Civilian Brutality: ON POLICE

Ok - before you go off, just allow me to make a point here. It's my experience on this board that there is a major dislike and distrust of law enforcement officers (LEOs). I get it.

I am not familiar with "your" personal experience with police; you may be justified in your sentiment. Lord knows there's been enough reports of LEOs in the MSM and otherwise to give the entire profession a bad name.

What I want to do here is ask you to put that aside for a minute and remember, what you are hearing is the worst of the worst, a small percentage in relation to the number of LEOs in the US.

Police and detectives held about 883,600 jobs in 2008. About 79 percent were employed by local governments. State police agencies employed about 11 percent. Various Federal agencies employ police and detectives.

Source

It's more dangerous to be a LEO now than ever before.

The number of police officers killed in the line of duty rose by 37 percent in 2010 from the year before, presenting a complicated picture of the danger on American streets.

Source

In just 24 hours, at least 11 officers were shot. The shootings included Sunday attacks at traffic stops in Indiana and Oregon, a Detroit police station shooting that wounded four officers, and a shootout at a Port Orchard, Wash., Wal-Mart that injured two deputies. On Monday morning, two officers were shot dead and a U.S. Marshal was wounded by a gunman in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Source

"This morning, two brave and courageous Tampa police officers were caught in the line of fire during a routine traffic stop. Officers Curtis and Kocab exemplify the sacrifice our law enforcement officers make every day as they work tirelessly to keep our communities safe.

Source

There are many others. What I ask you to consider is what they are up against every time they approach a vehicle, knock on a door, chase a felon, respond to a call. These men and women are fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters...friends and neighbors. PEOPLE.

The following videos are GRAPHIC. Please take note of that before viewing.

It's easy to "Monday Morning Quarterback" by evaluating what they did, what they didn't do, what they should have done, how they got too complacent...

So that these officers did not die in vein, these and other videos are often used as training videos for LEOs. And I feel confident in saying that other officers have lived through similar circumstances because of these clips.

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Deputy Kyle Dinkheller, Laurens County, GA, was minutes from being off duty when he encountered a speeding pickup truck going 98 mph.

On January 28, 2000, the suspect was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to death two days later."

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Constable Darrell Lunsford was shot and killed while on a traffic stop. During the stop, Constable Lunsford found marijuana in the trunk of the suspect's vehicle.

Because of the video tape, the three suspects were arrested, tried and convicted of his murder.

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The Monroe County District Attorney has determined four Tomah police officers acted appropriately last month when they killed a man who shot at them during a traffic stop

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When they are facing these possible scenarios everyday, it's hard not to be hyped up. Heck, it would be unsafe not to be 1-2 degrees more amped than those committing the crimes. Do some take it too far? Yes. Are some unable to decompress immediately after a life threatening event. Yes.

There are laws here. LEOs enforce them. The average Joe does not require police involvement in their lifestyle. If you disagree with the law, take it up with your legislature - not the cop.

Generalizations of the entire profession just furthers the breakdown in police-community relations.

Thanks for viewing.

Peace

Good post...although a small percentage of this website is pro-police most on here do not care about them until they call them. I personally do not think we should be bending over backwards for them around union negotiations and increases in pay and more time off but I do respect the work that they do. Most would say that they do a job most of us wouldn't want to do but I would disagree..thousands and thousands of people take the test or apply for these jobs each year so by no means is there a shortage of police candidates or cadets..some towns hire by application/interview and in those small cities the waiting lists are forever and a day. Where I live here they charge I want to say around sixty dollars and it may be more to take the civil service examination only to be told after taking the test that a hiring freeze has occurred or the next academy isn't happening for another year. I would say the same goes for the fire department who also has a long list of applicants waiting to become the next fire fighter. The only response group who deserves more money is EMT's or ambulance personnel...because most work for seperate companies they get paid absolutely crap and get a lot of abuse in the process of helping folks.

