good people and that we need them. And wake up to the fact that our inner cities are indeed war zones and that the thugs are, many times, outgunning the cops.

a reply to: ~Lucidity

I noticed the shooting in LA happened in South Central. That's not exactly a good part of town. What CNN is reporting is probably something that happens weekly in that part of Los Angeles. I don't think it's associated with the NY cop killings.

a reply to: ~Lucidity

When Police have no consequences for their actions they begin to cross the line in performing a tough job. The more violence they get away with the more they begin to realize the extra violence makes their job easier. Subduing people is much easier with overwhelming violence rather than the minimum violence needed. It's a vicious cycle. When it happens in a heavily armed society like the US people are going to start retaliating against Police eventually. The more news media plays the violence up the sooner the retaliation begins.

The good news is that the Police will eventually learn they can't win in a fight against the citizens. They are heavily outnumbered and surrounded 24/7. Eventually Police leadership will accept fair punishment for Policemen that cross the line and break the rules. As soon as people begin seeing fair punishment being applied to Police they lose the need to retaliate. A civil society returns to normal.

If you want to help stop this problem, encourage politicians to create independent ways to monitor, investigate and bring to justice to Police that cross the line.

a reply to: ~Lucidity

Anyone that would shoot a cop knowing nothing about him, is a thug ,rational human beings don't act this way.

there are agitators and there are their puppets

keywiki.org...

These are not spontaneous protest.

Thanks for all the thoughtful replies. I pretty much only posted this because of the, although minor compared to some and although true in a literal respect, exaggerated headline that makes it seem there's a swath of violence already occuring from FL to CA based on just two (in this case) incident. That bothers me. A lot. And although the video tries to be a bit more balances, it the other people will focus on and remember.


a reply to: IShotMyLastMuse

I think one of the things that the media can help with might be telling the FACTS and the TRUTH instead of sensationalizing the BAD and focusing on a few cases and salivating for more to happen.

For example, from a 2012 stat, out of over 12 million arrest interactions (and probably at least twice as many non-arrest interactions) there were only 400 officer-involved shooting/beating/choking deaths, and out of those 400 only 120 were black people.

I think police departments/unions and politicians could do the same.

And I think people in general could try applying some common sense and logic and focus on the same things instead of the haters with preset opinions, fears, or axes to grind.


a reply to: Shamrock6

I expect the same. And I believe it's a very sad situation when people can become so stirred up by so few as to want to kill moer people, particulary as you say people who had nothing to do with the perceived injustices.


a reply to: Sparkymedic

Yep. I agree. We KNOW what to do, but that doesn't get a lot of focus or press unless the press realizes that they've incited riots and start begging for people to calm down and put on a few calm, sane voices. But then they're back to their old ways in the next cycle.

Protests can work. They've stopped wars and made differences. But that was before the corporate media had peoples' minds in a choke hold.


a reply to: StoutBroux

The respect thing is very important. Critical in fact.

Reacting badly or rudely from the get go to something the actual officer you are dealing with does or says based on what you perceive all officers are like or have done is not good and corrodes that respect before there's even a chance of a civil encounter.

And officers who are jumpy about the perception of them in the climate being created, may not be quite as tolerant. They have a LOT of patient and training to be civil and fair, but they're only human too.


a reply to: Jainine

Having lived through one, this one...

BLUE FLU Cops on strike, December 1970 - January 1971 cHAPTER 384

I wouldn't wish the blue flu on anyone. But you're right in one respect. It made people appreciate what they had again or open their eyes. For a while.

You can note from the article that police being attacked isn't a 21st century problem alone. It's happened before.


a reply to: BASSPLYR

Yeah. I reckon It's not news unless other stuff is going on and it helps their case in sensationalizing things.


a reply to: Stormdancer777

Yes. Some kind of issue is there already. And I too believe these protests might be pushing some people to the edge.

a reply to: Jainine

I think some of the responses are good but others are not well-considered.

The good news is that the Police will eventually learn they can't win in a fight against the citizens.

This statement is very naive. Police CAN and WILL win in any fight against the citizens and it is best we do not tempt them into a conflict. They out number, out gun and out flank (communications and legal support) any single or small group of citizens and when challenged, they will go in and burn you out, and even allow innocent collateral damage in the process

The idea that citizens can 'rise up' and band together and defeat or even challenge LE, the National Guard or the Military (who will join the fight in a heartbeat, I might add) is nonsensical. We're talking about scattered enclaves of resistance at most, against a well-armed, legally-backed, force of trained killers, who -have- taken lives. Most civilians, armed or not, have not. Most civilians would crumple once a few over the top responses of 'scorch the earth' to make and example, or if Martial Law was declared. That turns all 'would-be groups' into single individuals with pop-guns in comparison. Study up on just what 'Martial Law' means.

This other quote about there being 'very few bad cops' is completely ridiculous. ANY cop who does bad actions, condones bad actions, stands there and does nothing or aids in a cover up either implicitly or explicitly is not a 'good cop'. Frank Serpico still gets threats and hate mail over his uncovering TRUE corruption in the NYPD, 30 years later.

I think the point has been made and we all need to return to a peaceful state with some dialog and those 'outlaw' members of society who like to think of themselves as 'thugs and playas' need to back off.

