Obama: Mistrust of police corrodes America

a reply to: Not Authorized

Some cops are jerks, that I will not deny. But we talk all the time about not judging all of (fill in the blank) by the actions of a few.

a reply to: jude11

How about the examples of police fighting idiotic gun laws, or cops fighting back on idiotic immigration laws?

I'm not defending ALL, but I'm pointing out that if there is an issue with the law, look who is enacting it, not just those who enforce it.

a reply to: generik

Trust is earned, as is respect. Stating the obvious is not addressing the problem. Would you trust a cobra that came crawling in your direction? It may be innocent, meaning you no harm, and may just crawl right pass you. Are you just going to stand there and take your chances, or does common sense and a strong survival instinct, motivate you to put as much distance between you and the  cobra as possible?

It has become extremely obvious that a call to the police, is no longer the first thing you think to do, in a sketchy situation, especially if a loved one or child is involved. Officer Friendly has long passed away. There is no more protect and serve.

Do the American people distrust the police? When the police are better armed and equipped than our soldiers engaged in battle,  and they are not held accountable for any abuses they inflict on the innocent civilians, it would be foolhardy to trust them.

When police in full SWAT regalia, artillery, and tanks or humvees, come driving through your neighborhood, you can bet you sweet bippy, they have not come to protect you or anyone else. When police come knocking, you have to lock your children and pets out of harms way, because they are not concerned for your well being and you and yours are very expendable.

Now the President knows that our government and our police have gone completely rogue. Of course you aren't supposed to notice this because they keep blowing the racism smokescreen into your eyes. The problem isn't racism. The problem isn't trust. The problem is the militarized police and their abominable attitude and treatment of the American civilians.

Corrupt leaders need corrupt minions to keep their stronghold over the masses. We won't see a change in the police until we see a change in our leaders, and they are not going to just walk away. If we want change, it is not going to happen unless we remove these criminals from our government.

a reply to: beezzer

I was driving through Kentucky on I 24 three days ago, up ahead were flashing lights, in front of the trooper's car was a minivan, the occupants were safely away from the road, I expected to see a vehicle search going on, then as I passed, I seen the trooper putting a spare tire on in place of a flat... He put himself in harm's way to change a tire on a van with out of state tags...

Then I thought, I haven't seen that in a really long time, it reminded me of the simpler, better times, and that not all are bad, even now.

There has to be a way to build on that somehow.

a reply to: ausername

Customer service says that you can do 100 things well and not hear a word of thanks, do 1 thing wrong and everyone will talk about it.

originally posted by: beezzer
a reply to: jude11

How about the examples of police fighting idiotic gun laws, or cops fighting back on idiotic immigration laws?

I'm not defending ALL, but I'm pointing out that if there is an issue with the law, look who is enacting it, not just those who enforce it.

I agree.

I was merely addressing the thread as it is about the cops who carry out these laws. Even tho the laws are unjust they simply follow orders.

Peace

originally posted by: jude11

"Fool me once..."

LOL...You probably should have completed the quote, so no one comes along and makes a "DubYa" comparison...!

a reply to: beezzer

Again, sorry Beezzer. After said experience I had, I do not trust them. I never will again. Unless they do a complete 180. Like, require them to tell the truth in my example. He clearly lied for ulterior motives.

I've had more negative experiences too, like my 82 year old grandmother waiting 12 hours for police officer to come check out her home before she went inside, as she noticed evidence of a break-in.

2 hours later, she called them for status. They were more interested in a traffic incident, than come check her home. Ultimately, me and my family had to grab a shotgun and check out her home ourselves.

The police showed up 12 hours later to take a statement, but just for insurance purposes. No fingerprints dusted, no pictures taken. My conclusion? They are not interested in doing real police work anymore, either.

It's more fun and profitable to screw with the normal people. Like Code Enforcement violations.. for your grass being a little bit to brown, or the wrong type of tree planted in your front yard. They are all over it to harass homeowners, and write those citations. It's good business.

if you don't see a gun you should be forbidden to shoot.

a reply to: GogoVicMorrow

I always thought that was part of police training. I never thought the police had a right to shoot anyone unless the criminal pulled a gun or charged at them with a knife or other deadly weapon.