Bottom line difficult and stressful job but nobody is being forced into this type of profession and with all the overtime and the union squeezing every nickel out of state and local communities. A friend of mine who is a police officer does not even take yearly drug tests..he said they were all for it if the city would negotiate more money in their next contract. I asked if he could imagine what the citizens of his city would think of them if they new that they were not randomly drug tested and that their were officers opposed of this unless they were compensated. He admitted after that it did sound dirty that a police officer would refuse a drug test as part of his job unless they were paid more money...

there is certainly something to be said for living in a country where cops are not routinely armed. most carry weapons in the boot (trunk) of their cars in the form of glocks. some i believe have bushmasters in there as well but i stand to be corrected on that point. on their person they carry pepper spray and some have tazers.

With all the hatred of police on this site i've been thinking of putting together a post on acts of heroism law enforcement has done where they've saved lives by putting their own at risk.

To help bring some perspective.

Nice desensitization post....

default s&f from my culture of violent infotainment.

What I saw in all of the videos were cops being too lax in being aware of their surroundings. The first video I have to admit did shock me a bit. Why the cop didn't take that man out when he saw him getting the gun out of his truck is beyond me. He would have been dropped the second I saw the gun in his hands before he had a chance to ready and fire, better to be alive and judged than dead.

I do understand where you're coming from saying cops have a risky job, but, that's the risk they take when they join the force. It's part of the job. To me their job is no more dangerous than the 3rd shift worker at convenience stores, I know that from experience. If you were trying to use these videos as an excuse as to why cops have a habit of being excessive in the force they use then I have to say you failed. The only thing these videos should show all of us is that cops need to be more aware when they make a stop. If the cops in these videos had been more aware they might still be alive. However, it doesn't excuse the many videos and reports of police brutality we see on an almost daily basis. After all most of the brutality we see is against people that are either too weak, already handcuffed and subdued, or not even putting up any kind of resistance. You know what they say..What comes around goes around.

reply to post by Simon_Boudreaux

cops being too lax in being aware of their surroundings.

I stated how easy it would be to Monday Morning quarterback. Are you a cop? Have you ever been shot at? for your information, this cop had already been counseled on using excessive force in the past with previous non-compliant subjects, hence the hesitation. So basically, what you have here is a 2-year deputy, having been counseled before, in a traffic stop with a subject with a clean criminal history, who decided today was the day he would execute a cop. But of course, YOU know what YOU would have done.

If you were trying to use these videos as an excuse as to why cops have a habit of being excessive in the force they use then I have to say you failed.

No - you failed. You fail to see what the cops are up against and, until you are in those shoes, you might just "shut the front door" until you can speak from experience of which, you have none.

But thanks for your useless response.

reply to post by capod2t


Many people don't realize where most of their problems come from.........and take it out on the only authority figure. Many of societies ill come from our flawed social system and economies. If only we could enlighten them all

reply to post by Skerrako


Thank you.

Key word - ENLIGHTEN

Namaste

If my own predictions are correct...


I see it getting worse... A lot worse...

Expect to see cops hunted by gang bangers real soon...

scenario-
cop on the side of the road... writing ticket...

someone hits cop car and drives on...

cop chases....

cop follows into trap... auto and semis level....


not endorsing, i am just warning... I see it occurring soon

Originally posted by capod2t
I stated how easy it would be to Monday Morning quarterback. Are you a cop? Have you ever been shot at? for your information, this cop had already been counseled on using excessive force in the past with previous non-compliant subjects, hence the hesitation. So basically, what you have here is a 2-year deputy, having been counseled before, in a traffic stop with a subject with a clean criminal history, who decided today was the day he would execute a cop. But of course, YOU know what YOU would have done.

No I'm not a cop nor would I want to be, but yes, I know what I would have done. If the cop had been counseled in the past for being excessive then he got what he deserved didn't he. Like I said, what comes around goes around. Either way he let the man get the rifle out of his truck so it's his own fault what happened to him. The dash cam would have shown he wasn't being excessive and was in his right to defend his life. And as a matter of fact I have been shot at, have had guns pulled on me and stuck in my face on a few occasions. Been robbed at gun point, had drunks try to beat me with bats for not selling them beer after hours, been stabbed in the leg, and been hit with beer bottles that were thrown at me. The reason why I'm still alive...I was aware of the people before they even walked in the store and could tell by their body language they were going to be trouble and was prepared to deal with it. Like I said, 3rd shift at a convenience store can be more dangerous than being a cop, and I've seen the same and dealt with the types of people that cops deal with so yes I'd say I have the experience.