FWIW

a reply to: ~Lucidity

Our history is littered with abusive power. Law enforcement needs to address the many hundreds of cases of cops killing or torturing innocent or not so innocent civilians. It seems that some segments of society have a short memory. The Abner Louima case tops the list for me.
en.wikipedia.org...

For every case of police brutality that is prosecuted, there's 10 more that should have been. And the Kelly Thomas case tops that list for me.
en.wikipedia.org...

I find it difficult to respect a group of people that have not taken the necessary steps to earn my respect.

a reply to: Witness2008

The corruption exists. No one denies that. But often it's initiated or exemplified at the higher level, at the politics level, and when that kind of "leadership" exists, it can make it very hard for those in the ranks to take action on their own.

This is not the entire issue by any stretch, there are other as well, but it is a big part of it. People so busy covering their own butts or making their own masters happy that consequences occur.

originally posted by: Maverick7
a reply to: Jainine

The good news is that the Police will eventually learn they can't win in a fight against the citizens.

This statement is very naive. Police CAN and WILL win in any fight against the citizens and it is best we do not tempt them into a conflict. They out number, out gun and out flank (communications and legal support) any single or small group of citizens and when challenged, they will go in and burn you out, and even allow innocent collateral damage in the process

History is littered with destroyed governments that thought the police and military would band together against the people when they rose up against injustice.

My quote wasn't referring to 'any single or small group of citizens' like you applied it. I was referring to an entire population fed up with Police brutality. The OP talks of incidents NATIONWIDE, not one person or small group. The Police DO NOT out number citizens...not even close. The Police sit out in the public, doing their job and are very vulnerable to attacks from citizens.

The truth is that Police typically abandon their posts at the first sign of citizens rising up against them. History shows this over and over in every revolution. The military is a different story, but they get overwhelmed often as well.

People who believe the Police to be all powerful have never stood up to power in their life.

originally posted by: ~Lucidity
a reply to: Witness2008

The corruption exists. No one denies that. But often it's initiated or exemplified at the higher level, at the politics level, and when that kind of "leadership" exists, it can make it very hard for those in the ranks to take action on their own.

This is not the entire issue by any stretch, there are other as well, but it is a big part of it. People so busy covering their own butts or making their own masters happy that consequences occur.

I agree. The simple fact that police unions exist, and have such a loud voice when defending the indefensible actions of LE tells me that there are hidden powers with not so benevolent intentions towards us.

If you take the time to read the link on Kelly Thomas you will see that the Fullerton community took it into their own hands in order to make some positive change within law enforcement. They too recognized where the real change would come from.... counsel members, mayors, along with police chiefs. For me they are an example of how we should all move forward.

Individual LE however have it within their power to not over react, nor take their bad day out on us. If each officer that took their job seriously and reported abuse that they would see, then we would start seeing some change. Instead we see the NYPD turning on the mayor and the cities diversified population, a perfect example of why so many people are banding together against them. LE set the tone a long time ago.

originally posted by: Jainine

originally posted by: IShotMyLastMuse
It's just that people don't know what else to do.

I don't buy that at all. Very few cops are 'bad cops' and this is just a case of street thugs wanting to shoot and kill those who rein them in. I'd love to see a case of 'blue flu' hit hard so people wake up to the fact that most of the cops are hard working good people and that we need them. And wake up to the fact that our inner cities are indeed war zones and that the thugs are, many times, outgunning the cops.

A typical response from Police agencies is to throw more
weapons and equipment on to the problem.
So I don't feel the so called people in charge have any better solutions.
Civilians are sick of pretend special forces beat cops. It's ridiculous.

a reply to: Jainine

Very few cops are 'bad cops' and this is just a case of street thugs wanting to shoot and kill those who rein them in.

Police are nothing but but an armed gang of street thugs, no better than the Bloodz, Crips, MS13 and the rest of them. The only difference is one of the gangs operates above the law.

My personal experiences, and many others from people I know in real life and internet forums can very much confirm that the amount of "good cops" is a minority and most of them are "bad apples". I know you cop lovers will get upset over this but this is just the way it is. The culture of police worship on ATS has gotten out of hand. You all complain about the cop bashing threads but the lot of you are equally guilty by blindly justifying these terrorists with unfound logic that defies reality.

By the way, I am a respected member of my community and am not a criminal who breaks the law. I have never even had a speeding ticket. The biggest trouble I have ever gotten into was underage drinking when I was 16.

Now please tell me why I am constantly harassed without reason?

I don't even fit any of the typical "profiling"...they are out to get everyone!

I'm not condoning the attacks on police, but they made their beds and it's time to lay in it. I wish it never came to this point but generations of corruption have brought the populace to a breaking point.

The damage is done and I fear that it cannot be fixed

I am agreeing with those who say "police need policing"

My own minor observation was observing K9 officer kicking his dog vigorously in order to claim it pointed on a vehicle stop along the interstate - again minor incident compared to others I've heard about but at this stop were other officers who could not have missed what K9 unit was doing.

It was clear violation of the vehicle drivers constitutional rights and other officers were just as guilty.

From that I do get general idea that police will do anything they think they can get away with in order to find reason to charge someone - the means do justify end results.

On the other hand far left agitators and groups are driving a deeper wedge between police and citizens.

That will result in more loss of civil rights and liberty for all in the end leaving far left control freaks and police happier for it.

The way for positive change is protesting city hall who after all sets policy for its police in the first place, the current state of affairs serves other agendas indeed.