Here in the UK it often feels like there is some other driving force that makes police act the way they do. It's hard to sum up and give some sort of detailed examples. But it's honestly like they're looking to catch innocent people out or something. Its a particular repeating occurrence for me when driving. I often get pulled over for ridiculous things.

One time I remember approaching a roundabout, all fine, exiting and then 30 seconds later blues and twos behind me and I get pulled. The reason? "You cut us up on the roundabout" or something. Which is funny, because I always pull into oncoming traffic on roundabouts???!

Another time more recently. I got pulled over, for doing 30mph in a 30mph zone. "Going a bit fast weren't you sir?". And countless other people who have been pulled over for doing 28mph in a 30 zone for unknown reasons, or just bizarre ones. The annoying thing about that is that I always stick to the limits, to say I am speeding is an insult. Not that I would say that to them, but inside you're fuming, as someone tries to paint you as a bad citizen by making up lies, and of all people doing it, it's the police...

I'm not a fan of the police. Their treatment may be fair enough (for people like me, who don't get abusive, etc) but their initial assessment that leads them to act is extremely questionable at ALL times. A couple of years back I am watching some kids throw rocks at windows in a main road at a house with occupants. A police car is parked not far and as I pass it I say to them, "There are some kids up there throwing bricks at windows, you might want to pass by" but I was told "we're on a domestic abuse call" (presumably looking for the address). They could've driven 100 metres or less to the scene where the kids were vandalizing property but nope.

I've been in incidents and left beaten up and I'm always asked "Did you call the police?" and my response is "No, why would I want to be interrogated for something someone else did?" because that's all that happens. Enough times they've started asking me about who I live near, and things completely unrelated to incident at hand just to try and weasel out some kind of info relating to other cases they have open or something.

That said, I will say that with civil matters - I have never had a problem with them. They judge my character pretty quickly and I am always left with "good cop" which is great, they do not mistreat or anything. But their initial motives are often really, really questionable. I'm pretty sure if they don't like the look of you, they'll make something up to be able to stop you/question/possibly search etc. Reasons that, on reflection, are just completely idiotic.

I have no idea about American cops. All I feel about that is why the hell don't they shoot people in the leg, why do they always have to outright kill people?

Talking of mistrust of police - here's a short film called The Strange Death Of Harry Stanley, you may remember he was the guy who was carrying a table leg to get it repaired and was shot by the police who "thought" he had a shotgun. It's easy to see why people would not trust police from watching such a film. People going about their lives, only to be interrupted and killed by the police for ridiculous reasons in the process.

This multiple-award-winning short film is a true story about a Scottish man, living in East London, who met a terrible end through bad luck and bad policing.

(Kudos to Forbes who plays the role of Harry, very moving! You may recognize him, esp. if you've seen Harry Brown )

They won't admit it, but law enforcement in the US is nothing but a business, anymore!

Long gone are the days of "protect and serve"! Now it is, harass and charge. The courts are definitely in on it.
I had a close friend that was charged with battery. A drunk in a bar, grabbed his wife's butt and my friend popped the guy in the mouth! The drunk called the cops. Cops show up and arrest my friend. He gets ROR'd a few hours later, but has to appear in court for the charge. His council said that considering the circumstances, he should request a jury trial, and will most likely get off, but he could get several months in county if he is found guilty...Well, my friend decides to plead "nolo contendre" and seek the mercy of the court. Guess what? The judge didn't care about the circumstances. He sentenced my friend to 3 months of probation with monthly fees. Court costs, a fine, court ordered anger management classes (more out of pocket), and now he has a battery charge on his record, to explain.

He nearly lost his job over it all, and was assured that had he went to trial, that the time he lost at work, would have definitely got him terminated, regardless of the outcome.

All together, he said that he was out over $1,000. US, just for defending his wife's honor, and stopping an assault!