No - you failed. You fail to see what the cops are up against and, until you are in those shoes, you might just "shut the front door" until you can speak from experience of which, you have none.

Are you a cop? Do you have experience to speak of? We all know what cops are up against, and we all know what we are up against ever time we have to deal with cops. We all know there's a chance that the cop we have pulling us over or coming to our house for something could be that cop having a bad day or the cop that's just an asshole and decide he's going to take it out on us. Just ask the kid they killed just for saying the cops needed a warrant...Oh wait you can't because he's dead. I guess that's okay in your book since it wasn't the cop being killed instead.

Perhaps if cops were more respectful to the people they SERVE they wouldn't have to worry as much.

But thanks for your useless response.]

Thanks for your opinion, I'll file it in the proper place.

Some of the people here seem to be living in a dream world, one where there is no corruption. I wish It were true that authority figures were all perfect, and there was never a threat of danger from them.


Op are you a cop or just family of one?

reply to post by ripcontrol


There have actually been alerts that have been released nationally by intelligence analysts warning law enforcement officers at all levels that gangs have not only green-lighted but encourage their memberships to put hits on LEOs. It's like the ultimate honor for bad guys, let alone the eventual respect they receive should they ever get to prison.

Thanks for your reply and insight.

What a surprise. I was getting used to threads that bash police while glorifying criminals. Thanks for offering the other side of the story.

reply to post by capod2t


let me guess border states especially....


thank you I was not aware of the alerts...

reply to post by Simon_Boudreaux


I was hoping to avoid people with your angry, resentfulness on this thread. I acknowledged in the very beginning of the OP many of your points. And those are not the points of this thread. This thread merely shows another perspective. I am not suggesting to dismiss other points, just set them aside so I can put law enforcement in a different light of what has become "popular."

I appreciate you sharing your experiences here, and I am sorry for what you have been through. For a minute there I thought I was ready Jack Bauer's medical records.

Since I am not here in official capacity, I will not discuss my career. I will, however, share with you the following:

I dislike cops (or anyone, for that matter) who have attitudes or are on a power trip;
Sometimes I route for the bad guy (and not just in the movies);
My loyalty rests in my integrity more so than in any fraternity, organization, membership or co-workers;
I do enjoy certain privileges due to my position, although I have come not to expect or abuse them;
I believe in treating people with dignity and respect, until they become a potential threat, at which point I will respond in kind;

Thank you for your comments.

I see you safe and protected, and wish you well.

Namaste

reply to post by bane9907

Since I am not here in official capacity, I will not discuss my career. I will, however, share with you the following: I dislike cops (or anyone, for that matter) who have attitudes or are on a power trip; Sometimes I route for the bad guy (and not just in the movies); My loyalty rests in my integrity more so than in any fraternity, organization, membership or co-workers; I do enjoy certain privileges due to my position, although I have come not to expect or abuse them; I believe in treating people with dignity and respect, until they become a potential threat, at which point I will respond in kind;

Thanks for joining in.

Originally posted by Skyfloating
What a surprise. I was getting used to threads that bash police while glorifying criminals. Thanks for offering the other side of the story.

Oh yea.. gee... "glorifying criminals" and "bashing police". The threads where people get "upset", at cops, are the ones where cops are performing criminal acts, therefore they are not glorifying criminals, but are being concerned with crime going unpunished.

Where do you people get off.

Originally posted by SyphonX
Where do you people get off.

Personally I get off when humans put their lives on the line daily are shat upon by wankers that wouldn't say a word in a cops face but feel more than willing to be "manly" on an internet forum. That's just me though.

reply to post by SyphonX

are the ones where cops are performing criminal acts

Acknowledged and addressed.

Not the point of this thread.