It's always about the money, and TPTB have figured out how to use the entire country's police force to keep the money-go-round spinning...

a reply to: ValentineWiggin

You are doing your child a huge disservice. Police are strangers. Do you teach your child to trust strangers and do as they say? Why would you teach them to trust a stranger with a badge? Do I need to post the list of killer, and serial killer cops? Rapist cops in oklahoma?

When your kid starts to drive .. PLEASE REMIND THEM TO BUCKLE UP:

originally posted by: GogoVicMorrow
a reply to: ValentineWiggin

You are doing your child a huge disservice. Police are strangers. Do you teach your child to trust strangers and do as they say? Why would you teach them to trust a stranger with a badge? Do I need to post the list of killer, and serial killer cops? Rapist cops in oklahoma?

When your kid starts to drive .. PLEASE REMIND THEM TO BUCKLE UP:

This is the first time I have seen this

Please ATS, tell me this a hoax.

If this is real, it has to be the craziest thing I have seen since the shoot out a the OK Corral, on Capitol Hill, when the police and the rent a cops emptied the whole of Washington armory on to one single unarmed woman with her child in the car.

This is indeed a Mad Mad World.

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

No it's not a hoax.. Seriously you hadn't seen it?

The officer was fired and is in jail: update

That guy lived.. he's lucky. Less lucky? The guy who picked up the toy gun at walmart and was gunned down and killed with no warning at walmart.
This video has an 18 and up warning, and a man is shot and killed, but it's so far off there is no gore. Just the murder of an innocent man who picked up a pellet gun that was openly on display, someone called and lied claiming he was pointing it at people and loading it, cops came, didn't tell him to put it down or anything - just opened fire killing him.

I could do without the racial politics myself. Everyone is guilty of it but you would think the group that pushes the idea of seeing beyond race as part of it's platform would avoid it.

It's "Cop shoots man in the arm" not "Black cop shoots white man in the arm".
It's "Cop shoots 18 year old kid in the back" not "White cop shoots 18 year old black kid in the back".

Equality means being equal. In my mind that means we're Americans. Some of us are rich or poor and some of us have cultural identities we want to identify with but we're Americans first. To other groups it's race first nationality second.

Then again, this speech was given at the National Black Causcus. How much can you really expect from an event where race is the primary issue?

originally posted by: roadgravel
a reply to: beezzer

If people mistrust the police, it isn't because of the police, it's because of the laws that the police have been forced to enforce

Where is that law for shooting people in the back and when unarmed or hands up.

Beezer has a point here. The cops are merely responding to the legislation that stipulates what are/aren't offenses and the training those in power are looking for.

If you want to know where those laws are look into sentencing guidelines and training structures. It is getting more and more extreme every year and even those that see it don't dare trying to put a stop to it because to suggest that the police be more gentile is to say they shouldn't use overwhelming force. A lack of that force means more cops will be injured/killed and more criminals will get away. It makes the politician look both anti cop and pro criminal. Two things that are a death sentence in the political world.

Can you imagine the campaign ad's? Lets say someone supports the idea that cops shouldn't be allowed to send an attack dog at you, and then shoot you if you try to in any way defend yourself from the dog. It would say:
Politician X supported legislation that gives criminals the opportunity to shoot police officers and murder their service dogs.
Politician X was against legislation that would stop criminals from killing police officers in your community that keep violent child molesters away from your defenseless children at school.

If you want to see these things change, break that perception. Convince the man on the street that dealing out excessive levels of punishment is a bad thing. Because right now the average person believes that you should be restrained, beaten, and sometimes killed for the accusation of being a thief and when convicted (not if), given a very large fine along with having both of your hands chopped off.

a reply to: generik

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.

The widespread misfiring of guns and Tasers by LEO is a prob, too.
IMHO, mistrust isn't the core problem--it's justifiable, quantifiable fear. In the last week, I've seen two videos of officers shooting or Tasering innocent people.

The corruption of the police runs too deep.
They are worse than the mafia. Brutal thugs who shake people down for money.
Most police departments should be disbanded and replaced with elected sheriffs.